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RINDGE, N.H. – The fourth-ranked Slippery Rock University football team won its season opener for the 16th straight year with a 24-13 win on the road at Franklin Pierce University Friday night from Sodexo Field in New Hampshire.
 
The Rock open up with a 1-0 record after picking up a ninth straight win against teams from the Northeast-10 Conference and the program's first-ever win in the state of New Hampshire. Franklin Pierce opens the year 0-1 after dropping its first-ever meeting against SRU.
 
Both teams struggled through some first-game rust throughout the evening, including early on when Franklin Pierce dropped a would-be deep ball touchdown and Slippery Rock tossed an early interception. The Rock settled into the game late in the first quarter and opened up a 7-0 lead when Anthony Vespo connected with Latrell Sutton on a 22-yard touchdown pass with 3:48 to play in the period.
 
The hosts responded on their next possession with an 84-yard drive that was capped by a touchdown pass from Adrian Parker to Tristan Evans that tied the game at 7-7 with 14:12 to play in the second.
 
Slippery Rock broke the tie for good late in the second when Vespo pushed in from the one-yard line on a fourth down play to make it 14-7 with 3:06 to play in the half. SRU got the ball back after a quick defensive stand and JayJay Jordan broke the game open with a 74-yard TD run to send it to halftime with SRU leading 21-7.
 
The Rock extended the lead after settling for a short field goal from Kevin Roberts with 9:38 to play in the third that made it 24-7.
 
SRU controlled the line of scrimmage for most of the rest of the game, but turned the ball over with a fumbled snap on a field goal attempt late in the fourth. Franklin Pierce capitalized and scored on a 26-yard touchdown pass to Austyn Howe to make it 24-13 with 2:48 to play. The Ravens then successfully recovered an onside kick attempt, but the SRU defense slammed the door to seal the win.
 
Jordan and Quentin Harrison led a dominant ground game that saw SRU rack up 254 rushing yards. Jordan ran for 154 yards and one TD on 17 carries and Harrison rushed for 91 yards on 17 carries. Luke McCoy added 20 rushing yards. Jordan also caught three passes for 33 yards to finish with 187 total yards of offense.
 
Vespo completed 13-of-25 passes for 160 yards with one TD and one interception while also rushing for one score. Sutton led the receivers with four catches for 55 yards and one TD. Joe White pulled down a 43-yard grab and Carson Heckathorn caught two passes for 10 yards.
 
Trever Valenti and Michael Henwood led the defense with eight tackles each with Valenti also recording one sack. Kanye Thompson finished with seven tackles, one sack and one forced fumble. Jacob Snow added five tackles and a team-high 1.5 sacks and Teddy Gregory Jr. added five stops, a half sack and a forced fumble. Brett Kwoka recovered two fumbles in his SRU debut and Nick Frisco and Elijah Halley each finished with a half sack. Gavin Lutz broke up two passes to lead a defensive effort that finished with seven pass breakups. The Rock defense tallied five sacks, five QB hurries and two fumble takeaways.
 
Franklin Pierce got 139 passing yards and two touchdowns from Parker, who was the Northeast 10 Offensive Player of the Year in 2024.
 
Slippery Rock finished with a 414-191 advantage in total offense after limiting the Ravens to 52 rushing yards and 139 passing yards.
 
After a long 10-hour bus ride home, The Rock will shift their focus to three straight home night games over the next three weeks with Shepherd set to visit Mihalik-Thompson Stadium next Saturday for a 6 p.m. kickoff.
 
GAME NOTES: Slippery Rock won its season opener for the 16th straight year … SRU won its ninth straight game against a team from the Northeast 10 Conference and has not lost to an NE10 team since 1997 … SRU improved to 1-0 all-time against Franklin Pierce … the game was the first in SRU history in the state of New Hampshire … Shawn Lutz improves to 83-21 as SRU head coach … The Rock won their 35th consecutive night game to extend a streak of night game wins that began in 2012 … JayJay Jordan had his first career 100-yard rushing game in his first start at SRU … Slippery Rock had 10 players on offense or defense that made their first SRU start in the game.




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