SLIPPERY ROCK — Clyde Conti has seen a lot of good high school football teams in his day.

The SlipperyRock coach lists Wilmington near the top.

"I'd put them pretty high," Conti said. "It's going to take someone pretty talented to beat them."

Conti was hoping his Rockets would be the team to slow the Greyhounds, but Slippery Rock served as nothing more than a speed bump as Wilmington rolled to a 42-6 win on a soggy Friday evening.

The Greyhounds also clinched the Region 3 title with the win.

"How bad did we lose?" Conti asked. "Probably about as bad as Sharon and some of those other teams."

Wilmington (9-0, 7-0) came into the game with gaudy numbers on both offense and defense and a just-as-gaudy point differential.

Against the three top teams they have played this season — Grove City, Greenville and Sharon — the Greyhounds won by an average score of 44-9.

In eight of their nine games, the Greyhounds have triggered the 35-point mercy rule.

Chalk up Slippery Rock (7-2, 4-2) as another victim.

"It was like, 'Down goes Frazier. Down goes Frazier,' Conti said. "That's all I kept thinking all night. 'Down goes Frazier.'"

Not even Dr. Frasier Crane was needed to analyze this one.

Wilmington needed just five, six and two plays to score three touchdowns in the first half. It got another score on a 28-yard fumble recovery by Derrick Burns.

Mike Ramirez kicked field goals of 25 and 23 yards for Slippery Rock in the first half to give the Rockets a glimmer of hope, cutting the score to 14-6.

But there was no slowing the Greyhounds and their many offensive weapons.

"They're serious about the game and they're prepared every week mentally," said Wilmington coach Terry Verrelli. "It's just a great group of seniors."

Senior Luke Yohman was the hero for the Greyhounds, rushing for a team-leading 82 yards and three touchdowns on a mere seven carries.

Wilmington had nine players carry the ball. That's nothing new; the Greyhounds have 17 players with at least one rushing attempt this season.

As dominant as Wilmington's offense was, so was its defense.

Slippery Rock, which came into the game averaging 366 yards per game, was held to 99.

Quarterback Jono Powell, who has rushed for more than 900 yards, didn't gain a yard on 19 carries.

Powell did pass for 58 yards, hitting Ethan Geisler on a 40-yard strike that set up Ramirez's first field goal.

JustinAngerett was the Rockets' leading rusher with 27 yards on six attempts.

SlipperyRock's longest rushing play covered 10 yards.

Wilmington's ClintDeRosa hounded Powell, grabbing his legs, arms, torso and jersey to fling the Slippery Rock quarterback to the turf.

"No one has been able to block him all season," Verrelli said.

It was fitting, then, thatDeRosa scored the final touchdown of the game when Wilmington quarterback Shane Wagner fumbled a snap at the goal line. DeRosa, a guard, won the tug-of-war for the football under the pile for a TD.

Slippery Rock now will prepare for its final game of the regular season againstGreenville next week.

"I don't think there's anything embarrassing losing to a team like this," Conti said. "It's tough. We're a finesse team and it's hard to win sometimes being a finesse team. What are we, 7-2? We're still happy with where we are right now with this group. We'll re-load, get this one out of our system and go from there."