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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University football team reeled off 37 unanswered points after falling behind 20-0 in the first half to open the 2014 season with a 37-26 win over Kutztown Saturday night at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The win was the 100th at home for head coach George Mihalik and marked the sixth straight season in which The Rock has won their season-opener.
 
Slippery Rock finished the game with an advantage of 493-368 in total yardage after producing 289 passing yards and 204 rushing yards. Kutztown was held to just 10 rushing yards and was forced to throw the ball 64 times, competing 33 passes for 358 yards.
 
Shamar Greene ran for a career-high 195 yards on 19 carries to lead The Rock offensive attack. He scored both his touchdowns on runs of more than 50 yards with 51-yard and 58-yard rushes and finished the game with an incredible 10.3 yards per carry average.
 
Zack Newsock finished the game with 26 completions on 49 attempts, 297 yards, one TD and one interception. The 297 yards are the third most by a quarterback in a season-opener in the 27 years George Mihalik has been the head coach. He also becomes only the ninth SRU quarterback since 1990 to throw for more than 285 yards in at least one game.
 
Newsock connected with eight different receivers in the game, led by Taishan Tucker, who caught six passes for 76 yards. Drew Scales pulled in five passes for 94 yards, Jaimire Dutriuille caught four passes for 42 yards and Leroy McClain caught four passes for 41 yards and a touchdown.
 
The defensive effort was led by Austin Miele, who recorded 12 total tackles, one sack and two tackles for a loss in his first game as a linebacker. Bob Vernick made 10 tackles and Marcus Martin made nine tackles, including two sacks.
 
Mike Wainauskis was a difference maker in the game for Slippery Rock, finishing his night perfect in kick attempts. He booted field goals of 27, 23 and 22 yards and made all four point after tries.
 
On the other side of the field, Kutztown struggled at the kicking position. The Golden Bears missed the first extra point try and also missed two field goal attempts inside 30 yards.
 
Kutztown quarterback Chad Barton finished the game 33-of-64 for 358 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
 
Nathan Hollander led the receiving corps with 10 catches for 48 yards, while Anthony Kelly pulled down five passes for team-highs of 84 yards and two touchdowns for the Golden Bears. The third touchdown went to Kodi Reed.
 
The visitors struggled to run the ball all night against a new starting front four for Slippery Rock. Darrell Scott led the way with eight carries for 31 yards, while James Wah Jr. added 13 carries for 12 yards. Barton was tackled for losses of 31 yards behind scrimmage to bring the net total to just 10 rushing yards.
 
Sam Dougan led the Golden Bears defensive effort with nine tackles and two tackles for a loss, while English Peay and Drake Brumfield each finished with seven tackles.
 
Kutztown finished the game with more than a 10-minute advantage in time of possession, keeping the ball for 35:26 compared to The Rock's 24:34.
 
The season got off on the wrong foot for Slippery Rock after falling into a hole early when Kutztown scored just over three minutes into the first quarter on a broken special teams play. Andrew Huska fumbled the snap on his second punt attempt and Kutztown recovered in the end zone to make it 6-0 with 11:49 to play in the opening quarter.
 
The Rock offense struggled to move the ball for much of the first quarter and Kutztown was able to capitalize with good field position. The Golden Bears also benefited from multiple penalty calls, including a pass interference on a long fourth down attempt from near midfield. That call kept a drive alive and set up the second score of the game when Barton hit Reed in the end zone for a 24-yard TD to make it 13-0 with 3:46 to play in the first quarter.
 
The visitors took advantage of an interception early in the second half and marched down the field to make it 20-0 when Barton connected with Kelly for a 37-yard TD with 13:38 left in the first half.
 
From there, it was all Slippery Rock until the final play of the game. The Rock defense held Kutztown to less than 100 yards of offense from that point until the Golden Bears final drive in the last two minutes.
 
Slippery Rock started chipping away at the deficit when Wainauskis booted his first field goal from 27 yards out with 12:05 to play before halftime.
 
The deficit shrank to 20-10 with 3:22 to play in the half when Newsock connected with McClain from 19 yards out for the first passing touchdown of the season.
 
Wainauskis kicked his second field goal of the game, this time from 23 yards out, with 35 seconds left in the first half to send it to halftime with Kutztown leading 20-13.
 
The lone score in the third quarter came from Teddy Blakeman, who broke free for a 26 yard rushing TD to tie the game at 20-20 with 11:57 to play in the quarter.
 
Neither team could generate much offense for the final 12 minutes of the third quarter, but Slippery Rock snapped that trend in a big way in the fourth quarter, scoring 17 straight points to break the game open.
 
Wainauskis gave the Green and White their first lead of the game, 23-20, with 11:37 to play when he kicked his third field goal, a 22-yarder.
 
Greene took care of the rest, first breaking free for a 58 yard TD run with 7:35 to play to make it 30-20. That looked like it would be the final score, before he slipped through the line again and rushed for a 53 yard TD with 1:51 to play to make it 37-20 and cap a total of 37 unanswered points.
 
Kutztown scored on the final play of the game when Barton connected with Kelly from 26 yards out as time expired. The officials counted the play but did not allow a point after attempt to account for the final 37-26 score.
 
Slippery Rock will hit the road for the next two weeks for mandated crossover games in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference. The Rock visits East Stroudsburg Sept. 13 for a 6 p.m. game and Millersville Sept. 20 for a 4 p.m. game before returning to Mihalik-Thompson Stadium for Homecoming, Sept. 27 at 2 p.m. against Seton Hill.
 
 
 
 
Notes: Mihalik improved his career record to 177-106-4 and improved his home record to 100-42 … The Rock won their sixth straight season opener and improved to 9-1 in home openers under Mihalik … Slippery Rock improved to 22-9 all-time under the lights at Mihalik-Thompson stadium in night games (lights installed in 2003) … Newsock is the ninth QB under Mihalik to pass for more than 285 yards … Newsock threw for the third most yards in a season-opener since 1990 … Saturday served as White Out night for SRU, which saw a packed stadium of 8,311 fans … Saturday was also Hall of Fame night as the 2014 class was inducted at a banquet earlier in the day … Mihalik is fourth among all Division II active head coaches in career wins and will play against the No. 2 person on that list next week in ESU head coach Dennis Douds (245 wins).