WORCESTER, Mass. — A big drive and a bigger stop.

The two added up to a 17-14 triumph for Slippery Rock University in its first round NCAA Division II football playoff game against Assumption Saturday at Brian Kelly Stadium.

The Rock (10-2) advances to play at Shepherd — a 16-13 winner over New Haven — in the next round this Saturday in West Virginia. Indiana (Pa.) hosts Ashland — a 20-13 winner over Notre Dame (Ohio) — in the other Super Region semifinal.

SRU took the opening kickoff against Assumption (8-3) and marched 82 yards on 21 plays, eating more than 10 minutes off the clock against one of the top-ranked defenses in Division II. Chris D’Or capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.

During the drive, SRU converted three fourth-down plays.

“We wanted to set the tone early,” Rock coach Shawn Lutz said of the opening possession. “I’m not sure why I decided to go for all of those fourth downs. One of them was from our own 45. Just a feel, I guess.”

SRU scored on its first three possessions, the only possessions it had in a first half that took a little over an hour to play. A 20-yard D.J. Opsatnik field goal capped a 79-yard drive and a 4-yard Noah Grover touchdown pass to Cohen Russell completed a 15-play, 75-yard march with 1:49 left in the half.

The Rock took a 17-7 lead into halftime. SRU had a 219-87 advantage in yardage and possessed the ball for more than 20 minutes in the first half.

“The coaches allowing us to go for all of those fourth downs gave us that much more confidence,” Grover said. “As an offense, we always want to go for it. It’s nice when the coaching staff demonstrates how much they believe in you with decisions like that.”

Assumption put together a 72-yard scoring drive of its own in the first half. Neither team attained 300 yards of total offense for the day as the defenses clamped down.

But the Greyhounds nearly assumed the lead in the third quarter. Grover was sacked at The Rock 5-yard line and a shanked punt gave Assumption possession at the SRU 35. Berrell Neal concluded a short drive with a 2-yard touchdown run and the Greyhounds were within 17-14 with 8:52 left in the period.

Late in the quarter, Assumption put together a 9-play, 67-yard drive to get inside SRU’s 10-yard line. On fourth-and-2 from the 3, the Greyhounds went for the first down and Cottrell Hatchett stuffed Neal for a yard loss and a turnover on downs.

“We’ve got one of the best defenses in the nation,” Lutz said. “Those guys have been great all year. This is the playoffs and we’re going to count on that defense.”

Grover agreed.

“They (Assumption) shut us down in the second half,” the quarterback said. “Our defense got a bunch of fourth-down stops. They closed it out for us.”

The Greyhounds never threatened again. Assumption tallied 226 total yards on the day, but sacked Grover four times. SRU’s defense did not record a sack.

“We didn’t turn the ball over and that was a key for us,” Lutz said. “Now we get to have Thanksgiving dinner as a team this week as we prepare for Shepherd. There’s no better feeling than that.”

Notes: Leading SRU receiver Kyle Sheets was pulled from the game early in the first quarter as he continues to recover from a shoulder dislocation. “We need to rest him and get him healthy for Shepherd,” Lutz said. ... LB Brandon Tuck-Hayden led SRU with seven tackles and went over 300 for his college career. ... The Rock has won its last six games against Northeast 10 Conference foes. ... SRU was held under 300 total yards for the second straight game after not being held under 300 in any game since 2018.

Slippery Rock 7 10 0 0 — 17

Assumption 0 7 7 0 — 14

First Quarter

SRU — Chris D’Or 2 run (D.J. Opsatnik kick), 4:48

Second Quarter

SRU — Opsatnik 20 field goal, 14:09

A — Quinn Sieger 5 pass from Jake Cady (Nick Chodak kick), 8:17

SRU — Cohen Russell 4 pass from Noah Grover (Opsatnik kick), 1:49

Third Quarter

A — Berrell Neal 2 run (Chodak kick), 1:55

Individual Statistics

Rushing: SRU, Tim Smith 13-41, Isaiah Edwards 12-35, Chris D’Or 8-30, Noah Grover 7-2. Assumption, Jake Cady 13-63, Berrell Neal 16-46, James Henderson 2-21, Raekwon Washington 2-4.

Passing: SRU, Noah Grover 127-28-188-0. Assumption, Jake Cady 9-13-92-0.

Receiving: SRU, Cohen Russell 7-98, Gavyn Barnes 3-35, Jawon Hall 2-24, Tim Smith 2-12, Tyler Settle 1-8, Bryce Profitt 1-7, Chris D’Or 1-4. Assumption, Quinn Sieger 3-19, Connor Milks 2-41, Ethan Friberg 2-12, Sean Leonard 1-12, Cameron Reagan 1-8.