Slippery Rock University Athletics

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CLARION, Pa. – The seventh ranked Slippery Rock University football team locked up the outright Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference Western Division title and remained unbeaten on the year with a 48-14 win on the road at Clarion Saturday from Memorial Stadium.
 
The Rock improve to 9-0 overall and 6-0 in the PSAC West with their ninth straight win in the series against Clarion. They also retain the "Milk Jug" trophy and improve to 15-1 in the series since the introduction of the trophy in 2010. Clarion falls to 4-5 overall and 2-4 in the PSAC West with the loss.
 
Slippery Rock also found out its PSAC title game opponent Saturday when No. 24 East Stroudsburg pulled off a 32-25 overtime upset at home against No. 3 Kutztown to secure the East Division title. The Rock will host ESU Nov. 14 in the PSAC title game. The Warriors are 8-1 overall on the season with their only loss coming 59-35 at home to SRU back on Sept. 12.
 
Clarion won the toss and elected to take the ball to open the game Saturday and it paid off early. The Eagles marched down the field with some big QB scrambles and struck first with a four-yard TD pass to take a 7-0 lead with 10:31 to play.
 
SRU took only its third sack of the whole season on its first possession and punted the ball away with a DaOne Owens punt that was downed at the one-yard line, giving the hosts a chance to keep the early momentum.
 
The momentum swung permanently on the next play, however, when a Clarion pass was deflected and Ben Lane dove in front of it for his first career interception to set SRU up at the Clarion 11-yard line. JayJay Jordan rushed in shortly after to level the score at 7-7 with 8:11 to play in the first.
 
That would be the start of a 41-0 run for The Rock as SRU methodically pulled away and never let Clarion back into the game.
 
Slippery Rock outgained Clarion 626-331 in total offense, including 398-181 in rushing and 228-150 in passing. The Rock had more than 400 yards rushing before kneel downs at the end of the game took that total back under 400. SRU forced two turnovers with interceptions from Lane and Evan Harper.
 
Jordan only played two-and-a-half quarters and racked up 225 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries for an average of 11.3 yards per carry. His two touchdowns give him 21 rushing scores on the year, tying the SRU single-season record that was set in 1994 by LaMonte Coleman. Jordan now has 25 total touchdowns this year, extending his SRU single-season record in that category.
 
Owens completed 19-of-33 passes for 215 yards with two touchdowns and one interception that came on a fourth down long pass to the one-yard line that basically served as a punt. It was just his third pick of the season. Owens also rushed for 66 yards and one score on just six carries for an average of 11.0 yards per carry.
 
Luke McCoy added 43 rushing yards, Caden Halajcio ran for 33 yards and David Dennison ran for 15 yards and his first career touchdown.
 
John Sabo also ran for a score on a 14-yard reverse and led the receivers with five catches for 68 yards and one TD to account for two scores on the day. Nine different players caught passes in the game with Hamilton Gates (3 catches for 45 yards), McCoy (3-27), Reggie Fleurima (3-23-1 TD), Carson Heckathorn (2-20), Dylan Maddox (1-13), Telly Palmer (2-12), Jordan (1-10) and Vincent Berardi (1-10) all having catches. Palmer also had 83 return yards with a 23-yard punt return and a kickoff return long of 33 yards.
 
Tyree Johnson led the defense with 10 total tackles, while Trever Valenti chipped in seven stops and a half-sack. Aaron Scales Jr. added six solo tackles and one sack. Lane had five tackles to go with his interception and John Frangos also had five tackles. Nick Frisco had a half-sack and Brian Young Jr. had one tackle for loss.
 
Clarion QB Jase Ferguson completed 11-of-22 passes for 150 yards with two TD and two INT while also rushing for a team-high 104 yards.
 
Slippery Rock will now shift its focus to trying to close out a perfect regular season when Edinboro visits next Saturday for a 4 p.m. kickoff on Senior Day and Salute to Military and First Responders night.
 
GAME NOTES: Slippery Rock won its first outright PSAC West title since 2023 and its 10th division title since 2011 … SRU improved to 9-0 for the third time since 2019 and just the fourth time in program history … SRU won its ninth straight game in the series against Clarion and is now 15-1 in the series since the "Milk Jug" trophy was introduced in 2010 and 61-24-3 overall in the series … SRU head coach Shawn Lutz improved to 97-25 … SRU won its sixth straight Halloween game and improved to 14-3 all-time on Halloween … JayJay Jordan tied the SRU single-season record for rushing touchdowns with 21, matching LaMonte Coleman from 1994 … Jordan extended his SRU single-season record for total TD and now has 25 on the year … Jordan has now scored at least one TD in 15 straight games … John Sabo has now caught a pass in 17 straight games … Ben Lane caught his first career interception … David Dennison scored his first career touchdown.




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