SLIPPERY ROCK — The 2015 Slippery Rock University football team has been all about challenges.

“These guys seem to embrace that sort of thing,” SRU coach George Mihalik said.

They’ve got two more challenges awaiting Saturday in Shepherdstown, W.Va., when SRU (12-1) visits Shepherd (11-0) in the Division II Super Region One championship game. Kickoff is at noon at Ram Stadium.

The winner gets a berth in the NCAA Division II semifinals against the winner of Colorado State-Pueblo and Grand Valley State. But getting there won’t be easy.

No SRU football team has ever won 13 games in a season. The Rock is 0-5 all-time in road playoff games.

On the other hand, Shepherd has never won a home game in December and is 0-2 against The Rock on the Rams’ home field.

“It’s always fun to look at numbers like that, but this game will likely come down to field position,” Mihalik said. “Whoever gets to play on the short field will probably win.

“We didn’t play all that well last week (41-39 win over Assumption) and still won the game. That’s a good sign when you can do that, but we’re going to need to play our best game if we expect to beat Shepherd.”

While The Rock doesn’t expect to have any players missing the game with injury, a number of them are banged up. Among them are quarterback Dante Nania and running back Shamar Greene. Both are battling foot issues.

Mihalik said Shepherd plays “a very physical game.” The Rams are averaging 103.4 yards per game in penalties, The Rock 88.

Mihalik is in his 28th year at SRU and has 197 wins. Monte Cater is in his 29th year at Shepherd and has 220 wins there. His 249 overall wins in 34 years as a head coach rank third among all active Division II coaches.

“We’ve both run solid programs and haven’t had to move our families all over the place in this profession,” Cater said. “And we haven’t lost enough games to get fired.”

Mihalik and Carter have coached against each other three times, but not since 2005, when Shepherd defeated SRU, 24-7, in Slippery Rock. SRU owns wins of 19-7 (1960) and 30-27 (2004) at Shepherd, along with a 31-20 home playoff win in 1998.

The Rams are led by 6-foot-3 junior quarterback Jeff Ziemba, a Harlon Hill Trophy finalist, who has thrown for 3,017 yards, 27 touchdowns and only three interceptions. Ziemba threw just two interceptions as a sophomore.

His favorite receiver is 6-4, 236-pound Billy Brown, who has 72 catches for 1,176 yards and six TDs.

“Jeff has been our starter for two and a half years now,” Cater said. “He has nice pocket presence and makes good decisions.”

Brown had 11 catches for 159 yards in Shepherd’s 17-13 playoff win over Indiana (Pa.) last week. The Rams trailed 13-3 in the fourth quarter of that game.

“You’re not going to stop him. We can only hope to contain him,” Mihalik said of Brown. “That guy is the real deal. And the quarterback is among the final eight for the Harlon Hill as the best (Div. II) player in the country ... Enough said.”

The Rams are led defensively by 6-4, 275-pound end Shaneil Jenkins, who has 10.5 sacks and 18.5 tackles for loss.

“He’s had a great career with us and is drawing looks from NFL scouts,” Cater said. “Shaneil is a great athlete who just gets after it every week.”

Mihalik said SRU’s ability to run the ball Saturday will be critical as “that guy will wreak havoc in our backfield if we become one-dimensional.”

Shepherd has a pair of physical running backs in Allen Cross (750 yards, 6 TDs) and Jabre Lolly (603 yards, 14 TDs). Place-kicker Ryan Earls is 17 for 21 on field goals — hitting three from beyond 40 yards — while punter Ryan Venter averages 41.4 yards per boot with 10 punts traveling more than 50 yards.

“We’ve blocked six or seven punts, too,” Cater said. “We take a lot of pride in special teams and I know Slippery Rock does the same.”

“We may have to hit some field goals in this game,” Mihalik allowed. “Points will be valuable any way you can get them.”

The Rock still leads the nation at 47.5 points per game. Shepherd is averaging 41.4, but was limited by IUP last week after not scoring fewer than 35 points in a game during the regular season.

“That’s the caliber of Indiana’s defense and we’re facing another one just like it in Slippery Rock,” Cater said. “The PSAC plays physical defense and we’re facing two of the best.”

The Rock defense ranks first in the nation with 46 takeaways and eight defensive touchdowns. The Rock has an 11-1 advantage in turnover-takeaway margin in its first two playoff games.

“The importance of that can’t be emphasized enough,” Mihalik said. “If we win Saturday, the 13 wins and semifinal berth means this team could lay claim to being the best in Rock football history.

“That’s the significance of this game.”