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CLARION, Pa. – Junior quarterback Nigel Barksdale passed for two touchdowns and ran for a third score Saturday afternoon to lead Slippery Rock University to a 28-20 win over hosting Clarion University in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division football action at Memorial Stadium.
The win ended a three-game losing skid by SRU this fall and a string of five consecutive road-game losses and improved the Green and White's season records to 3-4 overall, 2-2 in PSAC-West action.

With the win, The Rock are now unbeaten in three “Milk Jug” games against their backyard rivals, have won the last 10 meetings with the Golden Eagles in Clarion and are 6-1 against former Rock defensive coordinator/current Clarion head coach Jay Foster.

Saturday's loss dropped Clarion's season records to 3-4 overall and 1-3 against division rivals.

Barksdale completed 19 of 26 pass attempts for 257 yards with one interception with TD completions to freshman Jaimire Dutrieuille (14 yards) and senior Josh Gardner (3 yards). Barksdale also scored on a two-yard run.

Redshirt freshman running back Brett Crenshaw scored the third of four Rock TDs on a two-yard run midway through the second quarter of action.

Redshirt sophomore wide receiver Ken Amos (pictured) caught a game-high six passes for 101 yards and redshirt senior running back Akeem Satterfield gained 77 yards on 19 carries to complement Barksdale's performance.

Fifth-year senior defensive end Jeff Thompson recorded a game-high 12 tackles and junior linebacker Gary Allen had 10 takedowns to lead SRU's defensive effort.

Clarion quarterback Ben Fiscus passed for 287 yards and one TD and gained 68 yards on 19 rushing attempts with one TD run to lead the hosts' offensive attack. Jon Reid caught five passes for 98 yards and Aaron Barlow had seven receptions for 73 yards for the Golden Eagles.

Behind Fiscus' lead, the hosts outgained The Rock by a 404-376 advantage in total yards.

Saturday's game ended a two-game road trip for The Rock, who entertain Edinboro in a 2 p.m. PSAC-West and SRU Homecoming game next Saturday.

After the Green and White defense forced Clarion into a three-and-out on the game's opening drive, The Rock offense marched 80 yards in 11 plays the first time it had the ball to give the guests a lead they would not relinquish.

Barksdale's 14-yard TD pass to Dutrieuille capped the drive with 11:54 left to play in the first quarter before senior Kurt Brackman kicked the first of his four extra points to make it a 7-0 game.

Clarion's offense responded with a 20-play, 76-yard drive on the ensuing possession, but The Rock defense stiffened and the Golden Eagles' march stalled at the SRU 9-yard line.

The hosts came right back on their next possession to move to The Rock 34 before SRU's stop troop again stopped the march.

The Barksdale-led Rock offense made those failed marches by the Golden Eagles costly as it marched 88 yards in 12 plays to push SRU's lead to 14-0 with 10:54 remaining before halftime.

Barksdale capped the drive with a two-yard leap into the end zone before Brackman tacked on the extra point.

Clarion moved deep into Rock territory for the third time in as many possessions on the drive following Barksdale's TD run, but again The Rock defense held the Golden Eagles at bay. The drive ended at the SRU 24 when Allen and junior linebacker Bob Westerlund threw Fiscus for a four-yard loss on a fourth-and-one run attempt.

Fiscus finally got the Golden Eagles into the end zone with 18 seconds left before the intermission when he took the hosts 57 yards in nine plays.

Clarion gained most of those yards on a 44-yard pass completion from Fiscus to Reid and a grabbing the facemask penalty on the same play. That set the Golden Eagles up and first-and-goal at The Rock 7. Fiscus passed to Nick Perry on the next play to cap the drive, but the extra-point kick was missed wide left, so the score stood at 14-6 SRU heading into the intermission.

The Rock defense bent but did not break on each of the first two Clarion drives of the second half.

Sandwiched between those defensive efforts, The Rock offense added two unanswered scoring drives.

Crenshaw's two-yard TD run capped an 11-play, 80-yard scoring drive midway through the third period that, coupled with Brackman's third extra-point kick, pushed The Rock's lead to 21-6 at the end of three quarters of action.

Barksdale then hit Gardner for a two-yard TD toss in the opening minute of the final period to make it a 28-6 game. The scoring play capped a 10-play, 76-yard march by The Rock offense.

Clarion trimmed the final margin to eight points with a pair of TDs in the final seven minutes of action.

Notes: Clarion kicking specialist Nathan Conway was 0-for-2 on extra-point tries Saturday. The only successful conversion attempt by the hosts came on a run by Fiscus following what proved to be the final TD of the game … Barksdale made his second start of the season Saturday in place of the injured Jared Buck. Coupled with a 261-yard passing effort Sept. 29 vs. Kutztown, Barksdale has thrown for 518 yards and five TDs as a starter … With the win Saturday, The Rock avoided their longest losing streak since a five-game skid in 2004 and their first 2-5 record since 1985 … With 103 yards Saturday (77 rushing, 26 on two pass receptions) Satterfield moved into 12th place on SRU's career all-purpose yards chart with 3,336. He is 89 yards away from 10th place … Satterfield remains sixth on the career TDs chart (35) and eighth on both the career rushing yards (2,799) and career scoring charts (210 points) … Brackman ranks seventh in career extra points with 79 and 19th in career scoring with 136 points.