SLIPPERY ROCK — The Rockets were bursting early and often Friday night as hosting Slippery Rock High easily subdued neighboring Grove City, 49-21, to improve its season record to 7-0.

But not all the fireworks were set off by the Rockets' high-octane attack, which collected 516 yards in total offense.

The hosts' defense held up their end of bargain, as well, by recording a crucial goal-line stand midway through the first quarter and collecting a pair of fumble recoveries and an interception in the vicinity of midfield to stymie the Eagles' comeback hopes.

“Our offense gets a lot of credit, which it should,” Slippery Rock head coach Brendan Hathaway said, “but I am also very proud of our defensive guys, as well. They have played well all year long and they really stepped it up tonight.”

Slippery Rock, typically a run-oriented offensive attack, scored a pair of first-quarter touchdowns on long pass plays and held a 21-0 lead with just less than 13 minutes elapsed off the game clock.

Junior quarterback Jake Whitmer connected with senior Chris Reeseman for a 42-yard touchdown to cap a six-play, 74-yard drive on the game's opening possession.

Whitmer then hit junior Brady Kadlubek for a 77-yard score to culminate another six-play scoring drive on the hosts' second possession.

Sandwiched between the two scoring bombs was, in the words of Grove City head coach Jeff Bell, “the backbreaker.”

Grove City answered the Rockets' first scoring drive with a 74-yard drive of its own, but came up 1 yard short of the goal line. Slippery Rock proceeded to march 99 yards in six plays to take a 14-0 lead with 2:40 left to play in the opening quarter.

“That proved to be a big shift in momentum,” Bell said, “If we could have answered back with a touchdown on our first drive after they had just scored, we might have kept them from gaining momentum. When they came right back and went the length of the field to score on their next possession … that was the backbreaker.”

“We still felt pretty good at halftime, even though we were down 21-7, because we had the ball to start the second half,” Bell added. “But we couldn't get anything going and they scored on their first drive in the second half. It was pretty much all over at that point.”

An eight-play, 50-yard scoring drive on the Rockets' third possession of the game, capped by the first of two TD runs by senior running back Frank Conlon, pushed the margin to 21-0 with just less than a minute gone off the clock in the second period. Conlon scored on a 15-yard run.

Grove City got on the scoreboard with a 10-play, 63-yard scoring drive in the final minutes of the first half. Senior running back Foster Reznor carried most of the load as he gained 36 of the yards on rushing attempts, including a 3-yard TD burst with 34 seconds left before the intermission.

Conlon's second TD run, a 14-yard blast on which he simply refused to be stopped, capped a four-play, 50-yard drive that in the end proved to be the game-winning march as it made the score 28-7 with 4:03 left in the third quarter.

Conlon finished the game with 165 yards on 16 carries to lead a 383-yard Rocket rushing attack. Reznor, meanwhile, had 99 yards on 18 carries in the Eagles' 189-yard rushing effort.

Grove City marched 67 yards in seven plays on the drive following Conlon's second TD run, junior quarterback Jared Graham sprinting the final 5 yards, to cut the deficit to 28-14 with 24 seconds left in the third stanza.

Any lingering hopes of an Eagles' comeback were quickly extinguished, though, when Rocket junior Travis Lauster sprinted 56 yards for a touchdown on the first play from scrimmage following the kickoff.

That run began a string of three consecutive TDs by the hosts that pushed the margin to 49-14 with 4:43 left to play in the game.

Following a three-and-out series by the Eagles, Slippery Rock went 75 yards in only five plays, junior Jared McDowell capping the drive with a 2-yard run.

Reeseman picked off a Graham pass on Grove City's second play from scrimmage on the ensuing drive to set up a three-play, 60-yard scoring drive. Sophomore Ryan Lauster culminated that march with a 37-yard sprint to the end zone.

Travis Lauster finished the game with an even 100 yards on seven carries, while younger brother Ryan had 94 yards on seven carries.

Not to be overlooked was a 7-for-7 performance by Rocket junior kicker Mark Cessar on extra-point attempts.

Both Bell and Hathaway made a point to praise each other's squads for, as Hathaway put it, “a good, hard-fought football game between two teams whose players know each other well and respect each other.”

When asked about the relevance of the win over a tradition-rich neighboring program like Grove City, Hathaway had this to say:

“When I came here four years ago, Grove City and Wilmington were the teams that had gotten it done, beaten the quality teams and made long runs in the playoffs. So anytime you can go toe-to-toe with quality teams like that and come out victorious, you have to be happy.

“Coming into tonight's game, I really didn't know where we stood as a team,” Hathaway continued. “Taking nothing away from the teams we have played before tonight, but they don't have a Foster Reznor or a Jared Graham.

“Playing well against a team with that type of talent and coming out ahead validates what we're doing Monday through Thursday in practices,” Hathaway added. “That's probably the biggest reward we take from this win.”