Perfect 10
SLIPPERY ROCK — Perfection is not supposed to be easy.
Standing on the doorstep of its first undefeated regular season in school history, Slippery Rock faced adversity in its Senior Night finale.
But the Rockets defense made crucial stops and the offense wouldn't be denied as they pulled away for a 47-28 victory Friday night over DuBois.
Things seemed to be going as planned for the Rockets — leading by 19 points and driving after receiving the second half kickoff — before the momentum swung quickly in favor of the Beavers.
Already in DuBois territory, sophomore Ryan Lauster couldn't handle the handoff from quarterback Jake Whitmer and the Beavers fell on the ball. Six plays and 51 yards later, Bryson Paulinellie's receiving touchdown brought DuBois within 12.
The ensuing kickoff went through Lauster's arms and DuBois scooped it up on the Rockets 32-yard line. It would take the Beavers only three plays to punch it in, scoring their second touchdown in 52 seconds.
After a quick three-and-out, DuBois had the ball back looking to take the lead in the latter half of the third quarter. Another long strike to Paulinellie looked to put the Beavers into Slippery Rock territory, but a holding penalty brought the play back and stalled the drive.
“I think we're a holding call — a bad holding call — away from winning the football game,” Beavers head coach Frank Varischetti said. “They were reeling. We had a third-and-long, picked it up, got to around midfield and had a mysterious hold. I don't know. It didn't happen.
“I thought that was the turning point in the game.”
DuBois was forced to punt and Slippery Rock didn't waste its next chance with the ball.
After a nice punt return set the Rockets up at the DuBois 34, Slippery Rock relied on its prolific run attack to break the game open.
Lauster popped a run for 12 yards to get into the red-zone, and Brandon McKnight exploded through a giant hole on the right side of the Rockets' line to travel untouched 19 yards for a touchdown.
The score put Slippery Rock back up by 12 points, 40-28, providing them with breathing room.
“It got interesting there for a little bit,” said Rockets coach Brendan Hathaway, who was still drying off from his Gatorade shower after the game. “But I think we learned a lesson. Don't panic, have a short memory, do your job and execute and things will work out.”
Despite the setback, the Beavers wouldn't give up. Led down the field by quarterback Gabe French, who finished the game with 374 yards through the air, DuBois was threatening at the Rockets 15 before the defense stiffened.
French dropped back on second down and was met by Rockets linebacker Frank Conlon. That sack sent the Beavers back to the 22. And on fourth down, Conlon, who also ran for 158 yards and three touchdowns, got pressure on French again and forced another sack, ending the Beavers' last gasp.
The Slippery Rock defense on the night allowed only 26 rushing yards on 28 attempts. In contrast, Slippery Rock ran the ball 46 times for 393 yards.
But after a perfect regular season that included many blowout victories, Hathaway was proud of how his team responded when its back was against the wall in the second half.
“Everyone learns from something like this, and I think what we learned as a team is other teams are going to make plays,” he said.
“You're going to have close games in the second half, but you've got to keep doing what you do on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday in practice. Do it on the field when it's a tight game in the fourth quarter. And we did that tonight.”
