Slippery Rock stuns Meadville
SLIPPERY ROCK — Last week, the Slippery Rock High football team held off a late rally.
This week, it was the Rockets' turn to launch a comeback.
Unlike DuBois, which came up short against the Rockets, the surge by Slippery Rock succeeded in a 25-18 overtime win over Meadville Friday night.
Slippery Rock (3-1, 3-0) scored 11 points in the final 6:30 to tie the game at 18-18.
The Rockets then scored on a 1-yard run by quarterback Ryan Currie on fourth-and-goal in overtime for a 25-18 lead.
Meadville's overtime possession, and the game, ended when Tyler Minnis threw an interception in the end zone.
“I don't know what to tell them,” said Meadville coach Ken Achenbach. “It's very difficult to take what happened on that field and have anything to say to those guys in the locker room right there.”
Trailing 18-7 in the fourth quarter, the Rockets received a 77-yard scoring pass from Currie to Sean White, followed by a two-point conversion run by Ben Gaul.
After a defensive stop by the Rockets, Mike Stutz booted a 28-yard field goal with three seconds left in regulation to force overtime.
Meadville started the scoring off early in the first quarter with a 55-yard touchdown pass from Minnis to senior running back Terrence Goodrum, but the extra point failed.
The Bulldogs (3-1, 2-1) weren't done with their first quarter scoring, capitalizing on a fumble by Currie. Meadville went on an impressive 55-yard scoring drive, with Minnis hooking up again with Goodrum for another score, this one from 5 yards out.
With the Bulldogs up 13 points, Slippery Rock coach Brendan Hathaway knew he had to refocus his team.
“Keep the course is all I told them,” Hathaway said. “It's a four-quarter ball game, that turned into a five-quarter one, so just keep playing, keep your heads and keep doing what we're doing.”
The Rockets were able to keep their heads and respond late in the first quarter with an 85-yard touchdown pass from Sean White to Sam Furrh. The touchdown brought it to a one score game, but mistakes hurt both teams in the ensuing drives.
Turnovers hampered the Rocket offense all night, and with four minutes left in the second quarter, the miscues resulted in a safety for Meadville.
The second half opened up with more turnover problems for the Rockets, with Currie fumbling on their first possession and throwing an interception to Goodrum, who returned it 20 yards to the 10.
The Bulldogs got inside the Slippery Rock 1 before the Rockets' defense was able to step up with its back against the wall, stopping Dequan Epps on a fourth-down run.
Following a Rocket punt, the Bulldogs' next drive resulted in a 23-yard field goal by Caleb Stein, putting them up 18-7.
