TITUSVILLE — With his left arm in a sling, Jono Powell watched intently from the Slippery Rock High sideline.

If the injured SlipperyRock quarterback could have clapped, he would have.

Even though its biggest playmaker was knocked out of the game early in the second half with a shoulder injury, SlipperyRock marched forward unfazed.

Ayron Gallagher, a fullback turned wingback turned quarterback,led Slippery Rock to two decisive touchdowns for a 34-20 road region win over Titusville Friday night.

"I felt some of our guys grew up tonight," said Slippery Rock coach Clyde Conti. "I thought tonight spoke highly of the character of our players and their parents."

It also spoke highly of Slippery Rock's resolve.

Powell rushed for 144 yards and for touchdowns of 60 and 1 yards before a hard hit by Titusville linebacker SeanClark drove his left shoulder into the turf.

Powell, who had been nursing the sore shoulder for several weeks, writhed in pain.

At the time, the two teams nicknamed Rockets were playing to a 20-20 tie after a frenetic first half that saw six touchdowns scored, all on the ground.

Instead of slowing down after the Powell injury, the SlipperyRock offense simply warmed up.

JustinAngerett scored his second touchdown of the game on a 4-yard run late in the third quarter.

On the first play of the final quarter, Isaac Osborne took a handoff on a jet sweep and raced 60 yards for a score.

"That's the sign of a well-coached team right there," said Titusville coach Scott Salvo. "They are disciplined. When you can put players in like that and still run that type of offense, that's discipline."

Gallagher, who began the season as a fullback, was moved to wingback last week and started there again this week. He then was thrust into the role as quarterback when Powell went down.

Gallagher couldn't remember the last time he took a meaningful snap as a quarterback.

But he completed a 12-yard pass to Ethan Geisler on a third-and-7 play to set up Angerett's touchdown run and completed another 12-yard pass to Derrick Orloski on a third-and-8 one play before Osborne's long run.

Gallagher could only smile after the game when thinking about his unexpected contribution to a victory.

"It was pretty nice," Gallagher said. "Everyone has had their night on this team. I guess tonight was mine."

Gallagher said when Powell went out, no one was looking to leap off the nearest bridge.

"I think it helped us out a little bit because we knew he wasn't out there to make plays," Gallagher said. "Everyone knew they had to compensate for Jono's loss."

Conti was pleased that his defense came back after a first half in which it was gashed badly by Titusville running back Jonathan Proano.

The senior, who didn't practice all week because of illness, slithered through the SlipperyRock defense for 101 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.

Slippery Rock (5-1, 4-1) defenders tried to corral him, but the 5-foot-6 one-part Barry Sanders and one-part spinning top, couldn't be contained.

It was a different story in the second half, however, as Proano managed only 34 yards in the final two quarters.

Titusville (2-4, 2-3) did a lot of shuffling before this key region matchup.

Salvo moved Clark, his starting quarterback to fullback and one of his starting wideouts, James Pattison, to quarterback.

In his first game under center, Pattison was 8-of-21 for 92 yards and two interceptions.

With the win, Slippery Rock took a giant step toward another playoff appearance.

The question, though, is will Powell be healthy enough to get them there?

"That's the hardest part about coaching: watching kids get hurt," Conti said. "It's hard. Real hard. But I'm proud of these guys. They showed so much character tonight."