GROVE CITY — Three seasons ago, the Grove City High football team underwent a massive change in philosophy.

Gone was a wing-T, run-first attack that served the Eagles quite well under former coach Jeff Bell.

When Sam Mowrey, who had served as the defensive coordinator after a career as a starting quarterback at Grove City College, took over, he installed a spread offense that featured the short passing game.

It was a complete revamp and the Eagles went through some growing pains with a 2-8 record in the first year and a 1-9 record in 2015.

“After last season, the morale was down,” Mowrey said. “The kids were beat up, the coaches were beat up mentally. We stuck to the things we believed in and the players believed in.”

That resolve has paid dividends this season as Grove City is off to a 5-0 start for the first time since 2011 as it hosts Slippery Rock for a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday night.

Slippery Rock, in many ways, is where Grove City was two short years ago.

Gone is an option, run-first attack that served the Rockets quite well under former coaches Brendan Hathaway and Travis Sarver.

When Larry Wendereusz, who has served as an assistant coach at Grove City under Clair Altemus and as an assistant coach at Seneca Valley and Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic, took over this season, he installed a spread offense that featured a short passing game.

Grove City senior quarterback Kameron Patterson, who is completing nearly 76 percent of his passes for 1,157 yards, 18 touchdowns and just one interception this season, sees a lot of similarities between the two team's attacks.

“It's always hard, knowing we were in the same position they are in two years ago,” Patterson said. “They're running similar stuff to what we are. I think they have a bright future ahead of them.”

Patterson just hopes that future doesn't begin Friday.

Wendereusz will be tasked with trying to slow down an Eagles' offense that has scored 248 points this season — 121 in the last two weeks.

“You just have to play solid defense,” Wendereusz said. “They run the ball very well, so when you put an extra guy in the box, they will throw the ball all over the place. You just have to make them methodically drive down the field, hope at some point you're gonna make a big play.”

That's been easier said than done because the Eagles have some explosive playmakers on offense.

A.J. Turner may be the most dangerous of them all. The senior tight end has 17 receptions for 512 yards and eight touchdowns. He's been particularly adept at turning short passes into big gains.

Then there's sophomore Logan Lutz, who also has 17 receptions for 369 yards and six touchdowns.

Trey Adams leads the ground game with 372 yards on 74 carries and six TDs.

“We've had a good week in practice,” Wendereusz said.

Slippery Rock lost to Sharon 49-7 last week, but held the Tigers to less than 300 yards of offense.

Mowrey isn't buying into the notion that the Rockets are struggling.

“They're a dangerous team,” Mowrey said. “They have a quarterback (Bailey Mertens) who can make big throws when they need him to and a couple of backs (Seth Slater and Hunter Prementine) who can make plays for them.

“It's nice that this game is a rivalry game because we don't have to worry about our guys looking past them,” Mowrey added. “That's something you worry about when you get off to this kind of start.”