SR focused on itself
SLIPPERY ROCK — Larry Wendereusz is focusing on the Rockets this week.
Not the Titusville Rockets, Slippery Rock High's opponent Friday, but his own Rockets.
In fact, Wendereusz and his staff are spending very little time this week on dissecting surprising 3-2 Titusville and its tendencies and more on cleaning up the bugaboos that have plagued his team.
Slippery Rock (2-3) has lost two games in a row to Sharon and Grove City and desperately needs a win to get back on track.
“It's not about anyone else,” Wendereusz said. “It's about us. We have to do our jobs. If we do our jobs, those last two outcomes could have been different.”
Slippery Rock went seven quarters without scoring a point against the Tigers and Eagles before launching a comeback last week at Grove City, cutting a 24-0 deficit to 24-16 in the fourth.
But turnovers again haunted the Rockets.
“Instead of watching film on our opponent, we're looking at film on us to get better at what we do.”
What Slippery Rock has done well is get the ball in the hands of its three playmakers on offense.
Quarterback Vito Pilosi is putting together a strong season both passing and running. The senior has completed 43 of 85 passes for 576 yards and three touchdowns and has also rushed for 296 yards and three scores.
Nathan Hyatt and David Duffalo have combined for 720 yards rushing and seven TDs.
That hasn't always translated to success because of inconsistency, said Wendereusz, who is also dismayed by the slow starts his Rockets have gotten off to recently.
“We did not come out ready to play football and I'm not sure how that happened,” Wendereusz said. “I think we play well in spots.”
7 p.m., FridayThe Yellowjackets have defeated the Cougars handily in the two prior meetings between the teams, 43-6 in 2017 and 20-0 last year.Freeport QB Garret Schaffhauser has thrown for 658 yards and seven TDs. His favorite target has been Brodey Woods, who has 18 catches for 227 yards. ... Ricky Hunter scored on punt returns of 59 and 58 yards, along with a 9-yard TD run in the Yellowjackets' win over Uniontown last week.Like Freeport, Yough's lone win is against Uniontown. ... The Cougars have allowed 156 points in the past three games. ... QB Gamal Marballie has thrown for 580 yards and seven touchdowns, rushed for 338 yards and three scores. ... RB C.J. Waldier has rushed for 394 yards and 5 TDs,. ... Yough's defense has 17 quarterback sacks this season.
7 p.m., FridayNorth Catholic defeated Derry last week, 13-3. Mount Pleasant dropped a 29-26 decision at Deer Lakes.Trojans' RB Eamon Straub leads the team with 255 yards rushing. No other North player has more than 70. Straub, also a LB, led a very strong defensive effort last week. ... WR Nick Maher and RB Anthony Serventi have both scored three TDs to lead the team.Mount Pleasant features three players with more than 200 yds. rushing — Jake Johnson (496), Nick Loughner (317) and Pete Billey (216). Johnson also paces the Vikings in TDs (9), receptions (10) and rec. yds. (172). ... Vikings' QB Asher O'Conner, a junior, has thrown for 323 yds. with 3 TDs and 5 INTs.North defeated the Vikings last year, 49-7.
7 p.m., FridayThe Gremlins have owned the season series between these teams, winning 14 of the previous 15 meetings. ... Karns City has defeated Saint Marys 53-14, 61-6 and 42-6 the past three years.Karns City QB Anthony Kamenski rushed for 156 yards and 2 TDs in last week's 42-41 double-OT loss to Brookville. He has 559 yards rushing on the year. ... Sophomore RB Luke Garing rushed for 114 yards and 3 TDs last week. ... RB Hunter Jones has 278 yards rushing on the year.Flying Dutch QB Christian Coudriet has thrown for 1,085 yards and nine TDs, but has been intercepted seven times. ... Jacob Kline has 51 catches for 466 yards. ... Bryce Walker leads the ground game with 266 yards rushing. ... James Davis has three of Saint Marys' seven interceptions defensively.
7 p.m., FridayBrookville presents a difficult challenge for the Moniteau defense.The Raiders have passed for 1,299 yards this season and 14 touchdowns. Wide receiver Ian Thrush has caught 34 passes for 551 yards and six scores. Thrush was a big reason for Brookville's epic 42-41 double-overtime win at Karns City.Moniteau hopes to get its quarterback back this week in junior Brady Thompson, who broke his non-throwing hand on the first play of the season. Thompson was 4-of-6 passing for 140 yards before having surgery on his hand.J.D. Dessicino is coming off a 155-yard rushing game in a 28-0 Warrior win last week over Bradford. Dessicino now has 285 yards rushing on 45 carries.
1:30 p.m., SaturdayU/ACV defeated Elk County Catholic last week, 36-7. Port Allegany was shut out by Coudersport, 55-0.The Falcon Knights have a solid duo at WR in junior Tanner Merwin (14-233-1) and sophomore Caden Rainey (17-257-2). ... Through 3 weeks of the season, junior RB Kylar Culbertson had rushed for just 25 yds. He now leads the team with 239 yds.Port Allegany senior RB Josh Rees leads the Gators with 368 rushing yds. and has scored 5 of the team's 6 TDs. ... Since beating Otto-Eldred to open the season, the Gators have lost four straight games.The Falcon Knights' 34-6 win over the Gators last season was the beginning of a 3-game winning streak that vaulted the team into the District 9 Class A playoffs.
Friday, 7 p.m.It doesn't get any easier for the Knights.Summit Academy's first four opponents this season have a combined record of 19-5 and now they travel to undefeated Avonworth.The Antelopes have outscored their opponents 172-48 while the Knights have been outscored 223-50.Avonworth QB Park Penrod has thrown for 717 yards and 13 touchdowns to just one interception. Jax Miller leads the Antelope ground game with 581 yards.
