SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University football team held Kentucky State University to just three second half points and outscored the Thorobreds 31-3 over the final 34 minutes of the game to post a 38-31 comeback victory in the season opener Saturday from Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The victory gave Slippery Rock a season opening win for the 10th consecutive season and a win in its home opener for the 13th consecutive year. 
 
A revamped Kentucky State team that hired new offensive and defensive coordinators in the offseason shocked The Rock early on and controlled much of the game in the opening half. The Thorobreds opened up with a 75-yard touchdown run from Brett Sylve on third and long on the opening series of the game and poured it on in the running game in the first half, rushing for 236 yards and four touchdowns in the first 26 minutes. That dominance on the ground led to a 28-7 advantage on the scoreboard with 4:41 to play in the second quarter. 
 
Slippery Rock scored crucial points with a 10-yard touchdown run from Wes Hills with 30 seconds left in the half and then marched down the field and scored just one minute into the second half with a 40-yard TD pass from Andrew Koester to Mike Merhaut to keep the momentum. The Rock tied the game at 28-28 with 4:17 left in the third period after an 80-yard rush from Koester and capped a 28-0 run to take their first lead of the game, 35-28, after a three-yard TD catch by Austin Scott with 1:19 to play in the third.
 
Kentucky State stopped the bleeding but had to settle for a field goal with 8:23 to play after failing to punch it in with first and goal from the two-yard line. The Thorobreds opted for a 20-yard field goal on fourth down to cut it to 35-31.
 
Slippery Rock extended the lead back out to seven points with a 38-yard field goal from Jake Chapla with 48 seconds left and then sealed the game with an interception from Tavarus Sample, his second of the day, with 17 seconds left.
 
The Rock finished the day with 541 total yards of offense and a balanced attack that included 272 passing yards and 269 rushing yards. Kentucky State finished with 385 yards of total offense with most of it coming on the ground. The Throbreds rushed for 267 yards on 47 carries and threw for 118 yards on just 13 attempts. Most of that offensive production came in the first half as the SRU defense held Kentucky State to just 31 rushing yards and 128 total yards over the final 30 minutes.
 
Both teams turned the ball over multiple times in costly situations. Slippery Rock was intercepted once early in the first half to set up the second Kentucky State score and fumbled the ball away on the goal line while extending the ball out for scoring plays twice. The Thorobreds were intercepted twice, with Sample pulling down both picks in crucial spots in the game. His first interception was returned deep into KSU territory to set up the go-ahead touchdown and his second interception came on the final KSU play of the day.
 
Koester led the SRU offense in his first career start by passing for 272 yards and rushing for 87 yards to finish with 359 yards of total offense. His final line for the day read 14-of-26 for 272 yards with three touchdowns and one interception, while he also rushed for 87 yards on nine carries.
 
Wes Hills led a strong running attack in his first game at SRU, finishing with 164 rushing yards and one score and adding 17 receiving yards to finish with 181 all-purpose yards.
 
Koester connected with eight different targets on the day with no receiver catching more passes than the three pulled in by Hills. Henry Litwin caught two balls for 84 yards, including a 57-yard TD that was the first of his career. Austin Scott caught two passes for 50 yards and one score, Jermaine Wynn Jr. caught two passes for 37 yards, Dakota Clanagan caught two balls for 35 yards and Merhaut finished with one 40-yard grab for his first career TD.
 
The Rock defense was paced by Sample with his two interceptions and a defensive line that helped SRU pile up 17.0 tackles for loss on the day. Jeff Marx finished with a team-high eight total tackles, including 2.0 TFL. Wilford Clark added seven stops and 3.0 TFL, while Trey Blandford finished with 2.5 TFL. Dylan Whiteman added 3.0 TFL and Trysten McDonald had 2.0 TFL.
 
Kentucky State was led by Sylve, who rushed for 146 yards and two scores, and quarterback Jules St. Ge, who rushed for 126 yards and two touchdowns and threw for 118 yards on 10-of-12 passing with one interception. Jordan Level caught three passes for 45 yards and Malik Sanders added three grabs for 41 yards. Defensive lineman Chris Roberts led the defense with 3.0 TFL and one sack, while David Daniels finished with one forced fumble and two fumble recoveries and Zuriel Rudolph recorded one interception.
 
Slippery Rock will now turn its focus to Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference crossover play with a road trip to Shippensburg University next Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff. The Raiders, who opened with a win over Clarion Saturday, are coming off a 10-win season in 2017 that ended with a trip to the NCAA playoffs.
 

NOTES: Slippery Rock head coach Shawn Lutz improved to 16-7 overall and 3-0 in season openers … SRU won its first game of the season for the 10th straight year and won its first home game of the season for the 13th straight year … The Rock improved to 2-0 all-time against Kentucky State and improved to 40-6 at home since the beginning of the 2010 season … Andrew Koester started his first career game at QB for SRU and rallied back from a 28-7 deficit to pick up his first win … Koester rushed for an 80-yard TD in the second half, marking the longest SRU rushing TD in nearly 10 years dating back to an 80-yard run by Ryan Lahmeier against Cal U in 2008 … SRU started eight players on offense that were not starters last season … Jake Chapla made 5 extra points to bring his career tally to 97, moving him up to sixth all-time at SRU … Chapla also made his 23rd career field goal and is now 13 shy of the career record of 35 made field goals.
 

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