SLIPPERY ROCK — The final second had barely ticked off the clock and the final note played by the band was still lingering in the crisp, autumn air when the Slippery Rock High football team turned the page.

A new season was dawning.

A postseason.

Sure, the 28-17 home loss to Oil City on Senior Night stung, but the focus shifted quickly to the looming District 10 Class AAA playoffs in 15 days.

“This part of the season is done,” said Slippery Rock High coach Larry Wendereusz. “We're not worried about it anymore, because once we play Harbor Creek in two weeks, it's back to nothing-nothing.”

There were some good things the Rockets took from the loss to the undefeated Oilers — well, “better things,” as Wendereusz said — as Oil City concluded (maybe) its first perfect regular season since 1998.

Slippery Rock stood toe to toe with a physical team.

Were it not for four big plays by the Oilers, the Rockets might have capped their regular season with a victory.

“I thought we played really well against them — they're undefeated for a reason,” said Slippery Rock senior quarterback Vito Pilosi, who rushed for a team-leading 116 yards on 21 tough carries. “I'm proud of my guys. We hadn't (played well) against physical teams this year, and I think it shows we can make a run.”

Making a run has been Slippery Rock's script in the playoffs the last few years.

This season is eerie in its similarity.

For the third consecutive season, the Rockets will play Region 6 champion Harbor Creek in the first round of the playoffs.

The last two years resulted in 38-14 and 44-3 victories.

Three years ago, Slippery Rock upset Mercyhurst Prep 28-0 in the first round.

“We've been here before,” Wendereusz said, “but we can't get overconfident.”

Oil City (9-0) was concerned about overconfidence heading into Slippery Rock.

The Oilers answered the call quickly on a 76-yard touchdown run by Noah Petro on the game's third play for a 7-0 lead.

Slippery Rock, though, answered — a theme for the first quarter — on a nine-play, 55-yard drive capped by a 1-yard plunge by Nathan Hyatt.

Oil City wasted little time getting the lead back.

Oilers' tight end Brayden Crocker lined up at fullback, hit a crease, and sprinted for an 80-yard touchdown.

“(Crocker's) such a good blocker at tight end, it's hard to line him up in the backfield to get him carries,” said Oil City coach Dan York.

Again, the Rockets answered the Oil City score when David Duffalo took a swing pass from Pilosi and broke a half-dozen tackles as he skirted the sideline for a 41-yard touchdown reception.

Just eight minutes into the game, the teams were tied 14-14.

The shootout, though, turned into a defensive struggle after that.

Perhaps the biggest play of the game for Oil City came with 30 seconds remaining in the first half when Holden Stahl found JT Stahlman for a 31-yard pass on a corner route to the Slippery Rock 5.

Two plays later, Stahl plowed into the end zone to give the Oilers a 21-14 lead at the half.

“We've been hitting teams all season on post passes,” York said. “We thought we'd run a post-corner and we got the guy turned around.”

Wendereusz said the big plays are concerning.

“Big plays come down a lot to making sure all the little things are done right and as coaches it's our job to make sure they are doing the little things right,” Wendereusz said. “So, moving forward, we have to make sure we're doing that.”

Oil City is unsure whether it will play a 10th game next week. It depends on the playoff schedule in 5A.

Slippery Rock has a bye before playing unbeaten Harbor Creek.

“They are a very good football team — you don't go undefeated if you're not a very good football team,” Wendereusz said. “This is the first time I think we played physical against a physical football team.”

Oil City 14 7 0 7 — 28

Slippery Rock 14 0 0 3 — 17

First Quarter

OC — Noah Petro 76 run (Max Latona kick), 10:32

SR — Nathan Hyatt 1 run (Nathaniel Willison kick), 7:26

OC — Brayden Crocker 80 run (Latona kick), 7:10

SR — David Duffalo 41 pass from Vito Pilosi (Willison kick), 3:45

Second Quarter

OC — Holden Stahl 1 run (Latona kick), :18

Fourth Quarter

SR — Willison 34 field goal, 9:46

OC — Petro 44 run (Latona kick), 8:04

Individual Statistics

Rushing:Oil City, Noah Petro 24-193, Brayden Crocker 4-92, Zac Kiefer 2-22, Holden Stahl 5-9. Slippery Rock, Vito Pilosi 21-116, David Duffalo 8-32, Nathan Hyatt 14-25

Passing:Oil City, Holden Stahl 4-7-89-0. Slippery Rock, Vito Pilosi 7-12-78-1, Nathan Hyatt 0-1-0-0

Receiving:Oil City, JT Stahlman 3-79, Dakota Cole 1-10, Brayden Crocker 1-8. Slippery Rock, David Duffalo 3-47, Nathan Hyatt 2-14, Ethan Plesakov 1-12, Colton Glass 1-5