EDINBORO, Pa. – The 17th ranked Slippery Rock University football team dropped its second straight game with a 49-39 road loss at Edinboro University Saturday in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division action.
 
The Rock (6-2, 3-2 PSAC) played without both of their offensive captains in star wide receiver Milly Raye and top offensive lineman Ian Park, but still broke multiple records on the offensive side of the ball and put up just shy of 600 yards on the day. The defense couldn't contain Edinboro (5-3, 3-2), however, as the Scots picked up first downs on 10-of-13 series that included a third down (8-of-13 on 3rd down, 2-of-2 on 4th down) and rushed for 254 yards, including a 98-yard touchdown.
 
Slippery Rock never led in the game after Edinboro jumped out to a 14-0 lead less than five minutes in. The Rock rallied numerous times, including tying the game 21-21 with 51 seconds left before halftime, but the Scots took the momentum back each time. The biggest swing of the day came when Kyle Hall intercepted a pass near midfield with 40 seconds to play in the first half. With three timeouts left and the offense humming, it looked as if SRU would have a chance to take its first lead of the day right before the break, but an interception and an extra 15-yard penalty for sideline interference on the return set Edinboro up at the 12-yard line with 10 seconds left. The Scots converted a TD pass to take a 28-21 lead into the break.
 
Edinboro pushed the advantage out to as much as 42-24 with 5:44 to play in the second half after Walter Fletcher broke through an arm tackle in his own end zone and rushed for 98 yards and a score.
 
Still, SRU responded on the offensive side of the ball. Tanner Garry connected with Marcus Johnson to cut the deficit to 11 points and then Chacar Berry rushed in to cap an 88-yard drive with 10:59 to play. After a two-point conversion pass to Zach Cirillo was good, SRU trailed 42-39.
 
Edinboro stopped the momentum swing and scored on a jump ball pass thrown up in the end zone with 7:25 to play to retake a 10-point lead. The Rock started the next drive inside their own one-yard line and marched 97 yards to the Edinboro two-yard line, but had a touchdown negated on a holding call that bumped the ball back and forced SRU to settle for a 34-yard field goal attempt. The kick went wide right with 2:47 to play, sealing the win for the hosts.
 
Penalties were an issue all day for both teams with SRU finishing with 10 penalties for 108 yards, including two that negated scoring plays and six that resulted in first downs for the Edinboro offense, while the Scots were called for 13 penalties for 109 yards as the teams combined for 23 penalties and 217 yards.
 
Slippery Rock finished the game with a school a school record 28 passing first downs and a total of 40 first downs in the game. Garry broke the individual and team single-game records for completions (41) and attempts (61), which were previously held by John Linhart (35-for-58) against Clarion in 1992. The former record for passing first downs was set earlier this year when SRU recorded 25 at Gannon. Garry finished 41-of-61 for 488 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed for 25 yards to finish with 513 yards of total offense.
 
Marcus Johnson had another big game to lead the receivers as he caught a career-high 14 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns. Dylan Stapleton started in place of Raye and had his best career game, catching eight passes for 89 yards. Mike Merhaut also had career-highs of five catches for 78 yards in the other slot position and Andrew Bridgeforth caught four passes for 53 yards before leaving the game with an injury. Brian McNally caught two passes for 30 yards and one touchdown.
 
Berry and Isiah Neely both rushed for one TD with Berry finishing with 45 yards and Neely rushing for 28 yards.
 
Tavarus Sample and Dylan Whiteman finished with 11 tackles each to lead the SRU defense. Whiteman and Hall each had one interception. Marcus Martin was credited with just three tackles on the day, but was in the backfield most of the game and had four QB hurries and three knockdowns.
 
Fletcher paced the Edinboro offense with 241 rushing yards and four touchdowns on 25 carries. Quarterback Jake Sisson, who did not play last week and wasn't even listed on the two-deep this week, started and completed 24-of-35 passes for 284 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. James Clark caught nine passes for 128 yards and one score and Ta'Nauz Gregory caught eight passes for 104 yards and two scores.
 
Slippery Rock will find out how much damage the upset loss caused when the first set of NCAA regional rankings are unveiled Monday. Entering the weekend, SRU was in a prime position to be included in one of the top five positions in Super Region One. The top seven teams in the rankings after week 11 are the seven national qualifiers.
 
The Rock will look to get back on track next Saturday when Clarion visits for a 1 p.m. kickoff at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium. SRU will honor its senior class in a pregame ceremony.
 
 
NOTES: Slippery Rock and QB Tanner Garry broke school records for pass completions (41), attempts (61) and first downs (28) … the former records for completions and attempts were 35 and 58, set by John Linhart against Clarion in 1992 … the former record for passing first downs in a game was 25, set earlier this season against Gannon … Garry's season numbers are now 203-for-328 (62%) for 2,832 yards (354.0 per game) with 26 touchdowns through eight games … he moved up to third all-time at SRU in single-season TD passes, third in passing yards, fifth in completions and fifth in attempts with at least three games left in the season … Marcus Johnson reached exactly 1,000 receiving yards on the year and is the sixth SRU receiver to ever hit that milestone in a season … he is 484 yards shy of the single-season record … Johnson now has 12 TD catches on the year, which ranks third on the SRU single-season ledger … Johnson also went over 2,000 career yards and now sits at 120 catches for 2,024 yards and 26 touchdowns … he ranks second all-time at SRU in TD catches (two off the record of 28), ninth in catches and seventh in yards … Marcus Martin finished without a sack or a TFL for the first time this season … his D2 career records stay at 50.0 sacks and 84.0 TFL … he needs 3.5 sacks over the final three games to tie the NCAA all-division record of 53.5.
 
 

To stay up to date with all that happens at The Rock, follow our official athletic communication accounts on Twitter (@Rock_Athletics), Facebook (RockAthletics), Instagram (RockAthletics) and Snapchat (@RockAthletics).