Slippery Rock Earns First Victory 38-7 Over Franklin

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Shane Lux | September 1, 2024

Slippery Rock – Slippery Rock jumped out to a 28-0 halftime lead en route to a 38-7 victory Saturday night at Troy Alan Stadium.

Following a week zero loss at the hands of Fairview 35-0, the Rockets quadrupled their scoring output in the first half alone, led by quarterback Fred Campagna, who completed 16-of-29 passes for 319 yards and four touchdowns.

“Any time you can be 1-1 instead of 0-2, you’ll take it,” said Slippery Rock head coach Larry Wendereusz. “We got off to a slow start; when you look at this team and the kids that started, we got a lot of young kids. It took us a drive or two to get going.”

Slippery Rock scored their first points of the season with 4:39 to play in the first quarter when Campagna tossed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Cooper Glass.

The Rockets would add two more touchdowns through the air in the first half as Campagna connected with Doug Popovec for a 60-yard touchdown, while he found Glass for a 28-yard strike.

“Freddie can throw the ball, Wendereusz said. “They were giving us the passing game tonight. When we found our opportunities to use it, we were successful. We did a good job in the first half with that. I just wasn’t satisfied in the second half. I told our team that. You can’t play a half of football and expect to win in our region.”

Cooper Glass caught five passes for 114 yards and two touchdowns.

“Cooper is one of our captains for a reason,” said Wendereusz. “He’s surprised a lot of us with the work he’s done and the plays he’s making. He’s doing a great job and leading us very well.”

Late in the first half, Owen Long added a 30-yard touchdown run; Long led the Rockets with 92 yards on 16 carries while catching three passes for 71 yards and two total touchdowns.

In the fourth quarter, Slippery Rock enacted the mercy clock when Zach Lasko booted a 23-yard field goal, followed by Long’s 55-yard pass from Campagna, giving the Rockets a 38-0 lead with 7:11 to play.

“We are a young group continuing to grow,” concluded Wendereusz. “Every week, we expect to grow. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to hit a road bump. We only had two seniors on the field defensively, that’s it. You need a win to help yourself when you have a young group. I think our kids needed a win to say we can do this. Our kids need to see that we can compete and play.”

Franklin got on the board when Caiden Mincer scored on a 2-yard run with 2:08 to play, capping an 8-play 65-yard drive.

Mincer led the Knights with 150 yards on 21 carries.

Both schools return to action next Friday as Slippery Rock travels to Sharon and Franklin to Warren.

Stats by Corey Corbin of the Allied News

Slippery Rock 38 Franklin 7

Score by Quarters

Franklin – 0 0 0 7 – 7

Slippery Rock – 14 14 0 10 – 38

Scoring Summary

First Quarter

SR – Cooper Glass 2 yd pass from Fred Campagna, (Zach Lasko pat), 4:39

SR – Doug Popovec 60 yd pass from Campagna, (Lasko pat), 1:22

Second Quarter

SR – Glass 28 yd pass from Campagna, (Lasko pat), 5:37

SR – Owen Long 30 yd run, (Lasko pat), 3:32

Fourth Quarter

SR – Lasko 23 yd field goal, 10:01

SR – Long 55 yd pass from Campagna, (Lasko pat), 7:11

F – Caiden Mincer 2 yd run, (Conner Richey pat), 2:08

Individual Stats

Rushing: F – Mincer 21-150, Landon Lynch 5-14, Eddie Mattocks 2-3, Freddie Blackhurst 2-(-2), Richey 1-(-3), Team 1-(-25). Totals: 32-131. SR – Long 16-92, Alex Cornelius 6-35, Campagna 4-31, Popovec 1-5, Kolbie Magill 1-(-1). Totals: 28-162.

Receiving: F -Blackhurst 2-13, Mincer 1-13, Luke Marsteller 1-10, Sam Wimer 1-5. SR – Glass 5-114, Popovec 3-79, Long 3-71, Cornelius 2-22, Cole Pearson 2-19, Cole Schwartz 1-14.

Passing: F – Lynch 5-for-18, 41 yards, 1 INT. SR – Campagna 16-for-29, 319 yards, 4 TD.

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