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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The nationally ranked Slippery Rock University football team scored on the opening kickoff and cruised to 63-19 Homecoming win over Seton Hill Saturday in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action from Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
Drew Scales set the tone for the game when he took the opening kickoff 91 yards for a touchdown just 13 seconds into the game. It was the first return TD for an SRU player since Scales took a kickoff 82 yards to the house against Seton Hill last year.
 
The Rock, ranked No. 15 by D2football.com and No. 22 by the American Football Coaches Association, improves to 4-0 overall and remains in a tie atop the division standings with a 3-0 record. Next week's opponent, Gannon, is also 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the PSAC-West, which will put the winner of that game in the driver's seat in the division. Seton Hill drops to 1-3 overall and 1-2 in divisional play with the loss.
 
Slippery Rock scored more than 60 points for the first time since 2000 and used a balanced offensive attack to rack up 583 yards. The Rock ran 91 plays, passing the 90-play mark for the third time in four games this year. Slippery Rock ran for 261 yards on 55 carries and threw for 322 yards on 36 pass attempts. It marked the first time this season SRU has surpassed the 300 yard mark.
 
Seton Hill was held to just 30 rushing yards on 27 carries and finished the game with 359 passing yards.
 
Zack Newsock was painfully close to reaching his first 300-yard passing game, completing 23-of-33 passes for a career-high 299 yards and a career-high four touchdowns. Josh Weakland completed all three of his attempts for 23 yards in the fourth quarter.
 
Melvin German had another big day to lead the receivers, catching four passes for career-highs of 114 yards and three touchdowns. He caught touchdown passes of 45, 28 and 34 yards. Jaimire Dutrieuille caught a team-high eight passes for 91 yards out of the slot and Scales added seven catches for 72 yards and one touchdown.
 
Shamar Greene topped the 100-yard rushing mark for the fourth time this season and finished the game with 128 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. For the season, he has rushed for 747 yards in just four games, topping his previous single-season career-high of 727 yards set last season. Greene is currently on pace to top the 2,000-yard rushing mark at an average of 186.8 yards per game.
 
Brett Crenshaw ran for 42 yards and one touchdown on four carries. Teddy Blakeman added 42 yards on 15 carries and Julian Durden ran it six times for 35 yards and one touchdown.
 
Scales finished the game with 37 punt return yards on three attempts, 137 kickoff return yards on three attempts and a team-high 246 all-purpose yards.
 
The Rock defense was led Bob Vernick and Joe Phillips with eight tackles each. Admire Carter had seven tackles, including six solo, and two pass breakups. Austin Miele recorded seven tackles and caught one interception and returned it 42 yards to set up a Rock touchdown in the fourth quarter. Avery Anderson also recorded seven tackles. Sam Funk registered one sack-fumble that was recovered by Erik Johnson and Marcus Martin and Isaiah Coleman each recorded a tackle for loss.
 
Seton Hill was led by quarterback Drew Jackson, who completed 23 passes for 343 yards and three touchdowns. Dan Pietrangelo started the game at QB and completed four of nine passes for 16 yards with one interception.
 
Brandon Stout ran the ball 17 times for just 20 yards and Patrick Jackson recorded 16 yards on four carries. FJ Williams caught six passes for 104 yards and Eric Brown pulled down three passes for 76 yards and a TD. Erik Kerns and Marcus Peterson also caught touchdown passes.
 
Tyler Zimmer led the Seton Hill defense with 14 tackles and one interception. Josh Falatovich recorded 11 tackles and one interception and Arthur Tsapdong picked up one sack.
 
Scales wasted little time in getting Slippery Rock off on the right foot when he broke free down the right sideline and fought off two tacklers for the 91-yard return TD on the first play of the game. It was his third career return TD to go along with one punt return and one kick return last year. It also gave Slippery Rock the first points in the game for the first time this season after opponents scored first in the previous three games.
 
Greene added to the lead midway through the first with a two yard touchdown run to make it 14-0. German caught touchdown passes of 45 and 28 yards in the second quarter to give The Rock a 28-0 halftime lead.
 
Seton Hill scored just under five minutes into the third quarter on a 39-yard pass from Jackson to Kerns. The point after was blocked by Kris Williams to make it 28-6. The score was the first time this season Slippery Rock has allowed points in the third quarter of a game.
 
Slippery Rock answered right back with a TD pass from Newsock to Scales from 33 yards out less than two minutes later to make it 35-6.
 
Seton Hill responded again, this time with a 20-yard TD pass from Jackson to Peterson on its next drive. Again the point after try was blocked, this time by Coleman.
 
The Rock returned the favor on the next possession, capped by Greene's second TD run of the game from 12 yards out to make it 42-12 with 5:43 to play in the third quarter.
 
Capping off a series five straight drives that ended in scores, Seton Hill added another TD on its next possession, a 37-yard pass from Jackson to Brown to make it 42-19 with 4:05 to play in the third.
 
The Slippery Rock defense slammed the door from there, pitching a shutout for the final 19:05. Slippery Rock added a touchdown pass to German on the second play of the fourth quarter after Miele's interception and return to make it 49-19. Touchdown runs from Durden with 9:03 to play and Crenshaw with 4:43 to play capped the scoring and accounted for the 63-19 final.
 
Mike Wainauskis was a perfect 9-for-9 on extra point attempts for The Rock.
 
Slippery Rock improved to 23-4 on Homecoming in games coached by George Mihalik.
 
The Rock will turn their focus to next week's first-place showdown with Gannon. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.


Notes: Slippery Rock improves to 23-4 on Homecoming in games coached by George Mihalik … The Rock ran 91 plays, marking the third time this year SRU has run more than 90 offensive plays … Scales' 91-yard kickoff return TD was the first return TD for SRU since his 82 yarder against Seton Hill in 2013 … Newsock threw for career-highs of 299 yards and four touchdowns … Greene ran for 128 yards, his lowest output of the season, and is on pace to run for more than 2,000 yards through four games … The SRU defense held Seton Hill to 30 rushing yards, marking the second time this season holding a team at 30 yards or less in rushing … The Rock is allowing just 57.0 yards per game on the ground and is running for 318.8 yards per game … The offense went for more than 500 yards for the 12th time in the last 16 games … SRU took part in the AFCA's Coach to Cure MD initiative Saturday with all coaches wearing special patches to raise awareness for muscular dystrophy.