SLIPPERY ROCK — The Rockets did a lot of the things they aimed to do against rival Grove City Friday night.

The Slippery Rock High football team got a lead — a 7-0 advantage in the first quarter that marked the first time all season Grove City had even given up a point in the first half, let alone trailed.

The Rockets bottled up the Eagles' potent run game.

And Slippery Rock even made Grove City punt four times — twice as many times as it had all season.

But, ultimately, all those good things didn't overcome a slew of bad ones.

Like the seven fumbles, five of which were lost.

Like the six total turnovers.

And like a disastrous second quarter that sent Grove City on the way to a 33-7 win.

“I'm not a moral (victory) guy,” said Slippery Rock coach Larry Wendereusz. “Are there bright spots to look at at the end of the day? Sure there are, but I look at the score of 33-7 and that just eats at me. We're a better football team than we showed tonight. That's two weeks in a row and that's on the coaches.”

Slippery Rock (3-2, 0-2) was coming off a 30-27 loss to Sharon in a game that also featured a fair share of Rocket miscues.

On Friday, Slippery Rock lost its first fumble after converting a first down on a fake punt on its first possession before lightning caused a 45-minute delay.

Grove City (5-0, 1-0) didn't get any points out of that turnover and Slippery Rock answered with a scoring drive, capped by a 3-yard run by Vito Pilosi for a 7-0 lead.

It didn't last long.

Barely two minutes to be exact.

Grove City needed just a little more than 120 seconds to march 65 yards in 10 plays to tie the score.

The Eagles then got three rushing touchdowns by Tyler Greer in the second quarter, the last one coming after another Rocket fumble, to take a 27-7 lead at the half.

“We started off the game and were able to force a turnover, but we didn't turn that into points, and then they go down and score a touchdown,” said Grove City coach Sam Mowrey. “They came out and swung first and punched us in the mouth. I think that's a good teachable moment for us.”

Slippery Rock was hurt by the Eagles' efficient passing game.

Brady Callahan was 16 of 20 for 265 yards. His pinpoint accuracy helped keep Eagles' drives alive.

Logan Lutz caught four passes for 113 yards. His 49-yard catch and run set up his own 5-yard touchdown to cap the scoring on the first play of the fourth quarter.

The passing game became Grove City's running game because the Eagles managed just 110 yards on the ground on 38 carries.

“They're a physical team. They have a good front. They play downhill and we knew that was going to be the case,” Mowrey said. “We knew yards were going to be tough to come by and when teams are trying to load up the box, those are the things we have to be able to do. Brady again did a nice job making good decisions.”

Slippery Rock also struggled moving the ball consistently.

Kaleb Kamerer did end up with 79 yards on 17 carries, but the Rockets amassed a mere 189 yards on offense.

Most concerning was the turnovers.

Grove City has a knack of going for the strip and it was successful again.

Lutz had three forced fumbles himself.

“We work on it in our turnover stations during the week,” Mowrey said. “It's our focus. Those are the things that changes games.”

“That's what they do,” Wendereusz said. “And we talked about it all week. When they tackle, they tackle the football. A team gets a big play on them and they strip the ball and they did that to us tonight. We preached it, but we didn't do a good enough job coaching it.”

Now, suddenly, after a 3-0 start, the Rockets have lost two straight and are 0-2 in the region.

“We just have to keep them together,” Wendereusz said.

Grove City 7 20 0 6 — 33

Slippery Rock 7 0 0 0 — 7

First Quarter

SR — Vito Pilosi 3 run (Nathaniel Willison kick), 6:55

GC — Brady Callahan 9 run (John Hake kick), 3:13

Second Quarter

GC — Tyler Greer 9 run (John Hake kick), 3:13

GC — Greer 3 run (Hake kick), 2:05

GC — Greer 12 run (kick failed), :18

Fourth Quarter

GC — Logan Lutz 5 run (kick blocked), 11:55

Individual Statistics

Rushing:Grove City, Tyler Greer 14-58, Colby Nelson 16-28, Logan Lutz 5-18, Jake Reddick 1-8, TEAM 2-(-2). Slippery Rock, Kaleb Kamerer 17-79, David Duffalo 7-50, Nathan Wyatt 5-17, Patrick Shea 1-7, Vito Pilosi 10-(-2), TEAM 1-(-1)

Passing:Grove City, Brady Callahan 16-20-265-0, Logan Lutz 0-1-0-1. Slippery Rock, Vito Pilosi 7-19-38-1

Receiving:Grove City, Logan Lutz 4-113, Colby Nelson 4-41, Tyler Greer 3-18, Carter Chinn 2-55, AJ Miller 2-26, Logan Breese 1-12. Slippery Rock, David Duffalo 3-7, Nathan Hyatt 2-19, Kaleb Kamerer 2-12