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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 18th ranked Slippery Rock University football team jumped out to a 17-0 halftime lead and cruised to a 40-14 win over Gannon University on Homecoming Saturday in a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division game from Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
Slippery Rock improves to 6-1 overall and 3-1 in PSAC West action with its eighth straight win in the series against Gannon. The Golden Knights drop to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in PSAC West games and fall out of a tie with IUP atop the division standings.
 
The Rock pitched a first half shutout and limited the division leaders to just 98 total yards of offense in the opening half. SRU found the end zone twice on offense and booted a field goal to jump out to a 17-0 lead at the break.
 
After a 38-yard kickoff return from Cohen Russell to open the second half, running back Chris D'Or busted free for a 61-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage and the rout was on.
 
Gannon struggled to run the football all day and was forced almost exclusively to the passing game in the second half.
 
The Rock finished the game with a 371-296 advantage in total offense on a day where winds gusting near 20 miles per hour made moving the ball difficult. SRU rushed for 169 yards and threw for 202 yards. Gannon was limited to negative nine rushing yards on 22 attempts for -0.4 yards per carry. The Golden Knights threw for 305 yards on 40 attempts.
 
Gannon scored a late touchdown against the SRU reserve defense, but mustered very little offensive production against The Rock starters. The Golden Knights entered the game averaging 31.5 points per game, 181.7 rushing yards per game and had thrown only one interception through six weeks, but managed only 14 points, negative nine rushing yards and threw two picks. Jalen Dangerfield pulled down a second interception in the last two weeks and Josh Stokes also picked off a pass.
 
The defensive dominance started up front for SRU, where D.J. Adediwura wreaked havoc all afternoon. The senior defensive end finished with three solo sacks, including one in the end zone for a safety, four tackles for loss and one QB hurry. Munchie Johnson and Jeff Marx both tallied 1.5 sacks as the defense totaled six sacks on the day.
 
Linebacker Brandon Bischof had his best game at SRU with 10 tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss. Brandon Tuck-Hayden added four tackles, one tackle for loss and two pass breakups and Cottrell Hatchett recorded one tackle for loss.
 
The Rock offense was without three of the six wide receivers on its depth chart with Jacob Odom, Jawon Hall and Tyler Settle all missing the game with injuries. Still, Noah Grover completed 18-of-29 passes for 202 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions while leading the offense to a turnover-free performance.
 
Grover connected with seven different targets in the game, including Bryce Profitt, who saw his first meaningful action of the season and made it count when he grabbed a 21-yard touchdown pass for his first career catch at SRU. Profitt finished with two catches for 29 yards. Russell caught five passes for 52 yards and finished with 100 all-purpose yards. Kyle Sheets caught three passes for 35 yards, Kenyon Johnson caught two passes for 35 yards and D'Or grabbed three passes for 30 yards.
 
D'Or also rushed for 105 yards on 14 carries for his fourth 100-yard game of the season and finished with a game-high 135 all-purpose yards. Tim Smith rushed for 35 yards and one touchdown, Chris Wells rushed for 31 yards and Isaiah Edwards rushed for one touchdown.
 
DJ Opsatnik was perfect in the kicking game on a tough day for kickers, connecting on a 20-yard field goal and booting all five of his extra points. Kyle Butts also had his best performance of the season, averaging 42.4 yards per punt on five punts with two kicks inside the 20.
 
Gannon was led by QB Kory Curtis, who completed 23-of-40 passes for 305 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Donnell Mason caught five passes for 85 yards and Bransen Stanley and KeJohn Batiste each caught one TD. Antonio Wright led the ground game with 24 net yards on seven carries.
 
Slippery Rock will face its toughest remaining test in divisional play when it travels to California (Pa.) next Saturday for a 3:30 p.m. kickoff. The Vulcans have three losses on the year, but those three losses came to nationally ranked Shepherd and Indiana (Pa.) and defending PSAC champion Kutztown. California led by double digits in all three of those games at one point and lost all three by a combined nine total points.
 
GAME NOTES: Slippery Rock head coach Shawn Lutz improved to 54-15 as SRU head coach … The Rock improved to 56-26-4 all-time on Homecoming … SRU won its eighth straight game in the series against Gannon and has not lost to the Golden Knights since 2013 … SRU held Gannon without scoring in the first quarter and has now allowed just one touchdown and nine total points in the first quarter in seven weeks … SRU is outscoring opponents 128-29 in the first half of games this season … SRU improved to 4-0 at home this year and is now 46-5 at home since the beginning of the 2013 season … Noah Grover moved up to No. 8 on the all-time career list at SRU for completions with 274 after starting just 11 games … Grover also moved up to No. 10 in career passing yardage with 3,511 yards and moved up to No. 7 in career TD passes with 34 … DJ Opsatnik improved to 29-of-30 on PAT kicks this season and sits 10th all-time at SRU with 81 made PATs since the beginning of the 2021 season … Chris D'Or had his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season with 105 yards … D'Or is the first SRU running back since Wes Hills in 2018 to have at least four 100-yard games in a single-season … D.J. Adediwura's 4.0 tackles for loss and 3.0 sacks are tied for the fourth most in a single-game at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium … SRU's next home game Nov. 5 against Edinboro will be the 250th game played at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium since it opened in 1974.




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