SLIPPERY ROCK — Larry Wendereusz won’t quibble much about the big plays his Slippery Rock High football team is collecting in bunches.

In the last two games, the Rockets have scored on plays of 74, 50, 80, 53, 85, 70, 47, 77, 28, 39 and 40 yards.

The explosiveness — both on offense and defense — has led to a pair of routs over Titusville and Conneaut.

“The points look good,” Wendereusz said, “but the big plays have given us a lot of those points. We haven’t moved the ball as consistently as I’d like.

“I think you always want to see (long, sustained drives), but at the same time, you’re never going to throw away big plays.”

If that’s the biggest conundrum facing Slippery Rock as it gets set to host Hickory at 7 p.m. Friday, the Rockets will certainly take it.

One of the big reasons for the big-play explosion has been junior quarterback Vito Pilosi, who has been putting up crooked numbers both throwing and running the ball.

Pilosi’s last five completions have gone for 335 yards and five touchdowns.

He’s also rushed for 272 yards and four touchdowns the last two weeks.

“I think the piece to that is Conneaut did a lot of prep for our outside zone runs with David Duffalo and Kaleb Kamerer,” Wendereusz said. “They gave us some looks we were expecting to get and we were able to take advantage with Vito’s legs. We were able to scheme a little bit and a lot of Vito’s runs ended up being big runs.”

Pilosi and the Rockets (5-2, 1-2) hope to keep the magic going against struggling Hickory.

The Hornets (2-5, 0-3) have their worst record through seven games since 2008.

Hickory had seven straight 10-plus-win seasons before going 5-6 last year.

The Hornets have won two of their last three, including a 23-22 win over Westinghouse of the City League.

A change in defensive philosophy has been partly responsible for Hickory’s recent success.

“They moved from a three-man front to a five-man front,” Wendereusz said. “I’m not sure what triggered that change, but that five-man front has been pretty good the last couple of weeks. They played Grove City man-to-man across the field and gave Grove City a tough time. I think we have our hands full.”

Hickory’s offense, though, has struggled most of the season, averaging a mere 3.1 yards per carry on the ground.

The Hornets have switched quarterbacks from senior Hayden Gallagher to sophomore Michael Henwood.

Henwood has started the last three games and has thrown for 506 yards and five touchdowns.

Burrell (2-5, 2-4)

at Freeport (3-3, 3-3)

7 p.m., Friday

The Yellowjackets have won three straight games and have not lost to Burrell since dropping a 33-25 decision in 2011. Freeport owns a 22-15 lead in the all-time series.

Burrell QB Logan Phillips has thrown for 475 yards and five TDs, but has been intercepted six times and has completed fewer than 50 percent of his passes. RB Lukas Kastelic has 701 yards rushing and 10 TDs, WR Seth Fishbach 20 catches for 341 yards.

Freeport QB Austin Romanchak has rushed for 617 yards and seven TDs. His 62 points have him in the race for the Butler Eagle Scoriing Trophy. RB-LB Conor Selinger has returned to form for the Yellowjackets on both sides of the ball.

Karns City (3-4)

at Ridgway (7-0)

7 p.m., Friday

This marks the first-ever meeting between these football programs. Ridgway is the lone unbeaten team in the District 9 Large School Division after besting Clarion last week.

The Elkers have a versatile attack on both sides of the football as seven players have rushed for a touchdown, five have caught a TD pass and 15 players have double-digit tackle totals. QB Paul Gresco has thrown for 724 yards, nine TDs and only two interceptions. Evan Furlong leads the balanced ground game with 325 yards.

Karns City RB Hunter Jones shares the Butler County scoring lead with 66 points. He has 777 yards rushing and 10 TDs. QB Anthony Kamenski has thrown for 531 yards and four scores.

St. Marys (0-7)

at Moniteau (3-4)

7 p.m., Friday

The Warriors rolled up 413 yards of offense and held Brockway to 258 yards, but lost 31-12.

Penalties and four turnovers doomed Moniteau.

St. Marys is coming off a 63-32 loss to Brookville and has given up 272 points this season.

Moniteau quarterback Chance Nagy rushed 20 times for 180 yards and a touchdown last week and has gained 504 yards this season on the ground. The senior has also thrown for 378 yards. ... Senior running back Cody Wise leads the Warriors with 583 yards rushing.

Uniontown (0-7, 0-5) vs.

North Catholic (6-1, 4-1)

Mars Athletic Complex

7 p.m., Friday

Uniontown lost a 53-20 decision at Derry. North Catholic defeated host Elizabeth Forward, 27-0, accounting for the Warriors’ first loss of the season.

Uniontown has allowed no less than 42 points in every game this season. ... The Red Raiders will be attempting to snap a 19-game losing streak. Their last victory was a 27-10 win over Laurel Highlands in October 2016.

North Catholic QB Zack Rocco passed for 193 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 83 yards and two more scores vs. Elizabeth Forward. ... RB Cameron Branch leads the Trojans with 430 yards on the ground. ... WR Tyree Brown caught both TD passes last week and paces NC with 453 receiving yards.

Union/A-C Valley (3-4)

at Cameron County (1-6)

7 p.m., Friday

The Falcon Knights hung on for a 12-8 victory at Keystone while Cameron County dropped a 56-6 decision to Smethport.

Union/A-C Valley DB Quintin Weaver batted a fourth-down pass away in the end zone to preserve last week’s win. ... Senior RB Nolan Cumberland leads Union/A-C Valley in rushing with 317 yards and five TDs on 68 carries.

Cameron County has been outscored 351-18 this season. The team’s lone win was a 6-0 decision over Sheffield.

Summit Acad. (0-7, 0-4)

at Valley (2-5, 1-3)

7 p.m., Friday

Summit Academy has scored just 22 points this season. ... Valley is coming off a 28-16 win over Apollo-Ridge while the Knights suffered a 47-7 setback to Shady Side Academy.

Valley running back Deonte Ross rushed for 209 yards last week against Apollo-Ridge.