Meeting Their Match
SLIPPERY ROCK — The Rock was on the ropes, but was still punching.
Trailing 30-8 at halftime after turning the ball over on downs at the Minnesota State 29 to end the first half, Slippery Rock was looking for a turn in momentum in its NCAA Division II football semifinal Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
Eric Glover-Williams provided it, intercepting a JD Ekowa pass at the Mavericks' 35-yard line in the third period. Henry Litwin continued it, pulling in a 5-yard touchdown pass to pull SRU within 30-15 with a quarter and a half remaining on a snowy field.
But the knockout punch came quickly.
On the game's next offensive play, Minnesota State's All-American receiver, Shane Zylstra, got behind his man on a post pattern. The defender slipped and Zylstra had an easy gallop to complete a 73-yard touchdown catch.
The Mavericks (14-0) cruised to a 58-15 win from there. They will face West Florida (12-2) — a 28-14 winner at Ferris State — for the national championship Saturday in Texas.
“Yep. That play killed us,” SRU coach Shawn Lutz said of Zylstra's second touchdown catch of the day. “It's so hard to come from behind against a team of that caliber.
“We got our butts kicked in all phases of the game. No excuses. We have to be gracious in defeat. They just beat us.”
The Rock (13-1) did a solid job in limiting 1,500-yard rusher Nate Gunn Saturday. He scored three touchdowns on runs of 5, 12 and 11 yards — but managed only 54 yards on 15 carries for the day.
Minnesota State ran for 213 yards as a team, however, and averaged 8.9 yards on 52 offensive plays. SRU ran 88 plays, averaging only 3.5 yards.
“They did a good job containing Nate, but they committed their defense to stopping him,” Minnesota State coach Todd Hoffner said. “We saw the same kind of defense last week (against Texas A&M Commerce). We knew how to adjust.”
The Mavericks, who alternate quarterbacks, threw only 16 passes, but connected on 10 of them for 250 yards and two scores. Zylstra caught four passes for 152 yards.
“The coaches told us at halftime to keep our foot on the gas,” Zylstra said. “We knew what they were capable of doing offensively.
“When I got open, Ryan's (Schlichte) pass was right there. I felt good about our chances after that.”
Before the third quarter was over, the Mavericks had a 51-15 lead as Gunn scored his third touchdown and Kaleb Sleezer got loose for a 75-yard scoring run.
“We did a good job on Gunn, but we put an extra guy in the box to do it,” Lutz said. “Their receivers beat our single coverage for some big plays.”
The Rock missed a chance to take an early lead. After forcing a Minnesota State punt on the game's first possession, SRU took over on its own 13-yard line. Roland Rivers III play-faked and had Cinque Sweeting wide open behind the defense.Throwing with the wind behind him, Rivers sailed the pass beyond Sweeting's reach. The Mavericks scored on their next possession and ran a quarterback draw on the conversion for an 8-0 lead.The Rock answered with a 12-play, 73-yard drive, Litwin catching a 19-yard TD pass, then a conversion pass to knot the game.“The way they answered like that ... We had the wind in the second quarter and really used it to our advantage,” Hoffner said. “And with them getting the ball to begin the third quarter, our stop at the end of the half was big.“A 30-8 lead (at halftime) is a different game than 30-15.”The Rock drove 64 yards to the Mavericks 24-yard line with seconds left in the half. A Rivers pass to Jermaine Wynn Jr. in the end zone did not connect as time expired.“They were playing up on us and we knew we had to take some shots deep,” Rivers said. “I feel like we left a lot of plays out there today.”The Rock was held to a season-low 15 points. Its previous low was 31 against California (Pa.).Notes: SRU's loss was just its fourth in 42 home games since 2013 and second in nine home playoff games all-time. ... Rivers tied a Division II single-season record of 61 touchdowns responsible for and broke the Division II record with 370 points responsible for. He also leaves SRU with single-season program records of 322 completions, 4,460 passing yards, 52 passing touchdowns and 5,160 yards of total offense. ... Rivers is a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy, given to the best player in Division II. The winner will be announced Friday. ... Litwin had 12 catches for 149 yards Saturday. He set single-season SRU records of 103 catches, 1,509 yards and 21 touchdowns this season. ... Wynn Jr. had 95 catches for 1,339 yards this year. Litwin and Wynn Jr. are the only college football receiving duo — at any level — with 1,300 yards receiving this season. ... Butler graduate Tim Vernick tied for The Rock lead with six tackles Saturday and had SRU's lone QB sack. ... Place-kicker Jake Chapla ends his Rock career with 390 points, 237 PATs and 51 field goals, all program records. ... SRU's seniors were 39-11 over four years, playing a school-record 28 games over the past two years.Minnesota St. 16 14 21 7 — 58Slippery Rock 8 0 7 0 — 15First QuarterMSU — Nate Gunn 5 run (Brevin Kaiser run), 10:13SRU — Henry Litwin 19 pass from Roland Rivers III (Litwin pass from Rivers III), 6:00MSU — Gunn 12 run (Kaiser run), 3:36Second QuarterMSU— Shane Zylstra 27 pass from JD Ekowa (Luke Williams kick), 10:17MSU — Justin Arnold 20 run (Williams kick), 1:59Third QuarterSRU — Litwin 5 pass from Rivers III (Jake Chapla kick), 8:41MSU — Zylstra 73 pass from Ryan Schlichte (Williams kick), 8:22MSU — Gunn 11 run (Williams kick), 3:15MSU — Kaleb Sleezer 75 run (Williams kick), 1:26Fourth QuarterMSU — Nyles Williams 12 run (Williams kick), 8:50Individual StatisticsRushing: Minnesota State, Kaleb Sleezer 3-79, Nate Gunn 15-54, Brevin Kaiser 4-41, Justin Arnold 3-29, JD Ekowa 5-12, Nyles Williams 2-7, TEAM 2-(-4), Ryan Schlichte 2-(-5). SRU, Roland Rivers III 16-69, Charles Snorweah 16-36, Braden Fochtman 5-8, TEAM 1-0, Austin Wayt 1-(-2).Passing: Minnesota State, JD Ekowa 5-9-72-2, Ryan Schlichte 5-7-178-0. SRU, Roland Rivers III 21-50-199-1.Receiving: Minnesota State, Shane Zylstra 4-152, Justin Arnold 2-12, Parker Gloudemans 1-40, Jalen Sample 1-33, Justin Taormina 1-7, Blake Ver Mulm 1-6. SRU, Henry Litwin 11-149, Jermaine Wynn Jr. 5-19, Qaadir Dixon 2-15, Charles Snorweah 2-(-11), Reggie Mays Jr. 1-27.
