SLIPPERY ROCK — It seemed as if buckets of water were thrown on the blaze that was Slippery Rock’s football team through the initial three weeks of the campaign.

The Rockets (5-3, 3-3) notched two-possession wins over General McLane, Mercyhurst Prep, and Greenville to start out. Their offense was shaping up to be something to behold — something that would keep them in the upper echelon of their region.

Then, they dropped two in a row. What felt like an upset defeat to Sharpsville was compounded by a heartbreaker to arch rival Grove City. Slippery Rock lost some of its steam and an unsure feeling started to creep into the locker room.

Rockets coach Larry Wendereusz turned to his crew’s leaders.

“You’ve got to rely on your upperclassmen to do what needs to be done to turn things around,” he said. “We had some meetings, myself and the seniors, to talk about, ‘How do we capture the moment and how do we enjoy the process?’

“For the most part, our senior class has done a nice job of staying the course, working through the adversity, and being accountable to each other.”

They steadied themselves by upending Hickory, then lost at home to Sharon. A dominating win over Wilmington last week guaranteed Slippery Rock a District 10 playoff berth.

“Obviously, when you get in, that always takes some of that stress,” Wendereusz said. “When you have that streak of making the playoffs for so many straight years, you want to continue to build that tradition in your program.”

To close out the regular season schedule, the Rockets will make the trip to play Farrell (7-1, 5-0) Friday night. The Steelers figure to be the crew’s stiffest test yet.

“Without a doubt, they’ve got guys all over the place that are big, that are fast, and that know how to play the game,” Wendereusz said. “You look around their roster and you’re not going to find a hole anywhere.”

He described the Farrell attack as having a “three-headed monster.”

Junior quarterback Kabron Smith has gone for 1,408 yards through the air and has a 16-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Junior Brandon Chambers has scampered for 710 yards and senior Kylon Wilson has 643 receiving yards and six TDs.

Slippery Rock offers a wealth of experience on its offensive unit. Senior signal-caller William Mokel has passed for 1,520 yards and 16 TDs. His favorite target has been John Sabo, whose average catch goes for 15.3 yards.

Senior running back Maddox Allen has stepped on the scene this go-round, pacing his side with 602 rushing yards on 88 totes.

“Maddox stepped up last year in the Sharon game and I think we realized at that point that we had young man that had some talents that we may not have realized,” Wendereusz said. “Coming into this year, we knew Maddox was going to take that load as our fullback, our running back.”

The coach praised his blocking abilities, too.

“He is having contact on almost every single play, offensively,” Wendereusz said. “He gets up and he continues to do a tremendous job, play in and play out.”

It has been 41 years since these two programs last met up. The Steelers won that 1981 clash, 33-7.

North Catholic (4-4)

at Indiana (3-5)

7 p.m., Friday

North dropped a 37-7 decision to Avonworth last week. Indiana was on the short end of a 42-7 score against Hampton.

The Trojans are averaging just 68 yards passing per game. The team's biggest offensive threat is junior RB/WR Jack Fennell, who has tallied 473 rushing yards, 149 receiving yards and scored 7 total TDs. In his first start of the season, junior QB Kaden Sarver threw for just 12 yards last week. North is currently in a 3-way tie for third place in the Greater Allegheny Conference standings. The Trojans, Hampton and Mars each have a 2-2 record in conference games. Only two of those teams will qualify for the WPIAL Class 4A playoffs.

Indiana's one conference victory is a 47-28 win over Kiski Area in Week 6. In the team's other four conference games — losses to Mars, Highlands, Armstrong and Hampton, the Little Indians have been outscored 157-21.

Knoch (0-8)

at East Allegheny (6-2)

7 p.m., Friday

The Knights fell behind early and never recovered in a 42-0 shutout loss to next-door neighbor Freeport last Friday. East Allegheny rebounded from a defeat to the Yellowjackets the week before with a 42-7 triumph over Deer Lakes.

Winless Knoch has lost their eight games this campaign by an average of 24.8 points. In their decisive loss last week, they were limited to 101 yards from scrimmage. Sophomore tailback Sam Skurka led the team on the ground, rushing for 32 yards on nine totes.

The Wild Cats’ only two shortcomings have come to teams — Elizabeth Forward and Freeport — who sport a combined 15-1 record. Each of East Allegheny’s wins have been by at least two scores.

Freeport (7-1)

at Valley (1-7)

7 p.m., Friday

The Yellowjackets raced past Knoch, 42-0, at home a week ago. Valley was shut out, 30-0, against Shady Side Academy.

Freeport has gotten it done on defense and is in the midst of its best effort, numbers-wise, on that side of the ball since the last time it won a section crown. As it pertains to the offense, first-year starting quarterback Gavin Croney has passed for 679 yards and nine scores.

In the Allegheny Six Conference, only Knoch is giving up more points per game this season (38.5) than Valley’s 29.3. The Vikings have the weakest offense in the grouping in terms of production, pinning up only 12.8 points per week.

DuBois Area (4-4)

at Moniteau (2-6)

7 p.m., Friday

Moniteau gave up at least 40 points for a consecutive week in a 41-0 loss to Punxsutawney. The Beavers lost for a third time in a row, 45-7, to undefeated Central Clarion.

Senior Hunter Stalker has been the focal point of the Warriors’ offense, rumbling for 663 yards on 136 gives. He goes for an average of 104.4 yards from scrimmage per game.

Over its last three outings, DuBois has been outscored by a total of 102-34. The Beavers started 4-1; with wins over Karns City, Brockway, Bradford and Brookville. They have a timeshare in the backfield, made up Dalton Yale (295 yards) and Austin Henery (252).

Karns City (4-4)

at Bradford (0-8)

7 p.m., Friday

KC lost to Brookville last week, 34-7. Bradford was shut out by Saint Marys, 31-0.

The Gremlins were averaging 207 rushing yards per game, but were held to just 129 by Brookville last week. WR Micah Rupp leads the Gremlins with 16 receptions for 299 yards, an average of 18.7 yards per catch.

Bradford has rushed for just 86 yards all season. The team relies on its passing game, with QB Talan Reese passing for 1,676 yards, 9 TDs and 12 INTs. The Owls have been shut out 3 times this season — by Punxsutawney (56-0), Brookville (41-0) and Saint Marys (31-0).

KC defeated Bradford last year, 55-8.

Union/A-C Valley (4-4)

at Ridgway (2-6)

7 p.m., Friday

The Falcon Knights overwhelmed Smethport last week, 42-7. Ridgway lost, 41-13, to Brockway.

Falcon Knights' senior Ryan Cooper tallied 175 total yards last week (60 receiving, 46 on punt returns, 42 on an INT return and 27 on kick returns) and scored 3 total TDs. Union/A-C Valley is averaging 148 yards rushing per game and 103 passing.

The Elkers' running game reached a high point in Week 7 when they rushed for 319 yards and 5 TDs in a 42-6 win over Smethport, but there have also been 4 games this season in which Ridgway has failed to reach 75 yards on the ground as a team.

The teams last met in 2019, with Ridgway claiming a 50-12 victory.

Laurel (6-1) at Summit Academy (1-7)

Saturday, 12 p.m.

The Knights suffered another decisive loss, a 61-6 result to Shenango. Laurel beat South Side, 33-16.

Summit Academy’s defense hasn’t been able to put things together this go-round. The Knights allow 46.5 points per game, worse than everybody in the WPIAL, save for New Brighton, (47.0), Springdale (48.6), and Brownsville (49.6)

The frontrunners of the Big Seven Conference, the Spartans post 42.1 points per game, the fourth-most in WPIAL Class 1A. Since bowing to Neshannock on Sept. 2, Laurel has strung together five wins in a row.