GREENSBURG — Five turnovers and 12 penalties later, Slippery Rock University football coach George Mihalik assessed his team’s performance Saturday.

“We weren’t at our best today,” he said.

But they are best in the West.

The Rock (9-1, 6-1) wrapped up sole possession of the PSAC West with a 55-21 victory over winless Seton Hill at Offutt Field. SRU will travel to Bloomsburg (9-1) this Saturday for the PSAC championship game.

“That shapes up to be a national playoff game, basically,” Mihalik said. “Our playoffs are starting a week early.”

The offense got started late. The Rock scored only 14 points offensively in the first half — a season low — but took a 21-0 lead into intermission as Derrick Fulmore returned a blocked punt one yard for a score.

Nigel Barksdale threw passes on each of the first seven plays from scrimmage Saturday, the final one being an 11-yard touchdown strike to John Schademan.

The senior receiver caught a pair of touchdown tosses — giving him a Rock record 14 on the year — and tied Greg Hopkins’ single-season SRU mark of eight 100-yard receiving games in one season. Schademan had nine catches for 125 yards.

He has 63 catches on the year — fourth in SRU history — and needs just 42 receiving yards to break Hopkins’ school record of 1,283, set in 1994.

“It’d be an honor to get that, but these records aren’t about me,” Schademan said. “They are team accomplishments. The offensive line, other receivers, Nigel has a few records of his own ... It’s everybody.”

Barksdale struggled after the game’s first drive and Zach Newsock replaced him behind center for a series late in the first quarter. Newsock connected with Robert Joyce for a 10-yard score.

“We wanted Zach to get some work with the first-team offense today,” SRU offensive coordinator Phil Longo said. “It was good to get him reps there.”

Mihalik said Barksdale “was having trouble finding a rhythm and we wanted him to watch a series from the sidelines to see what their defense was trying to do.”

Barksdale threw for 262 yards and three touchdowns, Newsock 206 yards and two scores. Both quarterbacks threw two interceptions.

“Seton Hill’s defense did some things today that gave us problems. That team played hard,” Mihalik said.

After Seton Hill scored its first touchdown midway through the third quarter, Drew Scales returned the kickoff 82 yards for a TD to get it back.

The Griffins scored twice in the final quarter against The Rock’s reserve unit.

“A touchdown is a touchdown no matter who it’s against,” Griffins coach Isaac Collins said. “Our team showed a lot of fight today. We competed against a very good team. That’s an important step for this program.”

SRU’s defense registered 10 sacks. Matt Peacock had 3.5 sacks and Cody Conway three. Seton Hill netted just 50 yards rushing as a result.

“Our defense has been getting better each week and a big part of that has been taking control of the line of scrimmage,” defensive tackle Tony Papley said. “We’ve been dominating things up front.”

Seton Hill switched up quarterbacks during the game as well, moving starter Jarvis McClam to running back. A freshman, McClam threw for 23 yards, rushed for 103 and caught six passes for 59 yards.

“Both of our running backs went down, so we had to move Jarvis to running back,” Collins said. “He’s an athlete who can play any skilled position and we’re thrilled to have him for the next three years.”

Notes: The Rock scored more than 50 points for the fifth time this season. ... SRU running backs Shamar Greene and Teddy Blakeman did not play. Redshirt freshman Dominic Dingle scored his first collegiate touchdown for The Rock. ... Ken Amos had eight catches for 133 yards, including a 67-yard touchdown. ... Seton Hill middle linebacker Tyler Zimmer had 12.5 tackles, two sacks and an interception. He had 17 tackles against The Rock last year. ... Seton Hill had 16 penalties for 130 yards. ... Papley recovered a fumble and Derek Morgan intercepted a pass for SRU.

SRU 55, Seton Hill 21

Slippery Rock 14 7 14 20 — 55

Seton Hill 0 0 7 14 — 21

SRU SH

26 First Downs 21

31-94 Rushes-Yards 50-50

468 Passing Yards 251

27-52-4 Comp.-Att.-Int 19-41-1

562 Total Yards 301

1-1 Fumbles-Lost 3-1

12-142 Penalty Yards 16-130

First Quarter

SRU — John Schademan 11 pass from Nigel Barksdale (Mike Wainauskis kick), 13:27

SRU — Robert Joyce 10 pass from Zack Newsock (Wainauskis kick), 1:38

Second Quarter

SRU — Derrick Fulmore 1 blocked punt return (Wainauskis kick), 14:53

Third Quarter

SRU — Schademan 32 pass from Barksdale (Wainauskis kick), 12:40

SH — Eric Kerns 41 pass from Nick Halfhill (Jesser Boulnemour kick), 8:33

SRU — Drew Scales 82 kick return (Wainauskis kick), 8:21

Fourth Quarter

SRU — Ken Amos 67 pass from Barksdale (Waimnauskis kick), 13:51

SRU — Scales 13 pass from Newsock (Wainauskis kick), 5:12

SH — Norman Darden 47 pass from Halfhill (Boulnemour kick), 4:03

SRU — Dominic Dingle 22 run (kick failed), 2:29

SH — Jarvis McClam 14 run (Boulnemnour kick), :56

Individual Statistics

Rushing: SRU, Brett Crenshaw 8-42, Jimmy Zubik 9-35, Dominic Dingle 4-29, Zack Newsock 2-1, TEAM 1-(-2), Nigel Barksdale 7-(-11). Seton Hill, Jarvis McClam 23-103, Lance Williams 1-6, Denzell Jackson 7-3, Khalil Howard 4-2, Maurice Fisher 2-(-6), Nick Halfhill 13-(-58).

Passing: SRU, Nigel Barksdale 15-30-262-2, Zack Newsock 12-22-206-2. Seton Hill, Nick Halfhill 15-34-228-1, Jarvis McClam 4-7-23-0.

Receiving: SRU, John Schademan 9-125, Ken Amos 8-133, Leroy McClain .3-74, Jimmy Zubik 2-41, Robert Joyce 2-27, Jaimire Dutrieuille 1-37, Mike Bongivengo 1-18, Drew Scales 1-13. Seton Hill, Norman Drarden 6-104, Jarvis McClam 6-59, Erik Kerns 2-47, Edward Collins 2-27, Maurice Fisher 1-8, Denzell Jackson 1-3, Khalil Howard 1-3.