GREENSBURG — The Rock settled down — and Brayden Long settled in.

The Slippery Rock University quarterback, throwing into a stiff breeze on a rainy day at Offutt Field, completed only five of his first 14 passes for 29 yards and an interception Saturday afternoon against Seton Hill.

He completed 15 of 21 aerials from there, however, throwing for three touchdowns in 12th-ranked SRU’s 35-14 victory over the Griffins. The game was even at 7 after a rough first quarter for The Rock.

“We just had to calm down and play,” SRU coach Shawn Lutz said. “They hit us with an onsides kick to start the game and it took us a while to get going.

“Once we put a couple of drives together, we were fine. They were loading up the box, forcing us to throw the ball.”

Long insisted the elements had nothing to do with his slow start, though The Rock (4-0, 1-0) put together touchdown drives of 84, 28 and 80 yards in the second quarter with the wind at its back.

“I made some bad throws early, but it wasn’t the weather that was bothering me,” Long said. “It took a while to figure out what they were trying to do defensively.”

While Seton Hill (1-4, 0-1) recovered its game-opening onsides kick, things quickly went south for the Griffins. A holding penalty set them back, then Max Heckert and Munchie Johnson combined to force a fumble, which Johnson recovered at the Seton Hill 36.

Four plays later, Long found Logan Ramper for a 9-yard touchdown pass and SRU had a 7-0 lead, though not for long.

Long threw a pass behind Kyle Sheets that the receiver deflected into the arms of Griffin defender Todd Phillips, who returned the ball 20 yards to the SRU 13. A 5-yard TD run by Ky’Ron Craggette knotted the game.

The Griffins did little else offensively the rest of the day. Three pass interference penalties against SRU sparked an 85-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter, but Seton Hill already trailed 35-7 at that point.

The Griffins managed only 172 total offensive yards, just 86 passing.

“We had to control the line of scrimmage and we did that,” defensive tackle Johnson said.“We didn’t give them much room.”

Isaiah Edwards scored on a 3-yard run and Long threw a touchdown pass to Cohen Russell as The Rock opened up a 21-7 lead in the second quarter. Seton Hill then put together a 5-minute drive that stalled at The Rock 20. Luke Hauger’s 37-yard field goal try sailed wide left with 1:05 on the clock.

Passes of 12, 19 and 26 yards to Sheets set yup Long’s 2-yard scoring run with 19 seconds left in the half, giving SRU a 28-7 lead at intermission.

“That was the turning point,” Seton Hill coach Daniel Day said. “The score should have been 14-21 at the half. We didn’t finish, then allowed them to get down the field too quickly.

“That swing really hurt us.”

Sheets caught a 4-yard TD pass from Long to cap a 16-play, 97-yard drive that are nine minutes off the clock in the third quarter, virtually icing the game.

“That’s my guy,” Long said of Sheets. “Just throw the ball up to him ... It’s not a 50-50 ball with him, it’s more like 90-10 in his favor.”

The Rock closed the game by eating the final 9:05 off the clock, primarily with Chris D’Or runs. He ran for 52 yards on that final possession.

“That’s Rock football,” Lutz said. “We love to run the ball.”

“I thought we did OK defensively,” Day said. “When you fall behind the way we did, it breaks your will a little bit.”

Seton Hill standout receiver Mark Bails Jr. was limited to three catches for five yards.

“He didn’t practice all week (due to a nagging injury), so we just wanted to get what we could from him today,” Day said. “Slippery Rock did a good job of covering him over the top. That’s a good defense.”

Notes: The Rock doubled Seton Hill’s offensive output, tallying 376 yards. ... Seton Hill was flagged 16 times for 153 yards, SRU nine times for 100. The teams entered the game among the most penalized squads in Division II. ... Heckert had an interception for The Rock, Kyle Kudla and Josh Stokes had eight tackles each. ... SRU is 12-2 all-time vs. Seton Hill and has won seven straight. .... The Rock won its 26th straight game with a kickoff at 3 p.m. or later. ... The Rock hosts Indiana (Pa.) at 6 p.m. Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.

Slippery Rock 7 21 7 0 — 35

Seton Hill 7 0 0 7 — 14

First Quarter

SRU — Logan Ramper 9 pass from Brayden Long (Kevin Roberts kick), 13:18

SH — Ky'Ron Craggette 5 run (Luke Hauger kick), 9:15

Second Quarter

SRU — Isaiah Edwards 3 run (Roberts kick), 19:41

SRU — Cohen Russell 4 pass from Long (Roberts kick), 6:22

SRU — Long 2 run (Roberts kick), :19

Third Quarter

SRU — Kyle Sheets 4 pass from Long (Roberts kick), 2:35

Fourth Quarter

SH — Cody Rubrecht 11 pass from Hayden Teska (Hauger kick), 13:41

Individual Statistics

Rushing: SRU, Chris D’Or 14-93, Isaiah Edwards 6-19, Khalid Dorsey 7-14, Brayden Long 5-11, Tony Grimes 1-(-1). Seton Hill, Ky’Ron Craggette 16-73, Taz Morris 2-14, Elijah Bennett 1-11, JaiQuan McGriff 4-6, Hayden Teska 2-1, TEAM 1-(-1).

Passing: SRU, Brayden Long 20-35-213-1. Seton Hill, Hayden Teska 14-28-68-1.

Receiving: SRU, Kyle Sheets 9-85, Cohen Russell 5-57, Khalid Dorsey 2-24, Chris D’Or 1-17, Logan Ramper 2-17, Tony Grimes 1-13. Seton Hill, Cody Rubrecht 4-26, Ethan Fame 1-17, JaiQuan McGriff 3-11, Ky’Ron Craggette 2-6, Mark Bails Jr. 3-5, Ryan Thomas 1-3.