CLARION — Snap a skid and stretch a streak.

Slippery Rock University’s football team managed to do both Saturday at Clarion’s Memorial Stadium, holding off a late rally to defeat the Golden Eagles, 28-20.

The win ended The Rock’s three-game skid this season and a five-game losing streak on the road dating back to last year. Saturday’s win also marked SRU’s 10th consecutive victory at Clarion.

“You can’t beat a quality opponent when you make as many dumb mistakes as we did today,” Clarion coach Jay Foster said. “I wish I could be more positive, but I’m pretty upset right now with the way we played.”

Clarion (3-4, 1-3) ventured inside the SRU 30-yard line on eight possessions, but scored only three times. The final two touchdowns occurred after the Eagles had fallen behind, 28-6.

“Our defense was tired in the fourth quarter,” Rock coach George Mihalik said. “We have to find a way to get off the field.”

Clarion ran 84 plays Saturday, including 48 passes. Quarterback Ben Fiscus scrambled for yardage on a number of plays, as well.

With leading rusher Bobby Thomas sidelined by injury, the Golden Eagles alternated freshman running backs Chris Liberto and Travis Day with little success. They combined for 49 yards on 17 carries.

“Their quarterback runs around all over the place,” SRU defensive end Jeff Thompson said. “It’s like trying to chase a chicken. He wears you out.

“If we play disciplined and stay in our lanes, though, he has nowhere to go. That’s what we did.”

SRU (3-4, 2-2) put together four long scoring drives in the contest, scoring touchdowns after marches of 80, 88, 80 and 76 yards.

“I’m pleased with the 28 points, but I’m really happy about the way we scored on those long drives,” Mihalik said. “(Quarterback) Nigel (Barksdale) did a great job of managing our offense today.”

Making his second collegiate start, Barksdale threw for 257 yards and two touchdowns. He also scored on a 2-yard run and had a 60-yard scramble for a touchdown wiped out by a penalty.

Barksdale found Andrew Bridgeforth for a 38-yard bomb to set up a second-quarter touchdown and hit Ken Amos with a 56-yard strike to set up The Rock’s final TD early in the fourth.

Amos, a sophomore, had six catches for a career-high 101 yards.

“We’ll take what they’ll give us and we have a lot of speed with those receivers on the outside,” Barksdale said. “People look at me and think I’m just a runner ... they underestimate my passing ability and that’s fine by me.

“I’m feeling a lot more comfortable with this offense now. We have a lot of weapons to work with.”

Clarion trailed 14-0 late in the first half when The Rock gained possession at its own 21 with 1:46 on the clock. SRU failed to kill the clock, punted to the Golden Eagles and surrendered a late score.

Fiscus threw a 40-yard pass to Jon Reid, a facemask penalty tacking on more yardage. Nick Perry caught a 7-yard TD pass with 18 seconds left in the half.

SRU took 13 penalties for 90 yards on the day.

“Some of those penalties were aggressive ones,” Mihalik said. “I thought we’ve been playing too tight lately, so I can’t mind those penalties too much.

“That late touchdown was on me. They (Clarion’s defense) hadn’t been stopping us and I thought we could get the ball downfield. It didn’t work out.”

Nor did the beginning of the second half, when The Rock began on its own 3-yard line, narrowly avoided a safety, then gave Clarion the ball at the SRU 30. Derek Walker nailed Fiscus for a 15-yard sack and forced a punt.

“Slippery Rock made the big play when they had to and we gave up too many big plays,” Foster said.

Kicking woes plagued the Golden Eagles, as well. Nathan Conway missed two PATs and was wide on a 41-yard field-goal try. Twice, Clarion turned the ball over on downs deep in SRU territory, electing not to attempt a field goal.

Notes: Karns City graduate and Clarion cornerback Anthony Stimac did not play Saturday because of injured feet. Expected to return next week, he is third on the team with 30 tackles. ... Mars graduate Austin Miele intercepted a pass and broke up another for The Rock. He had a second interception wiped out by a penalty. ... Thompson led SRU with 12 tackles. ... Barksdale was sacked five times, with Julian Howsare getting three of them. ... SRU hosts Edinboro for homecoming at 2 p.m. Saturday.

SRU 28, Clarion 20

Slippery Rock 7 7 7 7 — 28

Clarion 0 6 0 14 — 20

SRU C

21 First Downs 27

45-119 Rushes-Yards 36-117

257 Passing Yards 297

19-26-1 Comp.-Att.-Int 21-48-1

376 Total Yards 404

1-0 Fumbles-Lost 0-0

13-90 Penalty Yards 7-72

First Quarter

SRU — Jaimire Dutrieuille 14 pass from Nigel Barksdale (Kurt Brackman kick), 11:34

Second Quarter

SRU — Barksdale 2 run (Brackman kick), 10:54

C — Nick Perry 7 pass from Ben Fiscus (kick failed), :18

Third Quarter

SRU — Brett Crenshaw 2 run (Brackman kick), 6:14

Fourth Quarter

SRU— Josh Gardner 3 pass from Barksdale (Brackman kick), 14:11

C — Travis Day 2 run (kick failed), 7:17

C — Fiscus 11 run (Fiscus run), 2:55

Individual Statistics

Rushing: SRU, Akeem Satterfield 19-77, Jimmy Zubik 3-19, Nigel Barksdale 16-11, LaQuinn Stephens-Howling 1-9, Jaimire Dutrieuille 2-6, Brett Crenshaw 1-2, TEAM 1-(-5). Clarion, Ben Fiscus 19-68, Chris Liberto 9-30, Travis Day 8-19.

Passing: SRU, Nigel Barksdale 19-26-257-1. Clarion, Ben Fiscus 21-48-287-1.

Receiving: SRU, Ken Amos 6-101, Jaimire Dutrieuille 4-51, LaQuinn Stephens-Howling 3-19, Andrew Bridgeforth 2-19, Akeem Satterfield 2-26, Jimmy Zubik 1-10, Josh Gardner 1-3. Clarion, Aaron Barlow 7-73, Jon Reid 5-98, Nick Perry 3-38, Chris Liberto 2-28, Caleb Mancini 2-26, Travis Day 1-13, Anthony Becoate 1-11.