Slippery Rock football took down Shepherd University in a nail-biting overtime and pulled out a win for their home opener Saturday.
Shepherd won the toss and chose to defer, putting The Rock on offense. An early Slippery Rock turnover set up Shepherd with plus field position, but the drive ended with a missed field goal attempt from 44 yards.
Shepherd University was first to find the endzone with a eight-play, 62-yard drive and a good kick, putting them up 7-0 with just over five minutes remaining in the first quarter.
The White and Green jumped into the second quarter with a 15-yard pass from Vespo into the endzone and a successful kick from Kevin Roberts, tying it 7-7.
Even after the Rams took the lead again after a five-play drive, Slippery Rock brought it back following a blocked Shepherd punt. SRU dazzled with a double pass play. Vespo completed a backwards screen Xander McClure, who proceeded to deliver a 38-yard strike to Latrell Sutton for the game-tying score going into the half.
During the third quarter, after a drive of 13 plays, the Rams reclaimed a 21-14 lead.
When Shepherd scored again to start the fourth quarter, head coach Shawn Lutz made the decision to put in redshirt freshman quarterback DaOne Owens.
“To go into that situation, down 14 points with about six or seven minutes left, and say come back and win this game, he didn’t even flinch,” Lutz said.
Owens tallied up 56 passing yards and 46 rushing yards of his own. His longest rush was 16 yards, which resulted in a touchdown for the White and Green.
The touchdown came after a fourth-down challenge where Shepherd fell just shy of a first down, ending their drive and allowing The Rock to tie it up seconds before the fourth quarter ended.
While the extra two-point play was an option, Lutz opted to play for overtime.
“We had the momentum. We were just coming at them and coming at them,” Lutz said.
He was quickly proved right. To start overtime play, SRU made it into the end zone with a total of 25 yards rushed between Owens and JayJay Jordan. The extra point delivered by Roberts put Slippery Rock in the lead 35-28.
There, they were able to end it after three incomplete passes from the Rams.
In his many years of coaching, for Lutz, this was one of his most memorable games.
“We scored 21 points, if you count the overtime series, in about five or six minutes,” he said. “I just can’t tell you how proud I am of these guys.”
The Rock amassed 217 total passing yards, albeit in an odd fashion. Vespo threw for 123 and McLure added on 28, joining Owens’ 56.
Jordan paced The White and Green with 70 rushing yards and two touchdowns, though Owens’ 46 yards and a ground score were not far behind despite not playing until late.
A trio of other Rock runners totaled 19 net rushing yards, leaving SRU at 125 total.
Sutton’s long receptions helped him to the team lead with 54 yards. Jordan brought in the other receiving touchdown. The Rock had six pass-catchers with at least 20 receiving yards and eight players with at least one reception.
Redshirt freshman Brian Young Jr. showed out with 2.5 sacks on six total tackles. Both Kanye Thompson and Teddy Gregory Jr. had double-digit tackles, with Gregory amassing 15 total tackles.
Slippery Rock football will take on Shippensburg University on Saturday at Mihalik-Thompson Stadium.
