MERCER - One of the most important statistics in high school football - and one of the most overlooked - is time of possession.

The Mercer High School football team learned this lesson in a 21-7 loss to Slippery Rock Friday night.

"They kept our defense on the field too much in the first half," said Mercer coach Pat McClearn. "We played the whole first half in our own end."

Slippery Rock (2-4 overall, 2-3 in the region) dominated the time of possession, holding the ball for more than 31 minutes of the game.

The Rockets also earned 14 first downs.

This kept the Mercer (1-5, 1-4) defense on the field for much of the game as the Rockets ran the ball 52 times for 275 yards.

"The best way to play defense is to have the ball in your own possession," McClearn said.

The Rockets reached the scoreboard first when senior quarterback Ben Collins punched the ball in from a yard out with 2:31 remaining in the first quarter. This capped off a six-play, 61-yard drive to give Slippery Rock an early 7-0 lead.

"I thought we did a pretty good job at the point of attack blocking and running the football," said Slippery Rock coach Clyde Conti.

The Rockets came out running in the second half.

Collins scored his second touchdown of the night on a 5-yard sweep with 1:49 left in the third quarter. The 10-play, 52-yard drive burned more than five minutes off of the clock.

"I thought we were kind of flat in the first half," Conti said. "I told the guys at halftime that we need to come out with some spirit, and I think we did that."

The Rockets scored their final touchdown of the evening when senior running back David Bauer broke two tackles and reached the end zone from 4 yards out with 5:13 left in the game.

Bauer finished the night with 112 yards on 14 carries.

"They did a great job running the football," McClearn said. "Both of our teams have a similar style. They just did a better job at it tonight."

Mercer scored its only touchdown late in the game when senior quarterback Devin Wasser hooked up with junior wide receiver Karl Swanson for an 84-yard strike.

Swanson caught the ball at midfield, broke a tackle and sprinted 50 yards untouched for the score.

Mercer attempted only five passes on the night.

"Early in the year, we tried throwing it, but that didn't work out too well," McClearn said. "What we have to do is run the ball and take time off of the clock. When we do throw the ball, what we do is try to give him (Swanson) a chance to make a play."

McClearn is a former member of the coaching staff at Slippery Rock, serving four years there before getting the Mercer job this summer.

"Let me just say how important Pat is to everyone here on the staff," Conti said. "Coming from a father's stand point, he is the type of guy that you'd want to have your son play for."

The victory was the second consecutive win for Slippery Rock, which hosts Hickory next week.