SLIPPERY ROCK — On this day, Clarion was undermanned — and over-matched.

Slippery Rock erased an early deficit by scoring four touchdowns in the final 9:07 of the first half and cruised to a 65-13 PSAC West football victory Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium. The win clinched SRU’s third consecutive PSAC West championship.

SRU (9-1, 6-1) will travel to West Chester (7-3) for the conference championship game this Saturday. Kickoff is at 12:10 p.m. at John A. Farrell Stadium.

The Rock has won its last two games by a combined score of 117-23.

“I don’t know if a team ever really peaks, but the idea is you want to get better each week,” SRU coach George Mihalik said. “Right now, I think we’re doing that.

“Maybe losing that first game (a 41-38 PSAC West loss at Seton Hill) was the best thing that could have happened to us. It kept us focused on the next opponent each week the rest of the way.”

Clarion (7-3, 4-3) dropped its third straight game and played without running back Delrece Williams, who missed the game with an injury. Golden Eagles coach Chris Weibel knew he wouldn’t have Williams available three days before the contest.

Williams has 1,363 combined yards rushing and receiving this season.

“We’re not the same team out there without him,” Weibel admitted. “He’s one of our more dangerous weapons and we missed him.”

Still, Clarion took a 7-3 lead early in the second quarter when Connor Simmons’ 2-yard touchdown pass to Matt Lehman completed a 12-play, 80-yard drive.

Then two punt returns by Jaimire Dutrieuille turned the game around.

Dutrieuille returned a punt 37 yards to the Clarion 12-yard line with 10:38 left in the first half. Julian Durden scored on a 1-yard run five plays later and SRU had a lead it never lost.

Dutrieuille returned Clarion’s next punt 91 yards for a touchdown.

“I had time to see what was going on and that’s a big plus on a punt return,” Dutrieuille said. “Usually, you have to field the ball and make a move right away.

“On that (touchdown), I was able to see where our blocking was shaping up and just followed those guys. They have the hard part. Once they do their thing, I just have to make one or two guys miss.”

Mihalik smiled at the thought of the 91-yard score.

“Nothing can sway momentum in a football game like a big special teams play,” he said. “It can be deflating to the other team.”

Dutrieuille had punt returns of 29 and 37 yards before breaking the 91-yarder.

“Our guy was trying to punt the ball out of bounds there,” Weibel said. “The wind caught it and pushed it back toward the middle of the field.”

Dante Nania tacked on two touchdown passes in the final two minutes of the half — a 4-yarder to Cornelius Raye and a 48-yard bomb down the middle to Dutrieuille — and The Rock had a 30-7 lead at halftime.

Seconds into the third quarter, that lead was extended. Cornerback Titus Howard jumped in front of a Simmons pass and raced 17 yards for a touchdown.

“They had been hitting that slant pattern on us with success and I figured they were gong back to it,” Howard said. “I was ready for it.”

“Sometimes you guess right ... and it pays off big,” Weibel said.

The rest of the game was gravy for The Rock. SRU wound up rushing for 316 yards. Durden scored two touchdowns, giving him 17 for the season. The Rock has 39 rushing touchdowns this season, a program record.

“When you get points from all three phases — offense, defense and special teams — it’s a good day,” Mihalik said.

Derek Morgan and Alfon Cook joined Howard in getting interceptions for SRU. The Rock did not have an offensive turnover and both starting quarterbacks were removed from the game before the end of the third quarter.

“We struggled offensively early in the game until we figured out their stunts and what they were trying to do on defense,” senior tackle Cory Tucker said. “After that, you saw the result.

Notes: The Rock claimed the milk jug trophy for the sixth successive year and won its 15th consecutive home game. SRU has gone unbeaten at home for three straight seasons. ... SRU honored its 19 seniors and a senior manager before the game. ... The 65 points scored were SRU’s most ever against Clarion. ... Dutrieuille’s 91-yard punt return is believed to be the longest in program history. He had 210 all-purpose yards Saturday. ... Howard led The Rock with six tackles. Chris Liberto had 10 tackles for Clarion and Seneca Valley graduate Matt Koerper had six. ... Marcus Martin had two sacks for SRU and has nine on the year, 25 in 22 career collegiate games.

[naviga:h3]SRU 65, Clarion 13[/naviga:h3]

Clarion 0 7 6 0 — 13

Slippery Rock 3 27 28 7 — 65

C SRU

20 First Downs 26

22-24 Rushes-Yards 66-316

213 Passing Yards 166

16-44-3 Comp.-Att.-Int 11-24-0

237 Total Yards 482

1-0 Fumbles-Lost 0-0

10-67 Penalty Yards 11-111

First Quarter

SRU — Andrew Huska 32 field goal, 10:43

Second Quarter

C — Matt Lehman 2 pass from Connor Simmons (Phil Esposito kick), 14:30

SRU — Julian Durden 1 run (Huska kick), 9:07

SRU — Jaimire Dutrieuille 91 punt return, (kick failed), 7:50

SRU — Cornelius Raye 4 pass from Dante Nania (Huska kick), 1:49

SRU — Dutrieuille 48 pass from Nania (Huska kick), :30

Third Quarter

SRU — Titus Howard 17 interception return (Huska kick), 14:44

SRU — Raye 28 pass from Nania (Huska kick), 9:26

C — Kevin Genevro 17 pass from Simmons (kick failed), 6:10

SRU — Durden 21 run (Huska kick), 4:17

SRU — Leroy McClain 8 run (Huska kick), 2:11

Fourth Quarter

SRU — Dominic Dingle 5 run (Mike Wainauskis kick), 9:04

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Clarion, Darelle Carson 2-41, KaDarrius Campbell 10-21, Connor Simmons 6-(-38). SRU, Shamar Greene 11-82, Isiah Neely 16-68, Julian Durden 14-64, Dominic Dingle 9-56, Dante Nania 10-30, Zack Newsock 2-12, Leroy McClain 1-8, TEAM 3-(-4).

Passing: Clarion, Connor Simmons 16-40-213-2, Darelle Carson 0-4-0-1. SRU, Dante Nania 9-19-120-3, Zack Newsock 2-5-46-0.

Receiving: Clarion, Matt Lehman 6-48, Kevin Genevro 4-76, Mark Nicholas 2-37, Jaron Moorer 2-30, Kyle Evans 1-11, Khalil Webster 1-11. SRU, Cornelius Raye 5-69, Jaimire Dutrieuille 2-51, Marcus Johnson 2-24, Alex Strezeski 1-15, Marcus Carter 1-7.