SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 15th-ranked Slippery Rock University football team won its 14th straight season opener with a 28-17 victory over Wayne State University (Mich.) Saturday night at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The Rock overcame a slow start offensively to score 14 points late in the second quarter to take a 14-0 halftime lead and never trailed on the way to a fourth consecutive season-opening win over the Warriors. The victory marked the 14th straight season SRU has won its first game and the 15th straight season The Rock have won their first home game. It also marked the 29th consecutive victory in a night game for SRU, which has not lost a game that kicked at 4 p.m. or later since 2012.
 
Both teams struggled on offense for most of the opening half with neither team reaching 100 yards of offense before late in the second quarter.
 
The Rock broke open a 0-0 tie with an 81-yard drive late in the opening half that was capped with a 35-yard touchdown pass from Brayden Long to Logan Ramper that made it 7-0 with 2:18 to play before the half.
 
SRU capitalized on the only turnover of the night on the next Wayne State possession with Josh Stokes pulling down an interception near midfield and giving SRU the ball back with just under two minutes to play in the half.
 
Khalid Dorsey broke a big run on the ensuing drive and then caught a six-yard TD pass from Long with 25 seconds left in the half to send it to the break with SRU leading 14-0.
 
Wayne State put together its best drive of the night to open the third quarter and rallied back into the game with an 89-yard drive that ate up 8:29 off the clock. The drive featured 14 consecutive running plays and was capped by QB Jayden Waddell rushing in from three yards out to make it 14-7 with 6:23 to play in the third.
 
Slippery Rock's offense looked much stronger in the second half than the first half and answered on its next possession with a 75-yard drive that was finished off by a one-yard plunge from Chris D'Or to make it 21-7 with 1:34 to play in the third.
 
Wayne State put together another solid drive to open the final period but had to settle for a 47-yard field goal from Griffin Milovanski that made it 21-10 with 9:55 to pay in the fourth.
 
The Rock put the game out of reach on the next possession when Isaiah Edwards broke free for a 29-yard touchdown run that made it 28-10 with 5:58 to play. Wayne State would add one final score on a 25-yard TD run with 3:06 to play to account for the final points.
 
Slippery Rock finished the game with a 347-304 advantage in total offense after rushing for 209 yards and passing for 138 yards. Wayne State, which ran an option offense for most of the final three quarters and attempted just 13 passes all night, rushed for 223 yards on 50 carries and passed for 81 yards.  
 
Long settled into the game as the evening wore on and finished his night 11-of-18 for 138 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He connected with eight different receivers on the night with Ramper leading the way with two catches for 47 yards and one TD. Preseason All-American Kyle Sheets was injured on the first series of the game and did not return. Cohen Russell grabbed two passes for 36 yards, Tony Grimes added two catches for 27 yards and Jawon Hall had one 10-yard catch.
 
Dorsey was impressive in his SRU debut to lead a trio of running backs that all averaged at least 6.3 yards per carry and had more than 50 yards on the ground. He ran for 76 yards on nine carries for an average of 8.4 yards per carry and added a six-yard TD catch. D'Or finished the night with 69 yards and one TD on 11 carries and Edwards went for 52 yards and one score on just seven touches.
 
Selvin Haynes finished as the leading tackler for SRU with 12 total stops. Munchie Johnson added 11 tackles and 2.0 tackles for loss. Kyle Kudla made nine tackles and had 1.5 tackles for loss in his SRU debut and Stokes had seven tackles and a half-tackle for loss to go with his interception. Cottrell Hatchett also had seven tackles and a half-sack that he shared with freshman Daniel Long. The other tackle for loss on the night came from freshman Max Heckert in his collegiate debut. Donnell Henriquez, Andrew Vince, Jake Miller and Daniel Tooson each had five stops and Vince tallied two QB hurries.
 
Kevin Roberts made all four of his PAT kicks on the night and freshman Mason Yohn averaged 37.0 yards on four punts in his SRU debut.
 
Wayne State got 83 rushing yards and 60 passing yards from Waddell, who transferred in from Davidson before the season. He relieved starter Eli McLean, who completed 3-of-6 passes for 21 yards with one interception and ran for 17 yards. Manny Harris added 34 rushing yards and one TD.
 
Slippery Rock will now turn its focus to a pair of mandated PSAC crossover games against Eastern Division schools the next two weeks with West Chester set to visit Mihalik-Thompson Stadium Sept. 9 and Millersville set to visit Sept. 16. Both games are scheduled for 6 p.m. kickoffs.
 

NOTES: Slippery Rock won its season opener for the 14th straight year dating back to 2008 and won its first home game of the year for the 15th straight year dating back to 2005 … The Rock won their 29th straight game that kicked at 4 p.m. or later, a streak that dates back to 2012 … SRU improved to 31-1 in home night games since 2010 and won its 23rd straight home night game … head coach Shawn Lutz remained unbeaten in the first game of the season during his head coaching career and improved to 59-17 with the win … QB Brayden Long became the first QB at SRU to start a season opener after being recruited out of high school since Zack Newsock started the 2014 opener … every starter on opening day since 2015 was a transfer QB … SRU played nearly the majority of the game without preseason All-American wide receiver Kyle Sheets, who was injured during the first quarter … SRU also played without starting cornerback Ali Abdul-Hakim … Munchie Johnson made his 26th straight start at SRU for the longest active streak on the roster and Selvin Haynes started his 32nd game at SRU for the most career starts on the active roster.
 


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