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EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University football team ran for a school record 456 yards and rolled to a 56-24 win on the road at East Stroudsburg in the opening game of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference divisional schedule Saturday night at Eiler-Martin Stadium.
 
Slippery Rock moves to 2-0 overall and opens the PSAC-West schedule at 1-0 to join Gannon, Seton Hill and Clarion atop the division standings as the only teams in the Western Division to record wins Saturday. No. 20 Indiana (Pa.), the preseason favorite in the division, was beaten handily at Kutztown, 44-7. California (Pa.), picked second in the division, suffered an overtime loss, 24-21, at Bloomsburg.
 
Saturday night's game, which was streamed internationally on ESPN3 and the Watch ESPN app, was controlled in the trenches by The Rock all night long. The defensive line forced ESU quarterback and 2013 regional Harlon Hill candidate Matt Soltes into four turnovers and the offensive line paved the way for the best rushing performance ever by an SRU team.
 
Slippery Rock ran the ball 78 times for 456 yards, topping the known school record of 451 yards set against Clarion in 2008.
 
The Rock finished the game with a 587-412 advantage in total yards after adding 131 yards through the air. ESU finished with 297 passing yards and 115 rushing yards.
 
Shamar Greene led The Rock's backs with 186 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries for a 10.3 yard per carry average. He managed that without playing more than the first series of the second half and now has 381 yards through two games.
 
Teddy Blakeman topped the 100-yard mark as well, finishing with 21 carries for 119 yards and three touchdowns. It was his second three rushing TD game of his career and brings him to a total of 20 TDs scored in 13 games at SRU.
 
Greene and Blakeman also became the first pair of SRU running backs to go over 100 yards in the same game since Akeem Satterfield and LaQuinn Stephens-Howling did it against Lock Haven in 2010.
 
Isiah Neely played most of the fourth quarter and finished with 72 yards on 14 carries. Julian Durden ran it 13 times for 69 yards and also caught a 13-yard touchdown pass. Brett Crenshaw rounded out the rushers performances with six carries for 18 yards and one touchdown.
 
Zack Newsock completed nine of 16 passes for 131 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
 
Jaimire Dutriueille caught two passes for 55 yards and a touchdown to lead the receivers. Drew Scales added three catches for 41 yards and Leroy McClain caught two passes for 22 yards. Scales also returned three punts for 59 yards and two kickoffs for 71 yards to finish with 167 all-purpose yards.
 
The Rock's defense held Soltes to 20-of-47 passing for 297 yards, one touchdown late in the game against the second team, three interceptions and one lost fumble.
 
Robert Healy ran 15 times for 86 yards and one touchdown to lead the ESU offense. He also caught six passes for 54 yards. Steve Jones caught four balls for 101 yards and Jon Schnaars caught four passes for 80 yards and one touchdown.
 
Isaiah Coleman led the SRU defense in total tackles with nine, including seven solo, while fellow safety Derrick Fulmore recorded eight tackles and two interceptions, including a 22-yard pick six that may have put the finishing stamp on ESU just before the end of the first half.
 
Austin Miele recorded eight tackles. Nick Dahlstrom had six tackles, one sack and a pass deflection that led to the Fulmore interception return TD. Marcus Martin was in the backfield pressuring Soltes all night and finished with five tackles and two sacks. Avery Anderson added one sack and Admire Carter recorded three pass breakups and three solo tackles. Joe Phillips recovered one fumble.
 
The ESU defense was led by Anthony Singlar with 17 total tackles, including 10 solo. Jamyl Aminu recorded 12 tackles and Teron Dobbs recorded one interception and returned one blocked field goal 95 yards for a touchdown.
 
The game featured a battle of the two of the top four winningest active coaches in Division II football in ESU's Denny Douds (SRU 1963 graduate), who is second with 245 wins in his 41st season and SRU's George Mihalik, who is fourth with 178 wins in his 27th season.
 
The 78 carries were the most against any ESU team coached by Douds in his 40+ seasons and the 456 yards were the third most any team has recorded against an ESU team coached by Dodds.
 
It looked like it would be shootout early after both teams scored on their opening possessions. Soltes escaped for a 34 yard run on third and long near midfield on the Warriors' first possession, setting up a 19-yard TD run from Healy on the next play to put the hosts up 7-0 less than three minutes in.
 
The Rock answered the call when Scales returned the ensuing kickoff 46 yards into ESU territory before Greene took care of the rest. He carried it five straight times for a total of 45 yards, including a 17-yard TD to tie it at 7-7 with 10:46 to play in the first half.
 
After the teams traded three and outs, it looked like East Stroudsburg would regain the lead when the Warriors capitalized on a short punt to gain good field position. They moved the ball down inside the five-yard line and had three tries to punch it in from the two yard line, but Coleman made two big tackles behind the line of scrimmage on third and fourth down to stop the drive.
 
Slippery Rock's running back duo of Greene and Blakeman combined for 62 yards on the next seven plays and then Newsock connected with Dutrieuille over the top for a 35-yard TD to cap a nine play, 97-yard drive that put The Rock on top 14-7 with 2:26 to play in the opening period.
 
East Stroudsburg battled back and settled for a field goal from Matt Smith from 28 yards out on the first play of the second half to make it 14-10 before Slippery Rock reeled off 14 unanswered points.
 
Blakeman punched it into the end zone on runs of one and three yards to cap a nine play, 69-yard drive and a nine play, 74-yard drive to put The Rock up 28-10 with 7:07 to play in the first half.
 
SRU marched right down the field again, but momentum briefly swung in ESU's favor when a Mike Wainauskis field goal attempt from 27 yards out was blocked and returned by Dobbs 95 yards for a TD to make it 28-17 with 3:54 to play before halftime.
 
Momentum continued to swing toward ESU after a fumble on The Rock's next series, but quickly returned to Slippery Rock when Soltes' pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage by Dahlstrom and returned for TD by Fulmore to make it 35-17 heading into the break.
 
Slippery Rock put the game away early in the second half, scoring just four plays in when Blakeman burst through the line for a 30 yard TD run, his third of the game. Just 1:19 later, after a fumble by Soltes that was recovered by Phillips, Crenshaw punched it in to make it 49-17 with 12:27 to play in the third quarter.
 
From there, Slippery Rock tacked on another TD with Durden catching a pass from Newsock early in the fourth quarter to make it 56-17 and ESU capped the scoring with a 14 yard pass from Soltes to Schnaars with 4:00 left that made it 56-24.
 
Slippery Rock will continue its short two-game road swing next Saturday with a 4 p.m. kickoff on the road at Millersville in another PSAC crossover game that will count toward the divisional standings. The Rock returns to the friendly confines of Mihalik-Thompson Stadium Sept. 27 for a 2 p.m. Homecoming kickoff against Seton Hil.
 
 
NOTES: Both teams were listed in the receiving votes section of the AFCA poll last week ... Slippery Rock's 78 carries were the most ever against an ESU team coached by Denny Douds … The Rock's 456 yards were the most ever recorded by SRU, topping the 451 against Clarion from the 2008 season … the 78 rushing plays were four short of the SRU record of 82 against California in 1969 ... the 24 rushing first downs is a school record, topping the 22 recorded against Shippensburg in 1972 ...  the 456 rushing yards is the third highest total against ESU under Douds … Greene ran for 186 yards and 10.3 yards per carry, giving him 381 yards and 10.3 yards per carry through two games … it's the second time in his career he has rushed for 100+ yards in back to back games … SRU had two running backs over 100 yards each for the first time in a game since 2010 against Lock Haven … Slippery Rock improved to 12-3 all-time against ESU and snapped a two-game losing streak to the Warriors.