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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Redshirted sophomore running back Akeem Satterfield rushed for a career-high 240 yards on 25 carries and scored four touchdowns Thursday night to lead Slippery Rock University to a 45-26 win over visiting NCAA Division II Super Region One rival Merrimack (Mass.) College in season-opening college football action.

Satterfield, who scored on runs of one, seven, 12 and 32 yards, spearheaded a 415-yard Rock offensive attack that also included a 138-yard passing effort by redshirted sophomore quarterback Ryan Sabo.

Sabo passed for one TD (73-yards to junior wide receiver Devin Goda), had a one-yard rushing TD and was 9 of 19 passing with no interceptions in his first collegiate action.

Goda finished the game with five receptions for 103 yards and one TD.

Senior kicking specialist #C.J. Bahr#, a Preseason All-America selection, was 6-for-6 on extra-point kicks and booted a 43-yard field goal.

On the flip side, The Rock defense picked off Merrimack junior quarterback James Suozzo twice and held the reigning Northeast-10 Conference MVP to 166 yards passing and 22 completions on 36 attempts.

SRU, redshirt freshman linebacker Bob Westerlund to be specific, also blocked a Merrimack punt. The Green and White converted that into its fourth touchdown, Satterfield's 12-yard sprint with 3:57 left in the third period.

The Rock wasted little time taking the first lead of the game as they marched 75 yards in only two plays on the game's opening drive. The march was capped by the 73-yard Sabo-to-Goda touchdown pass after 61 seconds had elapsed off the game clock. Bahr's extra point made it 7-0.

Bahr added a 43-yard field goal on the hosts' second drive of the game to put the Green and White up by a 10-0 score with 4:29 left in the first period. The boot capped an eight-play, 35-yard drive.

The Rock offense was back in action when redshirt freshman cornerback Anthony Saunders picked off a Suozzo pass near midfield. Six plays later, Sabo scored for a yard out on a busted play to give The Rock a 17-0 cushion with 0:15 left in the opening stanza.

Merrimack trimmed the deficit to 11 points with a nine-play, 92-yard scoring drive midway through the second period. The Warriors were unsuccessful on the point-after kick.

Undaunted, The Rock went 67 yards in nine plays on the ensuing drive to push the lead to 24-6. Satterfield scored on a one-yard run to cap the drive with 0:37 left before halftime.

Satterfield's second TD run, set up by Westerlund's punt block, made it a 31-6 score with 3:57 left in the third quarter.

Another TD run by Satterfield would push the score to 38-6 before Merrimack made a late rally by scoring 20 straight points to make it a 12-point contest (38-26).

However, Satterfield made sure that The Rock would not be denied an opening-night win by scoring his fourth TD of the game from seven yards out to give Slippery Rock a 45-26 lead with 2:44 left to play.

The SRU defense held the visitors the rest of the way to secure the win by the same score.

Both junior linebacker Zach Sheridan and junior cornerback Andre Freeman collected nine tackles to pace The Rock defense while senior cornerback Robert Doiley and redshirted freshman cornerback Anthony Saunders each had interceptions.

Slippery Rock will look to continue its winning ways next Saturday (Sept. 11) when it travels to Cheyney for a 1 p.m. kickoff.

Notes: Satterfield's rushing total was the 10th highest in Rock history and the highest since LaMonte Coleman ran for 241 yards against West Virginia Wesleyan in 1994 … Satterfield's previous best rushing effort was 107 yards in the 2009 finale at East Stroudsburg. He had 108 yards on 13 carries in the first two quarters Thursday night … Goda, whose previous best single-game effort was a seven-catch, 105-yard game against Clarion last fall, had 96 yards on only four receptions in the first half of Thursday night's game.