ERIE — Clyde Conti stood in the middle of field at Veterans Memorial Stadium, looked up to the darkened sky and pumped both fists over and over again at his side as if slaloming down a snow-covered slope.

It was quite an uphill climb to get where he and his football team stood.

The Slippery Rock coach was proud. He was relieved. And, most of all, he was happy after the Rockets controlled the line of scrimmage and the game in a 21-7 win over North East in the first round of the District 10 Class AA playoffs Saturday night.

It was Slippery Rock's first playoff win in five seasons, the last coming on a similarly chilly November night against Tyrone in the PIAA quarterfinals in 2003.

It was North East's first loss since August.

"We're just fortunate," Conti said. "We know we beat a quality team tonight."

Not only did the Rockets beat them, they controlled them.

Slippery Rock (8-3) didn't bust a big play in the running game — its longest was 23 yards — but it churned out six yards here, eight yards there on methodical, time-consuming drives.

Fullback Justin Angerett was the main beneficiary of the push up front, gaining a career-high 112 yards on a career-high 22 carries.

"Every time I got the ball, I got at least five yards," Angerett said. "I love my offensive linemen. They worked real hard tonight. They won us the game."

Slippery Rock trailed early againstNorth East when Grapepickers quarterback Curtis Bailey tossed up a high, floating pass into the end zone that Eric Meehl hauled in on a fourth-and-8 play for a 25-yard score.

The Rockets answered by taking advantage of a North East fumble to score on a 14-yard run by Isaac Osborne.

Slippery Rock went up 12-7 at the half when Angerett made a quick cut to the outside and scored from 17-yards out late in the second quarter.

By that point, the Rockets had established their dominance on the line of scrimmage.

"That's what we mainly worked on this week," said Slippery Rock offensive line coach Kent Uber. "Intensity and driving off the ball. We know we have backs. They have moves and speed, but they can't run if we don't open holes."

There were plenty of holes for Angerett and the gang to run through.

Quarterback Jono Powell gained 90 yards on 15 carries and Osborne rushed for 57 more on 13 carries.

Slippery Rock attempted 52 running plays; North East ran just 48 total plays.

The lopsided time of possession had a lot to do with a 17-play drive to start the second half that burned nearly nine minutes and resulted in a 24-yard field goal by Mike Ramirez.

"To come out in the second half with a nine-minute drive made it tough on them," Uber said. "It's hard to get any rhythm on offense when you aren't getting many snaps."

The Rockets' biggest play came minutes later when Powell hit Derrick Orloski on a 60-yard catch and run to give Slippery Rock a two-touchdown lead.

North East (9-2) spent the rest of the game trying to play catch-up — something the Grapepickers rarely had to do this season.

And it showed.

Bailey was sacked three times in the fourth quarter, the final time quashing any chance of a comeback.

The final sack came from an unlikely source: Ramirez, a soccer player and the Rockets' kicker.

"Unfortunately, their soccer season is over now, so that allowed him to come out and play a position this week," said Slippery Rock defensive line coach Brad Sopic. "He stepped up real big. He did a good job tonight."

Ramirez played defensive end only on obvious passing downs and simply rushed the passer with zeal.

He will have plenty of opportunities to do that again at 7 p.m. Saturday when the Rockets take on Sharon and the Tigers' potent passing attack at Slippery Rock University.

The Rockets, though, will enjoy this one, knowing their seniors have at least one more game.

"All we kept talking about was this is not Jono's last game. This is not Tony (Papley's) last game. This is not our seniors' last game," Angerett said. "We're going to keep playing and keep going."

Slippery Rock 21, North East 7Slippery Rock 6 6 9 0—21NorthEast 7 0 0 0—7SR NE14 First Downs 852-258 Rushes-Yards 37-110117 Passing Yards 404-6-0 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 2-11-1375 Total Yards 1500-0 Fumbles/Lost 2-26-45 Penalties-Yards 1-10

First QuarterNE — Eric Meehl 25 pass from Curtis Bailey (Zac Henry kick), 5:33SR — Isaac Osborne 14 run (kick failed), 1:00

Second QuarterSR — Justin Angerett 17 run (pass failed), 4:44

Third QuarterSR — Mike Ramirez 24 field goal, 3:12SR — Derrick Orloski 60 pass from Jono Powell (kick failed)

Individual Statistics

Passing: Slippery Rock, Jono Powell 4-6-117-0. North East, Curtis Bailey 2-11-40-1.

Rushing: Slippery Rock, Justin Angerett 22-112, Jono Powell 15-90, Isaac Osborne 13-57, Team 2-(-1). NorthEast, Jeff Carniewski 19-67, Nick Grow 5-23, Curtis Bailey 11-12, Jim Bailey 1-5, Louis Neff 1-3.

Receiving: Slippery Rock, Derrick Orloski 4-117. NorthEast, Eric Meehl 1-25, Nick Grown 1-15.