SLIPPERY ROCK Longtime Slippery Rock University football coach George Mihalik hopes to experience a senior moment Saturday.

The Rock (6-4) closes the 2010 season by hosting C.W. Post (6-4) for a 1 p.m. kickoff at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium.

SRU is looking to avoid dropping four of its final five games to finish 6-5 for a second consecutive season.

“No doubt 7-4 sounds a lot better than 6-5,” Mihalik said. “More importantly, this will be the final game for our seniors.

“We want to do what we can to make sure they walk off the field winners the last time they wear the Green and White because these guys are winners,” he added.

All 11 SRU senior football players are on schedule to graduate in either December or May. One of them, offensive lineman Mike Tomaino, is a fifth-year graduate student who overcame two knee surgeries during his career.

“That's the Rock way,” Mihalik said. “When football ends, something called life doesn't. These guys' jobs, careers, professions that's what they're coming here to achieve.

“We have a banner hanging in our football office that lists the goals of Rock football. The first goal is to earn an SRU degree,” he added. “Football is a part of life. The diploma sets you up for life.”

While Mihalik's 153 wins are the most by any football coach in SRU history, 13th-year C.W. Post coach Bryan Collins is looking for his 100th career win the Pioneers.

Collins is 99-43 and the winningest grid coach in C.W. Post history.

“I didn't realize I was sitting on 99,” Collins said. “I knew I was in that neighborhood.

“I'm disappointed we didn't win the PSAC East this year. We returned a lot of players and I thought we could make a run at it. Now we just want to finish strong,” he added.

The Pioneers bring plenty of weapons into the game. Quarterback Erik Anderwkavich has thrown for 2,167 yards, 21 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. He's also run for 566 yards and four scores.

Running back Thomas Beverly has 533 yards and five TDs rushing, but is coming off an injury. Freshman Anthony Brunetti has 356 rushing yards and four TDs and will get the start Saturday.

Darnel Williams leads the PSAC in receiving with 60 catches for 821 yards and nine TDs.

“That kid is a prime-time player,” Mihalik said. “He's definitely their go-to guy in the passing game.

“This team will spread the field with receivers, but they run the ball extremely well out of those same formations,” he added.

Collins described Anderwkavich as “a dual threat who accumulated 600 yards of offense against Kutztown.”

The Pioneers lost by two points to then-unbeaten Kutztown, missing a 30-yard field goal on the game's final play.

“We've made two field goals in 10 tries,” Collins said. “It's been a problem area for us all year.”

By contrast, SRU kicker C.J. Bahr needs one field goal to tie Morgan Anderson's SRU career record of 35.

The Rock is healthy for this game, with the possible exception of defensive end Quentin Johnson, who injured a shoulder last week and will be a game-time decision.

C.W. Post is in his third season in the PSAC. The Pioneers were 3-8 two years ago and 6-5 last season. They reached the NCAA Division II playoffs in 2002, 2004 and 2005 as a member of the Northeast 10.

“Our program has some prestige and we're trying to get back to that point,” Collins said.

SRU and C.W. Post have met only twice before. The Pioneers won a 6-3 decision in 1976, with SRU claiming a 26-10 win in 1977.

C.W. Post enters the game ranked second in the PSAC with 188.5 yards rushing per game, third with 420.7 total yards per outing and fourth with 32.7 points per game.

SRU leads the conference in pass defense, allowing 144.2 yards per game.