Grove City High School football coach Sam Mowrey calls it a rivalry.

Most would agree.

Not Slippery Rock High football coach Larry Wendereusz.

“Since I've gotten here, we haven't beaten Grove City,” said Wendereusz, who is 0-6 against the Eagles in his fifth season as the Rockets' coach. “So, I can't call it a rivalry. Rivals beat up on each other. Until we start alternating wins, you can't call it a rivalry. Sooner or later, we have to start getting wins. It's tough because (Grove City) does such a great job.”

Wendereusz and his Rockets (1-3) hope to end the six-game winning streak Grove City has enjoyed over Slippery Rock when the two teams meet at 7 p.m. Friday at Slippery Rock.

Both teams are coming off losses.

Grove City (2-2) fell 28-7 in its second meeting with Hickory this season.

Senior quarterback Logan Breese threw of 107 yards in that loss, but also was picked off three times.

Breese has thrown seven interceptions, but five of them have come in the two losses to Hickory.

Despite the three-touchdown setback, Mowrey thought the Eagles played better the second time around against Hickory than in the 41-21 season-opening defeat.

“We played a much better game, especially on defense,” Mowrey said. “Bottom line, (Hickory) is a good football team.”

Slippery Rock lost 31-20 at Sharon Friday after beating the Tigers 27-7 in the season-opener.

The Rockets allowed several sustained drives to Sharon this time around and struggled to run the football Friday against Sharon.

What concerned Wendereusz more was the mistakes his team made.

“Those were mistakes that we thought would happen Week 1, but they happened in Week 4,” Wendereusz said. “We made first-game mistakes in Week 4.”

That prompted Wendereusz and his coaching staff to analyze what they were doing intensely. Wendereusz also had a meeting Saturday with his captains.

As a result, the coach has seen crisper practices this week.

“There's a different mentality in practice right now,” Wendereusz said. “Is it because of the conversation Saturday, or because it's Grove City week?”

Slippery Rock is also focusing this week on tempo.

Grove City's offense wastes little time between plays, preferring to get to the line and snapping the ball right away, sometimes in less than 10 seconds.

That kind of speed caused the Rockets to be out of position at times in the last meeting, a 34-21 loss to the Eagles in Week 2.

“When I look back at that, I take fault in that,” Wendereusz said. “If we prepare for them going fast and they go slow, it doesn't hurt us. If we prepare for them to go slow and they go fast, we're in trouble.

“We are trying to prepare for their fast pace a little more,” the coach added. “The players are hearing us yell, 'Hurry up! Hurry up! Hurry up!' We are doing some prepping for that.”

Breese has thrown for 745 yards and seven TDs this season. His favorite target has been Anthony Pereira, who has 22 receptions for 373 yards and four scores.

Slippery Rock also has a quarterback who can throw the football.

Sophomore William Mokel has passed for 631 yards and four TDs this season. Three of his receivers — Ryan Montgomery, John Sabo and Ethan Plesakov — have 12 receptions.

Both teams have been inconsistent in the running game. Grove City is averaging 3.6 yards per carry and Slippery Rock 3.4 yards per attempt.

When the two teams play, there are usually no secrets.

“I think Sam has some tricks up his sleeve we haven't seen yet,” Wendereusz said. “When it comes down to it, yeah, you may have a trick here and a trick there, but you have to just play football.”