CLARION, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University football team remained unbeaten in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division and stayed in in first place in the division with a 28-13 victory on the road at Clarion University Saturday.
 
The Rock (7-1, 5-0 PSAC) fought off a sloppy performance that included three turnovers and 15 penalties for 163 yards, in part thanks to a dominant defensive effort. Clarion (4-4, 2-3 PSAC) got its only touchdown of the game with a one-yard drive after a gift from SRU resulted in an interception that was returned to just shy of the goal line, setting up a TD plunge two plays later.
 
Clarion scored the first three points of the game, but Slippery Rock responded with a 21-0 run and was never really challenged the rest of the way, despite allowing Clarion to hang around for most of the second half. After the Golden Eagles cut the deficit to 14-10 early in the second half following the SRU interception, The Rock responded with a touchdown drive to extend the lead back out to at least two possessions, where it remained the rest of the game.
 
Slippery Rock did its damage offensively on the ground, running through one of the nation's best defensive units. Clarion entered the game ranked 11th in the nation with opponents averaging just 87.6 rushing yards per game and the Golden Eagles had not allowed a single 100-yard rusher in seven weeks. SRU had a player over 100 yards before the first half ended. Wes Hills rushed for 106 yards and one TD on just 10 carries in the first half and finished the day with 206 rushing yards. Slippery Rock rushed for a total of 288 yards, threw for 217 yards and finished the game with 505 total yards after Clarion had not allowed any team more than 409 yards of offense through the first seven weeks.
 
Clarion was held to just 214 yards of total offense, including 161 passing yards and 53 rushing yards.
 
Hills became the first SRU running back to top 200 yards in a single-game in more than four years and added five catches for 24 yards to finish with 230 yards of total offense and one touchdown.
 
Roland Rivers III completed 17-of-29 passes for 217 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions on the way to improving to 6-0 as the SRU starting quarterback. He added 72 rushing yards on just 11 carries to finish with 299 yards of total offense. Rivers hit seven different receivers in the game, led by Jermaine Wynn Jr. with six catches for 90 yards and two touchdowns. Austin Scott had one 36-yard grab, Henry Litwin had a 25-yard grab and Zach Cirillo caught two passes for 22 yards.
 
Tim Vernick led the defensive effort with 12 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, one sack and one forced fumble. Brad Zaffram added 10 tackles and one TFL, Chad Kuhn had eight stops, 1.5 TFL and one sack, Tim Soave had seven tackles and 1.5 TFL, Trey Blandford had one sack and one fumble recovery and Dalton Holt forced one fumble. The Rock defense combined for 11 tackles for loss, three sacks and five QB hurries and had two interceptions taken away, one for an inadvertent whistle and one for a penalty away from the play.
 
Clarion was led by starting QB Jeff Clemens, who completed 12-of-25 passes for 109 yards and rushed for 39 yards on eight carries. Running back Mylique McGriff, who rushed for more than 100 yards last year against SRU, was held to 27 yards on 19 carries while scoring the lone TD of the game from the one-yard line. Mark Lewis caught five passes for 66 yards.
 
Slippery Rock will now turn its focus to a road trip to California (Pa.) next Saturday, where a victory would lock up the PSAC West title and guarantee a home game in the PSAC Championship Nov. 10.
 

NOTES: Slippery Rock improved to 8-1 against Clarion since the "Milk Jug" trophy was introduced to the rivalry in 2010 … Clarion's lone win since the trophy was introduced was at home in 2016 … The Rock improved to 54-24-3 all-time against Clarion … SRU stayed in sole possession of first place in the PSAC West at 5-0 and can lock up the division title with a win next Saturday at California (Pa.) … Roland Rivers III improved to 6-0 as the SRU starting QB and has now accounted for 25 touchdowns and five turnovers in six games … Rivers' three TD passes today gives him 19 on the year, which ties for the ninth most in a single-season in SRU history … Wes Hills rushed for more than 100 yards for the third time in the four full games he has played in … Hills finished with a season-high 206 rushing yards with an average of 7.6 yards per carry …. It marked the first time an SRU running back had rushed for 200 or more yards since Shamar Greene ran for 238 against Millersville Sept. 20, 2014 … Jermaine Wynn Jr. caught two TD passes to mark the second straight game with at least two TDs … he has five TD catches in the last two weeks …  Jake Chapla made all four of his PAT kicks to stay perfect on the year at 42-of-42 … Chapla has now made 73 straight PATs and has made 134 in his career, moving into a tie for third all-time at SRU … he also passed Shamar Greene for eighth all-time in career scoring and now has 227 points.


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