Slippery Rock's Shane Thompson (19) attempts to push through a tackle by Hickory's Michael Trinchese in Saturday's 45-0 loss to the Hornets.

SLIPPERY ROCK — The encouraging start to the season by Slippery Rock's football team was just over two weeks ago.

It must seem much longer to head coach Larry Wendereusz.

After defeating Sharon by 20 points to open the campaign, the Rockets suffered their second straight loss Saturday night, 45-0 to visiting Hickory.

The deficit was 38-0 at halftime, at which point Slippery Rock had been out-gained on offense 412-58.

“The biggest part of the frustration is you want to see strides going forward,” said Wendereusz. “We're not making them and that's on me. I have to question why we aren't improving.

“We aren't putting our kids in the best position to be successful and I need to look in the mirror.”

Hickory's passing game allowed it to take control of the contest with 17 points in the first quarter. Quarterback Michael Henwood connected with wideout Ramarion Whitehead for touchdown passes on the Hornets' first two drives of the game. The first score came from 19 yards out to cap a 75-yard drive. The next went for 69 yards.

Henwood's first three completions of the game went to Whitehead for 101 yards. The former finished the game with 303 passing yards and six touchdown tosses.

Whitehead tallied 151 yards on six receptions.

“Slippery Rock was showing multiple coverages and that dictated where Michael went with the ball,” said Hickory coach Bill Dungee. “We're not specifically trying to get the ball to (Whitehead). The first two weeks, it was other guys making a lot of plays.”

Those other targets would make an impact as well. Matt Cannone caught two touchdowns passes (27, 3) in the second quarter and Jackson Pryts added one from 16 yards.

Meanwhile, Slippery Rock's offense never got on track. The Rockets were in the midst of a nine-play, 34-yard drive midway through the second quarter when Will Mokel was intercepted by Henwood at Hickory's 20.

Mokel finished the game with four completions on 13 attempts for seven yards and was picked off twice. Aside from a few decent runs, the team's ground game struggled as well.

“People are going to look at (Mokel's) passing, but our mentality is still to run the football. We need a balance to be successful and that didn't happen tonight.”

Hickory's Clay Wiesen rushed for 114 yards on 11 carries.

The Hornets moved to 3-0 with the win.

Slippery Rock (1-2) visits Sharon Friday.

Hickory 17 21 7 0 — 45Slippery Rock 0 0 0 0 — 0<b>First Quarter</b>H — Ramarion Whitehead 19 pass from Michael Henwood (Lukas Jones kick), 9:34H — Whitehead 69 pass from Henwood (Jones kick), 5:31H — Jones 25 field goal, 1:33<b>Second Quarter</b>H — Matt Cannone 27 pass from Henwood (Jones kick), 9:41H — Jackson Pryts 16 pass from Henwood (Jones kick), 2:32H — Cannone 3 pass from Henwood (Jones kick), :00<b>Third Quarter</b>H — Clay Wiesen 1 pass from Henwood (Jones kick), 4:50<b>Individual Statistics</b>Rushing:Hickory, Clay Wiesen 11-114, Rocco Iacino 2-3, Michael Henwood 5-25, Matt Cannone 1-1, Ramarion Whitehead 1-24, Donovan Crockett 1-9, Keenan Scullin 1-(-1), Ty Holland 3-12, Logan Woods 2-(-5), Will Acrie 2-2, Sean Kennedy 2-7. Slippery Rock, Ryan Montgomery 4-18, Will Mokel 2-4, Shane Thompson 11-20, Brett Galcik 5-19, Maddox Allen 6-40, Sam Schwartz 2-(-9), Andrew Massella 1-4.Passing:Hickory, Henwood 14-20-303-0, Woods 0-3-0-0. Slippery Rock, Mokel 4-13-7-2, Massella 0-1-0-1.Receiving: Hickory, Whitehead 6-151, Cannone 3-48, Iacino 2-69, Jackson Pryts 2-34, Wiesen 1-1. Slippery Rock, Montgomery 3-9, John Sabo 1-(-2).