GROVE CITY — It's not over until it's over.

Grove City quarterback Hunter Hohman found a wide-open Nathan Greer for a 13-yard touchdown with 18 seconds remaining and then scored the game-winning two-point conversion on a designed swinging gate play to hand the Eagles a thrilling 22-21 win over Route 173 rival Slippery Rock Friday evening at Forker Field.

"Unbelievable ... just unbelievable," Grove City coach Sam Mowrey said. "What a football game! We tip our hats to Slippery Rock, because this is the type of football game we expected. Every time we had an answer, they had an answer. The second was back and forth. We try to use football as a life lesson and the life lesson here tonight is 'You're never out of the fight.'

"You have obstacles in your way and things seem bleak, but you keep fighting and that's what the boys did tonight on a big stage. The poise and the focus they had in that situation ... we're so proud of them."

The Eagles (2-1, 3-2) needed the late-game heroics after Slippery Rock receiver John Sabo was able to get foot down in the back corner of the end zone for a 22-yard touchdown reception from William Mokel to hand the Rockets what appeared to be the go-ahead 21-14 score with 49 seconds left.

The touchdown was initially called incomplete before the officials talked it over and ruled it a touchdown.

"(Sabo) is really good," Slippery Rock coach Larry Wendereusz said. "We thought pretty clearly he was inbounds when (the official) called it (out of bounds). It is what it is. He communicated with the official and all that stuff. All I said when they told me is 'Good luck telling Sam that!' because it wasn't going to go over well.

"John is special and we have to find ways to get him the ball. We did that at times tonight."

After Sabo's touchdown grab, Greer was able to return Nick Kingerski's kickoff 25 yards to the Eagle 40. Grove City picked up 10 yards on a Hohman scramble to midfield and a Slippery Rock penalty handed the Eagles 15 more yards to the SR 35. Hohman found tight end Nathan Boyd on a crossing route to the 13 to set up Greer's game-winner.

"You can't have the missed coverage piece where they get the long pass and run," Wendereusz said. "You can't give them the extra 15 yards out of bounds. You can't give them a kick return to the 40. Again, we created some of that momentum for them."

After a bad snap on a punt on Slippery Rock's opening possession handed Grove City possession at the Rocket 24, the Eagles needed five plays score first on the first of two Hunter Hohman first-half rushing touchdowns to take a 7-0 lead.

William Mokel capped a 12-play, 73-yard drive with a 1-yard plunge with 4:57 remaining in the second quarter to pull the Rockets into a 7-all stalemate, but Grove City countered with a 12-yard Hohman score to take a 14-7 lead into the locker rooms.

The Rockets mixed up the run and the pass to perfection to start the third quarter, marching 71 yards in nine plays before ultimately scoring on a 10-yard Mokel touchdown to knot the game at 14.

"I think people forget how well Zip can run the ball," Wendereusz said. "We all know how well he can throw it. He's doing a much better job of stepping up in the pocket and keeping his eyes down field. Sometimes, he should probably run a little more. He's definitely talented, but he's still maturing and getting better every week. At the end of the day, that's what you want.“

The fourth quarter featured several defensive stops for both teams — interceptions from Slippery Rock's Sam Schwartz (two) and Grove City's Greer — to set up the wild finish.

"It was a good football game," Wendereusz said. "You're never happy when you lose a football game and you're never happy when you lose to your arch- rival especially when you're up seven with (49 seconds left).

"At the end of the day, we were in a great high-school football game. It's OK to be upset, but 10 years from now, these kids are going to look back on tonight and say 'That was a great football game!' and that's what you want."

Slippery Rock 0 7 7 7 — 21

Grove City 7 7 0 8 — 22

First Quarter

GC— Hunter Hohman, 9 run (Jacob Stucchio kick)

Second Quarter

SR — William Mokel, 1 run (Nick Kingerski kick)

GC — Hunter Hohman, 12 run (Jacob Stucchio kick)

Third Quarter

SR — William Mokel, 10 run (Nick Kingerski kick)

Fourth Quarter

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

GC — Nathan Greer, 13 pass from Hunter Hohman (Hunter Hohman run)

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing: Slippery Rock, Maddox Allen 19-103, William Mokel 12-48, Brett Galcik 8-18, Sal Mineo 2-3, John Sabo 1-2, Team 1-(-14); Grove City, Anthony Nemec 23-92, Hunter Hohman 17-67, Dom Garzarelli 2-2.

Passing: Slippery Rock, William Mokel 18-33-174-2; Grove City, Hunter Hohman 9-18-126-2.

Receiving: Slippery Rock, John Sabo 6-63, Sam Schwartz 5-47, Brett Galcik 3-21, Sal Mineo 2-26, Eli Anderson 1-9, Maddox Allen 1-8; Grove City, Nathan Greer 6-76, Nathan Boyd 1-22, Hayden McCreadie 1-16, Gavin Lutz 1-12.