NEW WILMINGTON — The jet shovel dug a hole Slippery Rock couldn't crawl out of.

The Sharon football team ran the play several times against the Rockets Saturday in the District 10 3A football semifinals at Wilmington High School.

None bigger than a flip to motioning speedy receiver Ziyon Strickland in the third quarter that resulted in a 58-yard score and some breathing room for the Tigers in a 26-10 win.

It wasn't so much of a pass as it was a volleyball bump.

“Ziyon Strickland, in spite of what some other people think, he is the best receiver in District 10,” said Sharon coach Jim Wildman. “He does it all.”

Slippery Rock would concur.

But until Strickland got loose, Slippery Rock's defense did a good job shutting down Sharon's balanced offense.

The Tigers (7-3) had just 24 yards rushing in the first half and just a 1-yard touchdown run from Jordan Wilson to show for it in a 6-3 halftime lead.

Slippery Rock, though, had just 93 yards of offense in the first two quarters and had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Nathaniel Willison at the end of a promising first drive of the game.

The Rockets has several near misses that could have turned into big, back-breaking plays, but couldn't connect.

“(Strickland) got his big plays, but the tough part is, when you play a good team, you have to strike on your big plays,” said Slippery Rock coach Larry Wendereusz. “We had two in the first half and we just didn't connect.

“When you have a chance to make big plays against a good team, you gotta make 'em,” Wendereusz added. “They made their big plays tonight and we didn't. That's what it came down to.”

Wilson scored again on a 1-yard plunge to make it 20-3, but Slippery Rock didn't go quietly.

The Rockets (4-7) responded with a 13-play, 63-yard drive that included two long third-down conversions, and cut the lead to 20-10 on a 1-yard run by Jake Shaffer with 6:35 left in the fourth quarter.

Slippery Rock tried an onside kick and looked to recover it, but Sharon's Niko Augustine wrested the ball away under a pile and the Tigers got possession.

“Football is a game of inches,” Wendereusz said. “Our two pass plays — inches. Our onside kick — inches. And again, that's a good football team, and if you're inches away and you don't get them — you have to get that.”

Sharon will play Mercyhurst Prep in the championship game next week. Prep beat Hickory to get there.

When asked if he was disappointed to not get a matchup with rival Hickory, Wildman bristled.

“Not as disappointed as they are,” he said.

For Slippery Rock, it was another strong playoff showing, but another loss in the district semifinals.

“I think if you did some surveys of people who've seen us from Week Zero until now, they'd say we're a better football team now,” Wendereusz said. “The tough part for this program is two years in a row we've been stopped at this place. If we're going to build a program we have to take that next step and get to the district title game.”

Slippery Rock 3 0 0 7 — 10

Sharon 6 0 7 13 — 26

First Quarter

SR — Nathaniel Willison 22 field goal, 4:16

SH — Jordan Wilson 1 run (kick failed), :23

Third Quarter

SH — Ziyon Strickland 58 pass from Lane Voytik (Aaron Nichols kick), 3:48

Fourth Quarter

SH — Wilson 1 run (Nichols kick), 10:41

SR — Jake Shaffer 1 run (Willison kick), 6:35

SH — Strickland 14 run (kick failed), 1:43

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Slippery Rock, Jake Shaffer 20-67, Seth Slater 12-56, Hunter Prementine 6-34, Nathan Hyatt 3-14, Kaleb Kamerer 7-14, Vito Pelosi 2-13, Patrick Shea 2-8. Sharon, Jordan Wilson 18-70, Ziyon Strickland 3-24, Brady Ortiz 1-2, Lane Voytik 3-(-10).

Passing: Jake Shaffer 2-12-13-1, Hunter Prementine 1-1-26-0. Sharon, Lane Voytik 15-20-221-1

Receiving: Nathan Hyatt 1-26, Rod Williams 1-9, Seth Slater 1-4. Sharon, Ziyon Strickland 10-182, James McKinney 3-11, Frank Shaffer 1-19, Jordan Wilson 1-9