Box Score

Slippery Rock, Pa. - Millersville was within striking distance of homestanding Slippery Rock entering the fourth quarter of Saturday evening's PSAC crossover football game. But the Marauders' offense stalled, and Slippery Rock's picked up steam and pulled away late, handing the Marauders a 31-14 defeat.

Millersville (1-1) struck twice in the third quarter on a touchdown run by Brad Lantz and a Bill Shirk to Jamal Smith 39-yard TD toss, cutting Slippery Rock's (2-0) advantage to 17-14 heading into the final period. In the final frame, though, the Marauders turned the ball over twice--once on an interception and once on downs--and managed just 37 yards of offense on 13 plays. Slippery Rock, meanwhile, racked up 127 yards of offense including 87 yards rushing and controlled the clock for over 10 of the final 15 minutes.

The Rock finished the game with 434 yards of offense and outgained the Marauders 306-79 on the ground. The running game was sparked by SayQuan Scott-Mitchell, who piled up 205 yards and a 7.3 yards per carry average.

Millersville had no match for Scott-Mitchell and Slippery Rock's ground attack, but still had plenty of opportunties to score a victory. The defense made big-plays early to keep the game close. On Slippery Rock's opening possession, The Rock drove to the Millersville six, but were halted when Millersville sophomore Ryan Christian forced a fumble and Matt Sutjak recovered.

Millersville's offense, though, went three-and-out, giving Slippery Rock outstanding field position. The Rock once again marched deep into enemy territory and even reached Millersville's 3-yard line, but Dan McClellan picked off a pass in the end zone, keeping the game scoreless.

Millersville couldn't cash in on its first trip into Slippery Rock territory either. John Banzhof missed a 38-yard field goal early in the second quarter, and Slippery Rock answered with three points on the ensuing drive. On Millersville's next offensive possession, Shirk completed five passes to put the Marauders on the doorstep. But Slippery Rock's Pat Marsilo jarred the ball away from Brad Lantz and recovered it at the one, making a 10-play, 55-yard drive come up empty.

Slippery Rock drove 80 yards in just under two minutes before the half to gain a 10-0 lead on a Kenny Cottman TD catch.

Millersville seemingly righted the ship after halftime, using a 30-yard hook-up between Shirk and Matt Egenrieder and five Lantz runs to cut the lead to 10-7. The Rock came right back with a 14-play, 80-yard drive that consumed over seven minutes of clock. Despite trailing 17-7, the Marauders didn't go away. After a 42-yard Lou Brown kickoff return, Lantz rushed for nine and Shirk hit Smith on two straight plays, hooking up for nine and 39 yards and a touchdown. It was Smith's second TD catch in as many games and his third overall touchdown of the season.

But the explosive offense the Marauders displayed in the third quickly quieted in the fourth because of Slippery Rock's ball control offense.

It was Slippery Rock's fifth win a row against the Marauders and head coach George Mihalik improved his mark to 10-2 against Millersville.

Shirk finished the game completing 18-of-32 passes for 214 yards and a touchdown, extending his streak of 10-straight starts with a touchdown toss. It was also his sixth 200-yard effort in his 10 career starts.

Smith made a career-high seven catches and totaled 112 yards. Egenrieder and Brown each hauled in four passes. Lantz totaled 57 yards on 13 carries.

On defense, the Marauders were led by senior safety Julius Carter, who registered a career-high 14 tackles including nine solo stops. Sutjak and Christian also tallied career bests with 10 apiece. Chad Miller made five tackles including 3.5 for loss and also picked up his second sack in as many games this season.

The Marauders will look to bounce back on Sept. 12 at Indiana (Pa.). Game time is 1 p.m.