Living on the edge
SLIPPERY ROCK — Living on the edge.
Slippery Rock University's football team is making it work. The Rock's last four games — three of them victories — have been decided by a total of 12 points, including Saturday's 17-16 homecoming win over Mercyhurst.
SRU (5-1, 2-1) trailed 16-7 with 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter.
"These guys never quit believing they would win," SRU coach George Mihalik said. "There's no substitute for experience. We've been through this before."
Facing fourth down from the Rock 1-yard line, Mercyhurst (3-3, 2-1) settled for an 18-yard Robert Giambra field goal to go up by nine points with 12:41 remaining.
"No, it never felt comfortable," Lakers coach Marty Schaetzle said. "I almost felt like we were down by nine rather than up by nine. I never had a good feel about things down the stretch."
On fourth-and-8 from the Mercyhurst 46, Mihalik elected to punt with 9:53 left and still trailing by two scores. The move paid off when Kyle Witman's punt pinned Mercyhurst on its own 10 and SRU's defense forced a three-and-out.
The game featured 18 punts, 10 of those by the Lakers.
"If we kept stopping them, we knew the offense would make plays to win the game," Rock cornerback Robert Doiley said. "We have confidence in each other we'll find a way to get it done. It's a brotherhood."
Doiley's 9-yard punt return gave SRU possession at the Lakers' 31-yard line. Three incomplete passes later, C.J. Bahr drilled a 48-yard field goal with 8:02 to play.
"That kick would have been good from 60," Mihalik said. "That may have been the biggest play of the game because it got us within striking distance."
On the game's next offensive play, Joe Laffey's pass was deflected and intercepted by Brandon Watters at midfield.
On fourth-and-1 from the 41, Rocco Colavecchia followed center and Seneca Valley graduate Brandon Fusco for a 2-yard quarterback sneak. On a second-and-2 from the 31, he found Devin Goda down the left sideline for a touchdown pass with 5:10 to play.
"Devin (6-foot-4) had been wanting me to call his number all day," Colavecchia said. "There was a 5-7 guy covering him. In that situation, you expect your receiver to go up and make a play and he did."
Goda had run an inside route for an 8-yard gain on the previous play. This time, he slipped behind the defender down the left sideline.
"I jumped in the air for the ball and knew where the sideline was," Goda said. "I came down about three yards away from the end zone.
"From there, I was gonna drag the corner with me, but I was gonna score."
Mercyhurst had no answer. On fourth and less than a yard from the 39, the Lakers tried running Ben Jennings wide. Andre Freeman and Waters nailed him for a 2-yard loss and The Rock was able to run out the clock.
"Slippery Rock was stacking the line and I didn't feel good about the sneak," Schaetzle said. "I thought we could get outside of that formation.
"We didn't run the ball effectively all day. That cost us. This is going to be a tough loss to get over."
Notes: Mihalik is 18-4 in Rock homecoming games. ... Colavecchia passed for only 70 yards all day before the TD toss to Goda. ... SayQuan Scott-Mitchell ran for 102 yards and a TD for SRU. ... Karns City graduate Cameron Turner, a transfer who started at tight end for Lock Haven last year, is Mercyhurst's starting center. ... Bahr has now converted 61 consecutive PATs, easily a school record. Ed Kelly (1973-74) had the previous mark of 38. ... The Rock hosts Clarion in a 6 p.m. game Thursday.SRU 17, Mercyhurst 16
Mercyhurst 0 13 0 3 — 16Slippery Rock 7 0 0 10 — 17M SRU9 First Downs 1528-111 Rushes-Yards 42-12899 Passing Yards 10110-28-2 Passes (Comp.-Att.-Int.) 11-26-1210 Total Yards 2290-0 Fumbles-Lost 1-16-70 Penalties-Yards 2-36
First QuarterSRU — SayQuan Scott-Mitchell 11 run (C.J. Bahr kick), :00
Second QuarterM — Kevin Williams 17 blocked punt return (Robert Giambra kick), 11:56M — Trevor Kennedy 30 pass from Joe Laffey (Giambra kick), :00
Fourth QuarterM — Giambra 18 field goal, 12:41SRU — Bahr 48 field goal, 8:02SRU — Devin Goda 31 pass from Rocco Colavecchia (Bahr kick), 5:10
Individual StatisticsPassing: Mercyhurst, Joe Laffey 9-27-78-2, Trevor Kennedy 1-1-21-0. SRU, Rocco Colavecchia 11-26-101-1.
Rushing: Mercyhurst, Ben Jennings 13-48, Richard Nelloms 7-45, Gerald Anderson 5-9, Joe Laffey 3-9. SRU, SayQuan Scott-Mitchell 16-102, Damarcus Cleckley 14-42, Ryan Lehmeier 4-10, Team 2-(-9, Rocco Colavecchia 6-(-17).
Receiving: Mercyhurst, Trevor Kennedy 4-46, Josh Szeluga 2-27, Anthony Spencer 2-25, Max Khuri 1-3, Ben Jennings 1-(-1). SRU, Devin Goda 5-57, Jermale Cromerdie 3-15, Kenny Cottman 1-13, SayQuan Scott-Mitchell 1-11, Kevin Guidish 1-5.
