SLIPPERY ROCK — It was a mixed bag of mistakes that did Slippery Rock in.

Among other miscues, the Rockets gave up 92 yards in penalties and turned the ball over three times in a 28-14 loss to District 10, Region 3 foe Sharpsville Friday night.

“You can’t give up big plays,” Slippery Rock coach Larry Wendereusz said. “We did that in the first half and then we just didn’t do a good job of controlling what we could control.”

The Blue Devils (4-0) opened the scoring on the second play of their second possession, when junior quarterback Caullin Summers flung a high-arcing pass to senior wideout Garen Levis, who got behind a pair of Rocket defenders and raced 62 yards down the left sideline untouched.

Slippery Rock responded with an 11-play scoring series capped by senior triggerman William Mokel’s rollout dart to John Sabo, whose catch evened matters at 7-7.

Toward the middle of the second frame, the hosts took what would be their only lead after senior running back-linebacker Brett Galcik sparked the offense with a 47-yard scamper that brought his team deep into Sharpsville territory. Maddox Allen put the exclamation point on the short drive with a four-yard touchdown run.

Another long-distance connection between Summers and Levis meant a tied score at halftime.

“We count on those two making connections because that’s part of our offense,” said Blue Devils coach Paul Piccirilli, adding that Summers’ ability to take off was just as important. “Caullin is a heck of a runner. He makes our team go.”

Just before that, the dam started to crack for Slippery Rock.

Mokel began what felt like it was going to be a momentum-shifting march by launching the football 41 yards to Sabo, getting the Rockets out from under the shadow of their own goalpost. The unit shrugged off a holding call on the next snap by gaining two first downs in the four plays that followed.

Then, on first-and-ten from the Blue Devils’ 30, he looked deep for Sam Schwartz. The receiver could only get a hand on the pass, the touch propelling the ball into the air for Mokel’s counterpart, Summers, to pick off.

The giveaway, though inconsequential, began a string of lapses that meant the Rockets being blanked in the last 24 minutes.

That started as the Rockets coughed the ball up on the possession out of the intermission, allowing Summers and Co. the chance to go 81 yards in 17 plays.

“That’s what you’ve got to count on when we think we’re the underdogs,” Piccirilli said. “Our offense did enough tonight that kept them off balance. We started (out) throwing the ball a lot. What happened nice was that we started running the ball.”

The Blue Devils ran for 50 yards on that drive alone, but the touchdown that put them up for good was a hook-up between Summers and junior Dalton Byerly on third-and-23 from the Slippery Rock 26.

The Rockets struggled thereafter, with two penalties and an errant snap on a punt on their next touch. That made it easier for Sharpsville, who put the nail in the coffin with a short field.

For now, the Blue Devils sit in the perch of the section standings. Slippery Rock is behind the eight-ball, but can get back on track next week when it visits arch rival Grove City.

“We’ve got to do a better job (as) coaches of being prepared and putting our kids in positions to win,” Wendereusz said. “I hope we’re ready to go with that.

“It’s one game, but again, we tell the kids every week that we’ve got to be better. We didn’t get better this week.”

Sharpsville 7 7 7 7 — 28

Slippery Rock 7 7 0 0 — 14

First Quarter

S — Garen Levis 62 pass from Caullin Summers (Liam Campbell kick), 6:32

SR — John Sabo 10 pass from William Mokel (Nick Kingerski kick), 1:22

Second Quarter

SR — Maddox Allen 4 run (Kingerski kick), 5:28

S — Levis 54 pass from Summers (Campbell kick), 3:33

Third Quarter

S — Dalton Byerly 26 pass from Summers (Campbell kick), 2:06

Fourth Quarter

S — Byerly 6 pass from Summers (Campbell kick), 10:11

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Sharpsville, Caullin Summers 24-134, Braedon Summers 8-32, Christian Snyder 2-22, Killian Whalen 1-(-10). Slippery Rock, Brett Galcik 9-95, Maddox Allen 5-30, Carter Jeannerat 1-1, William Mokel 5-(-13).

Passing: Sharpsville, Caullin Summers 13-24-199-0. Slippery Rock, Willam Mokel 15-26-213-2.

Receiving: Sharpsville, Garen Levis 3-118, Dalton Byerly 2-32, Braedon Summers 5-29, Blaze Campbell 3-18, Christian Snyder 1-2. Slippery Rock, John Sabo 7-105, Sam Schwartz 3-41, Brett Galcik 2-36, Madox Allen 2-7, Carter Jeannerat 1-24.