GROVE CITY — The offense gets the glory.

The defense, though, is what has helped the Grove City High football program to a 36-4 record over the past four-plus seasons.

Namely, the Eagles' penchant for causing turnovers.

Grove City is at it again in 2019, raking the football out of the arms of ballcarriers and picking off passes at a prodigious rate.

When Slippery Rock invades Forker Field for a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday, the Rockets will have to take extra care in protecting the football.

“They're the same as always,” said Slippery Rock coach Larry Wendereusz. “They are very talented and (head football coach Sam Mowrey) has done a great job building a program.

“They're very sound. They're very aggressive and they're very physical.”

Grove City (4-0, 0-0) has forced 12 fumbles already this season and recovered eight of them. The Eagles also have picked off opposing quarterbacks eight times.

That's an average of four turnovers per game.

“That's just a result of playing physical football,” Mowrey said. “One of the strengths of our defense is creating turnovers.”

Mowrey rattled off nearly all of his defensive starters when asked to point out who has excelled on that side of the ball this season.

“I know you only asked for a few,” Mowrey said, chuckling, “but everyone has had a hand in it.”

While Grove City is coming off a 36-0 blanking of Brashear and rolling into this rivalry matchup, Slippery Rock is trying to put a 14-0 setback to Sharon in the rearview mirror.

Slippery Rock (2-2, 0-1) rolled up 304 yards on offense against the Tigers but had nothing to show for it.

“The positive piece was we moved the ball,” Wendereusz said. “We just gotta punch it in.”

Dropped passes haunted the Rockets and quarterback Vito Pilosi, who was 16 of 36 for 164 yards in the loss.

The senior quarterback also rushed for 87 yards.

This season, Pilosi has 497 yards through the air and 280 yards on the ground.

“(Pilosi) is hard to bring down,” Mowrey said. “He's so strong and big that on a bad play he's getting three or four yards.”

Nathan Hyatt is also having a strong season. The senior has rushed for 338 yards on just 47 carries and five touchdowns and has also caught 13 passes for 154 yards and a score.

“They have a lot of weapons,” Mowrey said. “They're not as big as they have been up front, but they get after it.”

Grove City's offense may not be as potent as it has been in past seasons, either, but it's been plenty effective.

Logan Breese has thrown for 616 yards and nine touchdowns in his first season as a starter. He is completing 64.5 percent of his passes.

The bell cow for the Eagles this season has been Colby Nelson, who has 480 yards rushing on 84 bruising carries.

“I tease him a little about turning me in for child abuse,” Mowrey said. “He's gonna carry the rock. That's how it's going to be.

“It's just a matter of doing what you think is the best way you can move the football and score points,” Mowrey added.

Moving the ball and scoring points may be a challenge against Slippery Rock, which has its own stingy defense.

The Rockets gave up just two touchdowns against Sharon.

“The two plays, the two scores, they got us on them,” Wendereusz said. “But we gave up only 14 points and you hope to win those football games.”

Slippery Rock has been playing better in the trenches — an area of concern before the season because of heavy graduation losses.

“We're getting there, but you don't have a lot of time to get there in high school football,” Wendereusz said. “We're in (our fifth game) already. We have to get there fast.”

Grove City beat Slippery Rock twice last season — 33-7 in September and 26-9 in the playoffs — and has won the last four meetings.

The Rockets last beat the Eagles in 2015.

“It's always a dog fight,” Mowrey said. “You wouldn't expect anything less from a rivalry game.”