Defense shuts down Vulcans

The Rock's No. 1 ranked defense gave up 273 yards to a high power No. 12 ranked California University of Pennsylvania offense as the Rock took sole possession of first place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West with a 17-3 victory.

Cal U. (5-2 overall, 3-1 PSAC) came into Saturday's contest averaging 460.8 yards per game, 165.7 rushing, and 195.2 passing.

"The defense played tremendous," head coach George Mihalik said. "Cal U has a great offense on every level and holding them to three points is a great job."

The defense was led by senior linebacker Zach Sheridan who registered nine tackles, six of them being solo stops. He also had a sack and a fumble recovery.

"I felt comfortable going into this game with the game plan," Sheridan said. "Our coaches did a great job putting us in position to make plays. We are the No. 1 defense in the nation and we played like it."

Junior defensive end Jeff Thompson made several key plays for the defense including a half of a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss. He also broke up a pass at the line of scrimmage.

"We like to think of ourselves as the best defensive line in division two," Thompson said. "We try to take up all the plays on defense. We like to compete amongst ourselves to see who can make the best plays."

Offensively, the Rock gained 236 yards, highlighted by a 97-yard scoring drive at the end of the first half that ended in a two-yard touchdown pass to sophomore running back Jimmy Zubik from senior quarterback Cody Endres.

"The drive at the end of the first half was huge because of the momentum swing," Mihalik said.

After the Rock touchdown drive, the defense put together a goal line stand to keep the Vulcans out of the end zone and take the game into the half at 7-3.

"That final play of the first half was the turning point of the game," Mihalik said.

Endres finshed the game 22-for-42 for 147 yards with two touchdowns and was intercepted four times.

Overshadowed by the four interceptions was how efficient Endres was in pressure situations. On the 97-yard scoring drive, Endres converted on three third downs and two fourth downs.

"We made plays when we had to," Endres said. "We were 3/3 on fourth downs and put points on the board when we had to."

The Rock offense was without junior running back and team leading rusher Akeem Satterfield.

As Satterfield's replacement, Zubrik filled in and finished the game with 74 yards on 21 carries. He also added 18 yards on eight receptions and caught one touchdown.

"Jimmy gave us a spark in the running game," Mihalik said. "He also made some key runs to keep some drives alive."

The Rock offensive line continued its great play Saturday giving up only one sack.

"The offensive line did a great job," Mihalik said. "Cal brought a lot of pressure with their front seven and to only give up one sack was a tremendous effort."

Slippery Rock (5-1, 4-0) will travel to Lock Haven University (0-6, 0-4) Saturday for a 12 p.m. game.