FAIRVIEW — Jake Shaffer has had his share of ups and downs this season as a part-time quarterback for the Slippery Rock High football team.

Saturday was perhaps the highest of the highs for both Shaffer and the Rockets.

Shaffer relieved starting quarterback Vito Pelosi and threw three second-half touchdown passes as Slippery Rock scored 31 unanswered points in a 38-14 dismantling of Harbor Creek in the first round of the District 10 3A playoffs at Fairview High School.

Shaffer came into the game with four TD passes in nine games this season. He nearly matched that in a half of football against a shell-shocked Huskies' defense.

“I knew what I had to do and I knew what I was coached to do,” Shaffer said. “I did what the coaches asked me to do.”

Shaffer knew he would get a chance at quarterback against Harbor Creek Saturday.

Rockets' coach Larry Wendereusz told the junior that both he and the sophomore Pelosi would see time.

Shaffer made the most of his opportunity.

“Jake has done a tremendous job this year in the sense of bouncing around,” Wendereusz said. “He didn't get a chance to play quarterback the last two weeks, but we talked to the two of them and said, 'Vito and Jake, the both of you are going to play quarterback.' Whoever had the hotter hand was going to go.”

Shaffer's hand was sizzling on a cold night.

Shaffer started out with incompletions on his first seven attempts, but was cursed by a few drops.

In the second half, however, he was 5-of-6 passing for 71 yards on the Rockets' opening drive of the third quarter, capping it off with 13-yard touchdown pass to Seth Slater.

The touchdown tied the game at 14-14 and launched the Rockets.

“I think our guys needed that as a boost,” Wendereusz said. “That was probably one of our better drives all season.”

Shaffer had three big completions to Patrick Shea for 51 yards on the march.

“There was so much energy after getting that touchdown,” Shaffer said. “We knew we were in the game again. It just lifted everyone's spirits.”

Shaffer's hot hand continued.

He found Nathan Hyatt on a 21-yard touchdown late in the third quarter to give the Rockets their first lead of the game, 21-14.

Shaffer also hit a wide-open Rod Williams in the middle of the field for a 25-yard touchdown to put a cap on a dominant second half.

“It feels great to have a playoff game like this after the season we've had this year,” Shaffer said. “I think it's only going to get better from here.”

Slippery Rock (4-6) scaled down its offense and the crispness that provided showed.

The Rockets rolled up 203 yards rushing and 324 total yards.

It was only the second time this season Slippery Rock cracked 300 total yards on offense in a game.

Meanwhile, the defense, which has been a constant for the Rockets, was dominant again.

Harbor Creek's two scoring drives in the first half were made possible by Slippery Rock mistakes.

The Huskies (7-3) took advantage of a running-into-the-kicker penalty on a 4th-and-9 play, converted the 4th-and-4 and capped it with a 4-yard touchdown run by Zach Mosbacher out of a jumbo wildcat formation.

The other Harbor Creek score was a 1-yard run by freshman quarterback Jaxson Favre that capped a 19-yard drive after a blocked punt.

“We told our defensive ends to really try to contain (Favre) because he was running around back there,” said Hyatt, who also recovered a fumble in the end zone for a touchdown in the second half that gave the Rockets a 28-14 lead and complete control. “We executed and caused some turnovers.”

Harbor Creek had four turnovers in the second half.

It's the second consecutive season that Slippery Rock, a Region 2 team, has entered the playoffs with a 3-6 record and won handily against a Region 4 opponent.

Last year, the Rockets handed Mercyhurst Prep a 28-0 loss.

“We always have a chip on our shoulder,” Hyatt said. “They think these northern teams are much better than us because of their record and then we show them.”

Slippery Rock will play Region 2 foe Sharon, which had a first-round bye, in the semifinal at 7 p.m. Saturday at Wilmington High School.

“Our goal has been to be better at the end of the year than at the start,” Wendereusz said. “I think we played better tonight than we have in a while.”

Slippery Rock 0 7 14 17 — 38

Harbor Creek 7 7 0 0 — 14

First Quarter

HC — Zach Mosbacher 4 run (Nate McGill kick), 2:09

Second Quarter

SR — Seth Slater 6 run (Nathaniel Willison kick), 8:49

HC — Jaxson Favre 1 run (McGill kick), 3:22

Third Quarter

SR — Seth Slater 13 pass from Jake Shaffer (Willison kick), 4:35

SR — Nathan Hyatt 21 pass from Shaffer (Willison kick), 1:57

Fourth Quarter

SR — Hyatt fumble recovery in end zone, Willison kick), 7:31

SR — Willison 22 field goal, 5:36

SR — Rod Williams 25 pass from Shaffer (Willison kick), 3:52

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Slippery Rock, Jake Shaffer 18-68, Seth Slater 13-61, Kaleb Kamerer 3-39, Rod Williams 2-19, Vito Pelosi 3-11, Hunter Prementine 6-5, TEAM 1-0. Harbor Creek, Lee Barney 17-69, Ben Johnson 6-38, Jaxson Favre 14-34, Nick Oosterkamo 1-10, Zach Mosbacher 2-8

Passing: Slippery Rock, Jake Shaffer 7-17-116-0, Vito Pelosi 2-2-5-0. Harbor Creek, Jaxson Favre 6-12-92-1

Receiving: Slippery Rock, Patrick Shea 3-51, Nathan Hyatt 2-27, Rod Williams 1-25, Seth Slater 1-13, Jonah Foster 1-4, Kaleb Kamerer 1-1. Harbor Creek, Cody Smith 3-61, Nick Uht 1-16, Sam Sallot 1-15, Ben Johnson 1-0