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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The sixth-ranked Slippery Rock University football team locked up a fifth straight Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division title with a 42-14 win over Clarion in a Senior Day game Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The Rock improve to 9-0 overall and 6-0 in PSAC West games, securing no worse than a share of the division title for the fifth straight season and the ninth time in the last 12 seasons. SRU will play in the 2023 PSAC Championship game Nov. 11 at Kutztown after the Golden Bears also locked up the PSAC East title Saturday. Clarion slips to 2-7 overall and 1-5 in PSAC action with the loss.
 
Slippery Rock jumped out to a 21-0 halftime lead and built that advantage to 35-0 before Clarion got on the board with a pair of second half touchdowns to snap a scoring drought against SRU that lasted a total of 221 minutes and 29 seconds of game clock. Before Saturday, the last points the Golden Eagles scored against SRU came with 9:05 to play in the first quarter of the 2019 meeting, after which SRU scored 182 straight points in the series.
 
With the victory, SRU also retained the "Milk Jug Trophy" that was introduced to the rivalry series in 2010. The Rock are now 12-1 in the series since the trophy was introduced.
 
Slippery Rock put up 510 yards of offense with 394 passing yards and 116 rushing yards. Clarion managed 267 yards of total offense with 183 passing yards and 84 rushing yards, marking the first time this season that SRU has limited an opponent to less than 100 rushing yards. The Golden Eagles entered the game ranked No. 2 in the PSAC in rushing offense, averaging 186.4 rushing yards per game.
 
Brayden Long continued to cement his status as the top quarterback in the division with another stellar outing, completing 27-of-39 passes for 363 yards with four touchdowns and no interceptions. He also rushed for one score to account for five touchdowns in the game. Long has now thrown for 2,479 yards with 27 touchdowns and just two interceptions while completing 68.3 percent of his passes on 281 attempts this season.
 
Kyle Sheets caught nine passes for 106 yards and two touchdowns and Cohen Russell caught six passes for a career-high 135 yards as Long's top two targets continued to shine. Russell has now caught a pass in 22 straight games and Sheets now has 893 yards and 13 TD grabs in the last eight games. Logan Ramper added four catches for 45 yards and one TD and Kam Kruzelyak caught four passes for 31 yards and one TD.
 
Khalid Dorsey rushed for 60 yards and one TD and Chris D'Or ran for 48 yards to lead the way on the ground.
 
The Rock defense got interceptions from Eddie Faulkner IV and Munchie Johnson. Faulkner's pick came in the first half and was returned for a touchdown, but the score was called back after a blocking penalty away from the play. Johnson's first career pick came in the second half after a pass was tipped by Cottrell Hatchett at the line of scrimmage. Johnson also added one tackle for loss, while Faulkner tallied five tackles in the game.
 
Selvin Haynes led the team with six tackles, followed by Josh Stokes, Jalen Dangerfield and Faulkner with five stops each. Ali Abdul-Hakim and Daniel Tooson each had one tackle for loss.
 
Clarion QB Anthony Guercio completed 18-of-24 passes for 183 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions while also rushing for 28 yards. The TD tosses went to Paul Newton and Tony Powell. Khalon Simmons was the leading rusher with 33 yards and Corahn Alleyne caught three passes for a team-high 52 yards.
 
Slippery Rock celebrated its senior class prior to the game as Saturday marked the final regular season home game this fall. The Rock's four and five year seniors have never finished a season without winning at least a share of the PSAC West title.
 
SRU will now shift its focus to the final week of divisional play and a chance to move to 10-0 on the year with a road game at Edinboro scheduled for next Saturday at noon.
 
GAME NOTES: Slippery Rock won at least a share of a fifth straight PSAC West title and its ninth PSAC West title in the last 12 seasons … SRU improved to 9-0 for the second time in the last four seasons and the third time in program history (2019, 1924) … SRU won its sixth straight game against Clarion and improved to 58-24-3 all-time against the Golden Eagles … SRU won the "Milk Jug" rivalry trophy for the sixth straight year and improved to 12-1 since the trophy was introduced … Clarion snapped a streak of more than 14 full quarters without scoring against SRU with a TD in the fourth quarter … the scoring drought was 182-0 in favor of SRU dating back to 2019 and encompassed 221:29 of game clock … SRU is now 34-2 against the PSAC West in its last 36 games dating back to 2017, including 32-2 since the beginning of 2018 … SRU has won every game this season by double figures … SRU has gone on at least a 25-0 run in each of the last eight games (35-0 Saturday) … SRU is now outscoring teams 118-13 in the third quarter … Brayden Long moved up to sixth in SRU history in single-season TD passes (27) and ninth in single-season passing yards (2,479) … Kyle Sheets had his eighth career 100-yard receiving game and is now up to fifth in single-season history at SRU with 13 TD catches this year … Sheets is 10th all-time at SRU in career receiving yards with 2,147 yards and fifth all-time in receiving TDs with 25 … Cohen Russell has now caught a pass in 22 straight games and had a career-high 135 yards Saturday … Kevin Roberts made all six of his PAT kicks to give him 55 made PATs this season, which is third in single-season history at SRU … Shawn Lutz improved to 67-17 as SRU head coach … SRU improved to 53-6 in home games over the last decade.
 
 
 
 
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