EDINBORO, Pa. – Edinboro ran for 355 yards and controlled all three phases of the game on the way to clinching its first share of a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division title since 2005 with a 38-8 win over No. 20 Slippery Rock Saturday from Sox Harrison Stadium.
The Rock looked out of sorts on both sides of the ball from start to finish and never gained the momentum in the game. Edinboro built a 10-0 halftime lead and extended the lead to 31-0 before SRU scored midway through the fourth quarter to stop the shutout.
Edinboro was dominant on the ground and finished with 355 rushing yards on 48 attempts, averaging 7.4 yards per carry. The Scots attempted just 11 total passes in the game, completing eight for 70 yards to finish with a 425-272 advantage in total offense after holding SRU to just 38 rushing yards on 22 attempts and 234 passing yards.
With the win, Edinboro improves to 6-4 overall and 5-1 in the PSAC West and locks up its first winning season since 2018 and claims a share of the PSAC West regular season title for the first time since 2005. IUP battled back for a 45-42 win at Clarion Saturday and owns the tiebreaker over Edinboro, so the Crimson Hawks will represent the West in the PSAC title game. The Scots also snapped a six-game losing skid against SRU and won for just the third time in the last 15 meetings in the series. Slippery Rock slides to 6-3 overall and 3-3 in the PSAC West, marking the first time with three PSAC West losses in a season since 2016. Slippery Rock went 38-3 against the PSAC West over six full seasons from 2018-24 and is now 41-6 against the division over the last seven seasons.
The Rock were led Saturday by
John Sabo, who caught six passes for a career-high 126 yards to mark his first career 100-yard receiving game.
DaOne Owens completed 21-of-39 passes for 234 yards with one interception and threw one two-point conversion to
JayJay Jordan. Owens also ran for 18 yards on eight carries. Jordan was limited to 27 yards and one TD on 10 carries.
Joe White added four catches for 37 yards and
Xander McClure and
Latrell Sutton both had two catches for 22 yards.
Trever Valenti led the SRU defense with 10 total tackles.
Teddy Gregory Jr. tallied eight tackles and
Nick Frisco was credited with seven stops.
Brett Kwoka and
Mare Harper each had one tackle for loss.
Edinboro got 273 rushing yards and two touchdowns from Caron Robinson, who carried it 31 times. Nico Marchitelli added 69 rushing yards on five carries while completing 8-of-11 passes for 70 yards with one TD and no INT.
Saturday's loss is likely to drop Slippery Rock out of the national rankings for the first time in more than 2,500 days as The Rock have been nationally ranked in every poll since the final rankings of the 2018 season. The loss is also likely to move SRU out of the top eight in the latest NCAA Regional Rankings, jeopardizing an NCAA Playoff bid for the first time in the last seven years. Both sets of updated rankings will be announced Monday.
Slippery Rock will close the regular season with a road crossover game next Saturday with a noon kickoff at Bloomsburg.
GAME NOTES: After going 38-3 against the PSAC West from 2018-24, SRU has matched that loss total this season and finishes the division schedule with a 3-3 record … The Rock are now 41-6 against the PSAC West since the beginning of the 2018 season … SRU was held to a season-low 48 rushing yards while allowing a season-high 355 rushing yards … the eight points scored were the lowest for SRU since a 28-7 loss on the road at Cal (Pa.) in 2024 … Edinboro won its first game against SRU since 2017 and snapped a streak of six straight losses in the series …
John Sabo had his first career 100-yard receiving game and finished with six catches for 126 yards … SRU is already guaranteed to finish with its 16th straight winning season, regardless of the outcome of next week's game.
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