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KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The 11th ranked Slippery Rock University football team went for two and scored on a hook and ladder in overtime to pull off a shocking 25-24 upset win on the road at No. 3 Kutztown University in the second round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs Saturday from Andre Reed Stadium.
 
The Rock improve to 11-1 on the year after upsetting the No. 1 seed on the road for the second straight year and will advance to the quarterfinals next Saturday at No. 3 seed California (Pa.) after the Vulcans earned a 34-33 comeback win over Ashland Saturday.
 
Kutztown entered the game as one of only two undefeated teams remaining in Division II and saw its season come to an end with an 11-1 record. The Golden Bears also saw their streak of four straight wins over SRU come to an end.
 
The two Super Region One heavyweights traded long methodical scoring drives in the opening half, endured a defensive slugfest in the third quarter and put together an explosive fourth quarter and overtime session in what is likely to go down as one of the best playoff games this year.
 
Slippery Rock led 9-7 at halftime before Kutztown rallied back with 10 points in the fourth quarter to take a 17-9 lead with just over six minutes to play. The Rock put together a 66-yard drive and cut the lead to 17-15 with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Brayden Long to Kam Kruzelyak with 1:53 to play. Long then found Logan Ramper in the back of the end zone on the 2-point conversion to tie the game.
 
Kutztown was forced to punt on its final possession of the fourth quarter and Slippery Rock had a chance to win the game in regulation after Kanye Thompson put together a 35-yard punt return to give SRU the ball near midfield with two timeouts left.
 
The Rock moved down into field goal range and tried to get out of bounds with five seconds left, but the receiver was ruled to be tackled inbounds and time expired before a potential game-winning field goal.
 
Kutztown got the ball first in overtime and had a third and 20 situation that could have set up a long field goal try, but SRU was called for a facemask penalty to give the Golden Bears a fresh set of downs. They capitalized with a Luke Maxwell two-yard TD run to take a 24-17 lead after the first possession in the extra session.
 
Slippery Rock scored a touchdown on its possession with Idris Lawrence breaking free for a long run, but the play was called back by a holding penalty. Facing third and 13 from the 28-yard line, Long connected with Ramper, who shed one tackler and walked into the end zone to make it 24-23. Rather than kicking the PAT to tie the game and send it to a second overtime, SRU head coach Shawn Lutz elected to go for two to win the game.
 
After a timeout, Long threw a pass to the left to Mike Solomon at the five-yard line, who then pitched the ball backwards to Lawrence on the hook and ladder. Lawrence gained the edge and walked into the end zone to seal the 25-24 win.
 

FB: WALK IT OFFFFFFFF!!!! Slippery Rock goes for 2 in OT and converts with Dris Lawrence taking the lateral from Mike Solomon and walking in for the win! No. 11 Slippery Rock defeats No. 3 Kutztown 25-24 to advance to the NCAA Quarterfinals!!! pic.twitter.com/jXvhY6xYKd

— Rock Athletics (@Rock_Athletics) November 30, 2024

 
The overtime win marked the first time Slippery Rock has played an overtime game since 2017 and just the second time The Rock have ever played an overtime game in the NCAA Playoffs with the first being a loss to IUP in 1999.
 
Slippery Rock finished the game with a 349-308 edge in total offense after throwing for 288 yards and rushing for 61 yards. Kutztown did most of its damage on the ground with 229 rushing yards and just 79 passing yards. Neither team turned the ball over.
 
Long was exceptional in leading the SRU offense, completing 69 percent of his passes (27-of-39) for 288 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
 
Ramper put up his second straight game with over 100 receiving yards to lead the pass catchers with nine grabs for 120 yards and one touchdown to go along with the game-tying 2-point conversion catch in the fourth quarter. Solomon added six catches for 41 yards, Kylon Wilson had four catches for 42 yards and Lawrence caught five passes for 59 yards while rushing for 35 yards. Chris D'Or added 16 rushing yards and one TD all on the first drive.
 
Todd Hill led the SRU defense with eight total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and two QB hurries. Jacob Snow was credited with seven solo tackles and Munchie Johnson and Andrew Vince had five tackles each. John Brown picked up one sack.
 
Kutztown QB Judd Novak completed 8-of-17 passes for 79 yards and ran for 79 yards and one touchdown on 12 carries. Steven Burkhardt ran for 82 yards and one score and Jaedyn Stewart rushed for 52 yards.
 
Slippery Rock will now shift its focus to the only team that beat The Rock this year and will travel back to California (Pa.) next Saturday for a 1 p.m. kickoff in a regional final that features the top two teams from the PSAC Western Division.
 
GAME NOTES: Slippery Rock won on the road at the undefeated  No. 1 seed in the playoffs for the second straight year after upsetting Tiffin in the 2023 second round … The Rock advance to the quarterfinals the second year in a row, the fourth time since 2018 and the fifth time since 2015 … the win over No. 3 Kutztown marked the highest ranked win in a playoff game in SRU program history … SRU had played two previous playoff games against teams ranked in the top three and lost both (1997 to No. 2 New Haven, 1998 to No. 3 Carson-Newman) … SRU played its first overtime game since 2017 and its second NCAA Playoff overtime game ever (1999 loss to IUP) … SRU snapped a four-game losing streak against Kutztown and improved to 12-7 all-time against the Golden Bears and 7-4 on the road in Kutztown … Logan Ramper went over 100 receiving yards for the second week in a row and the second time in his career and now has 243 yards in two playoff games … SRU head coach Shawn Lutz improved to 81-20 in his SRU career and 9-5 in the NCAA Playoffs ... SRU improved to 3-9 all-time against teams ranked in the top three and has now won its last two games against teams ranked in the top three (2021 against No. 3 Cal (Pa.)) ... QB Brayden Long picked up his first win against Kutztown and has now beaten every team he has faced as a starter at least once.




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