SLIPPERY ROCK — Seven plays into the game, things were looking quite bleak for the Slippery Rock High football team.

It took just three plays for General McLane to dent the scoreboard for a 7-0 lead.

It took just three more plays for the Lancers to force the Rockets to punt.

And it could have taken just one more play for General McLane to take a two-touchdown lead if not for a shoestring tackle.

After that, however, Slippery Rock regrouped, took advantage of several Lancer errors and showed some grit in a 34-21 season-opening win at home Friday night.

“I can't even put into words how proud I am, honestly,” said senior quarterback Vito Pilosi.

The turning point for Slippery Rock came when the defense got a stop when it appeared as if the Lancers were going to add to their lead.

But Slippery Rock forced a punt and the snap sailed far over the head of Matt Leehan for a 31-yard loss that set the Rockets up at the General McLane 16.

Six plays later, Nathan Hyatt scored the first of his three touchdowns to knot the score at 7-7.

The Rockets then capitalized on another special teams mistake by General McLane.

Slippery Rock kicker Nathaniel Willison booted the ensuing kickoff out of bounds. Instead of taking possession at his own 35, Lancers' coach Jim Wells opted to force the Rockets to kick off again.

This time, Willison executed a perfect chip onside kick that Slippery Rock sophomore Ryan Montgomery recovered.

The Rockets turned that into an 11-play, 48-yard drive that culminated in a 29-yard field goal by Willison for a 10-7 lead.

Slippery Rock never trailed after that 10-point swing.

“We knew coming in (Willison) was going to help us,” said Slippery Rock coach Larry Wendereusz. “He's going to help us with his leg this season.”

Vito Pilosi helped Slippery Rock with his arm, David Duffalo with his hands and Nathan Hyatt with his legs.

Pilosi was nearly perfect, going 11 of 12 for 179 yards and a touchdown. He connected with Duffalo six times of 88 yards on a variety of swing and screen passes.

The senior quarterback also put the game away with a 43-yard connection with Ethan Plesakov that gave the Rockets a 34-14 lead early in the fourth quarter.

“We're going to run the ball,” Wendereusz said. “For us to be successful, though, Vito is going to have to do that. If Vito can throw those passes and complete them and hit a few big ones, eventually teams are going to have to back up and we can run the ball more. If they don't want to back up, then Vito is going to have to hit those.”

Pilosi said he was itching to throw the ball after seeing General McLane load the box to try to stop the run.

He said that is the strength of the Slippery Rock offense — it's ability to shred a defense depending on what they show, as it did against the Lancers.

“I knew I had that shot,” Pilosi said. “It's a dual threat. You're going to have to have defenses game-planning both things and that's so hard to do. I love this offense so much. We break down defenses so much.”

The Rockets also wore down General McLane's defense with their up-tempo, no-huddle attack.

In the second half, there was more pep and urgency to the offense as Slippery Rock rolled up 302 yards in the final two quarters.

Hyatt had 105 of his 116 yards rushing in the second half and scored on runs of 3, 3 and 57.

“I just kept grinding,” Hyatt said. “I was hoping I would pop one and I did. I knew I was gone. Running that no-huddle, they were gassed.”

Slippery Rock's defense also clamped down, holding General McLane's star back Ben Howe-Jones to 93 yards.

After passing for just 156 yards all of last season, Leehan threw for 137 in the opener.

The Rockets did pressure Leehan all game with a variety of blitzes.

“We're going to attack,” Wendereusz said. “We're not going to sit back and let things happen to us.”

The win was an impressive one against a team that went 8-3 last year and had a bulk of its key players returning.

“This was not some pushover,” Pilosi said. “They showed that on the first drive. The captains came together and said, 'We have to buckle down.' And we did.”

@Agate-7pt:

General McLane 7 0 0 14 — 21

Slippery Rock 7 3 10 14 — 34

First Quarter

GM — Tyler Myers 69 run (Russell Wisner), 10:40

SR — Nathan Hyatt 3 run (Nathaniel Willison kick), 3:40

Second Quarter

SR — Willison 29 field goal, 10:42

Third Quarter

SR — Willison 32 field goal, 6:04

SR — Hyatt 3 run (Willison kick), :22

Fourth Quarter

GM — Nate Jones 35 pass from Matt Leehan (Wismer kick), 11:52

SR — Ethan Plesalov 43 pass from Vito Pilosi (Willison kick), 1:11

SR — Nathan Hyatt 57 run (Willison kick), 9:10

GM — Jaxson Scrutchins 47 fumble return (Wismer kick), 2:31

Individual Statistics

Rushing: General McLane, Ben Howe-Jones 15-93, Tyler Myers 2-64, Jared Iavarone-Campbell 4-22, Leehan 9-10, Jaxson Scrutchins 4-6, TEAM 1-(-31). Slippery Rock, Nathan Hyatt 24-116, Vito Pilosi 16-68, David Duffalo 6-25

Passing: General McLane, Matt Leehan 7-16-137-0. Slippery Rock, Vito Pilosi 11-12-179-0

Receiving: General McLane, Nate Jones 2-50, Jared Iavarone-Campbell 2-33, Ben Howe-Jones 1-20, Tyler Myers 1-19, Ben Lipinski 1-15. Slippery Rock, David Duffalo 6-88, Nathan Hyatt 3-25, Ethan Plesakov 1-43, Brendan Earl 1-23