SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 11th ranked Slippery Rock University football team extended the longest home winning streak in Division II to 18 straight games with a hard fought 31-28 victory over the University of New Haven in the season opener Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The Rock (1-0) made sure the streak wouldn't end in the first game with new head coach Shawn Lutz on the sideline, but it took 17 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to complete the victory after New Haven (0-1) reeled off 28 unanswered points to lead 28-14 with 14:46 to play.
 
Slippery Rock was in control of the first quarter and got out to a 14-0 lead, but New Haven swung the momentum back in its favor midway through the second quarter and dominated the third, holding The Rock to just nine plays for 14 yards. 
 
After the Chargers scored their fourth touchdown of the game on the first play of the fourth quarter, Drew Scales returned the ensuing kickoff 64 yards to set up what would be a dominant fourth quarter effort from the hosts. Seven plays later, on fourth-and-goal from the nine-yard line, Don King III hit Marcus Johnson in the back of the end zone to make it 28-20 with 12:38 to play.
 
The defense forced a three-and-out on the next series to give the offense the chance to cut into the deficit for the second straight possession. Shamar Greene broke off a 31-yard run to highlight a 12-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a Jake Chapla 20-yard field goal to make it 28-23 with 7:47 to play.
 
New Haven got one first down on the next possession, but a school record-breaking sack from Marcus Martin ended the drive and forced a punt with 3:35 remaining.
 
The Rock marched down the field and looked like they scored the go-ahead points on a touchdown pass from King III to Cornelius Raye, but it was ruled that King III was over the line of scrimmage when he threw the ball. The loss of down and penalty yardage made it fourth-and-seven from the New Haven 35-yard line. With the game on the line, King III hit Johnson over the middle for 33 yards. Greene punched it in on the next play to put The Rock up 29-28 with 1:57 to play.
 
New Haven could do nothing to respond after back-to-back sacks set the Chargers up for fourth-and-30 on their own five-yard line. They decided to take a safety on purpose and try for an onside kick, but Tavarus Sample came out of the pile with the ball after the kick attempt to seal the win for SRU.
 
The Rock defense slammed the door on New Haven after the touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter, holding the visitors to negative 21 yards in the final 14:46 of the game, including 10 rushes for negative 6 yards, negative 15 yards in penalties and no completions.
 
The SRU defense was outstanding against the run all day, holding All-American running back Andre Anderson to just 30 yards on 13 carries. New Haven managed only 63 net rushing yards on 41 carries for an average of 1.5 yards per carry. The Rock finished with a 392-265 edge in total offense after running for 248 yards and throwing for 144 yards. New Haven threw for 202 yards to go along with its 63 yards on the ground.
 
Martin helped spearhead that dominant effort from the defense by breaking the all-time SRU record for career sacks. His 1.5 sacks give him a total of 33.0 after just two years and one game. That number is also just 0.5 sacks off the all-time PSAC record. He broke the former record of 32.0 that was held by SRU Hall of Famer Matt Kinsinger (1995-98). Martin finished with a team-high 11 tackles, including 4.0 for loss, to go along with the 1.5 sacks.
 
Greene was dominant from start to finish for SRU, racking up 162 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries, an average of 7.1 yards per touch. Included in that effort was the longest run of his career, a 71-yard touchdown early in the game. He is now just 17 yards away from breaking the all-time career rushing record at SRU.
 
Scales, who missed most of the 2015 season with an injury, had a coming out party in his first game back on the field. The dynamic slot receiver was a threat every time he touched the ball, finishing with a game-high 195 all-purpose yards, a number that would have been higher if a 52-yard punt return wasn't called back on an illegal block. He rushed for 21 yards and one touchdown on his lone carry, caught five passes for 73 yards, returned three punts for 37 yards and one kickoff for 64 yards.
 
King III struggled early in his first collegiate start, but settled in and guided the offense to the comeback win late. He finished 16-of-35 for 144 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He also ran eight times for 42 yards.
 
Johnson joned Scales in leading the receivers with five catches for 54 yards and one touchdown. Dominic Dingle added two catches for 15 yards and ran the ball five times for 28 yards.
 
Martin was joined in pacing the defense by newcomer Anthony Zappone, who introduced himself to Rock football by recording 11 tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and one interception. Bob Vernick added 10 tackles and Mike Kope chipped in eight stops, including one for loss. Cody Conway and Joe Phillips each recorded a half-sack and Kevin Green came away with two pass breakups.
 
The SRU special teams was a question mark entering the game with true freshmen at both kicking positions. Josiah Davis was solid in his debut as the punter, kicking six punts for an average of 41.7 yards per boot, including two kicks over 50 yards. Chapla made his only field goal attempt of the day, but also missed one extra point and put two kickoffs out of bounds.
 
New Haven was led by quarterback Ajee Patterson, who finished 12-of-26 for 202 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. He also added one rushing TD to account for all four of his team's scores. His top target was Ty Headen, who caught four passes for 137 yards and two scores. The Chargers' leading rusher was Lemar Thomas with 64 yards on 18 carries. All-American linebacker Tyler Condit led the team with a game-high 13 tackles.
 
Saturday's game marked the first in the Shawn Lutz era for Slippery Rock after Lutz took over the program following the retirement of his mentor George Mihalik after the 2015 season.
 
The victory was the 18th consecutive win at home for Slippery Rock, dating back to the final game of the 2012 season, and marked the eighth consecutive year the program has won its opening game.
 
The Rock will hit the road for the next two weeks for PSAC crossover games, first visiting West Chester next Saturday for a rematch of last year's PSAC title game.
 
 
NOTES: Shawn Lutz won his collegiate head coaching debut after spending 20 years as an assistant at SRU … The Rock increased the longest home winning streak in the country to 18 straight games … Marcus Martin broke the all-time career sack record at SRU and now has 33.0 sacks in just two years and one game … Martin needs just 1.0 sacks to break the all-time PSAC career record of 33.5 sacks set by West Chester's Andrew Cohen last year … Shamar Greene ran for 162 yards, his 21st career 100+ yard game and his 10th career game with more than 150 yards … Greene now has 3,916 career yards and needs just 17 yards to break the career rushing record at SRU (3,932 yards by Stan Kennedy) … He is just 84 yards away from becoming the first SRU player to ever reach 4,000 yards … SRU won its season opener for the eighth consecutive year, including the second straight year over New Haven … SRU is now 2-3 all-time against New Haven.