BLOOMSBURG — Bloomsburg was primed to succumb to an early knockout punch.

But Slippery Rock let the Huskies off the ropes during the second quarter of Saturday’s PSAC Championship Game.

“We never got out to that three-touchdown lead that would have forced them out of their game-plan,” SRU coach George Mihalik admitted.

That opportunity was missed early.

With the score even at 7 early in the second quarter, SRU faced a fourth-and-3 at the Bloomsburg 13. Rather than attempt a field goal, The Rock went for the first down.

Quarterback Nigel Barksdale rolled right on an option, cut it back inside and was dropped for no gain by defensive end Larry Webster.

Mihalik said a number of reasons went into the decision to try for the first down.

“Our kicking game from placement hadn’t been going well of late, we were moving the ball well, the feel of the game at that point ... All of those things factored into that decision,” the coach said.

Up 21-13 late in the half, Barksdale found Drew Scales for a 36-yard completion to the 8-yard line. On the next play, the ball came loose on a botched handoff and the Huskies’ Roy Dennis recovered.

“That was big because it would have given us huge momentum going into halftime,” Mihalik said. “Instead, it gave them a lift.”

Two missed scoring chances inside the opponent’s 15 wound up looming large in a 42-38 loss.

“The outside defenders had committed to the pitch,” Barksdale said of the fourth-and-3 play. “I probably should have read that quicker than I did.

“Still, their guy (Webster) made a nice tackle. I thought I’d beat him to the inside and it didn’t happen.”

Barksdale described the fumble as “a miscommunication between me and the running back.”

SRU had three turnovers on the day. The other two set up a Bloomsburg score and ended the game.

“Slippery Rock came in here with a minus 11 in turnovers,” Bloomsburg middle linebacker Justin Shirk said. “We figured we’d be able to make our share of plays that way.”