Rocket runners chew up Sharon

By MIKE KILROY Eagle Staff Writer

November 17, 2008 Last Updated: November 17, 2008 01:59 PM High School

Slippery Rock lineman Anthony Papley (56) celebrates a tackle during the Rockets’ 27-10 District 10 semifinal football playoff win over Sharon Saturday night at N. Kerr Thompson Stadium.

SLIPPERY ROCK — A year ago, football was the last thing on Isaac Osborne's mind.

This year, he couldn't imagine his life without it.

And neither can his Slippery Rock High School coaches.

The senior, who didn't play a down of high school football until this season, scored on runs of 40 and 80 yards in the second half to help the Rockets pull away fromSharon for a 27-10 victory in the District 10 Class AA semifinal at Slippery Rock University Saturday night.

Osborne also had a key interception in the fourth quarter that quashed any hope for a Tiger comeback.

"I regret not playing big time," Osborne said. "I'm just having fun. I don't want it to end."

Osborne, the Rockets' dominating offensive line and a stingy defense made sure it didn't.

SlipperyRock coach Clyde Conti, never one to shy away from tinkering with his lineup, inserted Osborne at fullback instead of his customary wingback position againstSharon.

The move paid big dividends early and in the decisive second half.

"We made that decision on the bus coming home (from Erie last week)," Conti said. "I just felt — nothing against (Justin) Angerett — that we needed to make some switches in there. It worked."

Osborne's first three carries went for 10 yards.

In the second half, the 6-foot-2, 170-pound back gained 128 yards on six carries.

His 40-yard run broke a 10-10 halftime tie early in the third quarter and his 80-yard sprint on the first play of a Slippery Rock possession late in the fourth quarter gave the Rockets a 24-10 lead.

Conti said Osborne was close to breaking a few long runs in the first half, only to be tripped up.

The offensive line of Ben Miller, Kevin Rummel, Ty Pryor, TonyPapley, Brent Ayers and tight end Zack Smith certainly made the job easier for all the Rockets' runners.

"Our motto this week was fourth-and-1," said Papley, a senior offensive tackle. "We want to come off the ball every play like it is fourth-and-1. We have the running backs who can hit the hole."

No one was left out.

Angerett, who had more than 100 yards last week against NorthEast when he was lined up at fullback, gained 73 yards. Quarterback Jono Powell, the Rockets' leading rusher, added 68 and even forgotten man Ayron Gallagher gained crucial first downs on his two third-down carries.

As a team, the Rockets rolled up 337 yards rushing on 52 smashmouth attempts.

It was a good thing, too. The elements — cold, strong winds and rain cascading down in sheets — made passing the ball an adventure.

Powell missed on all three of his attempts.

That made Sharon's offensive game plan even more perplexing.

The Tigers attempted 40 passes and just 17 runs. Sharon running backs had a mere eight attempts. It's leading rusher, Ron Howard, had just as many receptions (three) as carries.

"That's what we've been doing all year long," said Sharon coach Bob Fromm, a former BethanyCollege quarterback. "We don't want to change. That's kind of what we have developed into this year — a passing team."

Sharon quarterback Todd Rearick handled the elements well at times. He hit Lewis Brown with a perfect pass on a go route down the right sideline for a 31-yard score to cut the Rockets' first-half lead to 10-7.

Rearick was 17-of-40 passing for 224 yards. He did throw two interceptions, the final one snagged by Osborne that set up a 32-yard field goal into the wind by Mike Ramirez with 2:25 remaining in the game.

Sharon committed five turnovers."They just made more plays than us," Fromm said. "We didn't play our best football at the most inopportune time."Slippery Rock (9-3), which lost to Sharon (10-2) in the regular season, will get a chance at another team that had defeated it earlier this year: Wilmington.This rematch, which will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday atSlippery Rock University, will be for the district title."All I know is we are playing for a championship," Conti said.And seniors like Osborne get to play at least one more time."I love all these guys," Powell said. "Everyone in here deserves this."Slippery Rock 27, Sharon 10Sharon 0 10 0 0—10Slippery Rock 0 10 7 10—27S SR13 First Downs 1717-43 Rushes-Yards 52-337224 Passing Yards 017-40-2 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 0-3-0267 Total Yards 3375-3 Fumbles/Lost 3-25-48 Penalties-Yards 6-32Second QuarterSR — JustinAngerett 1 run (Mike Ramirez), 11:56SR — Ramirez 28 field goal, 5:17S — Lewis Brown 31 pass from Todd Rearick (Jason Sypolt kick), 3:10S — Sypolt 21 field goal, :00Third QuarterSR — Isaac Osborne 40 run (Ramirez kick), 8:10Fourth QuarterSR — Osborne 80 run (Ramirez kick), 4:28SR — Ramirez 32 field goal, 2:25Individual StatisticsPassing: Sharon, Todd Rearick 17-40-224-2. Slippery Rock, Jono Powell 0-3-0-0.Rushing: Sharon, Cameron Brown 1-25, Todd Rearick 9-12, Ron Howard 3-8, Kevin Brown 4-(-2). Slippery Rock, Isaac Osborne 14-190, Justin Angerett 16-73, Jono Powell 20-68, Ayron Gallagher 2-6.Receiving: Sharon, Dustin Norcross 6-87, Lewis Brown 4-75, Ron Howard 3-22, Mike Tomko 2-20, JordanMoss 1-17, Kevin Brown 1-3.

Slippery Rock running back Isaac Osborne heads for the end zone in Saturday night’s 27- 10 win over Sharon. Osborne had 14 carries for 190 yards and two touchdowns in the game.