Launching Pad
SLIPPERY ROCK — Junior quarterback Jake Whitmer rushed for a game-high 116 yards with two touchdowns and threw scoring passes on both of his attempts Friday night to lead Slippery Rock to an easy 44-7 season-opening football win over Brashear Friday night.
Whitmer, who made his first start at quarterback after playing wide receiver last fall, sprinted 65 yards and hit wide-open senior wide receiver Chris Reeseman for a 61-yard TD pass to account for the second and third of the Rockets' three first-quarter touchdowns.
Whitmer added a 3-yard burst in the second period for the hosts' fourth touchdown, tacked on a 31-yard TD toss to Reeseman in the third quarter and finished the game with 92 passing yards and 208 yards in total offense.
“Jake did a great job tonight, especially for his first start,” Slippery Rock coach Brendan Hathaway said. “He is like a coach on the field for us. He called a lot of the plays himself tonight because I trust him to do the right thing. He knows the offense so well and he doesn't try to play outside the offense.”
Senior running back Frank Conlon picked up right where he left off last fall as he rushed for 112 yards on only nine carries, highlighted by a 60-yard TD gallop on the Rockets' second offensive snap.
Junior quarterback Brady Kadlubec collected 78 yards on five carries in relief of Whitmer, including a 60-yard TD dash that closed out the game's scoring and set the mercy rule into effect with 11:49 to play in the fourth quarter.
All told, Brashear was treated to an awesome display of Rockets' red glare which resulted in 440 rushing yards on 46 carries and 532 yards of total offense from the hosts.
Defensively, the Rockets allowed Brashear, a member of Pittsburgh's City League, a total of 181 yards. The Bulls gained 90 of those yards during their only scoring drive, a 12-play, 90-yard march that ate up 7 1/2 minutes of time stretched over the end of the first quarter and start of the second stanza.
Following the drive capped by Whitmer's 3-yard TD run, Brashear put together an 80-yard drive that stalled inside the Rockets' 5-yard line.
Take away those two drives and the Bulls collected only 31 yards in total offense.
Hathaway saw a silver lining in the visitors' scoring drives.
“Those were gut checks for us,” Hathaway said. “We were leading by a 28-7 score and pretty much had things our own way up to that point. So, it was good to see our defense dig in and stop Brashear on its second long drive.”
The other encouraging part of the Rockets' defensive effort Friday night, Hathaway said, “is we did not give up the big play. Brashear has the capability to break a long touchdown run, but we did not allow them to do that.
“When they had a long run, we got back in position and shut them down on the plays that followed. That was great to see, especially in the opening game of a season.”
The four TD plays of 60 or more yards recorded by the Rockets' offensive unit was simply a matter of taking what the defense gave them, according to Hathaway.
“Our guys found the seams and exploited them,” Hathaway said. “Brashear didn't have a safety in the middle of the field, so our guys saw that once they got past the linebackers it was clear sailing.”
Further indication of how easily the Rockets scored was the fact they reached the end zone on the second, third, sixth, third and sixth plays of a drive, respectively, the first five times they had the ball aside from a series at the end of the first half.
The sixth and final TD came on the second play after Slippery Rock was awarded a safety on a bad snap from center that was downed in the end zone.
“This was a great way to start the season,” Hathaway said. “We asked the kids to play disciplined football and that's what they did. I really liked the effort tonight.”
