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SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The 22nd ranked Slippery Rock University football team picked up its eighth straight win over Clarion and kept its postseason hopes alive with a 42-23 victory in a key Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division game Saturday from Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
 
The Rock improve to 6-2 overall and 3-2 in PSAC West games and keep both their NCAA Playoff and PSAC West title hopes alive. Clarion drops to 6-3 overall and 2-3 in the PSAC West with the loss, but will still play a part in deciding the PSAC West champion.
 
Indiana (Pa.) controls its own destiny in the PSAC West race and can win the division with a victory over Clarion next week. If the Golden Eagles can upset IUP, the winner of the Slippery Rock at Edinboro matchup next Saturday would win the division.
 
The Rock used a strong second half to pull away from a tough Clarion team, outscoring the Golden Eagles 21-6 over the final 30 minutes after the teams battled back-and-forth for the opening half.
 
Clarion moved the ball without any problems on the opening drive and scored with a 13-yard pass from Jase Ferguson to Ray Jackson to take a 7-0 lead with 11:31 to play in the first quarter.
 
For the second straight game, Slippery Rock answered an opening touchdown drive from the visitors with a JayJay Jordan touchdown run on the very first offensive play. Jordan broke off a 75-yard TD run against IUP two weeks ago and did it again Saturday with a 67-yard TD run to level the score at 7-7 with 11:12 to play in the first.
 
Clarion answered with another 75-yard touchdown drive with Ferguson connecting with Dominik Thomas on an 11-yard pass to retake the lead 14-7 with 6:10 to play in the first.
 
Slippery Rock went 82 yards on its next drive and looked like it would settle for a short field goal, but holder Cory Butts ran in from six yards out on the fake field goal to level the score at 14-14 with 1:09 left in an entertaining first quarter. Butts was stonewalled at the three-yard line after getting to the first down marker, but was pushed into the end zone by The Rock offensive line for his first career TD.
 
Clarion answered again and retook the lead 17-14 with a 44-yard field goal from Andrew Kurtas with 7:54 to play in the second, giving the ball back to SRU with a chance to bookend the quarters with points.
 
The Rock did just that, putting together an 80-yard drive that ate up nearly seven minutes to close the first half. SRU took the lead for good with a one-yard TD run from left tackle Joe Cooper, who lined up as a fullback and took the handoff for his first career TD with just 51 seconds left in the second quarter.
 
Slippery Rock extended the lead to 28-17 on the first drive of the second half when DaOne Owens hit Xander McClure for a 13-yard touchdown pass with 8:57 to play in the third quarter.
 
Clarion got the ball only once in the entire third quarter and turned it over deep in SRU territory when Ferguson was intercepted by Tyler Cain at the six-yard line. Slippery Rock responded from the turnover by marching 75 yards in just over six minutes before missing a 38-yard field goal wide left to keep it 28-17 early in the fourth.
 
It looked like Clarion had thrown its second straight interception early in the fourth, but a wide open SRU defensive back dropped the interception to keep a Golden Eagle drive alive. Later in the drive, SRU took a roughing the passer penalty on a fourth down incompletion to again keep the drive moving and Clarion capitalized with a two-yard rushing TD to cut it to 28-23 with 9:06 to play.
 
Slippery Rock slammed the door from there, pushing the lead out to 35-23 with a touchdown pass from Owens to Latrell Sutton and sealing the win with a 53-yard pick six from Michael Henwood with 1:07 left.
 
The Rock finished the game with a 481-398 advantage in total offense with 252 rushing yards and 229 passing yards. Clarion threw for 233 yards and ran for 165 yards.
 
Jordan finished the game with 176 rushing yards and one TD to go along with 13 receiving yards for 189 all-purpose yards. He now has 1,176 rushing yards in eight games this fall, becoming the first SRU running back since Wes Hills in 2018 to rush for at least 1,000 yards.
 
Owens completed 19-of-34 passes for 229 yards with two TD and no INT. He also ran for 51 yards on seven carries. McClure caught six passes for a career-high 85 yards and one TD and Sutton pulled down five passes for 73 yards and one score. Ethan Trettel caught two passes for 20 yards to round out the top efforts for the pass catchers.
 
Kevin Roberts booted six PAT kicks to become the eighth player in program history with more than 100 career made PAT kicks. Roberts also averaged 51.5 yards per punt on a pair of punts.
 
Henwood and Cain led the defense with eight tackles and one interception each. Cain also had two tackles for loss and one sack. Teddy Gregory Jr. added seven tackles and Kwalil Shepperson made six stops. Trever Valenti, Jett Franz and Spencer Barninger all added one sack and Kanye Thompson broke up three passes.
 
Ferguson went 20-of-43 for 233 yards with two TD and two INT for Clarion. He also ran for 67 net yards. Khalon Simmons rushed for 51 yards and one score and Jackson caught eight passes for 92 yards and one TD. Clarion's top pass catcher on the season, Holt Egan, was limited to one catch for four yards.
 
Slippery Rock will now turn its attention to the final PSAC West game on the schedule with a noon kickoff next Saturday at Edinboro.
 
GAME NOTES: Slippery Rock won its eighth straight game against Clarion and improved to 14-1 in the series since the "Milk Jug" trophy was introduced to the rivalry … The Rock celebrated their seniors in a pregame ceremony before the final regular season home game of the year … SRU head coach Shawn Lutz improved to 88-23 in his career … JayJay Jordan scored on a long rushing TD on the first play from scrimmage for the second straight week and had his fourth 60+ yard rushing TD of the season … Jordan is now up to 1,167 rushing yards, becoming the first SRU back with 1,000 rushing yards in a season since Wes Hills in 2018 … SRU got touchdown runs from holder Cory Butts and offensive tackle Joe Cooper in the game, marking the first TDs of their careers … The Rock did not turn the ball over in the game and won the turnover battle 2-0 … Michael Henwood's 53-yard interception return for a TD was the first pick-six of the season for SRU and the first since Jacob Snow had one against Bloomsburg Nov. 16, 2024 ... SRU celebrated the 25th anniversary of the 1997-00 football teams that won four straight PSAC titles, reached a No. 2 national ranking and went 41-5 against Division II competition with a ceremony Saturday morning and a halftime recognition at the game. 



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