Millersville, Pa. - Millersville struck the first blow and held tough with No. 25 Slippery Rock Saturday at Chryst Field at Biemesderfer Stadium. But The Rock's ground game, led by Shamar Greene, and a stifling second-half defensive effort, helped them pull away for a 46-17 win over the Marauders.

Millersville (0-3, 0-2 PSAC) jumped out to an early lead after forcing the PSAC's No. 1-ranked rushing offense to a three-and-out on the first series and getting a Matt Misley to David Coates 28-yard TD hook-up. After The Rock (3-0, 2-0 PSAC) tied the game 1:03 later, the Marauders received a career-long 47-yard field goal from Evan Stahl to retake the lead. Kevin Wiggins hauled in a 11-yard touchdown catch with 2:48 remaining in the first quarter, capping a wild first 15 minutes that included six scores and a combined 381 yards of total offense.

The Marauders trailed just 21-17, but after generating 129 yards of total offense in the first managed just 161 the rest of the way. Matt Misley finished 21-of-45 for 217 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also rushed for 66 yards with a long of 32. Wiggins caught a career-high seven passes for 88 yards.

While Millersville's offense stalled, The Rock's just kept grinding away. It finished the game with 609 yards of offense including 362 yards rushing. This performance coming one week after totaling 456 yards rushing against East Stroudsburg. Greene came into the game averaging better than 10 yards per carry and kept his average on the mark with 23 totes for 238 yards and three scores. Quarterback Zack Newsck went 30-for-44 with 247 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.

Trailing 24-17 early in the second quarter, the Marauder defense forced a turnover on downs and then a punt one possession later. Millersville took over on its own 2 with 4:32 left in the half and pushed to its own 26 before sending out the punt team. The snap, however, sailed over the head of Evan Stahl into the end zone where Stahl kicked it out of bounds, causing a safety. Slippery Rock took advantage of the positive field position on the ensuing kickoff and scored on a 27-yard pass from Newsock to Melvin German with 45 seconds to go in the half. That score pushed The Rock's lead from seven to 16 in a span of 43 seconds.

The Marauder offense had its opportunities in second half, driving into The Rock's territory four times. Each time, however, it came up empty. Linebacker T.J. Richardson intercepted a pass and returned it 52 yards in the third quarter. Trey Pinkney and Matt Brinser also generated a fumble recovery on special teams early in the fourth. The defense surrendered just 13 points in the second half.

Reggie Slaton piled up 11 tackles, giving him double-digit stops in each of the first three games.

Millersville heads to nationally-ranked West Chester for its first road game of the 2014 season on Sept. 27.