SLIPPERY ROCK — Senior fullback and linebacker Jeff Croll lay on his back on the damp grass of the Slippery Rock High football field, staring at the sky as trainers and teammates crowded around him.

He flexed his right leg, but the pain from his knee was too much to bare.

His Slippery Rock teammates carried him off the field and then went out and bulldozed Bradford down the field for a touchdown that broke the game open on the way to a 25-3 win over the Owls Friday night.

“It shows you what kind of leader Jeff Croll is,” said Slippery Rock coach Brendan Hathaway. “That team had tears in their eyes for Jeff and went out and played for him the second half. To a man, to a coach, to a player, everyone in this school building respects Jeff, and I was happy to see the team rally around him. He's led this team now for two years.”

The extent of the injury to Croll's right knee, injured when he was hit low on a 4-yard run early in the second half, is not known. But from the way Hathaway and the Rockets' players were talking after the game, it didn't sound good.

Croll's replacement, sophomore Jared McDowell, rumbled for 78 yards on eight carries in his stead.

He had a 26-yard run that set up an 11-yard TD romp by quarterback Ryan Currie to give the Rockets a 12-3 lead and then rumbled for 29 yards to set up a 3-yard touchdown run by Joey Meyer to extend the Rockets' lead to 18-3 late in the third quarter.

“(Croll) is a very good team leader,” said Slippery Rock senior offensive lineman and linebacker Dylan Neal. “He busts his butt on every run to get every inch, so us as linemen got together and said 'Let's go. Let's do it for him.'”

The scoring drives were welcome after a sluggish first half by the Slippery Rock offense.

Two Slippery Rock drives ended in the first half on downs and another on a fumble deep inside Bradford territory. Another ended on a 5-yard run by Croll for a 6-0 lead.

Bradford place kicker Ty Riley gave the Owls their only points of the game with a 31-yard field goal as time expired in the first half.

It was the only sustained drive Bradford (2-2, 1-2) could muster against an aggressive and swarming Slipper Rock defense.

Bradford quarterback Matt Yurkewicz accounted for every yard on the 58-yard drive, mostly on quarterback sweeps.

Slippery Rock (4-0, 2-0) adjusted.

Neal and junior defensive lineman Ryan Bosch lived in the Bradford backfield.

“I don't know how many superstars we have, but we have a lot of hard-working kids who come to play football,” Hathaway said. “It's heart. To have your leaders, your captains like Jeff and Dylan, lead the way and give everything they have on the football field, the other kids don't have any other choice than to follow.”

Bosch echoed those statements, saying he owes an awful lot to the senior leaders.

“(Dylan) is a tremendous leader for this team,” Bosch said. “He goes 100 percent in every drill and we all take after that. I just follow his lead and try to live up to his level.”

The Rockets capped the scoring with a 9-yard touchdown run by Currie, who gained 73 yards on 13 carries.

Currie now has 10 rushing touchdowns this season.

McDowell actually led Slippery Rock on the ground this week.

“Jared did a real nice job stepping up,” Neal said. “He not only stepped up on offense, but all year, he's been tremendous on defense. Just tremendous.”

Yurkewicz accounted for 172 of Bradford's 198 yards of offense. But he also threw two interceptions and was sacked three times.

Slippery Rock's defense has a way of rattling the opponent.

“They played tough,” Hathaway said. “Hey, that's all we ask. Play tough.”