It was still a loss. But as losses go, there was still plenty to be pleased about.

With a slew of starters on defense either absent or injured, the Slippery Rock High School football team held a potent Reynolds offense to a mere 89 yards and four first downs.

Ah, but the offense sputtered to just 99 yards and several miscues resulted in a 15-2 defeat.

There is a flip side to every story.

"We've had some good teams down here," said Slippery Rock coach Clyde Conti. "Everything is relative, but that was as fine an effort as I've seen. I was really proud of the effort."

The defense lost Dave Hewitt to an injury before the game to add to four starters who were already out. That left Conti scrambling to find some sort of scheme that would work.

"I'm trying to find something," Conti said. "There was no rhyme or reason."

The scheme worked as Slippery Rock dominated the line of scrimmage.

That may be a tougher task this week as the Rockets host Sharon for a 7 p.m. kickoff Friday.

Sharon has a plethora of offensive weapons and an offensive line that has opened gaping holes for its running backs and plenty of time for its quarterback to pass.

The Tigers opened the season with a 34-16 win over Girard, but collapsed in the second half last week against Hickory in a 33-13 defeat.

In the season opener, Sharon senior quarterback Mike Snyderwine was 8-of-8 passing for 179 yards and two touchdowns.

"I don't know what a perfect passer rating is," said second-year Sharon coach Bob Fromm. "But that is probably it."

Tailback A.J. Wilson gained 150 yards on 22 carries in that contest.

Things were a bit different last week against Hickory.

The Tigers scored just before halftime to cut the lead to 13-7, but struggled in the second half. Sharon turned the ball over four times in the loss.

It was Sharon's first big-game exposure in three seasons as the program has struggled.

"The only rational thing to think when high school kids go into an emotional game like that and not perform well and perform so differently from the first week is we weren't ready for a game like that," Fromm said. "We'll chalk that up to a learning experience."

Slippery Rock is just a few bad plays away from being 2-0 instead of 0-2.

That's no consolation to Conti, however, who must once again find a way to quell a potent and athletic offense.

"I'm asking them to keep pushing themselves up to the level of competition," Conti said. "(Sharon's) skill positions are loaded."

Many teams, including Slippery Rock, have found the opportunity the last few years to get a measure of revenge against Sharon, which had dominated the Mercer County area for years until hitting a slide several seasons ago.

Slippery Rock began Sharon's downfall in the District 10 championship game in 2002, handing the Tigers a 17-7 loss.

Since then, Sharon has won just three games, including a 1-8 campaign last season.

Fromm has been given the task of resurrecting the Sharon mystique.

The second-year coach believes a major step forward will be winning a game on the road against a scary opponent such as Slippery Rock.

"We always talk here at Sharon about finishing the day 1-0," Fromm said. "Slippery Rock may be 0-2, but they played well against Reynolds. Obviously, from our standpoint, we want to jump on them early."

Wilson has a troublesome knee and was to be re-evaluated later in the week. Otherwise, Sharon is healthy heading into the game against the Rockets.

"Right now, he's a go," Fromm said of Wilson.