WEST CHESTER — A quick response was followed by a clutch drive and a total shutdown Saturday for the Slippery Rock University football team.

Those three elements keyed SRU’s 35-14 victory over West Chester at Farrell Stadium.

After a poor punt gave the host Rams possession at the SRU 21, West Chester quarterback Shane Dooley competed a short scoring drive with an 8-yard run to knot the game at 7. Only 31 seconds later, Rock quarterback Noah Grover found Kyle Sheets for a 69-yard scoring strike with 12 minutes left in the first half.

The Rock took that 14-7 lead into halftime.

“I know we can still play better and we have to continually strive to get better,” Rock coach Shawn Lutz said. “But I liked the way we played in the second half.”

Lutz was particularly pleased with an 87-yard scoring drive his team put together midway through the third quarter. Still trailing by seven points at that time, West Chester (1-1) had The Rock pinned back inside the 15-yard line.

Chris D’Or broke free on a 48-yard run for The Rock (2-0), setting up his own 26-yard scoring jaunt and a 21-7 lead with 5:24 left in the third period.

“That drive was big for us,” Lutz said. “It tilted the game in our favor and our defense controlled things from there. Honestly, I think this game was more lopsided in our favor than the final score indicated.

“It was good to see Chris D’Or get over 100 yards today. We ran the ball effectively.”

D’Or wound up with 108 yards on 14 carries. Isaiah Edwards added 51 yards on the ground, including a 17-yard touchdown run for the first points of the game.

SRU’s defense allowed only 37 yards of offense in the second half before West Chester put together a 73-yard scoring drive against reserve defenders in the final two minutes of the game.

Before that drive, The Rock extended its lead to 35-7 with short scoring drives of 41 and eight yards. Noah Grover and Chris Wells concluded those possessions with 1-yard scoring runs.

Grover threw for 250 yards. SRU rushed for 158.

Jalen Dangerfield and Jacob Williams had interceptions for SRU. Munchie Johnson and Brandon Tuck-Hayden had eight tackles each, Johnson getting three tackles for loss.

Dooley completed only six of 18 passes for West Chester and was sacked four times.

The Rock defense was directed by assistant coach Anthony Cicione II as defensive coordinator Dom Razzano could not make the road trip due to COVID-19.

“Dom’s OK and we’rd happy about that, obviously,” Lutz said. “Coach Cicione did a tremendous job stepping in and running our defense.”

Notes: The Rock will make its second straight road trip to face a PSAC East opponent this week, facing a noon kickoff Saturday at Millersville. ... SRU is 16-1 in its last 17 games against PSAC East schools. ... D’Or’s 100-yard rushing game was the first of his career. ... Lutz picked up his 50th win as Rock head coach against only 14 losses. ... SRU is 11-9 in its all-time series against West Chester.

Slippery Rock 7 7 7 14 — 35

West Chester 0 7 0 7 — 14

First Quarter

SRU — Isaiah Edwards 17 tun (DJ Opsatnik kick), 7:43

Second Quarter

WC — Shane Dooley 8 run (Sean Henry kick), 12:31

SRU — Kyle Sheets 69 pass from Noah Grover (Opsatnik kick), 12:00

Third Quarter

SRU — Chris D’Or 26 run (Opsatnik kick), 5:24

Fourth Quarter

SRU — Grover 1 run (Opsatnik kick), 6:30

SRU — Chris Wells 1 run (Opsatnik kick), 2:49

WC — D’Shaun Seals pass from Cooper Jordan (Henry kick), :32

Individual Statistics

Rushing: SRU, Chris D’Or 14-108, Isaiah Edwards 9-51, Chris Wells 4-8, Tim Smith 1-0, Noah Grover 5-(-3), TEAM 2-(-6). West Chester, Ja’Den Mckenzie 15-34, Shane Dooley 15-32, Cooper Jordan 2-21, Phil Poquie 5-19, Desman Johnson 1-3, Julian Kelly 1-1.

Passing: SRU, Noah Grover 19-32-250-1. West Chester, Shane Dooley 6-18-86-2, Cooper Jordan 4-7-57-0, Desman Johnson 0-1-0-0.

Receiving: SRU, Kyle Sheets 4-95, Jawon Hall 3-47, Cohen Russell 4-42, Jacob Odom 3-42, Kenyon Johnson 1-5. West Chester, Rasheim Bowens 3-50, D’Shaun Seals 3-32, Thatcher Miller 1-24, Mauric Mazzccua 1-20, Mari Wright 1-13, Phil Poquie 1-4.