WKBN Highlights  |  Coach Lutz Postgame Interview

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 11th ranked Slippery Rock University football team stayed unbeaten and opened defense of its Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division title with a 30-2 runaway win over Seton Hill Saturday night in the PSAC West opener at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The Rock improve to 4-0 for the third straight season and open divisional play with a 1-0 record. Seton Hill slips to 0-4 overall and 0-1 in PSAC West action.
 
The Griffins got on the board first Saturday night after a pair of early sacks, including one in the end zone for a safety that made it 2-0 with 8:36 to play in the first quarter.
 
It was all Slippery Rock from there, as The Rock defense put together a dominant effort and posted a shutout against the Seton Hill offense. SRU rattled off 30 unanswered points to pull away for a comfortable victory.
 
The Rock finished the game with a massive 449-106 advantage in total offense after rushing for 155 yards and throwing for 294 yards. Seton Hill was limited to 25 rushing yards on 34 carries and just 81 passing yards with 12 completions on 23 attempts.
 
The story of the game was the defensive dominance from Slippery Rock, which limited Seton Hill to just 1-of-15 on third down and an average of 1.9 yards per play on 57 plays. SRU combined for 14 tackles for loss and six sacks and came up with one takeaway, an interception from Eddie Faulkner IV.
 
The Seton Hill defense kept the Griffins in the game and kept the final margin respectable by forcing The Rock offense into a season-high four turnovers, including three on back-to-back-to-back possessions in the third quarter. SRU fumbled four times, losing three, and tossed one interception.
 
Noah Grover completed 21-of-37 passing attempts for 294 yards with one touchdown and one interception. He also rushed for one score for his third rushing TD of the season. Grover was sacked four times after being sacked just once in the first three weeks combined.
 
He connected with eight different receivers and six that had at least two grabs. Max Maciejewski had the lone receiving TD and finished with three catches for 33 yards. Jacob Odom caught five passes for 42 yards and Cohen Russell grabbed four passes for 55 yards. Russell also rushed for 45 yards on two carries to finish with 100 yards of offense. Kyle Sheets caught three passes for 49 yards and had one touchdown called back for offensive pass interference. Jawon Hall caught two passes for 47 yards to round out the top efforts for the receivers.
 
Chris D'Or ran for 70 yards on just nine carries, averaging 7.8 yards per carry, and also caught two passes for 28 yards. Isaiah Edwards ran for 50 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries and Chris Wells added one rushing score.
 
Jeff Marx led the defense with career-highs of 3.0 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks. D.J. Adediwura added 2.0 sacks, Cottrell Hatchett had one sack and Brandon Bischof picked up a half-sack. Brandon Tuck-Hayden led the team in tackles for the fourth straight week with 10 stops, including 3.0 tackles for loss. Bischof added nine stops and Kevin Hyde registered 2.0 tackles for loss.
 
DJ Opsatnik booted a 35-yard field goal and made three PATs to extend his streak to 43 straight made PATs.
  
Seton Hill got 40 rushing yards from Ky'Ron Craggette and 53 receiving yards from Hezikiah Hawkins. Jake McCormick was 12-of-23 for 81 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. The Griffins lone points on the night came from a safety after Jaheim Thomas sacked Grover in the end zone.
 
Slippery Rock won its 27th straight night game and has not lost a game that kicked off a 4 p.m. or later since Sept. 29, 2012. The Rock improved to 20-0 in their last 20 home night games during that stretch.
 
Slippery Rock will now shift its focus to arguably the biggest game of the regular season with a road trip to undefeated Indiana (Pa.) next Saturday for a 2 p.m. kickoff on the Crimson Hawks' Homecoming.
 
GAME NOTES: Slippery Rock head coach Shawn Lutz improved to 52-14 at SRU … SRU won its 20th straight home night game and 27th straight game that kicked at 4 p.m. or later dating back to Sept. 29, 2012 … The Rock won their sixth straight against Seton Hill and improved to 11-2 all-time against the Griffins … SRU's defense put up season-lows of 106 total yards, 25 rushing yards and 0 points allowed … Preseason All-America defensive tackle Jeff Marx had career-highs of 3.0 tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks … Brandon Tuck-Hayden was the leading tackler for the fourth straight game with 10 tackles … Noah Grover improved to 6-2 as the SRU starting QB … DJ Opsatnik extended his consecutive made PAT streak to 43 ... SRU is 4-0 for the third straight season.
 
 


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