SLIPPERY ROCK — The first half was not typical Slippery Rock football.

And that, Rockets' head coach Brendan Hathaway said, was all on him.

“I told the team after the game, 'I'm lucky to have assistant coaches around me that sometimes settle me down when we're struggling in the first half,'” Hathaway said. “They told me, 'Hey, just run your stuff.'”

Penalties and three fumbles stopped Slippery Rock more than the Meadville defense did in the first half as the Rockets went into halftime with a 14-0 lead.

In the second half, though, Slippery Rock, went back to what has made it one of the best teams in District 10 and rolled to a 49-16 win over the Bulldogs at home Friday night.

After running zero of its bread-and-butter option plays in the first half, the Rockets came out in the second half running the triple option and scored three quick touchdowns to take a 35-0 lead.

“Meadville came out and gave us a different look,” Hathaway said. “I think I was trying to out-think myself a little bit instead of trusting what we do. I have to give credit to my assistant coaches like Fred Pryor and Jono Powell who told me, 'Hey, do what we do.'”

What Slippery Rock did was churn out yards and put up points in bunches.

It looked like the Rockets would do that right from the start. Slippery Rock recovered a pooch kickoff to start the game and took over at the Meadville 30 and needed just two plays to get on the board on a 5-yard run by Travis Lauster.

Slippery Rock scored again at the end of the first quarter on a 17-yard run by Jake Whitmer.

The score capped a 12-play, 80-yard drive that actually covered 100 yards because of penalties.

The Rockets, though, struggled offensively in the second quarter while Meadville's offense got some traction.

The Bulldogs drove to the Slippery Rock 25 and 35, but saw their drives stall.

“Kind of like last week: bend but don't break,” Hathaway said. “Once again, in our defense, we try not to give up the big play.”

Slippery Rock got plenty of big plays in the second half.

Two came from reserve running back Brandon McKnight who made the most of his playing time. The junior had two carries: a 27-yard touchdown and a 56- yard touchdown.

Brady Kadlubek returned an interception 26 yards for a score and Frank Conlon rumbled 31 yards for a touchdown in the second half.

Whitmer finished with two touchdown runs and 70 yards rushing on seven carries.

“It took us a half to realize we had to just stick to our stuff,” Whitmer said. “At the end of the day, we have a great coaching staff and we were able to make an adjustment.

“As coach (Hathaway) said, we're a better team when we get to the pitch (in the option),” Whitmer added. “We're a two dimensional team with just the give and the keep. When we get that pitch in there, it gives us a third dimension and it's hard to stop.”

Meadville (0-2, 0-1) got a pair of scores late on a 1-yard run by Caleb Schweter and a 30-yard run by Joe Coffee.

Slippery Rock (2-0, 1-0) has now scored 91 points in its first two games of the season.

Kicker Mark Cessar is 13-for-13 on extra points this season.

Eleven different players carried the ball for Slippery Rock. No runner had more than nine rush attempts.

“It's unselfish,” Hathaway said. “These guys are unselfish. Frank (Conlon) in the second half when he didn't have the ball was out in front making blocks. In this offense, that's what I preach: 'Block for each other, fake for each other, run for each other.'”