Slippery Rock University Athletics

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INDIANA, Pa. – The seventh ranked Slippery Rock University football team earned a fourth straight win in the series against rival Indiana University (Pa.) with a 42-26 win over the 19th ranked Crimson Hawks in the 100th meeting of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division rivals Saturday from Miller Stadium.
 
The Rock improve to 7-0 overall and 4-0 in the PSAC West and take over sole possession of first place in the division with three games left to play. Indiana (Pa.) drops to 5-2 overall and 2-2 in the PSAC West after suffering back-to-back home losses to Lock Haven and SRU.
 
Saturday's win marked the fourth straight in the series against IUP, which has now seen 100 meetings dating back to 1907. The Hawks lead the series 53-45-2, but SRU has won six of the last eight and nine of the last 13 meetings.
 
Both teams endured a nervous start in the opening minutes. Slippery Rock got the ball first and fumbled it away on the second play from scrimmage for just its third turnover all season and first lost fumble of the year. IUP couldn't capitalize on the short field and settled for a short field goal, but missed wide right.
 
After that, Slippery Rock settled in and went to work on offense. JayJay Jordan broke off a 63-yard rush on the next series and scored three plays later with a short TD run to make it 7-0 with 10:06 to play in the first.
 
IUP endured a number of unforced errors in the opening quarter that negated multiple first downs and kept the momentum with SRU. One of those included an illegal formation call on a perfectly executed fake punt
 
Slippery Rock capitalized on the miscues and raced out to a 21-0 lead. DaOwens broke free for a 34-yard run to make it 14-0 late in the first quarter and Carson Heckathorn scored on an 18-yard screen pass that made it 21-0 with 11:55 to play in the second.
 
IUP flipped the momentum and closed the half on a 10-0 run. Leon Parson scored on a 47-yard run and Preston Rathaway closed the half with a 50-yard field goal that just crept over the crossbar to send it to the break with SRU leading 21-10.
 
The defenses dominated the third quarter, with neither team finding much success. Special teams proved to be key as IUP used a stellar punting effort to flip the field position. After a short punt by SRU, the Hawks closed the third quarter with a 22-yard TD pass and a two-point conversion to send it to the fourth with SRU leading just 21-18.
 
Slippery Rock's momentum swung quickly in the fourth quarter. Owens had to take a few plays off and Brad Hoffman entered the game in relief, taking his first snap at his own 11-yard line early in the fourth. He broke off a 42-yard run into IUP territory to change the field position. A few plays later, Jordan broke free for a 27-yard touchdown run to put The Rock up 28-18 with 11:24 to play.
 
IUP turned it over for the second time in the game on its next possession when a snap sailed over the head of QB Mason Maggs and was recovered by Brett Kwoka deep in IUP territory. Owens scampered in three plays later from three yards out to make it 35-18 with 8:02 to play.
 
Slippery Rock put the game away on the next IUP offensive play when Maggs was intercepted by Owen Suah, who returned it 40 yards for a touchdown to make it 42-18 with 7:42 to play and cap a 21-0 run that took less than four minutes.
 
The Hawks put together a sustained scoring drive and converted a seven-yard TD pass with 2:47 to play, but never got the ball back after SRU converted two first downs to run out the clock.
 
Jordan finished with 138 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries for an average of 7.7 yards per carry. Owens added 86 rushing yards and two scores on the ground and went 21-of-31 for 159 yards with one TD and no INT in the passing game. Hamilton Gates caught four passes for 32 yards, Reggie Fleurima caught two passes for 30 yards and Heckathorn caught two passes for 29 yards and one score.
 
Suah, Kwoka and Jacob Snow all put together stellar games to lead the defensive effort. Suah finished with 10 tackles, two pass breakups and one interception returned for his first defensive TD at SRU. He also deflected another pass that was intercepted by Carmen Metcalfe. Snow finished with 10 tackles, a half-TFL and a pass breakup. Kwoka was in the backfield all day and finished with nine tackles, a half sack and fumble recovery. Trever Valenti added eight tackles, Ben Lane chipped in seven and Teddy Gregory Jr. had six. Evan Harper had one TFL and Elijah Halley had one sack.
 
Slippery Rock outgained IUP 435-296 in total offense, 272-167 in rushing offense and 163-129 in passing offense.
 
IUP was led by Parson with 115 rushing yards and one TD. Maggs went 14-of-30 for 129 yards with two TD and two INT.
 
Slippery Rock returns home next Saturday to host an upstart Lock Haven squad in the annual Homecoming game at 1 p.m. The Bald Eagles fell 42-35 against Edinboro Saturday for their first conference loss of the season.
 
GAME NOTES: Slippery Rock has won four straight, six of the last eight and nine of the last 13 in the series against IUP … Saturday marked the 100th meeting between the two rivals … SRU head coach Shawn Lutz improved to 95-25 as head coach … JayJay Jordan extended his games with a TD streak to 13 straight games … SRU scored its second defensive TD of the year with cornerback Owen Suah scoring on a pick-six in the fourth quarter ... more notes will be added later.





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