SLIPPERY ROCK — Both teams knew what to expect and got it.

But only one could move on.

Grove City earned that right, holding off Slippery Rock, 28-20, in the District 10 Class 3A football championship game Saturday at Slippery Rock University's Mihalik Thompson Stadium.

The Eagles (10-2) avenged a 34-7 loss to the Rockets from early in the regular season.

“We were fortunate to catch them early,” Slippery Rock coach Larry Wendereusz said of that game. “Grove City always gets better as the season goes on. Their offense gets rolling, their defense starts feeling more comfortable.

“I told our kids beforehand that this game would come down to a couple of plays ... and it did.”

The Rockets (7-2) lost a pair of fumbles in the second half. The first was inside Grove City's 1-yard line. the second ended Slippery Rock's final possession of the game.

“I'm just happy for our kids,” Grove City coach Sam Mowrey said. “This is their third (District 10) title game and we finally got over the hump. There's a lot of energy being felt right now and these kids deserve it.

“But it's a shame somebody had to lose this game. When we had that lead, I knew it wasn't over. I have too much respect for Slippery Rock's program. I figured they'd mount a comeback.”

The Eagles took a 21-7 lead into the locker room at halftime, scoring on drives of 75, 38 and 72 yards. Anthony Nemec's 4-yard touchdown run capped a 13-play, 75-yard march on the game's first possession.

The Rockets took a 7-6 lead when Ryan Montgomery caught a swing pass in the right flat and raced 46 yards down the sideline for a score early in the second quarter. Nick Kingerski's PAT put Slippery Rock in front.

After TD runs of eight yards by Nemec and 1 yard by quarterback Hunter Hohman put Grove City in front, Slippery Rock mounted a late drive. With a timeout left, the Rockets spiked the ball on first down from the Eagles 9-yard line with 4.5 seconds left. Quarterback William Mokel was then sacked by Cole Hammerman to end the half.

“I botched that,” Wendereuz said. “We had that timeout and I should have used it in those closing seconds. That was on me. I apologized to the kids in the locker room and asked them to pick me up in the second half.”

A 77-yard drive — highlighted by Hohman's 12-yard pass to Joey Hathaway on a 4th-and-3 from the SR 35 — resulted in a 3-yard TD pass to Zach Rodgers and a 28-7 Grove City lead with 3:11 left in the third period.

Shane Thompson's 5-yard run capped a 62-yard drive and pulled the Rockets within 28-14 with 11:12 to play. Then a bizarre play almost pulled the Rockets closer.

On first down from the Grove City 17, a swing pass to Montgomery eluded him. The play was ruled a lateral, however, and Montgomery retrieved the ball. He raced down the left sideline and lost the ball inside the 1-yard line as he was trying to score.

“I thought this was an even game,” Montgomery said. “This is a great rivalry and both teams played hard. They got a couple of breaks and were able to put it away.”

But not easily.

Thompson returned a punt 63 yards to the Grove City 22, setting up Mokel's 11-yard scoring pass to Lucas Allison with 3:30 remaining.

The Rockets got the ball back at their own 8-yard line with 1:45 to play. Mokel hit receiver John Sabo for a 13-yard gain, but a hit by the Eagles' Gavin Lutz jarred the ball loose, Nemec fell on it and Grove City was able to run out the clock.

“Just a great high school football game,” Mowrey said. “Our seniors were leaders today, but this was a total team effort.”

Nemec had 27 carries for 134 yards for the Eagles, who have outscored their opponents 89-0 in the first quarter, 205-26 in the first half during their current winning streak. Hohman threw for 142 yards and ran for 85.

Mokel through for 183 yards for Slippery Rock. Sabo had eight catches for 83 yards, Thompson 72 yards on 14 carries.

The teams combined for 207 yards in penalties on 21 flags.

“We went through a lot of adversity this season,” Wendereusz said. “The world is crazy right now, but you get through it with attitude and effort. These kids have displayed that all season.”

“No one expected us to get this far,” Montgomery said of the district title game. “It just stinks that we couldn't finish it off.”

Grove City 6 15 7 0 — 28

Slippery Rock 0 7 0 13 — 20

First Quarter

GC — Anthony Nemec 4 run (kick failed), 5:14

Second Quarter

SR — Ryan Montgomery 46 pass from William Mokel (Nick Kingerski kick), 11:14

GC — Nemec 8 run (Hunter Hohman run), 9:01

GC — Hohman 1 run (John Hake kick), 3:56

Third Quarter

GC — Zach Rodgers 3 pass from Hohman (Hake kick), 3:11

Fourth Quarter

SR — Shane Thompson 5 run (Kingerski kick), 11:12

SR — Lucas Allison 11 pass from Mokel (kick failed), 3:30

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Grove City, Hunter Hohman 14-85, Anthony Nemec 27-134, Curtis Hovis 3-1, Zach Rodgers 1-1, TEAM 3-(-3). Slippery Rock, William Mokel 7-25, Ryan Montgomery 1-16, Shane Thompson 14-72, TEAM 2-(-25).

Passing: Grove City, Hunter Hohman 10-15-142-0. Slippery Rock, William Mokel 18-27-183-0.

Receiving: Grove City, Gavin Lutz 3-31, Joey Hathaway 3-82, Anthony Nemec 3-26, Zach Rodgers 1-3. Slippery Rock, John Sabo 8-83, Ryan Montgomery 4-68, Brenden Earl 1-15, Colton Glass 3-14, Lucas Allison 1-11.