Highlights  |  Postgame Interview

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 15th-ranked Slippery Rock University football team bounced back from its first loss of the season with a convincing 45-14 victory over East Stroudsburg University in the opening round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs Saturday from Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The Rock improve to 11-1 on the year and advance to the second round of the playoffs for the fourth time in the last five seasons. SRU will travel to No. 1 seed Tiffin next Saturday for a noon kickoff in the round of 16. East Stroudsburg finishes its season with a 9-3 overall record.
 
The Warriors scored first Saturday after Slippery Rock lost a fumble on its first offensive possession and ESU capitalized with a scoring drive that was capped by a one-yard TD run from Tyriq Lewis that made it 7-0 with 7:35 to play in the first.
 
SRU responded with 14 straight points on back-to-back drives with a rushing touchdown from Khalid Dorsey and a 46-yard fake punt touchdown run from Kylon Wilson that made it 14-7 in favor of SRU at the end of the first period.
 
The Rock added a third straight touchdown drive with a TD pass from Brayden Long to Kyle Sheets that made it 21-7 with 9:54 to play in the second quarter.
 
It looked like SRU had all the momentum as ESU had only managed four first downs to that point, but the Warriors got a jolt on special teams when Justin Cook took the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown that made it 21-14 with 9:42 to play in the half.
 
Those would be the final points of the game for ESU as The Rock defense slammed the door and pitched a shutout for the final 39:42 of the game.
 
Slippery Rock tacked on a 28-yard field goal from Mason Yohn that marked the first made field goal of the season for SRU and sent the game to halftime with The Rock leading 24-14.
 
Isaiah Edwards capped back-to-back scoring drives with a pair of rushing touchdowns as SRU outscored ESU 14-0 in the third quarter and Chris D'Or put a cap on the victory with a 41-yard rushing TD in the fourth quarter to account for the final points and wrap up a 24-0 run by SRU to end the game.
 
Slippery Rock was balanced on offense and finished with 521 total yards with 287 rushing yards and 234 passing yards. ESU entered the game ranked 10th in Division II in rushing defense, allowing just 83 yards per game and less than three yards per carry, but SRU ripped off 287 total rushing yards and averaged 5.9 yards per carry behind a dominant showing from the offensive line. The Rock finished with zero punts in the game. ESU was limited to 220 total yards of offense with 115 rushing yards and 105 passing yards.
 
Dorsey, Edwards and D'Or all found the end zone and finished with nearly even carries in the game. Dorsey went for 85 yards and one TD on 14 carries, D'Or ran for 90 yards and one TD on 15 carries and Edwards ran for 64 yards and two TD on 15 carries.
 
Long bounced back from a tough outing a week ago and was stellar in leading the offense, completing 21-of-30 passes for 234 yards with one TD and no interceptions.
 
Sheets caught his 16th TD pass of the year and finished with three catches for 48 yards while being double teamed most of the game. Cohen Russell extended his streak of games with a catch to 25 consecutive games and led SRU with five catches for 66 yards. D'Or added 30 receiving yards to finish with 120 all-purpose yards and Kam Kruzelyak caught three passes for 46 yards.
 
Kyle Kudla played his best game of the season to lead the Slippery Rock defense with 11 total tackles and 1.0 tackle for loss. His 11 stops bring his career total to 304 tackles after three seasons at Hillsdale and this season at SRU. Cottrell Hatchett was in the backfield most of the day and finished with seven tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and one sack. Mehki Twillie added six stops, Josh Stokes had five tackles and Eddie Faulkner IV and Andrew Vince each had a half-sack.
 
ESU got 51 rushing yards and one TD from Lewis and 201 all-purpose yards from Cook, which included the 95-yard kickoff return TD. Quarterback Charlie McKee was 8-of-15 for 86 yards before leaving the game in the second half. Aaron Tobias was 3-of-8 for 19 yards in relief.
 
Slippery Rock will now shift its focus to the second round of the NCAA Playoffs and will travel to No. 1 seed Tiffin next Saturday, Nov. 25, for a noon kickoff.
 
GAME NOTES: Slippery Rock advances to the second round of the playoffs for the fourth time in the last five seasons … SRU improved to 7-0 at home this season and improved to 16-3 all-time against ESU with a fifth straight win in the series … SRU head coach Shawn Lutz improved to 69-18 as head coach … SRU improved to 11-10 all-time in Division II playoff games and 8-2 in home playoff games … SRU played its 51st straight game as a ranked team … SRU is now outscoring opponents 147-20 in the third quarter on the season after a 14-0 margin Saturday … SRU made its first field goal of the season after entering the game as one of just two total teams in the country without a field goal this year … Kyle Sheets moved into solo second place in SRU single-season history with his 16th TD catch and now ranks tied for third all-time at SRU with 28 TD catches in his career … Cohen Russell caught a pass for the 25th straight game … Kyle Kudla went over 300 career tackles and now has 304 career tackles after entering Saturday ranked 10th among all active players in Division II in that category … Slippery Rock will now play Tiffin for just the second time ever after posting a 45-13 win over the Dragons Sept. 8, 2001 in the only other meeting between the two teams.
 
 


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