December 7th, 2024 12:30pm
From Slippery Rock sports information:
CALIFORNIA, Pa. – The Slippery Rock University football team avenged its only loss this season in dominant fashion with a 31-13 victory on the road at California (Pa.) Saturday to win the Super Region One title and clinch a spot in the national semifinals.
Slippery Rock improves to 12-1 overall and claims its fourth regional title in school history and the first since 2019. The Rock will advance to the national semifinals Dec. 14 and will find out their opponent and the game location Saturday night when the NCAA Committee announces the seeding.
California (Pa.) ends its year with a 10-3 overall record after making its first trip to the regional final since 2016.
The Vulcans earned a convincing 28-7 over Slippery Rock on the same field back on Oct. 19, which was the first and only regular season loss for The Rock since 2022. SRU kept that loss in mind and looked like a totally different team Saturday, dominating from the opening possession.
After rushing for just 10 yards in the first meeting, Slippery Rock ran for 245 yards and averaged 6.1 yards per carry. The Rock posted a 399-278 advantage in total offense after throwing for 154 yards and did not turn the ball over once. Cal ran for 188 yards and threw for 90 yards while turning the ball over one time.
Brayden Long was nearly flawless in leading the SRU offense, completing 17-of-21 passes for 154 yards with three touchdowns, no interceptions and no sacks. He became the first quarterback in SRU history with two 3,000-yard seasons and became the fourth QB in program history to top 7,000 career passing yards.
Idris Lawrence averaged 7.0 yards per carry and finished with a season-high 162 rushing yards to pace the ground game. Chris D'Or rushed for 42 yards and one TD on 11 carries and Long ran for 36 yards on two carries.
Logan Ramper caught four passes for 73 yards and two touchdowns and Mike Solomon grabbed seven passes for 73 yards and one score.
Todd Hill was responsible for two of those sacks and finished with seven total tackles, two sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery. Andrew Vince added a team-high 10 tackles with 2.0 tackles for loss and one sack. Michael Henwood made eight tackles and Munchie Johnson finished with five tackles and one tackle for loss. Josh Stokes tallied two pass breakups to lead the secondary.
The Rock defense limited Cal quarterback and PSAC West Offensive Athlete of the Year Davis Black to just 90 passing yards and came up with three sacks in the game. Black also ran for 63 yards and Bobby Boyd Jr. ran for 99 yards and one TD.
Slippery Rock wasted little time in jumping out to a lead when Long hit Logan Ramper for an 18-yard TD on the first series of the game to give SRU a 7-0 lead with 11:37 to play in the first. Long then connected with Mike Solomon for a 20-yard TD on the next possession to make it 14-0 with 7:54 to play in the first.
Cal had one good scoring chance in the first quarter that was stripped away when Hill rushed off the right edge and forced a fumble in SRU territory.
The Rock extended the lead to 21-0 after Long connected on a deep ball to Ramper late in the half to set up a short rushing touchdown by Chris D'Or with 1:12 to play in the second.
California stopped the 21-0 run with a sustained drive to open the third quarter with Bobby Boyd scoring on a four-yard run to make it 21-7 with 8:31 to play in the third, but SRU responded with the next 10 points to put the game away. Mason Yohn kicked a 26-yard field goal late in the third and Long connected with Ramper for their second TD of the game with 10:07 left to make it 31-7.
Cal added one more score with 7:57 to play but could not get the ball back after SRU used the rushing attack to wind down the clock.
Slippery Rock will find out its semifinal opponent and the game location Saturday night when the NCAA Committee announces the seeding for the final four teams. Ferris State and Valdosta State both earned convincing wins Saturday and the fourth game is still going on at the time of this release.