SRU homecoming up against recent spoiler in Edinboro

By John Enrietto Eagle Sports Editor

October 19, 2012 Last Updated: October 19, 2012 11:46 AM College

SLIPPERY ROCK — It's the homecoming king vs. the homecoming spoiler.

And a winning season may be at stake for both.

Slippery Rock University football coach George Mihalik has won 20 of 24 homecoming games during his coaching tenure at SRU. The Rock (3-4, 2-2) hosts Edinboro (3-3, 2-2) for homecoming at 2 p.m. Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.

“You want to win at Rock homecoming,” Mihalik said. “This is the only one of our games a lot of folks will come to see this year. We want to make it a good one.”

The only visiting team to spoil a Rock homecoming in the past 10 years is Edinboro. The Fighting Scots defeated SRU 35-14 in 2008 and 38-26 in 2004.

“This is definitely a big one for both of us,” Edinboro coach Scott Browning said. “The loser of this game will have a tough time having a winning season.”

Both teams have fallen victim to strong schedules in 2012. All three of Edinboro's losses — to Bloomsburg, California (Pa.) and Indiana (Pa.) — are to nationally-ranked opponents. Three of The Rock's four losses are to nationally-ranked foes as well.

Edinboro junior quartterback Cody Harris is in his third year behind center and has thrown for 1,637 yards and 11 touchdowns. He has thrown only four interceptions and completed 70.2 percent of his passes.

Harris is the younger brother of Trevor Harris, a former four-year starting quarterback at Edinboro, who is now playing for Butler graduate Scott Milanovich's Toronto Argonauts in the Canadian Football League.

“Cody just keeps getting better the more he plays,” Browning said. “He is the leader of this team and he knows how to pick out receivers.”

Marcus Johnson leads the Scots with 36 catches for 429 yards and four touchdowns, though six different players have been on the receiving end of Harris TD tosses.

Edinboro averages 272 yards passing per game, but merely 85.3 rushing. The latter figure ranks 14th in the 16-team PSAC. DeAndrea Vaughn leads the Scots with just 184 yards rushing.

“Their quarterback is hard to get to because they throw a lot of short stuff and Harris has a quick release,” Mihalik said. “He's going to get his completions. We have to keep everything in front of us, come up and make the tackle, and make them drive the field.”

Defensively, senior free safety Kenny Pettis has 78 tackles and two interceptions for the Scots. He has 30 more tackles than any other Edinboro defender and leads the PSAC in total tackles.

“They have an All-American cornerback in Brandon Williams and a graduate student at linebacker (Bruce Davis) who is a transfer from Iowa,” Mihalik said. “Their defensive backs are aggressive. They like to come up and stop the run.”

Nigel Barksdakle will start at quarterback for The Rock, the first time in four games that SRU will have the same starting quarterback in consecutive contests, Barksdale has passed for 715 yards and six scores, rushed for 247 and two touchdowns despite making only two starts this season.

“Slippery Rock has played a tough schedule like us, has a new offensive coordinator like us, and they've had different quarterbacks in there,” Browning said. “They're a tough team to figure out right now.

“They can be explosive and we have to eliminate mistakes.”

Also like Edinboro, The Rock throws the ball to a bevy of receivers. Ken Amos had 101 yards in receptions last week and seven SRU players have caught touchdown passes.

Rock defensive linemen Jeff Thompson and Tony Papley have combined for 11.5 tackles for loss and six quarterback sacks. Linebacker Gary Allen leads the team with 60 tackles.

SRU has been outscored 67-7 in the final five minutes of the second quarter this year. The Rock has been outscored 102-72 in the second quarter overall, yet has outscored foes 66-19 in the third quarter.

“We're a young team with a lot of freshmen getting significant playing time,” Mihalik said. “We need to do a better job of game management at the end of halves.

“When we don't score in those situations, we at least have to run enough clock to not let the other team score. That's really hurt us this year.”

Members of the 1962 Slippery Rock State College team that won the PSAC championship will be recognized at the game in commemoration of that team's 50th anniversary.

Edinboro-SRU

Slippery Rock leads its all-time series with Edinboro 51-26-7, including a 12-11-1 record under coach George Mihalik. The scores of those 24 games follow:

Year SRU Edinboro

2011 24 23

2010 28 14

2009 24 28

2008 14 35

2007 59 34

2006 24 21 (OT)

2005 7 24

2004 26 38

2003 3 20

2002 7 3

2001 7 14