HERMITAGE — When the discussion turned to teams to watch in District 10, Region 5 before the season, no one was talking about Hickory.

No one.

“It was certainly motivation,” said first-year coach Bill Dungee.

People are talking about the Hornets now.

With a win over Slippery Rock Friday night, Hickory would sew up the region title.

That may be a surprise to everyone.

Except Dungee.

“I coached at Farrell and I coached at Sharon, so I had a feel for what a good team looks like,” Dungee said.

He saw a good team all the way back in March.

“I didn't set a won-loss record goal,” Dungee said. “I just wanted them to work to the level that great teams work and they did that from Day 1.”

Now Hickory (5-2, 2-1) is a win away from a title.

The Hornets are coming off a 58-14 loss to Westinghouse on the road. But they beat Grove City by two points and Sharon by a touchdown to get in position to win the region.

“We've been fortunate to win some tight ballgames,” Dungee said.

The stakes are just as high for Slippery Rock (4-3, 1-2), which needs a win or a Conneaut loss to qualify for the District 10 3A playoffs.

The Rockets manhandled banged-up Conneaut at home last week, winning 48-14.

Slippery Rock rushed for 360 yards and had three players — Vito Pilosi, Nathan Hyatt and David Duffalo — rush for 94 or more.

“I think we're getting there,” said Slippery Rock coach Larry Wendereusz. “For the most part we did a better job. I don't know if you can ever play the perfect game, but we were closer to doing that.”

Pilosi is turning in a stellar season both passing and running the football.

He's thrown for 720 yards and six touchdowns. He's also rushed for 431 yards and four scores.

“Vito — it starts with him,” Dungee said. “He's such a dynamic players. Such a tough kid and he's able to utilize their weapons to great effect.”

One of those weapons is Hyatt, who rushed for 181 yards and three touchdowns last week and leads the team with 660 yards and 10 touchdowns.

Duffalo gained 112 yards last week and is also a stalwart on defense.

Slippery Rock will need all the stalwarts they can get to stop Hickory's balanced offense.

Hickory has three running backs with more than 300 yards and three receivers with more than 10 receptions.

Quarterback Michael Henwood has thrown for more than 700 yards.

“They just don't hurt themselves,” Wendereusz said.

The Hornets' defense is also staunch.

And aggressive.

“They come after you,” Wendereusz said. “They want to stop the run and that'll be a challenging task for us.”

Slippery Rock has been in playoff-mode for weeks now and Wendereusz hopes that edge can help the Rockets against Hickory.

“Our slogan last year was do your job and it's the same this year,” Wendereusz said. “We also say be where your feet are at.”