SRU drops Edinboro in OT
SLIPPERY ROCK — Forget about playing 60 minutes.
Slippery Rock did its best work when it was in overtime Saturday in its 38-31 homecoming college football victory over Edinboro Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
The Rock (4-4, 3-2) struggled in the second half, losing a 13-point halftime lead and allowing the Fighting Scots to score four touchdowns in the final 30 minutes.
But when push came to shove in overtime, The Rock shoved hardest.
“We expected the offense to do its job, then we were challenged to do ours,” SRU defensive end Jeff Thompson said. “We work together.”
SRU had possession in overtime first. After two plays netted no yards from the Edinboro 25, quarterback Nigel Barksdale spotted LaQuinn Stephens-Howling open over the middle and hit him near the 12-yard line. Stephens-Howling raced into the end zone untouched.
Barksdale had completed only 5-of-14 passes with two interceptions in the second half. And the overtime score nearly didn't happen.
“It was kind of an odd route and I stumbled while making my cut toward the middle,” Stephens-Howling said. “I just got up and kept going.”
“Once I saw him shed the linebacker, it was up to me to put the ball there,” Barksdale said. “But, yeah, he almost went down.”
Edinboro quarterback Cody Harris threw for 297 yards in the second half in fueling the Scots' comeback. But SRU stymied him on the Scots' overtime possession.
Quindell Dean knocked away a first-down pass. Aaron Moul sacked Harris for a 10-yard loss on second down. A third-down pass to the end zone sailed incomplete. When Derek Morgan knocked away a fourth-down pass in the flat, the game was over.
“Our defense came up big when it had to,” Rock coach George Mihalik said. “It's been our M.O. all season. Teams are getting in the red zone, but we're keeping them out of the end zone.”
That fact ultimately cost Edinboro (3-4, 2-3).
While the Scots tallied 31 points on the day, they failed to score any on four of seven trips inside The Rock 15-yard line during regulation.A fake 29-yard field goal attempt resulted in former SRU quarterback Kellen O'Neill being tackled 6 yards short of a first down with 6:32 left in the second quarter.A 30-yard interception return by Denzel Jones gave the Scots a first down at the SRU 2-yard line late in the half. A holding penalty, a 12-yard sack by Tony Papley and a 6-yard sack by Thompson eventually resulted in a desperation completion to Ben Eisel. Eisel was stopped at the 2-yard line and time expired before Edinboro could run another play.The Scots turned the ball over on downs at The Rock 12 early in the third period and Sean Seefeldt missed a 22-yard field goal attempt with 5:12 left in the game.“I don't know. ... I'd have to see the stats,” was all Edinboro coach Scott Browning could say about the missed opportunities.Meanwhile, The Rock was 4-for-4 on its red-zone opportunities.The teams combined for 26 penalties on the day.“I can't get on my guys about the penalties because they were aggressive 'play hard' penalties,” Mihalik said. “But there were a lot of flags on that field today.”Barksdale threw for 239 yards and three touchdowns. He ran for 96 yards and a score despite being sacked five times.Harris threw for 379 yards — 2 short of his career high — and rushed for two scores. He was sacked nine times.“We were smacking him and cracking him all day and he kept getting up and making plays,” Thompson said. “I've got a lot of respect for a quarterback who played like he did today.”Harris' lone touchdown pass was a freakish 54-yard bomb to Marcus Johnson early in the third period. Anthony Saunders, playing with a broken hand and a huge cast on his arm, defended on the play. The ball ricocheted off Saunders' cast and deftly landed in the arms of Johnson.“Anthony defended a lot of plays out there. I was going to pull him because I thought he had a disadvantage with that cast, but he was holding his own,” Mihalik said. “That was a gutsy performance.”Browning described Harris as “a tough kid who wants to win. He plays with heart.”Notes: Slippery Rock High graduate Papley led SRU with 12 tackles. Thompson had 11 tackles and three sacks. He was named the PSAC-West Defensive Athlete of the Week for his efforts. Derek Walker added two sacks. ... Both teams lost key players to injury. Rock running back Akeem Satterfield left the game in the first half and Edinboro safety Kenny Pettis went down in the second. Pettis is second in the nation with 78 tackles. ... Edinboro's Branden Williams blocked a punt inside The Rock 10-yard line to set up a Scots' touchdown. It was his 10th blocked kick of the season. ... Mihalik is 21-4 in Rock homecoming games.SRU 38, Edinboro 31Edinboro 0 3 21 7 0 — 31Slippery Rock 9 7 8 7 7 — 38E SRU20 First Downs 2045-30 Rushes-Yards 53-191379 Passing Yards 23921-45-1 Comp.-Att.-Int 15-30-3409 Total Yards 4303-0 Fumbles-Lost 0-014-117 Penalty Yards 12-110First QuarterSRU — LaQuinn Stephens-Howling 42 pass from Nigel Barksdale (kick failed), 10:26SRU — Kurt Brackman 28 field goal, 2:45Second QuarterE — Sean Seefeldt 42 field goal, 14:52SRU — Josh Gardner 2 pass from Barksdale (Brackman kick), 9:31Third QuarterE — Marcus Johnson 54 pass from Cody Harris (Seefeldt kick), 14:19E — Brian Davis 1 run (Seefeldt kick), 6:45SRU — Barksdale 4 run (Jimmy Zubik run), 1:46E — Harris 5 run (Seefeldt kick), :38Fourth QuarterSRU — Brett Crenshaw 3 run (Brackman kick), 13:51E — Harris 2 run (Seefeldt kick), 7:44OvertimeSRU — Stephens-Howling 25 pass from Barksdale (Brackman kick)Individual StatisticsRushing: Edinboro, Brian Davis 19-42, Nick Hall 1-2, Willie Lowe 1-2, Kellen O'Neill 1-1, TEAM 1-(-1), D'Andrea Vaughn 1-(-1), Cody Harris 20-(-15). SRU, Nigel Barksdale 30-196, Jaimire Dutrieuille 6-39, Jimmy Zubik 6-21, Brett Crenshaw 6-17, Akeem Satterfield 4-12, LaQuinn Stephens-Howling 1-6.Passing: Edinboro, Cody Harris 21-45-379-1. SRU, Nigel Barksdale 15-30-239-3.Receiving: Edinboro, Marcus Johnson 4-102, Ben Eisel 3-94, Kevin Sonnie 3-34, Shawn Walker 3-32, Seth Hembree 2-25, D'Andrea Vaughn 2-5, Willie Lowe 1-66, Andrew Smith 1-10, Kellen O'Neill 1-7, Brian Davis 1-4. SRU, Ken Amos 4-76, LaQuinn Stephens-Howling 2-67, Robert Joyce 2-44, Andrew Bridgeforth 2-19, Jaimire Dutrieuille 2-19, Jimmy Zubik 1-7, John Schademan 1-5, Josh Gardner 1-2.
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