HERMITAGE — Even Slippery Rock High football coachClyde Conti had to rub his eyes to make sure he was seeing the scoreboard correctly.

"Wow," Conti said. "That was completely unexpected."

The Rockets traveled to Hickory expecting a fight. It didn't take long for the Hornets to utter "no mas" as Slippery Rock dominated in every way possible in its 53-0 shutout Friday night.

It was the largest margin of victory in the 42 years of Slippery Rock football. The previous most lopsided win was a 50-point triumph over Union in 2001.

The puzzling part was that it came against the type of team that usually perplexes the Rockets: a team with speed to burn.

Conti picked the brain of Slippery Rock University defensive coordinatorShawn Lutz to prepare for the Hornets.

"I called Shawn and he helped us make a little bit of an adjustment change," Conti said. "We were fortunate we had a good showing here tonight."

Good showings have become the norm for this defensive unit.

TheRockets (3-0, 2-0) have forced the opponent to turn the ball over 13 times in three games, with several coming deep in Slippery Rock territory.

It happened again Friday, as the Hornets drove to the Rockets 13 on their first possession, but lost a fumble.

Hickory (1-2, 0-2) never mounted another serious scoring threat.

Slippery Rock outgained the Hornets 525-131.

Safety Jono Powell intercepted two more passes for SlipperyRock. But even he has his limitations. He was at a loss to explain why the Rockets have been such ball hawks.

"That's a good question," Powell said. "I don't really know how it happens, but our defense just picks it up."

It certainly helped to have Powell playing offense, too.

The senior quarterback added to his already gaudy numbers, tossing two touchdown passes and rushing for two more.

In three games, he has had his hand in 13 touchdowns.

"It helps to have a quarterback who can read things in there," Conti said.

Powell ran the offense brilliantly again.

By halftime, he had 136 yards rushing and 131 yards passing as Slippery Rock rolled out to a 28-0 lead.

Powell finished with 158 yards on the ground and 151 in the air. He did throw two interceptions on deep fade routes.

Slippery Rock outgained the Hornets 525-131.

Powell was particularly lethal running the option, bursting through holes and making people miss in the open field.

It almost looked like Powell was moving in fast forward while everyone else was operating in slow motion.

"I'm fast, but I'm not that fast," Powell said, smiling.

Powell said the team would not relish this win for too long.

Not five minutes after the final gun, Conti already was fretting about Sharon and the remaining teams on the schedule.

"Now here comes the heavyweights. We have to get after them," Conti said. "You don't have to be perfect in the world. You just have to do your best and we have some kids working really hard."