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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. –  Slippery Rock University rode a three-pronged offensive attack to a 58-34 Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-Western Division football win Saturday night over visiting Mercyhurst University at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.

The win was SRU's third in four games this winter and first in two PSAC-West contests. Mercyhurst fell to 1-3 overall, 0-2 in division action.

Junior running back Teddy Blakeman accounted for five touchdowns to lead the winning effort. Blakeman rushed for three touchdowns (3,1 and 8 yards), caught a 37-yard TD pass from senior quarterback Nigel Barksdale and threw a 25-yard TD to senior wide receiver John Schademan.

Barksdale passed for 439 yards and two TDs on a 27-of-36, two-TD, one interception performance. Schademan caught 11 passes for a school-record 229 yards and two TDs in co-starring roles for The Rock.

Barksdale, who passed for 465 yards in the season opener at Northwood (Mich.), is the only player in Rock history to throw for 400 or more yards in more than one game. It's a very small group that also includes John Linhart, who threw for a school-record 502 yards vs. Clarion in 1992.

In addition to being on the receiving end of Blakeman's taiback-option pass, Schademan caught a 67-yard TD pass from Barksdale and hauled in a 14-yard TD pass from backup QB Zack Newsock.

Barksdale completed 27 of 36 passes for 439 yards and two TDs and was picked off once.

Behind the aforementioned trio's lead, SRU amassed 609 yards in total offense, 499 passing and 110 rushing.

Mercyhurst, meanwhile, collected 340 total yards with 146 coming on the ground and 194 through the air.

Junior safety Austin Miele recorded a game-high 10 tackles to lead The Rock's defensive effort, while Colin Kimball had nine tackles and interception-return TD for Mercyhurst.

The Rock look to continue their winning ways next Saturday when they travel to winless (0-4) Kutztown for a 1:05 p.m. PSAC "crossover" game.

Mercyhurst took the early lead Saturday against The Rock as the Lakers marched 75 yards in five plays on the opening drive of the game. Quarterback Anthony Vendemia capped the drive with an eight-yard run at the 13:31 mark of the first period.

Undaunted, The Rock responded with scoring drives on each of their first six possessions to collect 31 unanswered points and take full control of the game.

Rock redshirt freshman running back Brett Crenshaw's six-yard run on SRU's opening drive tied the score at 7-7 with 11:14 left in the first period. The TD run topped off a seven-play, 70-yard drive by The Rock.

Junior kicking specialist Mike Wainauskis, who was also seven of eight on extra-point attempts in the game, gave SRU its first lead of the game, 10-7, when he booted a 32-yard field goal on SRU's second drive to cap an eight-play, 39-yard drive.

Blakeman's three-yard TD run capped a seven-play, 82-yard march and extended The Rock lead to 17-7 with 4:12 left in the first quarter of action.

On the next Rock drive, Schademan caught a 25-yard option pass from Blakeman to cap a nine-play, 68-yard march and push the hosts' lead to 24-7 with 14:52 left to play in the first half.

Schademan and Barksdale connected for a 67-yard TD on the fourth play of a 78-yard drive that gave SRU a 31-7 lead with 10:51 left before the intermission.

The Rock defense, after giving up the opening-drive touchdown, forced Mercyhurst into four consecutive three-and-out series. A 33-yard field goal by Steven Wakefield with 6:11 left in the second period broke the spell and made the score 31-10 SRU.

Blakeman ran for a one-yard TD to cap a six-play, 75-yard drive to pushed The Rock lead to 28 points, 38-10, which is where it stood at halftime.

Mercyhurst then took advantage of Rock turnovers on back-to-back drives to  score the first 10 points of the second half and trim the deficit to 38-20 with 8:31 left to play in the third period before Blakeman scored on back-to-back Rock possessions extinguish any Mercyhurst comeback hopes.

The Lakers' first second-half points came on a 58-yard interception return by Kimball with 10:11 left in the third quarter.

On SRU's next drive, Barksdale lost control of the ball at The Rock 15-yard line to set up a 30-yard Wakefield field goal.

Blakeman ran for an eight-yard TD to cape a seven-play, 75-yard Rock scoring drive at the 6:47 mark of the third period, then caught a dump pass from Barksdale and sprinted 37 yards with one minute left in the third quarter.

Schademan's third and final TD catch, a 14-yard hookup with Newsock, capped a five-play, 45-yard drive that gave The Rock a 58-20 advantage with 12:51 left to play in the game.

Mercyhurst got a 43-yard TD run from Chris Lyle and an 11-yard TD pass from backup quarterback Zach Emerick to Kyle Briggs to close out the game's scoring.

Notes:

The addition of Saturday's 58 point gave SRU a school-record 194 points in the first four games. The only mark of 153 was set by The Rock's 2000 PSAC-West co-championship team … This year's team is the first in school history to score 50 or more points in three separate games that same season … Schademan, in addition to breaking the single-game receiving yards record of 225 set by Devin Goda at Lock Haven in 2011, moved into a tie with All-America tight end Bob Schrantz for 11th place on SRU's career pass receiving TDs chart with 11, sole possession of 12th place on SRU's career pass receiving yardage chart with 1,340 and 14th place on SRU's career pass receptions chart (80) … Barksdale moved into a tie for sixth place on SRU's career TD passes list with 28, eighth place on the career passing yards chart with 2,873, 10th place on the single-season TD passes chart with 14 and 18th place in season passing yards with 1,854.