SLIPPERY ROCK - Clyde Conti sat in a darkened room, slowly chewing on a piece of pizza.

The Slippery Rock High football coach was also chewing on what had just happened to his team fewer than 30 minutes earlier.

The pizza didn't have any answers and neither did Conti after the Rockets squandered a 21-7 halftime lead against Greenville in a 28-21 home defeat Friday night that all but eliminated the them from the playoffs.

And it came in a most disheartening fashion as bad tackling by Slippery Rock yielded big plays to Greenville.

"Which answer do you want?" Conti asked about the tackling snafus. "Do you want the truth or the politically correct answer? It's probably best to say nothing."

The Slippery Rock defense had no answer for a power sweep play the Trojans ran in the second half to get back into the game.

The main benefactor of the play was Greenville tailback Casey Nicklin, who used his speed and shiftiness - as well as shoddy Rocket tackling - to rush for 254 yards on just 15 carries.

He scored on runs of 65, 50 and 85 yards, the final two coming in the third quarter to turn a 14-point deficit into a lead.

He had 169 yards on seven carries in the second half.

"It's like a home run," Conti said. "Is it a bad pitch or is it the batter? I don't know what else to say."

Slippery Rock (2-3 overall, 1-3 in Region 3, Class AA) had heaps of momentum early.

On Greenville's first possession, Slippery Rock cornerback Josh Cress stepped in front of Tom McCormick's pass to the right flat and returned it 59 yards for a touchdown.

The Rockets added another score later in the first quarter as fullback Trevor Gallo burst up the middle untouched for a 28-yard touchdown run and a 14-0 lead.

It was the first time this season Greenville (5-0, 4-0) had trailed by more than two scores.

"We didn't play well in the first half," Stone said. "That was my fault. We apparently weren't very well prepared, and that's my job."

Slippery Rock came out with a different look on offense at times, motioning running back Sean Ray out of a single-back set to present an empty backfield look.

Unfortunately for the Rockets, quarterback Ben Collins had little time in the pocket to find his streaking receivers.

He was 7-of-15 for 48 yards and two interceptions, but Collins was forced to scurry away from strong pressure up the middle most of the night.

In the first half it didn't matter much, as the Rockets were able to churn out yards on the ground.

Gallo added a 2-yard touchdown run late in the first half to cap the Rockets' only significant drive of the game, a 10-play, 51-yard march.

Things were so bad for Greenville in the first half that it faced a fourth-and-41 at its own 5 after it couldn't get off a quick kick on third down.

But the Trojans didn't panic.

"There's a second half," Stone said. "That's why there are two halves. We made adjustments and once we got the adjustments made and settled down, we were OK."

The Slippery Rock offense could do little in the second half.

The Rockets had just one first down in the final two quarters. Four possessions ended with a three-and-out and two more ended with an interception.

Gallo finished with 74 yards on 18 carries, but he had only 14 yards in the second half as Slippery Rock's offense produced just 22 yards.

With the win, Greenville is now in the driver's seat in the region with victories over Wilmington and Grove City. The winner of Region 3 and Region 4 get automatic playoff berths. The final two spots go to at-large teams.

Slippery Rock is looking up at a slew of teams for those final two spots.

The Rockets, two-time defending District 10 champions, can't win the region and are now a long shot to make the playoffs.

"Where do we go from here?" Conti asked. "We try to get some people healthy to begin with.

"The effort was there from the guys. We did some good things against a team that is going to win the conference."