Slippery Rock football opens season following NCAA semifinal appearance with win over Franklin Pierce
Anthony Vespo threw for a touchdown and ran for a score Friday night as Slippery Rock University won its football season opener 24-13 at Franklin Pierce in New Hampshire.
The victory was the 16th consecutive season-opening win for SRU.
Vespo threw a 22-yard scoring pass to Latrell Sutton for the game’s first touchdown, but Franklin Pierce got even with a short touchdown pass of its own early in the second quarter.
From there, The Rock took over.
Vespo scored on a 1-yard run, JayJay Jordan got loose for a 74-yard touchdown run and Kevin Roberts booted a 16-yard field goal for a 24-7 lead in the third quarter. The Ravens added a touchdown with 2:48 remaining.
“We were sluggish early after the long trip to get here,” SRU coach Shawn Lutz said. “It took us a while to get going.”
Vespo completed 12 of 24 passes for 160 yards, but SRU controlled play on the ground. Jordan rushed for 151 yards on 17 carries, and Quentin Harrison added 103 yards on 17 totes.
SRU rushed for 280 yards, Franklin Pierce for 79.
“We controlled things up front,” Lutz said. “We sacked their quarterback six or seven times.”
Adrian Parker, the Northeast 10 Conference Offensive Player of the Year last season, threw for 143 yards and two scores.
“We stalled out in the red zone a few times, and I didn’t like that,” Lutz said. “We’ll get better. We have a lot of stuff to work on, but we got a win against a pretty good team. That’s the important thing right now.”
SRU hosts Shepherd at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 13 at Mihalilk-Thompson Stadium.
