SLIPPERY ROCK — Slippery Rock head coach Larry Wendereusz Jr. said just a week ago that you can’t win ugly games every week. He proved himself right tonight against the visiting Sharon Tigers (4-3 (2-1).

The Rockets (4-3 (2-3) were just unable to get things going as Sharon outperformed them on offense, on its way to a 20-6 victory.

As the game started, there was mist that started to come down that stuck throughout the game. The weather made for conditions that suited the Tigers style of play. But to Wendereusz, the weather had nothing to do with why they couldn’t get their usually explosive passing game going.

“We just couldn’t get things going, so when you can’t get things going and you’re going three and out, you don’t have a chance to throw the ball,” Wendereusz said. “So you run the ball and you don’t get it, so you throw the ball once in three downs, it makes it seem like we aren’t throwing it much.”

The first score came with just four minutes left in the first quarter. William Mokel found Sal Mineo for a 13-yard strike. It was the only time Slippery Rock made it into the end zone all night.

The Tigers took control of the game from there. A Mikey Rodriques four-yard run gave Sharon a lead they wouldn’t surrender.

“We had a rough performance last week, we expected to play better against Sharpsville and we were going up against a good quarterback this week, so we were worried,” Sharon head coach Jason McElhaney said. “Our guys responded really well and had a great performance tonight.”

The first half was closed out by both teams missing field goals, and the score was kept at 7-6. But it took just 14 seconds into the second half for that to change. Jayveerh White, who had 90 yards on the ground in the first half, took off on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter for an 80-yard rushing touchdown.

White ended with 239 yards on the ground, as the Tigers dominated the Rockets in the trenches — a performance that had even McElhaney in awe.

“That’s a kid who everything he gets, he’s earned,” McElhaney said. “He is everything you could ask for in a football player, and I’m so happy that he could have a game like this tonight.”

Overall, Sharon rushed for a combined 373 yards. The goal coming into the game for the Rockets was to stop the run, but they weren’t able to accomplish that goal.

“They just physically manhandled us up front on both sides of the ball,” Wendereusz said. “They ran the ball at will, we said we were going to pride ourselves on stopping the run this year, and we didn’t do that tonight.”

Slippery Rock 6 0 0 0 — 6

Sharon 0 7 6 7 — 20

First Quarter

SR — Sal Mineo 14 pass from William Mokel (Dominic Zandi kick failed), 4:42

Second Quarter

S — Mikey Rodriques 5 run (Nick Schimp kick), 11:54

Third Quarter

S — Jayveerh White 80 run (Nick Schimp kicked failed), 11:46

Fourth Quarter

S — Mikey Rodriques 1 run (Nick Schimp kick), 9:13

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Sharon, Jayveerh White 25-239, Mikey Rodriques 12-66, Cortez Nixon 6-44, Issac Friday 7-24, Lamont Austin 1-0. Slippery Rock, Maddox Allen 11-55, William Mokel 3-30, Sal Mineo 8-19.

Passing: Sharon, Mikey Rodriques 1-8-41. Slippery Rock, William Mokel 6-17-84-1.

Receiving: Sharon, Bishop Root 1-41. Slippery Rock, Sal Mineo 2-36, Lucas Allison 1-29, John Sabo 1-14, Maddox Allen 2-5.