ERIE, Pa. – Slippery Rock University kicker Jake Chapla set the program's all-time career scoring record on the way to helping 10th ranked Slippery Rock remain undefeated with a 45-14 win at Mercyhurst University Saturday in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division game from Saxon Stadium.
 
The Rock improve to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in PSAC West action, setting up a massive Homecoming showdown next Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium against No. 19 Indiana (Pa.). Mercyhurst dropped to 2-3 overall and 0-2 in PSAC West games with the loss.
 
Chapla entered Saturday's game needing just four points to break the SRU career scoring record of 318 points, which was set by Stan Kennedy in 2000. It took less than one quarter to achieve that after Chapla booted two extra points and a 37-yard field goal in the opening period to set the mark. He finished the game with nine points to increase the record to 324 career points. Chapla now has his sights set on the all-time PSAC scoring record for a kicker, which currently stands at 361 points (Bloomsburg's Dan Fisher).
 
Slippery Rock scored touchdowns on its first two offensive possessions and jumped out to a 24-0 lead before Mercyhurst got on the board with an interception returned for a touchdown in the second quarter. The Lakers added a long touchdown pass on fourth and 10 later in the second to cut it to 24-14, but SRU answered with a 21-0 run and shut the hosts out in the second half to cruise to the win.
 
The Rock offense put together its most balanced effort of the year and finished with 416 total yards with 211 rushing yards and 205 passing yards. The defense limited Mercyhurst to just seven points on offense and held the Lakers to 162 total yards, which included -12 rushing yards and 174 passing yards.
 
The SRU defense also came up with four turnovers as Tyree Spearman, Dalton Holt, Eric Glover-Williams and Aaron Morton all picked off passes.
 
Roland Rivers III accounted for 248 total yards and five touchdowns in leading the offense. Rivers rushed for 42 yards and one score and completed 23-of-31 passes for 206 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions, marking his first turnovers of the season. The first interception in the second quarter ended a streak of 136 consecutive pass attempts without a turnover for Rivers.
 
Jermaine Wynn Jr. caught seven passes for 82 yards and one touchdown and also returned a punt 70 yards for a touchdown to finish the day with 184 all-purpose yards. The punt return TD was the first return touchdown for an SRU player since the 2017 season.
 
Henry Litwin, Qaadir Dixon and Colton Richards all caught one touchdown pass and Charles Snorweah rushed for 79 yards on 15 carries to lead the running backs. Braden Fochtman added 54 yards on the ground and DeSean Dinkins rushed for 37 yards.
 
The Rock defense finished with nine tackles for loss and four sacks, led by Brad Zaffram with two tackles for loss and one sack. Chad Kuhn finished with 1.5 tackles for loss and 1.0 sack and Gavin Vargesko and Garrett de Bien each finished with 1.0 sack. Khadir Roberts and Trysten McDonald led the team with five total tackles.
 
Mercyhurst got 54 receiving yards and one touchdown from running back Garrett Owens and an 18-yard interception return for a touchdown from Joseph Scro. Starting QB Doug Altavilla completed 13-of-23 passes for 93 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. Backup Michael Lowery threw for 81 yards and two interceptions.
 
Slippery Rock will return to action at home next Saturday, Oct. 12, with a 2 p.m. kickoff against No. 19 Indiana (Pa.) as the highlight event of the annual Homecoming Weekend.
 
NOTES: Jake Chapla scored nine points to break the SRU career scoring record after increasing his total to 324 points, topping the former record of 318 points that was set by Stan Kennedy in 2000 … Chapla was perfect for the second week in a row, booting a 37-yard field goal and connecting on all six of his PAT kicks … Roland Rivers III accounted for at least four touchdowns for the fifth straight game after throwing for four TDs and rushing for one … his streak of pass attempts without an interception ended at 136 … Rivers has now thrown 51 TD passes in just 17 games at Slippery Rock, becoming the third player in program history to reach 50 career TD passes … he needs just 10 more to break the SRU career record of 60, set by Nate Crookshank in 2007 … Rivers has thrown for 1,620 yards with 23 touchdowns and two INTs this year while also rushing for four TDs to account for 27 TDs in five games without playing a full four quarters yet … Jermaine Wynn Jr. returned a punt 70 yards for a TD, which was the first SRU kick or punt return TD since Milly Raye returned a punt against Seton Hill on Nov. 4, 2017 … Wynn and Henry Litwin both caught one TD pass and have at least one TD catch in all five games this season … they both moved into a tie for 9th on the SRU career TD list with 16 touchdown catches … SRU improved to 8-4 all-time against Mercyhurst and won its fifth straight game in the series … Shawn Lutz improved to 31-10 as SRU head coach.
 



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