September 7, 2012 7:00 a.m. —
Meadville and Slippery Rock have only been playing each other in football since 2006. Yet, the two sides have squared off in some pivotal games over the years.
Last season, for example, Meadville had its season-opening three-game win streak halted by the Rockets in a 25-18 overtime loss at the Rock. Then seven weeks later, Meadville bounced Slippery Rock out of the District 10 playoffs with a 43-7 romp over the Rockets in a quarterfinal matchup at Slippery Rock University.
This budding rivalry writes a new chapter tonight when Meadville and Slippery Rock kick off at 7 at Bender Field.
“(Slippery Rock) is a solid team,” said Meadville head coach Mike Feleppa. “Their quarterback is back, he’s an excellent athlete. ... I think this is his third year starting for them. Their fullback is back. He’s good too. And they’re solid up front.
“They’re very fundamentally sound. They have an offensive system they stick to. They’re patient with it. And they try to out-scheme you with it and find out where they can hurt you with their option game.”
That option game often ends up featuring the quarterback that Feleppa mentioned, senior Ryan Currie. Last week in a 32-26 victory over Class AAAA Pittsburgh City League team Brashear, Currie kept the ball 25 times, gained 129 yards and scored four touchdowns. One of those touchdowns was a one-yard game-winner with 41 seconds left.
Rockets head coach Brendan Hathaway said his offense isn’t specifically designed for Currie. The QB was simply the most effective against Brashear last week.
“We run the option, so it changes week to week,” Hathaway said. “(It could be) any number of people running the ball. Last week, Ryan’s number was called just because that’s what they were giving us.”
Another key ball-carrier for the Rockets is senior fullback Jeff Croll. He was the team’s second-leading rusher last week with 65 yards on 10 carries.
Although, Hathaway adds, “We have about four different guys getting carries and getting reps.”
Slippery Rock will pit its option attack against Meadville’s Wing-T, which compiled 328 yards and five touchdowns during the Bulldogs’ 38-36 win over Northwestern last week.
Halfback Artrel Foster picked up 77 yards rushing and 84 receiving and scored twice in the game. Fellow halfback Tim Bolden rushed for 96 yards and a touchdown on six carries. And fullback Ryan Harkness carried the ball 10 times for 70 yards and a score last week.
Quarterback Tyler Minnis also had a nice game, going 3-for-4 for 84 yards and a TD through the air.
“People keep talking about what (Meadville) lost,” said Hathaway. “I keep looking at what they brought back. Meadville is the kind of team you expect: hard-nosed linemen, they move people off the ball and they have some backs that can take it to the house. I don’t think the story has changed one bit from last year.”
The Bulldogs’ utility back, Trevor Martin, also scored on an 87-yard kickoff return in last week’s win.
“Obviously it wasn’t a perfect game last week,” said Feleppa. “We made a lot of mental mistakes. The thing that I was really proud about was the team effort. It seemed like everyone was stepping up at a time when we needed it and contributing.”
Feleppa said he’s looking for a similar effort tonight, although the Bulldogs can leave the mistakes back in Week 1.
“Defensively, we’ve got to get better tackling,” he said. “We’ve got to get better at carrying out the mission on defense. We’ve got to get more physical and get 11 hats to the football on every play.”
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