Slippery Rock and Kutztown to Meet in Defensive-Heavy Playoff Rematch
Tagged under: Gameday Hub, Non-PIAA, Pennsylvania Colleges, pfn
Garrett Dollin | November 27, 2024
KUTZTOWN, PA – no. 11 Slippery Rock will travel to no. 3 Kutztown in a much anticipated rematch from last year’s playoff game.
Slippery Rock enters Saturday’s contest coming off a 14-7 win over New Haven in the first round of the playoffs. The Rock ended the regular season 9-1, with their lone loss coming against California (PA) in week seven.
Kutztown, on the other hand, had a first round bye after winning the PSAC championship over the aforementioned California. This being the Golden Bears second consecutive PSAC championship, after they defeated Slippery Rock the previous season.
Slippery Rock and Kutztown last met in the quarterfinals of the 2023 DII Playoffs, where the Golden Bears defeated The Rock, 28-16. That season, Slippery Rock went 12-2, with both losses coming to Kutztown. Kutztown went 0-2 to start the season, before going on a 12 game winning streak that would end in a 35-7 loss against Colorado School of Mines in the semifinals.
The Rock leads the all-time series against Kutztown with 11 wins and 7 losses. Despite this, Slippery Rock hasn’t defeated Kutztown since 2019, when The Rock knocked off the Golden Bears 37-35. Kutztown is on a 4 game win streak against the Rock, dating back to November 13, 2021.
Kutztown is one of two remaining undefeated teams in division two, along with Valdosta State. The Golden Bears have the second best statistical defense behind defending national champion Harding, and are averaging just 8.8 points allowed per game.
The winner of Saturday’s contest will face off against the winner of California vs Ashland in the quarterfinals.
Team Leaders:
Passing:
KU: Judd Novak – 20 TD, 5 INT, 1925 YDS, 64.60%, 175 YDS per game
SRU: Brayden Long – 20 TD, 4 INT, 2630 YDS, 64.91%, 239 YDS per game
Receiving:
KU: Mehki Gibson – 22 REC, 7 TD, 522 YDS, 23.73 AVG
SRU: Kylon Wilson – 46 REC, 4 TD, 579 YDS, 12.59 AVG
Rushing:
KU: Jaedyn Stewart – 102 ATT, 544 YDS, 5 TD
SRU: Idris Lawrence – 133 ATT, 725 YDS, 5 TD
Tackles:
KU: Eden Johnson – 54.0 TOT
SRU: Todd Hill – 61.0 TOT
Sacks:
KU: Freddie Retter – 7.5 Sacks
SRU: Todd Hill – 6.5 Sacks
Interceptions:
KU: Drew Hensor – 3 INT
SRU: Michael Henwood – 3 INT
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