Grover's 8 TD passes key 63-21 Rock win
ERIE — Noah Grover set the bar pretty high in his first start as Slippery Rock University quarterback Saturday at McConnell Family Stadium.
So high, in fact, he will probably never reach it again himself.
With previous starter Andrew Koester not on the trip because of a violation of team rules, Grover — a junior and transfer from North Dakota — tossed a Rock single-game record eight touchdown passes in SRU's 63-21 football win at Gannon.
The win set up a showdown with undefeated California (Pa.) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium. The winner of that game will represent the PSAC West in the conference title game the following week.California's 42-14 win over Seton Hill on Saturday helped set up that scenario.
Grover completed 32 of 40 passes for 439 yards, including 250 yards and five TDs in the first half alone. Grover was relieved by freshman Brayden Long seconds into the fourth quarter.
“That was crazy, absolutely crazy,” SRU coach Shawn Lutz said. “But we needed this. This is probably the best game we've played all season.”
Grover's touchdown tosses went to six different players, including three to Henry Litwin. Litwin had 10 catches for 127 yards and became the first player in Rock history to score 40 touchdowns. All of his scores have been on pass receptions.“This offense is so explosive,” Grover said. “I found out I was starting on Monday and the team supported me all week.“I felt confident coming into this game, but I never expected anything like this.”Litwin said Grover brought “a lot of energy to the offense. He was a leader out there.”SRU (8-1, 5-1) jumped out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. Gannon (4-5, 3-3) was able to close within 35-21 when Luke Sittinger returned a blocked punt 15 yards for a touchdown early in the third quarter.“That was one of the few negative plays we had all day,” Lutz said.Grover's final three touchdown passes — all to Litwin — covered 58, 7 and 6 yards as The Rock won going away.“He's a dog,” Grover said of Litwin. “He works constantly at improving his game. He's always lifting, always doing whatever he can to get better. It's hard not to follow that mind-set.”Melvin Blanks, Gannon's standout running back, was a non-factor Saturday. After producing 200-yard rushing games the previous two weeks, Blanks was held to 20 yards on 10 carries by SRU's defense.Evyn Holtz had 18 carries for 109 yards to lead a Rock running game that produced 224 yards on the ground. SRU outgained Gannon 671-244 in yardage for the day.“We put an entire game together today,” Lutz said. “We tackled well and we were versatile on offense. We started out establishing our running game and Noah settled in from there.”Notes: Grover broke the previous Rock record of seven TD passes in a game, set by Don King III against East Stroudsburg in 2016. ... SRU defeated Gannon for the seventh straight time and has won 11 consecutive road games. ... Litwin needs 15 catches and 220 yards receiving to break Greg Hopkins' SRU records in both categories. ... Jermaine Wynn Jr. caught his 30th career TD pass for The Rock Saturday.Slippery Rock 21 14 14 14— 63Gannon 0 14 7 0 — 21First QuarterSRU — Jermaine Wynn Jr. 17 pass from Noah Grover (DJ Opsatnik kick), 10:23SRU — Cinque Sweeting 7 pass from Grover (Opsatnik kick), 9:35SRU — John Eakin 13 pass from Grover (Opsatnik kick), 4:07Second QuarterG — Johnny Freeman 49 pass from Kory Curtis (Eric Scarpino kick), 7:05SRU — Max Maciejewski 36 pass from Grover (Opsatnik kick), 5:46SRU — Kyle Sheets 62 pass from Grover (Opsatnik kick), 3:09G — Bransen Stanley 36 pass from Curtis (Scarpino kick), :44Third QuarterG — Luke Sittinger 15 blocked punt return (Scarpino kick), 12:16SRU — Henry Litwin 58 pass from Grover (Opsatnik kick), 11:00SRU — Litwin 7 pass from Gerover (Opsatnik kick), 3:59Fourth QuarterSRU — Litwin 6 pass from Grover (Opsatnik kick), 14:08SRU — Tim Smith 6 run (Opsatnik kick), 3:19Individual StatisticsRushing: SRU, Evyn Holtz 18-109, Tim Smith 10-44, Chris D'Or 5-21, Brayden Long 6-19, Noah Grover 2-16, Chris Mohra 1-12, Cinque Sweeting 1-5, Jermaine Wynn Jr. 1-1. Gannon, Kory Curti 4-27, Melvin Blanks 10-20, Oscene Mikell 1-1, TEAM 1-(-2), Antonio Wright 2-(-10).Passing: SRU, Noah Grover 32-40-439-0, Brayden Long 1-1-8-0. Gannon, Kory Curtis 12-24-208-0.Receiving: SRU, Henry Litwin 10-127. Max Maciejewski 6-77, Cinque Sweeting 6-70, Jermaine Wynn Jr. 6-70, Kyle Sheets 1-62, John Eakin 1-13, Chris D'Or 1-11, Evyn Holtz 1-9, Gavyn Barnes 1-8. Gannon, Johnny Freeman 6-112, Bransen Stanley 3-51, Sam East 1-22, D.Freeman Jr. 1-20, Melvin Blanks 1-3.
