BROOKVILLE, N.Y. – The Slippery Rock University football team went on the road to undefeated 13th ranked LIU Post and came away with a 20-14 victory in the opening round of the NCAA Division II playoffs Saturday at Bethpage Federal Credit Union Stadium.
 
Seventh seed Slippery Rock improves to 10-2 on the year and picks up the first road playoff win in program history after previously going 0-6 in Division II playoff road games. Second seed LIU Post finishes its year at 10-1.
 
Slippery Rock advances to the second round of the playoffs and will travel to sixth seed New Haven next Saturday, Nov. 24, after the Chargers upset No. 9 West Chester 35-28 on the road Saturday in the opening round. In fact, all three road teams in Super Region One were victorious in the opening round as fifth seed Hillsdale also defeated fourth seed Kutztown.
 
The Rock jumped out to a 7-0 lead just 16 seconds into the game and never trailed the rest of the way. Roland Rivers III hit Jermaine Wynn Jr. with a screen pass that Wynn took 75 yards for a touchdown on the first play.
 
Rivers threw interceptions deep in The Rock's own territory on back-to-back passes in the first quarter, but the SRU defense slammed the door each time and didn't allow LIU Post to tie the game. Tyree Spearman intercepted a pass in the end zone after the first SRU turnover and the defense forced a short field goal after the second pick to keep SRU out front 7-3 with 6:30 to play in the opening period.
 
Jake Chapla took over sole possession of first place on the SRU career field goal list with his 36th career field goal from 25 yards out to make it 10-3 with 10:28 to play in the second quarter and The Rock added to the lead on their next possession when Wes Hill broke through the line and raced 41 yards for a touchdown to make it 17-3 with 7:58 to play in the half.
 
LIU Post benefited from a fumbled punt snap by SRU late in the half that gave the Pioneers their third short field of the half. The Rock defense held inside the 10 yard line again and forced another short field goal with four seconds left to send it to the break at 17-6.
 
SRU allowed just 92 yards of total offense in the first half while putting up 231 yards. Hills rushed for 122 yards in the first 30 minutes after LIU Post entered the day allowing just 93 rushing yards per game.
 
Both defenses settled in during the third period and neither team would add any points. LIU Post moved the ball with much more success than the first half, but was intercepted in the end zone to stall one drive and was stopped short on fourth and one in the red zone to end the best scoring chance of the period.
 
The Pioneers found their first touchdown early in the fourth after a short punt set them up at the SRU 47-yard line. Chris Laviano threw a two-yard TD pass and then converted the 2-point conversion to make it 17-14 with 11:58 to play.
 
The Rock tacked on a crucial field goal with 8:01 to play when Chapla booted a 41-yarder into the wind to extend the lead to 20-14. That proved vital as LIU Post got near the red zone late in the period and could not settle for a field goal, turning the ball over after a fourth down incompletion on the SRU 30-yard line to seal the outcome.
 
Slippery Rock's defense was outstanding all day and held LIU Post to 343 yards of total offense, including just 10 rushing yards. Laviano attempted 61 passes on the day, completing 29 for 333 yards with two interceptions, which both came in the end zone. Spearman grabbed the first pick in the first quarter and Dalton Holt came up with one in the third quarter to keep LIU Post form scoring. The Rock's offense put up 355 total yards, including 192 rushing yards against the nation's 10th best rushing defense.
 
Hills rushed for 167 yards and one touchdown to lead the ground game. Rivers threw for 163 yards with one touchdown and also rushed for 48 yards. Wynn Jr. caught eight passes for a career-high 155 yards with one touchdown.
 
Tim Vernick and Brad Zaffram were credited with eight tackles each to lead the defense. Vernick added two tackles for loss and one sack. Trysten McDonald was credited with six tackles and one tackle for loss. Tim Soave picked up two tackles for loss and Jahnaaman Boone added one sack. Spearman and Holt both added two pass breakups to go along with their interceptions.
 
Laviano threw for 333 yards with one TD and two INT for LIU Post. Michael Richardson caught 10 passes for 150 yards and Jake Bofshever caught six passes for 83 yards and one score. Running back Malik Pierre was held to 28 yards on 18 carries.
 
Slippery Rock is now one of just 16 teams left in the Division II playoffs  and will turn its focus to next week's second round game at New Haven. Game time will be announced Monday, but is likely to be noon or 1 p.m.
 

NOTES: SRU won its first road NCAA playoff game after entering the game 0-6 in its previous road playoff games … SRU improves to 6-6 all-time in NCAA Division II playoff games … SRU defeated its second nationally ranked opponent of the year and was playing against an undefeated team for the second week in a row … Jake Chapla kicked two field goals to bring his season total to 15, setting a new program record for single-season field goals … he also took over sole possession of the career record and has now made 37 field goals in three years … Chapla's eight points bring his career total to 259 points … Roland Rivers III improved to 9-1 as the SRU starting QB … his 23 passing TD rank fifth in single-season history at SRU and his 2,295 yards rank sixth … Wes Hills rushed for more than 150 yards for the fifth time in nine complete games played … he now has 1,372 rushing yards, which ranks eighth in single-season history at SRU … Jermaine Wynn Jr. moved up to 10th on the single-season TD reception list with his 8th TD catch, which was the longest TD reception of the season for SRU (75 yards) … SRU completed passes to a season-low three players ... Mike Merhaut's streak of 21 straight games with a catch was snapped ... SRU improved to 2-2 all-time against LIU Post and was playing the Pioneers for the first time since 2010.