GREENVILLE — Slippery Rock High football coach Larry Wendereusz didn't plan on giving senior running back Nathan Hyatt so much work Friday night against General McLane.

It just happened that way.

Hyatt had 24 carries for 116 yards and three touchdowns and also caught three passes for 25 yards in the 34-21 victory.

If the Rockets' offense is humming, as it was in the second half against the Lancers, strange statistical anomalies like that one may happen from time to time.

Slippery Rock has a plethora of weapons with Hyatt, running back David Duffalo and quarterback Vito Pilosi.

Sometimes a team has to pick its poison and General McLane chose the speedy Hyatt.

“We didn't think (Hyatt) would get that many carries, but they were taking Vito away a little bit,” Wendereusz said.

In a perfect world the touches would be fairly even for Slippery Rock, which will travel to Reynolds to take on the Raiders in an intriguing non-region game at 7 p.m. Friday.

The Rockets will find out soon which poison Reynolds will chose.

“We'd like to get David more carries,” Wendereusz said of Duffalo, who had just six rushing attempts, but also caught six passes for 88 yards. “We think those three can be a fun part of our offense.”

Hyatt had a breakout game.

After rushing for just 104 yards on 39 carries last season, Hyatt showed patience and a commitment to running between the tackles.

That persistence allowed him to finally break free on a 57-yard touchdown run that put the game against General McLane away.

“Nathan has done a better job of understanding not every run is going to be a home run,” Wendereusz said. “I think Nathan did a great job sticking with the play.”

Reynolds is coming off its own impressive win, a 41-0 trouncing of Union City Friday night.

The Raiders rolled up 246 yards on the ground, led by 86 yards each from juniors Cole Toy and Sean O'Hara.

Senior quarterback Bryce McCloskey also had a big game, going 4 for 4 for 131 yards and a touchdown.

“One of the things that's nice is we have a stable of back and a quarterback who's had some success throwing the ball and a couple of receivers who can catch,” said Reynolds coach Josh Mull. “The big thing we did against Union City was we took what they gave us.”

Make no mistake, though, Reynolds' game is all about being physical and running the football.

“They're going to line up and say, 'Here's what we're running. Stop it,'' Wendereusz said. “They have a big, physical quarterback who's not going to run around you, he's going to run over you.”

Because of that, Wendereusz said it's even more important for his team to get off to a better start than they did in the opener.

In that game, Slippery Rock fell behind 7-0 just three plays into the game, went three-and-out on its first possession, and nearly gave up another long touchdown run before settling in.

As the game wore on, the Rockets improved and began imposing their will with an up-tempo offense and a swarming, physical defense.

“We can't wait to get things going against (Reynolds),” Wendereusz said. “If we do that, we're going to be in a whole lot of trouble.”

The second half, in which Slippery Rock rolled up 304 yards of offense, is the blueprint for how the offense should run.

Pilosi was 11-of-12 passing for 179 yards and a 43-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Plesakov.

“They have a lot of talent and they're very good at what they do,” Mull said. “They run the RPO and the read option well. That kind of attack is always a challenge for team's to prepare for.”

Also a challenge, Mull said, is preparing for the Rockets' defense, which showed it is going to be just as aggressive and unpredictable as ever.

“That's what Slippery Rock is known for — aggressiveness on defense,” said Pilosi, who is also an outside linebacker/defensive end. “Blitzing is amazing. If you get good at disguising it, it works. Everyone's getting free.”