Slippery Rock vs Bloomsburg football what to know: Playoff chances, sending seniors off with a win, more
SLIPPERY ROCK TWP — The 2025 Slippery Rock football season ends this Saturday in Bloomsburg.
Maybe.
Despite last week’s 38-8 thrashing at Edinboro — SRU’s worst loss to a Super Region One opponent since 2009 (44-7 to California) — The Rock remains alive for a Division II playoff berth.
SRU (6-3) closes its regular season vs. Bloomsburg (2-8) at noon Saturday at Redman Stadium. An SRU win — joined by an Assumption loss to West Chester and a California loss at Shippensburg — would land The Rock in postseason play for the seventh consecutive season. If either Assumption or California loses, SRU could still find its way in.
“We don’t deserve to be ranked or be in the playoffs,” SRU coach Shawn Lutz said. “We need to win Saturday, sit back and see what happens.”
SRU is ranked ninth this week in Super Region One. The top eight make the playoffs. Bloomsburg leads the series with The Rock 11-5, including six straight wins in Bloomsburg.
SRU has not won at Bloomsburg since 1936.
1. Sabo finding stardom?: Slippery Rock High School graduate John Sabo was one of SRU’s few bright spots at Edinboro as he caught six passes for 126 yards. The sophomore became the first Rock receiver to have a 100-yard receiving day this season.
He has 22 catches for 374 yards and four touchdowns this year.
“John has become our go-to receiver, and we have him here for two more years,” Lutz said. “He’s just an outstanding football player. He’s an excellent blocker and he plays special teams for us.”
Lutz said Sabo is only scratching the surface in terms of his contributions to SRU football.
“I won’t be surprised if he’s a captain (next) year,” the coach said. “I expect that will happen.”
2. Bloomsburg a dangerous 2-8: Won-loss records don’t always tell the story.
The Huskies have come out on the short end of numerous close games this season, including a 35-27 loss to undefeated and Super Region One-leading Kutztown last week. They dropped a 44-42 overtime decision to West Chester the week before that.
“We’ve dropped five road games by a total of 12 points,” Bloomsburg coach Frank Sheptock said. “We just have to find a way to finish games. We lost 30 players from last season, and our defense has only two starters back.
“We were down to the Kutztown 5(-yard line) at the end of the game last week before a couple of penalties drove us back. That would have been a big win.”
Bloomsburg is surrendering an average of 32 points per game. Junior linebacker Brady Thompson leads the Huskies with 65 tackles and three quarterback sacks.
“He’s the heart of our defense,” Sheptock said.
The Huskies coached added a win over Slippery Rock “would definitely send us into the offseason on a high note. It would be very big for our program. Slippery Rock has been a premier program in our league for the last decade-plus.”
3. Pass or run? That is the question: The Huskies’ offense has thrived through the air. Senior KJ Riley has thrown for 2,338 yards and 24 touchdowns. He’s thrown multiple touchdown passes in six straight games and has been sacked only nine times all season.
Jerry Griffen-Batchler has 47 catches for 809 yards and nine touchdowns while Gabe Brewer has 48 catches for 718 yards and seven scores. Both had 100-yard receiving games against Kutztown, and Griffen-Batchler has 2,442 yards and 18 TD catches in his career.
“Griffen-Batchler is probably the best receiver in the East,” Lutz said. “They spread Kutztown out last week and had a lot of success.”
Kutztown had allowed no more than 14 points in a game all season before running into Bloomsburg.
“Our experience is in our passing game,” Sheptock said. “That’s our strength. It’s what we do best.”
The Huskies do average 152 yards per game on the ground, however.
“Their quarterback makes them go,” Lutz said. “He can run the ball as well as throw it. He has a strong offensive line in front of him and he knows how to extend plays. We just gave up 355 yards on the ground (at Edinboro) and missed 30 tackles. They may line up and just try to run it on us. Why not? That’s what I would do.
“This game may be the last for our seniors. The Michael Henwoods, Eli Podgorskis, Joe Coopers ... I want those guys to go out winners.”
