SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The eighth ranked Slippery Rock University football team advanced to the NCAA Division II Semifinals with a thrilling 65-59 victory over 13th ranked Notre Dame College (Ohio) Saturday from Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The Rock improve to 13-0 with the win, establishing a new program record for single-season victories. Slippery Rock advances to the national semifinals for the second time ever and the first time since 1998 and will get to stay home for the semifinals after the NCAA awarded SRU a No. 2 seed. The Rock will host No. 3 seed Minnesota State next Saturday with a 12:30 p.m. kickoff in the national semifinals. Notre Dame (Ohio) finishes its season with a 12-2 overall record.
 
Saturday's game was wild from the opening minutes as the two teams combined to score 42 points in the first 8:59. Notre Dame scored with a 57-yard touchdown pass from Chris Brimm to Zaire Mitchell just 1:10 in and added another score after an 81-yard pass set up a short TD run on its next series to lead 14-0 after less than five minutes.
 
Slippery Rock answered with a 70-yard touchdown pass from Roland Rivers III to Henry Litwin to cut the deficit to 14-7 less than a minute later, but Notre Dame retook a 14-point lead on the next play from scrimmage when Brimm connected with Marvelle Ross for an 85-yard touchdown pass that made it 21-7 with 9:01 to play in the quarter.
 
Slippery Rock needed less than a minute to score again when Rivers connected with Jermaine Wynn Jr. from five yards out after a 50-yard pass to Wynn set up the scoring play.
 
The Rock then tied the game at 21-21 with 6:01 left in the quarter when Rivers hit Wynn from 14 yards out after Dalton Holt ripped the ball away from a Notre Dame running back for the first turnover of the day.
 
Slippery Rock's offense then had a punt blocked deep in its own territory that Notre Dame recovered at the 22-yard line, but the Falcons settled for a field goal to lead 24-21 inside the final minute of the opening quarter, accounting for the last points in a 45-point quarter. 
 
The Rock retook the lead early in the second quarter with a seven-yard TD pass from Rivers to Litwin that made it 28-24 with 10:31 to play in the half, but Notre Dame wasted no time in answering when Ross took the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown to put the Falcons back on top 31-28 with 10:13 to play in the second.
 
Slippery Rock put together its best stretch of defense in the game from there on out, holding Notre Dame under 40 total yards the final 10 minutes and allowing the offense to open the game up.
 
The Rock closed the final 10 minutes of the half with a 21-0 swing to take a 49-31 lead into halftime. Rivers threw a short TD pass to Charles Snorweah for the first of those scores with 7:51 to play. Snorweah then punched in a one-yard TD run with 4:44 to play and Rivers hit Litwin from 22 yards out for the final points of the half with just 51 seconds left in the second.
 
Slippery Rock settled for a 32-yard field goal from Jake Chapla to open the third quarter to push the lead to 52-31 with 10:23 to play before the track meet began.
 
The two teams would combine for 41 more points the rest of the way, trading momentum swings the whole time. Slippery Rock would never trail and Notre Dame would never tie the game, but the Falcons pushed the hosts all the way to the end.
 
Notre Dame stopped the 24-0 run when Jaleel McLaughlin broke free for a 67-yard touchdown run that made it 52-38 with 9:11 to play in the third.
 
Slippery Rock pushed the advantage back out to 21 points on its next series when Rivers rushed in from one-yard out to cap a 65-yard drive that made it 59-38 with 5:43 to play in the third.
 
The Falcons put some pressure on from there, scoring back-to-back touchdowns with Brimm hitting Ross from seven yards out to close the third quarter and finding Mitchell from 19 yards out to open the fourth. Those two strikes cut the SRU lead to 59-52 and made it a one-possession game again.
 
Slippery Rock scored the decisive points after a special teams miscue from the Falcons. Ross called for a fair catch on a long punt, but bobbled the ball and Reggie Mays Jr. dove on it at the Notre Dame 15-yard line to set SRU up with a short field. Rivers rushed in for his eighth total TD of the game to make it 65-52 with 9:47 to play after the PAT was blocked.
 
Notre Dame answered on its next series with a 24-yard TD pass from Brimm to McLaughlin that cut the lead to 65-59 with 6:29 to play.
 
Slippery Rock was stopped on fourth down at the Notre Dame 35-yard line with 1:52 to play, giving Notre Dame one final chance at a game-winning drive, but The Rock defense got pressure on four straight plays and sealed the game on fourth down when Chad Kuhn hit Brimm while he was throwing, forcing an interception that was pulled down by Shane Schuback. The Rock picked up one first down and took two knees to end the game.
 
Rivers was sensational in leading The Rock offense, putting up 443 yards of total offense and accounting for eight touchdowns with no turnovers. He completed 27-of-47 passes for a career-high 436 yards with six touchdowns while also rushing for seven yards and two scores. In two NCAA Playoff games this year, Rivers has thrown for 852 yards with 10 touchdowns and no interceptions while also rushing for three scores.
 
Litwin finished with career-highs of 12 catches for 203 yards and three touchdowns, setting the SRU single-season reception record along the way (92). Wynn caught seven passes for 87 yards and two touchdowns and Cinque Sweeting caught five passes for 132 yards.
 
Snorweah rushed for 103 yards and one touchdown and also caught one touchdown for his first back-to-back 100-yard rushing performances of the season.

Schuback led the SRU defensive effort with 4.0 tackles for loss, 13 total tackles, one sack and one interception. Holt finished with a career-high 15 total tackles to lead all players in the game. He also forced and recovered one fumble. Brad Zaffram fnished with seven tackles, Eric Glover-Williams added six stops and Jeff Marx had two tackles for loss and one sack.
 
Slippery Rock finished the game with 586 yards of total offense with 468 passing yards and 118 rushing yards.
 
Notre Dame went for 548 yards of total offense after throwing for 360 yards and rushing for 188 yards.
 
Brimm completed 14-of-26 passes for 360 yards with five touchdowns and one interception. Ross caught three passes for 108 yards and two scores, Mitchell caught five passes for 99 yards and two scores and McLaughlin rushed for 126 yards and two scores while catching two passes for 34 yards and one score.
 
Slippery Rock will now turn its focus hosting undefeated Minnesota State in the national semifinals next Saturday at 12:30 p.m.
 
NOTES: Slippery Rock set a school record for wins in a season (13), topping the 1998 and 2015 teams that finished 12-2 … SRU improved to 9-7 all-time in the NCAA Division II Playoffs and 7-1 in home playoff games … The Rock advance to the semifinals for the second time in program history and the first time since 1998 … SRU improved to 38-3 at home since the beginning of the 2013 season and 69-15 at home since 2005 … Roland Rivers III threw for a career-high 436 yards, topping his former career-high of 416 yards he set last week in the second round … Rivers has 852 passing yards, 10 TDs and no interceptions in two playoff games so far while also rushing for three scores … he increased his SRU single-season records to 301 completions, 4,261 passing yards, 50 passing TDs, 327.8 passing yards per game and 4,892 total offensive yards … Rivers also increased his SRU career TD passing record to 78 in just 25 games … Henry Litwin increased his SRU single-season TD receptions record to 19 and is now just one TD catch shy of the SRU career record of 28, set by Greg Hopkins and Marcus Johnson … Litwin had a career-high three TD catches and now has seven games with at least two TD catches this season … he also moved ahead of teammate Jermaine Wynn Jr. for the single-season receptions record and now has 92 catches to Wynn's 90 this season … Wynn caught two TD passes and now ranks tied for second in single-season TD catches at SRU with 15 this fall … they both went over 1,300 yards for the season, moving into second and third on the SRU ledger with Litwin (1,360) sitting second and Wynn (1,320) sitting third … Jake Chapla booted his 51st career field goal and increased his SRU records to 236 PATs made, 51 FGs made and 389 points … SRU head coach Shawn Lutz improved to 39-10 in his fourth season.



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