With PSAC Championship on the line, can SRU football or East Stroudsburg’s run game get the upper hand?
SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — Saturday’s PSAC championship game will feature the top two rushing attacks in the conference when No. 14 East Stroudsburg (9-1) visits No. 5 Slippery Rock (10-0) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
SRU averages 277 yards on the ground, East Stroudsburg 254. Ajani Walker is one of four Warrior players with more than 440 yards rushing. He leads the team with 638 yards on 98 carries.
“We need to stop their run. We need to make them one-dimensional,” East Stroudsburg head coach Jimmy Terwilliger said.
The Warriors failed to do that in the teams’ Week 3 meeting this season, a 59-35 SRU win at East Stroudsburg. The Rock rushed for 344 yards and five touchdowns in that victory.
Since then, East Stroudsburg has allowed only 413 total rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground in seven games.
While JayJay Jordan leads the PSAC with 1,388 yards rushing, 168 points and 1,878 all-purpose yards, he is not the lone weapon in The Rock’s ground game. Quarterback DaOne Owens has rushed for 669 yards and eight scores, averaging 9.8 yards per carry. He leads the PSAC with 2,394 yards and 25 touchdowns passing.
Despite allowing 59 points to The Rock, East Stroudsburg is allowing an average of only 17.1 points and 295.5 yards of total offense this season. Terwilliger said the defense “was not playing well” before the first meeting and has gotten “much better” since after SRU “exposed our weaknesses on that side of the ball.”
“Slippery Rock is No. 5 in the nation for a reason,” Terwilliger said. “They’re the highest scoring team in the country. Field position will be critical for us. If we give them a short field, it’s Goodnight Irene. If we turn the ball over, it’s Goodnight Irene.
“They are that good. I’d be foolish to say I think we can totally shut down that offense.”
Matt Machalik — a transfer from Lehigh — has been the Warriors’ starting quarterback in recent weeks and has 980 yards passing with just one interception. Another QB, Harrison Susi, has rushed for 510 yards and thrown for 640.
Elijah Ford (6-foot-3) is East Stroudsburg’s top receiver with 33 catches for 636 yards and four scores.
“They like to run, run, then do play-action and throw the ball up to him,” Lutz said. “They like to pound and possess the football. This may be a bad-weather game, with rain and wind. … We need to force them out of that.”
SRU gets guard Brian Frasco back from injury this week, but linebacker Jacob Snow remains out with an ankle injury. Defensive end Brett Kwoka suffered a knee injury in the Edinboro game last week and was scheduled for an MRI.
If Kwoka is out, nose guard Nick Frisco will join Brian Young Jr. at defensive end with Daniel Toosen and Trever Valenti playing inside.
SRU leads the all-time series between the teams 17-3 and has won the last six meetings. The Rock is appearing in the PSAC title game for the ninth time in the last 16 years. East Stroudsburg is making its first title game appearance since 1983. The two teams faced each other in the conference title game once before, with Slippery Rock winning a 13-6 decision in 1962.
