SR defense holds up its end
SLIPPERY ROCK — It doesn’t take long for the Slippery Rock High defense to know if it is going to have a good night on the football field.
“The first series,” says senior defensive tackle Ryan Bosch before junior defensive tackle Cameron Neal interjects.
“The first play,” Neal says, smiling.
While the Rockets’ offense has gotten a fair share of the love this season, rolling up points and yardage at prodigious rates, the defense has been just as good.
Slippery Rock has given up just 13 points in the first half and 47 this season. Many of those points have come in garbage time with the game well in hand and the mercy clock rolling.
It has done it with a relatively new cast of characters from last season.
Dylan Neal and his 200 tackles graduated and so, too, did Forrest Christmann and his chiseled 6-foot-4, 255-pound frame that clogged up the middle.
Colton Raabe and Ryan Bosch are clogging things up now.
“They have really set the tone for the defense each game,” said Slippery Rock coach Brendan Hathaway. “It really starts with our line and our defensive line has really moved the offensive line backward all year.”
That has opened things up for the athletic linebackers.
One of them is junior Jared McDowell, who saw significant playing time at linebacker last season and is one of the leading tacklers this season.
“I knew there were some big holes to fill, but I think it is amazing that we are playing as well as we have,” McDowell said.
The emergence of middle lineback Blake Heller also has buoyed the defense.
Heller moved from defensive end to linebacker this year.
“You always need some surprises every year, and we’ve gotten that at linebacker,” Hathaway said. “Blake Heller has really stepped up. Frank Conlon has been playing well and our DBs — they’re athletic — and they have been staying deep and not given up the big play.”
Slippery Rock is the only undefeated Butler County area team heading into Week 6. The Rockets travel to Warren Friday to face the 4-1 Dragons.
The Rockets’ defense has given up just 181 yards per game in those five wins and have forced 11 turnovers.
“It’s very satisfying to see these guys step up,” Raabe said. “We played as sophomores last year and just to see the difference from last year to this year is incredible.”
