FAIRVIEW - A last-second touchdown pass spelled defeat for the Slippery Rock High School football team Friday night as Fairview snared a 19-14 decision in season-opening action.

The Rockets held a slim 14-13 advantage until Tigers quarterback Kevin Stephenson inexplicably found wide receiver Zane Meeder wide open behind four defenders for a game-winning, 35-yard TD with 9.6 seconds left to play.

The scoring toss was the second of the game for Stephenson, who dissected the Rocket secondary for 222 yards on a 9-of-16 passing effort.

The Tigers also got a 157-yard rushing effort from senior running back Ty Perry.

On the flip side, the Rockets wasted a 119-yard rushing effort by senior David Bauer and a 132-yard, 9-for-22 passing performance by senior quarterback Ben Collins.

Senior wideout David Hewitt had five receptions for 91 yards for the Rockets, while Chris Delavern had 111 yards on four catches for the Tigers.

Offense was clearly the name of the game as the teams combined for more 700 yards in total offense.

Fairview held a slim 371-368 advantage in the yardage comparison with 149 rushing yards to go along with Stephenson's 222 passing yards.

To say the Tigers utilized a big-play offense to record its win would be a gross understatement.

Fairview's touchdowns came on plays that covered 51, 43 and 35 yards. The hosts had four other plays that gained 24 or more yards.

The Rockets, who had 234 rushing yards in addition to Collins' passing yardage, also made the most of long gains. Slippery Rock's first touchdown came on a 47-yard scamper by Bauer, while a 44-yard Collins to David Hewitt completion set the stage for the Rockets' second TD, an 11-yard run by Collins.

"The fans certainly got their money's worth tonight," Fairview head coach Jerry Lightner said. "There were a lot of crazy things happening tonight, just like we told our kids there would be in the opening game."

Lightner said Friday's win ranks right up there with the Tigers' conference championship-clinching win over Erie Iroquois last fall in terms of stature for his program.

"Slippery Rock is well coached and well disciplined," he said. "(SR head coach) Clyde Conti has a great program, which is why when I took over here six years ago, I wanted to play Slippery Rock, so we are tickled pink to be able to beat them."

Conti did not make himself available for a post-game interview.

Fairview marched 83 yards in only five plays, eating up 1:22, on its third possession of the game to take a 7-0 lead. Stephenson connected with Delavern for a 51-yard touchdown to cap the drive at the 1:09 mark of the first period.

The Rockets threatened to answer that scoring drive on their final possession of the first half, but came up one yard short as the first-half clock ran out.

The close-but-no-cigar drive started when the Rockets defense forced a fumble that rolled into the Rockets' end zone and was recovered by the guests. Seventeen plays and six-plus minutes later, the Rockets were knocking on the door at the other end of the field.

Even though Slippery Rock could not get anyone to answer the door on that drive, it rode the momentum of that failed drive into the second half.

After stalling just inside Fairview territory on its first second-half possession, Slippery Rock went 58 yards in only three plays on its second drive.

Bauer's 47-yard TD sprint capped the drive and trimmed the margin to 7-6 with 5:54 left in the third period. Collins was stopped short of the end zone on a run attempt after he had bobbled the snap from center on a planned extra-point kick.

The Rockets moved 75 yards in six plays on their next possession to take a 14-7 advantage with 9:29 left in the game.

Collins hit Hewitt for a 44-yard completion to the Fairview 15-yard line, then sprinted the final 11 yards to the end zone two plays later. Collins and Bauer then connected for a two-point conversion pass.

Fairview answered quickly, though, as the Tigers went 75 yards in three plays to trim the deficit to one, 14-13. Perry scored the TD on a 43-yard run, but the PAT kick sailed wide to the right.

Slippery Rock took the ensuing kickoff and marched 50 yards to the Fairview 26 before the drive stalled.

The hosts then made the Rockets pay as the Tigers went 69 yards in nine plays to score the winning points.

The Rockets will look for their first win of the season next Friday when they host Reynolds.