SLIPPERY ROCK — Facing a younger and far less experienced opponent, all Slippery Rock University's football team wanted was a quick start.

It got one. Twice.

The Rock (3-0) scored on its first five possessions of the first half and on its first four possessions of the second in routing Lock Haven, 55-7, Saturday night at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.

“We got just what we were looking for,” SRU coach Shawn Lutz said. “We still have a lot of work to do, but our offense needed to break out like that.”

Andrew Koester threw for 336 yards and three touchdowns for The Rock before leaving the game midway through the third quarter with a 44-0 lead. SRU led 30-0 at the half.

Included in Koester's performance was a 72-yard bomb down the right sideline to Henry Litwin, resulting in The Rock's third touchdown of the opening quarter.

“I beat my man and he (Koester) laid that ball right in there,” Litwin said. “Andrew can make throws like that. We know what we're capable of doing offensively.

“I think all of us have had to shake some rust off. It was hard not playing at all last year.”

The Rock managed only 19 points combined in the first half of its first two games this season.

Litwin had four catches for 130 yards in the game and SRU had a 55-0 lead through three quarters.Backup quarterback Noah Grover led a pair of touchdown drives late in the third period.

Cinque Sweeting caught a 16-yard scoring pass from Koester on SRU's first offensive play of the game. Tyler Settle and Kyle Sheets also caught scoring tosses on the night.

“It's awesome seeing guys like Tyler and Kyle in the scoring column tonight, Chris Mohra ... you never know when we we're gonna need those guys,” Lutz said.

Lock Haven (1-2) was limited to six first downs in the game. The Bald Eagles netted only 182 yards offensively. More tha half of those came when DeAndre Wakefield got loose down the left sideline for a 95-yard touchdown run with 5:34 left in the contest.

SRU used numerous players on defense. Butler graduate and linebacker Tim Vernick led with eight tackles, two for loss.

“Yeah, it was frustrating not getting the shutout,” Vernick admitted. “We always work for that and we've come close the past two weeks.

“We don't worry about what the scoreboard says at any point. We worry about ourselves, our own execution, playing at the level we know we're capable of.”

Lutz said there is “some pressure” when facing an over-matched opponent like the Bald Eagles.

“You're expected to win by a lopsided score,” he said. “If we don't, people wouldn't consider us to be very good. And I think we've got a pretty good football team here.

“I love the talent that's in our locker room.”

So does Litwin.

“Lock Haven is a young team. They need time to grow and develop,” he said. “When a young team goes up against a nationally-ranked team, this is what's supposed to happen.”

No. 5 SRU racked up 575 yards offensively Saturday night.

Notes: The Rock leads the all-time series with Lock Haven 47-12-1, including 34-0-1 in the last 35 meetings. ... SRU is 16-1 against PSAC East opponents over the last seven years, has won 18 consecutive home night games and 23 straight night games overall. ... Garrett de Bien and Nick Johnson had QB sacks Saturday night. ... SRU travels to Seton Hill for a 6 p.m. game Saturday.

Lock Haven 0 0 0 7 — 7

Slippery Rock 20 10 27 0 — 55

First Quarter

SRU — Cinque Sweeting 16 pass from Andrew Koester (kick failed), 11:06

SRU — Koester 3 run (DJ Opsatnik kick), 6:25

SRU — Henry Litwin 72 pass from Koester (Opsatnik kick), 3:25

Second Quarter

SRU — Opsatnik 42 field goal, 11:10

SRU — Tyler Settle 33 pass from Koester (Opsatnik kick), 5:38

Third Quarter

SRU — Tim Smith 22 run (Opsatnik kick), 12:57

SRU — Chris D'Or 2 run (Opsatnik kick), 9:11

SRU — Kyle Sheets 8 pass from Noah Grover (Opsatnik kick), 3:59

SRU — Chris Mohra 2 run (kick failed), 1:03

Fourth Quarter

LH — DeAndre Wakefield 95 run (Sam Hershey kick), 5:34

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Lock Haven, DeAndre Wakefield 11-106, Ethan Persa 8-19, Justin White 1-7, Dymeir Still 4-5, Jacob Sturm 3-2, Kareem Davis 1-0, Jordan Heisey 3-(-4), Jesse Funk 1-(-5). SRU, Tim Smith 14-67, Chris Mohra 10-47, Chris D'Or 10-31, Jerenmaine Wynn Jer. 1-20, Noah Grover 3-14, Andrew Koester 3-7, Evyn Holtz 1-5.

Passing: Lock Haven, Ethan Persa 5-15-28-0, Jordan Heisey 4-9, 24-0, Jesse Funk 0-1-0-0. SRU, Andrew Koester 16-25-331-0, Noah Grover 6-9-53-0.

Receiving: Lock Haven, Alex Cruz 2-10, Alex Lantz 1-11, Jadin Goodman 1-8, Kayir McBride 1-7, Isiah GonzaleZ 1-6, Chase Holmes 1-6, Jesse Engle 1-4, Dante Graham 1-0. SRU, Jermaine Wynn Jr. 5-48, Henery Litwin 4-130, Tyler Settle 3-47, Chris D'Or 2-37, Cinque Sweeting 2-37, Mike Beneski 2-24, John Eakin 1-39, Kyle Sheets 1-8, Tim Smith 1-7, Kenyon Johnson 1-7.