Rockets putting first loss behind them
When describing his football team’s mood after its first bump in the road, Slippery Rock coach Larry Wendereusz called to mind something a well-known competitive cyclist said.
“Lance Armstrong once used a quote,” he said. “‘There’s only good days and great days. There’s no such thing as a bad day anymore.’ You try to take that mantra as ... even a bad day for me is not that bad of a day when you look in the mirror.”
It happens that the Rockets (3-1) are entering the most important stages in their conference race. Following a mistake-filled, 28-14 home loss to Sharpsville last week, they make the short trip to arch rival Grove City (2-2) Friday night.
“Whoever comes out on top will definitely position themselves where they want to be,” Eagles coach Sam Mowrey said. “In terms of final standings, playoffs, that sort of thing, this is a big game. On top of that, a rivalry game. All those things together, it should make for a fun Friday night.”
Slippery Rock came out on the right side of the teams’ regular season meeting a fall ago. Grove City got its payback in the District 10 Class 3A championship game, which the Eagles won, 28-20.
When he puts the headset on, the heartbreaking defeat will be the furthest thing from Wendereusz’ head space.
“You’ve got to put it in the rear-view mirror and be done with it, in my mind,” he said. “We’re in a situation now where ... we’ve got to win a game in the region.
“We’ve got to be ready to go and handle things this year.”
His players share the same belief. They’re more concerned with ice bags and resting up than they are intrusive thoughts from last week’s trip-up.
“I think their mindset’s right,” Wendereusz said. “Our biggest (issue) now — and I think everybody goes through it — is just getting through injuries.
“We have the injury bug right now. We feel like, we get one person back and then someone else gets banged up.”
Senior Brett Galcik paced the offense with 95 yards on nine carries against the Blue Devils, along with playing a key role defensively at linebacker. He missed a practice with an ailment this week, while fellow senior Braiden Reich — a two-way player — hadn’t suited up for one through Wednesday.
The Rockets hope that both will be good to go come game time. On offense, senior quarterback William Mokel (928 passing yards-seven touchdowns) and wideout John Sabo (12 receptions-234 yards) will line up across from a Grove City defense that’s produced a touchdown in each of its four games thus far.
Wendereusz would prefer that his side limit the turnovers, but he isn’t going to put his offensive unit on any sort of leash.
“We’ve got to end each possession with a kick, whether that’s a punt or whether that’s a field goal attempt,” Wendereusz said. “We don’t harp on (giveaways), but you make the kids aware of it ... You can’t go in being fearful you’re going to fumble. You can’t tell your quarterback, ‘You’ve got to be careful of throwing the ball here or throwing the ball there.’”
On the flip side, second-year starting quarterback Hunter Hohman operates the Eagles attack. A dual-threat talent shares the backfield with senior feature back Anthony Nemec and dishes the ball to receiving corps that includes junior Gavin Lutz.
“We feel like we have weapons, too,” Mowrey said. “Offensively, for us, it’s about establishing the run first and getting better on our offensive line.
“We think, through the past four weeks here, that we’ve seen definite positive steps and improvement in ball control, running the football, and using that to make some plays through the air.”
The Eagles have won seven of the teams’ last 10 meetings, dating back to 2015. All but one of their victories have come by at least two scores.
“We expect the same thing, really, any time we play Slippery Rock,” Mowrey said. “You just sort of know when Slippery Rock and Grove City play, it doesn’t matter what records are. It’s always going to turn out into a good game.”
