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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University football team moved back into a tie for first place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division with a 29-7 win over Edinboro Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The Rock improves to 7-2 overall and 6-2 in divisional games, moving into a tie with California (Pa.) and Gannon atop the PSAC-West standings with one week of the divisional schedule left to play after California forfeited its home game against Gannon Saturday.
 
If Slippery Rock wins next week at Clarion, it will earn at least a share of the PSAC-West regular season title for the second year in a row and the third time in the last four years. If California loses to Mercyhurst next week, a Rock win would make SRU the representative from the Western Division and the host of the league title game Nov. 15. If California, Gannon and Slippery Rock all finish 8-2 overall, California would win the tie-breaker based on a better divisional record as one of the Vulcans losses came in the crossover games against Eastern Division opponents.
 
Slippery Rock was dominant on both sides of the ball Saturday, jumping out to a 17-0 lead and never looking back.
 
The Rock finished the game with a 438-253 advantage in total yardage after running for 250 yards on 61 carries and throwing for 188 yards on 32 attempts. Edinboro was held to just 53 rushing yards and threw for 200 yards.
 
The first surprise of the day came on the first possession for Edinboro, when backup quarterback Jake Sisson trotted out as starter. Two-time All-PSAC starter Cody Harris sat out the game with an injury.
 
That would play into the Rock's favor, as head coach George Mihalik noted in the postgame press conference that "Cody Harris is the best quarterback in the league at avoiding pressure and making things happen. When we saw that he wasn't going to be able to go today, we felt like we could really get some pressure with our front four."
 
Pressure was the theme of the day for the Slippery Rock defense as it recorded six sacks, led by Marcus Martin's 3.5. It marked the second week in a row that Martin recorded 3.5 sacks and lifted him into The Rock record book as the new leader in single-season sacks with 13.0 so far in his first collegiate season. He surpassed the former record of 12 sacks set by SRU Hall of Famer Matt Kinsinger (1997) and Tyler Boudreau (2007).
 
Martin also recorded three quarterback hurries in the game as The Rock registered eight as a team. Admire Carter recorded two interceptions and six tackles in his return to the starting lineup after missing last week's game with an injury. Levi Sager also recorded an interception, Erik Johnson picked up a fumble recovery and Julian Durden recovered a fumble for a touchdown as The Rock finished the day with five takeaways.
 
The offense was paced by Shamar Greene, who rushed for more than 100 yards for the sixth time this season. He finished with 158 yards on a career-high 32 carries to increase his season total to 1,229 yards with at least two games to play. That total also moved him into 10th on The Rock's single-season rushing ledger.
 
Jared Buck ran for 41 yards on nine carries, Durden rushed for 39 yards on eight carries and Teddy Blakeman rushed for 18 yards and one touchdown on six carries.
 
Buck started the game at quarterback and finished 14-of-22 for 121 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. He left the game in the second half and was replaced by Zack Newsock, who completed six of 10 passes for 67 yards and one interception.
 
Melvin German caught six passes for 38 yards and Jaimire Dutrieuille grabbed five passes for a team-high 64 yards and one touchdown. Nick Davis added an 18 yard touchdown grab to cap the top performances by the receivers.
 
Mike Wainauskis kicked a 24-yard field goal in the first half to give him nine made field goals in 10 attempts this year. The nine successful kicks moves him into a tie for ninth on the single-season ledger at SRU. One more field goal will move him into a tie for fifth. The SRU record is 14 made field goals in a season.
 
Edinboro was paced by Anfreenee Williams with 111 rushing yards on 17 carries and Darren Massey with six catches for 161 yards and one touchdown. They were the only two players to record more than 46 all-purpose yards for Edinboro.
 
Sisson finished the game 14-of-32 for 190 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. He was also sacked five times. Cameron Sheppard entered the game late and completed one pass for 10 yards and was sacked once.
 
Saturday's win was career win No. 183 for Mihalik and moved him into sole possession of fourth place on the PSAC's all-time wins list for head coaches, breaking his tie with former Indiana coach Frank Cignetti.
 
In breaking The Rock's trend for scoring early points, neither team could get things going in the very cold, windy conditions early in the game. Slippery Rock scored the first points with 5:18 to play in the opening quarter, settling for a 24-yard field goal after a drive stalled deep in Edinboro territory.
 
The Rock added to the lead less than three minutes later when Davis caught an 18-yard TD pass from Buck to make it 10-0 with 2:41 to play in the first quarter.
 
The lead grew to 17-0 before halftime when Buck connected with Dutrieuille from 16 yards out on a fourth down play with 5:42 to play in the second quarter.
 
Edinboro cut into the deficit with its first points of the game with 7:12 to play in the third quarter when Sisson threw his best pass of the day and hit Massey in stride for a 76 yard score that made it 17-7.
 
Slippery Rock regained the momentum in the game when Edinboro punter Spencer Howell dropped a snap on a punt attempt from the goal line and Durden rushed in to recover the fumble in the end zone for a touchdown. The PAT was missed, Wainauskis' first miss of any type this year that wasn't a block, to make it 23-7 with 3:51 to play in the third.
 
Edinboro's defense came up big on the first series of the fourth quarter as DeVon Groves intercepted a pass from Newsock on the Edinboro four-yard line to prevent a touchdown that could have put the game away.
 
The Fighting Scots drove the length of the field and looked as if they could get back into the game on the next offensive possession, but Carter picked off a pass on the one-yard line to stall a drive.
 
Carter also picked off a pass near midfield on the next Edinboro possession after a Rock punt, setting the offense up in good field position.
 
Greene rushed the ball seven times for 42 yards on the next series and Blakeman capped the drive with a seven-yard TD run to account for the final points of the game. The PAT was blocked to make it 29-7 with 2:42 to play in the fourth.
 
Sheppard fumbled the ball behind the line of scrimmage on the next Edinboro possession and it was recovered by Johnson to allow The Rock to take a knee and run out the remainder of the clock.
 
Slippery Rock has at least two games remaining on the calendar with a trip to Clarion next Saturday for a noon kickoff and a home game at 1 p.m. Nov. 15. That game is tentatively scheduled to be against Cheyney, but could change if The Rock wins the PSAC-West and hosts the league title game.
 
Saturday's win was also crucial to Slippery Rock's chances at earning an NCAA playoff bid after The Rock was ranked No. 9 in the Super Region this week by the NCAA Playoff Committee. The top six teams in the final ranking Nov. 16 will earn a berth in the playoffs.
 
 
 
Notes: Slippery Rock ran more than 90 plays for the fifth time this season … The Rock ran for 250 yards, marking the sixth game this season with more than 190 rushing yards and the fifth game with more than 230 rushing yards … Mihalik moved into sole possession of No. 4 on the PSAC coaching wins list with 183 career victories … Shamar Greene ran for 158 yards, marking his sixth 100+ yard rushing performance of the year … Greene has 1,229 yards this season and ranks 10th on the single-season rushing ledger at SRU with at least two games to play this season … Teddy Blakeman scored his 21st rushing touchdown at Slippery Rock in less than two years and his 23rd total TD at The Rock … Mike Wainauskis improved to 90% on field goal attempts at 9-for-10 this year and is now ninth at SRU in single-season field goals made … Jared Buck started his third straight game and has now thrown six touchdowns and no interceptions while also rushing for more than 100 yards … Admire Carter recorded two interceptions after entering the game ranked 10th in Division II in passes defended per game at 1.9 … Marcus Martin recorded 3.5 sacks for the second straight week and broke the SRU single-season record for sacks … he now has 13 sacks in 9 games … Slippery Rock will battle Clarion for the Milk Jug next week … since the Milk Jug trophy was instituted as the trophy for the annual game, SRU has not lost (four straight wins).