November 30th, 2024 3:45pm
KUTZTOWN, Pa. – The 11th ranked Slippery Rock University football team went for two and scored on a hook and ladder in overtime to pull off a shocking 25-24 upset win on the road at No. 3 Kutztown University in the second round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs Saturday from Andre Reed Stadium.
The Rock improve to 11-1 on the year after upsetting the No. 1 seed on the road for the second straight year and will advance to the quarterfinals next Saturday at No. 3 seed California (Pa.) after the Vulcans earned a 34-33 comeback win over Ashland Saturday.
Kutztown entered the game as one of only two undefeated teams remaining in Division II and saw its season come to an end with an 11-1 record. The Golden Bears also saw their streak of four straight wins over SRU come to an end.
The two Super Region One heavyweights traded long methodical scoring drives in the opening half, endured a defensive slugfest in the third quarter and put together an explosive fourth quarter and overtime session in what is likely to go down as one of the best playoff games this year.
Slippery Rock led 9-7 at halftime before Kutztown rallied back with 10 points in the fourth quarter to take a 17-9 lead with just over six minutes to play. The Rock put together a 66-yard drive and cut the lead to 17-15 with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Brayden Long to Kam Kruzelyak with 1:53 to play. Long then found Logan Ramper in the back of the end zone on the 2-point conversion to tie the game.
Kutztown was forced to punt on its final possession of the fourth quarter and Slippery Rock had a chance to win the game in regulation after Kanye Thompson put together a 35-yard punt return to give SRU the ball near midfield with two timeouts left.
The Rock moved down into field goal range and tried to get out of bounds with five seconds left, but the receiver was ruled to be tackled inbounds and time expired before a potential game-winning field goal.
Kutztown got the ball first in overtime and had a third and 20 situation that could have set up a long field goal try, but SRU was called for a facemask penalty to give the Golden Bears a fresh set of downs. They capitalized with a Luke Maxwell two-yard TD run to take a 24-17 lead after the first possession in the extra session.
Slippery Rock scored a touchdown on its possession with Idris Lawrence breaking free for a long run, but the play was called back by a holding penalty. Facing third and 13 from the 28-yard line, Long connected with Ramper, who shed one tackler and walked into the end zone to make it 24-23. Rather than kicking the PAT to tie the game and send it to a second overtime, SRU head coach Shawn Lutz elected to go for two to win the game.
After a timeout, Long threw a pass to the left to Mile Solomon at the five-yard line, who then pitched the ball backwards to Lawrence on the hook and ladder. Lawrence gained the edge and walked into the end zone to seal the 25-24 win.
Slippery Rock post game press conference