SRU sets records in wild 77-38 victory
GREENSBURG — Slippery Rock University punter Jake Chapla was given the day off Saturday.
Not to worry. He got plenty of work in booting PATs.
Chapla kicked 11 of them as SRU rolled up a school-record 795 yards of offense in a 77-38 route of winless Seton Hill at Offut Field.
“Other than Clarion and the weather last week, nobody has really stopped our offense all year,” SRU coach Shawn Lutz said. “Those guys were determined to bounce back this week.
“They just went off.”
Receiving the opening kickoff, The Rock marched 58 yards in eight plays. Isiah Neely capped the drive with a 1-yard scoring run.
SRU (8-2, 5-2) turned the ball over on downs at the Griffins' 22-yard line on its next possession. What followed was Rock touchdowns on nine consecutive possessions. Mix in a Milly Raye 85-yard punt return for a score as well.
Seton Hill (0-10, 0-7) didn't have a bad day offensively in its own right. The Griffins netted 633 yards, including a school-record 291 rushing yards by Jarvis McClam. He scored on runs of 75, 77 and 68 yards.
But the Griffins began the day allowing an average of 52 points per game and that number went up.
“One hundred percent frustrating,” Seton Hill coach Isaac Collins said. “We know what we have to target in recruiting.
“We had some injuries on defense this year and had to put guys out there who just aren't ready. And some of the offenses we've played lately ... Just bad match-ups.”
SRU actually had 803 yards of offense for the day before taking a knee three times to end the game. The Rock had reached the Griffins' 5-yard line.
“What disappoints me about this game is we continued to miss tackles. If we don't shore that up, I don't know how we'll beat Kutztown next week,” Lutz said. “But we're going into that game knowing if we win, we're probably in the playoffs. I'll take that.”
SRU travels to Kutztown (7-3) for a noon kickoff in the regular season finale.
While SRU's 77 points is the most in one game by the team in years, it is not a school record. The Rock defeated St. Francis 92-0 in 1923.
But there was plenty to go around Saturday:
Senior receiver Marcus Johnson had seven catches for 115 yards and a touchdown. He now has 1,894 all-purpose yards this season, breaking SRU's previous single-season record of 1,839, set by Slippery Rock High graduate Josh Kniess in 2005.
Johnson had two other TD catches and a 92-yard kick return for a score wiped out by penalties.
“It was fun today,” Johnson said. “I had no problem coming out and watching our back-up guys get in there and make plays. They've supported us all year and I loved supporting them today.”
Tanner Garry threw for 326 yards and four TDs, giving him 30 touchdown passes on the year. He is one shy of the school-record 31 set by Dante Nania in 2015.
“It'd be cool to get that record, sure,” Garry said. “But a playoff berth and a few playoff wins would mean a lot more.”
Raye had 12 catches for 181 yards and two TDs to go with his punt return for a score.
Back-up quarterback Andrew Koester threw for 77 yards and two TDs, including a 17-yarder to Johnson that capped a 59-yard drive in 36 seconds at the end of the first half.
Zach Cirillo, Austin Scott, Dakota Clanagan and Nassir Weaver all scored their first touchdowns of the season. Cirillo also caused a fumble on a kickoff that was recovered by Clanagan to set up a score.
The Rock rushed for 392 yards — including a season-high 158 by Neely. Braden Fochtman ran for 99 yards in the game's final 17 minutes and Chacar Berry rushed for 92.
“We got a lot of people involved in the offense and that was a good thing,” SRU offensive coordinator Justin Roper said. “We needed a boost of momentum and we got it.”
SRU 77, Seton Hill 38
Slippery Rock 14 21 28 14 — 77
Seton Hill 7 7 17 7 — 38
SR SH
40 First Downs 20
51-392 Rushes-Yards 24-300
403 Passing Yards 333
29-37-0 Comp.-Att.-Int 24-37-1
795 Total Yards 633
0-0 Fumbles-Lost 3-1
9-87 Penalty Yards 12-118
First Quarter
SRU — Isiah Neely 1 run (Jake Chapla kick), 12:17
SH — Jarvis McClam 75 run (Santiago Henao kick), 10:54
SRU — Milly Raye 8 pass from Tanner Garry (Chapla kick), 3:51
Second Quarter
SRU — Chacar Berry 1 run (Chapla kick), 13:00
SRU — Raye 2 pass from Garry (Chapla kick), 5:25
SH — Evan Byrd 1 run (Henao kick), :47
SRU — Marcus Johnson 17 pass from Andrew Koester (Chapla kick), :10
Third Quarter
SH — Henao 38 field goal, 10:56
SRU — Neely 53 run (Chapla kick), 10:15
SH — Brian Ingram 33 pass from Christian Strong (Henao kick), 8:55
SRU — Zach Cirillo 7 pass from Garry (Chapla kick), 5:03
SRU — Austin Scott 20 pass from Garry (Chapla kick), 4:50
SRU — Raye 85 punt return (Chapla kick), 2:21
SH — McClam 77 run (Henao kick), 1:33
Fourth Quarter
SRU — Dakota Clanagan 20 pass from Koester (Chapla kick), 13:42
SRU — Nassir Weaver 1 run (Chapla kick), 6:40
SH — McClam 68 run (Henao kick), 5:56
Individual Statistics
Rushing: SRU, Isiah Neely 15-158, Braden Fochtman 12-99, Chacar Berry 13-92, Nassir Weaver 8-48, Andrew Koester 1-3, TEAM 2-(-8). Seton Hill, Jarvis McClam 11-291, Cinque Sweeting 5-20, Evan Byrd 3-2, Christian Strong 2-0, TEAM 2-(-4), Michael Elardo 1-(-9).
Passing: SRU, Tanner Garry 24-30-326-0, Andrew Koester 5-7-77-0. Seton Hill, Christian Strong 24-37-333-1.
Receiving: SRU, Milly Rate 12-181, Marcus Johnson 7-115, Dakota Clanagan 2-38, Austin Scott 2-29, Carnel Harley 2-23, Chacar Berry 1-7, Zach Cirillo 1-7, Dylan Stapleton 1-5, Mike Merhaut 1-(-2). Seton Hill, Ty George 4-72, John Makell IV 4-54, Jarvis McClam 4-52, Michael Elardo 4-45, Tim Knuettel 3-30, Brian Ingram 2-59, Deandre Smith 2-14, Miles Sexton 1-7.
