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Slippery Rock 24, Franklin Pierce 13

Photo courtesy Franklin Pierce media relations/Kaitlyn Titus

RINDGE – The fourth-ranked Slippery Rock University football team won its season opener for the 16th straight year with a 24-13 win on the road at Franklin Pierce University Friday night at Sodexo Field in New Hampshire.

Slippery Rock picked up its ninth straight win against teams from the Northeast-10 Conference and the program’s first win in the state of New Hampshire. Franklin Pierce (0-1) dropped its first meeting against Slippery Rock.

BOX SCORE

Both teams struggled through some first-game rust throughout the evening, including early on when Franklin Pierce dropped a would-be deep ball touchdown and Slippery Rock tossed an early interception. Slippery Rock settled into the game late in the first quarter and opened up a 7-0 lead when Anthony Vespo connected with Latrell Sutton on a 22-yard touchdown pass with 3:48 to play in the period.

The hosts responded on their next possession with an 84-yard drive that was capped by a touchdown pass from Adrian Parker to Tristan Evans that tied the game at 7-7 with 14:12 to play in the second.

Slippery Rock broke the tie for good late in the second when Vespo pushed in from the one-yard line on a fourth down play to make it 14-7 with 3:06 to play in the half. Slippery Rock got the ball back after a quick defensive stand and JayJay Jordan broke the game open with a 74-yard TD run to send it to halftime with SRU leading 21-7.

Slippery Rock extended the lead after settling for a short field goal from Kevin Roberts with 9:38 to play in the third that made it 24-7.

Slippery Rock turned the ball over on a fumbled snap on a field goal attempt late in the fourth. Franklin Pierce capitalized and scored on a 26-yard touchdown pass to Austyn Howe to make it 24-13 with 2:48 to play. The Ravens then successfully recovered an onside kick attempt, but the Slippery Rock defense slammed the door to seal the win.

Jordan and Quentin Harrison led a dominant ground game that saw Slippery Rock racked up 259 rushing yards. Jordan ran for 148 yards and one TD on 17 carries and Harrison rushed for 93 yards on 17 carries. Luke McCoy added 20 rushing yards. Jordan also caught three passes for 33 yards to finish with 181 total yards of offense.

Vespo completed 50 percent of his passes for 160 yards with one TD and one interception while also rushing for one score. Sutton led the receivers with four catches for 54 yards and one TD.

Trever Valenti was credited with eight tackles and one solo stop to lead the defense. Michael Henwood had six solo tackles and Jacob Snow was credited with five solo stops and two sacks. Nick Frisco had one sack and a forced fumble, Kanye Thompson had one sack and a forced fumble and Brett Kwoka recovered two fumbles.

Franklin Pierce got 143 passing yards and two touchdowns from Parker, who was the Northeast 10 Offensive Player of the Year in 2024.

Slippery Rock finished with a 419-187 advantage in total offense after limiting the Ravens to 44 rushing yards and 143 passing yards.

After a long 10-hour bus ride home, The Rock will shift their focus to three straight home night games over the next three weeks with Shepherd set to visit Mihalik-Thompson Stadium next Saturday for a 6 p.m. kickoff.

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