SLIPPERY ROCK — Brendan Hathaway was hired to take the Slippery Rock football program to new heights. Friday night's shutdown of Franklin was a step in the right direction.

For the first time in almost two seasons, the Rockets picked up a victory, vanquishing the Franklin Knights, 23-10, to kick off Class AAA District 10 Region 5 play.

The win was Hathaway's first in 12 games as Rockets coach and snapped the school's 15-game losing streak.

“I'm just proud of these kids,” Hathaway said. “We're trying to build something here. Every one of these guys, they've been here through thick and thin. We have goals this year. These guys are working for that.”

Slippery Rock led 13-10 at halftime and never looked back, scoring 10 unanswered second half points, including a 13-yard touchdown run from quarterback Ryan Currie.

Currie replaced fellow quarterback, senior Sean White, who left the game with a cramp in the third quarter.

“The great thing about this is that we have two quarterbacks we are confident in each game,” Hathaway said. “Those guys get about the same amount of reps in practice and we are proud of both of them.”

The Rockets' final drive lasted 17 plays, which ended with a blocked field goal attempt by kicker Mike Stutz. He converted earlier in the game, a 25-yard field goal at the 4:47 mark of the third quarter.

“They were grinding it out and grinding it out and we weren't getting them off the field,” Franklin coach Dave Smith said. “Our outside guys got their butts kicked. It's a chess match when you playing a team like this with the jet sweep. We did contain the big plays, but we got beat on the outside.”

Slippery Rock dominated Franklin on the ground, utilizing seven different players for a combined 267 total rushing yards.

Most notably, seniors Chris Thomas and Ben Gaul led the team with 76 and 92 yards, respectively. Hathaway said that his senior running backs are just one example of the senior leadership that willed the Rockets to victory on opening night.

“We've talked a lot about finishing and learning to win, and I think these guys really took that to heart,” Hathaway said. “They wanted to finish drives. I really attribute that to the seniors. They came out here and led. I always tell them, ‘Leaders get people to follow them.'”

Gaul started the scoring for Slippery Rock with a 3-yard touchdown run. Franklin kicker Logan Mooney booted a 33-yard field goal to cut the lead in half.

White increased the Rockets' lead with a 1-yard scamper at the 2:53 mark of the second quarter, but Franklin wouldn't relent.

Quarterback Nick Billingsley completed a 48-yard strike to wide receiver A.J. Cooley at the 1:27 mark of the second quarter, bringing the halftime score to 13-10 in favor of the Rockets.

Smith said that Billingsley, a third-year starter at quarterback, showed signs of excellence, but the offense as a whole needs to improve.

“Nick has been a starter for three years, so he's got enough experience and he's worked hard to be the quarterback,” Smith said. “He threw the ball pretty good tonight and hopefully, Nick can continue to grow and have a good season.”

The Rockets' starter, White, completed five passes for 43 yards, including three to senior wideout Sam Furrh, who totaled 32 yards. Billingsley completed four passes for 94 yards, including the 48-yard touchdown strike to A.J. Cooley.

In the second half, Stutz's field goal, followed by Currie's touchdown run, put the game away, thus ending Slippery Rock's long-standing losing streak.

But Hathaway said there will be no letdown in the wake of Friday's success.

“We're going to be here at 8 a.m. (Saturday) morning preparing for DuBois,” Hathaway said.

While he was disappointed with the end result, Smith congratulated Hathaway on his first victory as Rockets head coach.

“Great win for him,” Smith said. “I know he's got to feel great. Coach is doing a good job here. They improved throughout the (2010) season even though they didn't win a game. We knew we had to play well tonight, and we didn't play well enough to win.”