OIL CITY — Clyde Conti gave sophomore quarterback Jonathan Powell a bear hug and then wiped tears of joy from his cheeks.

"I'm just so exhausted," the SlipperyRock HighSchool coach said. "I don't know how we did this tonight."

Most of the observers at Oil City knew, however. The Rockets did it by churning out yardage on the ground and using up lots of time on the way to a 17-12 road win over the Oilers Friday night.

It was the first win of the season for Slippery Rock, a team that has been ravaged by injuries all year.

The Rockets were without several starters against Oil City, including two ball carriers who were hurt during the warmup before their last two games.

As it turned out, Slippery Rock (1-5 overall, 1-1 in Region 5) didn't need them. The Rockets had Ryan Ferguson.

The bruising junior fullback carried 30 times for 122 yards and scored to cap a 10-play, 69-yard march on the game's opening drive.

A fake punt helped the Rockets on the drive. Powell is Slippery Rock's up-man in its punt formation and took the snap from center, then tossed a perfect strike to Derrick Orloski for a 29-yard gain and a first down.

Powell did his damage with his legs — he gained 75 yards on 14 carries — and his deception.

He was like David Blaine in cleats as the Oil City defenders at times had no idea who had the football.

Oil City's offense didn't get things in gear until it was much too late. That has been the Oilers' bugaboo this season.

Oil City has scored only 29 points in the first half this season. It was shut out during the first half last week againstFranklin before upsetting its rival 19-13 in overtime.

But the Oilers had little opportunity to launch a similar comeback. Slippery Rock dominated the time of possession, running nearly twice as many offensive plays than the Oilers (1-5, 1-2).

"The problem in the first half was we didn't have the ball but 15, 20 offensive plays," said Oil City coach Bill Heber said. "The only time we did anything was when the urgency set in."

WithSlippery Rock ahead 14-0, Oil City's Gary Glass caught a flanker screen pass from Drew Reinsel and raced 66 yards for a touchdown with 6:14 remaining in the fourth quarter. The 2-point conversion run failed.

Slippery Rock then launched another long, time-consuming drive that culminated with a 26-yard field goal byCraig Bicehouse that made it a two-score game.

"We have a pretty good kicker," Conti said.

The drive was keyed by two long runs by Andrew Novak around the right end. It was the first big gains to the outside in the game for the Rockets and came at a pivotal time.

Novak recorded all of his 53 yards on those two runs.

OilCity scored again with 1:21 remaining when Reinsel pitched the ball to Bill Henderson, who then threw back across the field to Reinsel, who then fired a 37-yard scoring strike to Chris Fox.

OilCity lined up for an extra point, but tried to fake it. However, holder Pat Schumaker was called down when he received the snap and failed to lift his knee off the ground before he assumed possession of the football.

SlipperyRock recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.

"You tell them the truth," Heber said, explaining what he is going to say to his team. "You tell them we just got beat because the other team was more physical than we were, we didn't tackle well, and you have to have the ball to score points."

The win for Slippery Rock suddenly puts a positive spin on what so far has been a dreadful season.

In the crazy world of Region 5, the Rockets are in the thick of the playoff race.

"You just have to move on in life," Conti said. "Everybody needs a little success in their lives. I think the lesson to the kids is to keep working through adversity."