Final Stats

Highlights and Recap

For the second straight season IUP held the Slippery Rock offense off the scoreboard, and this time the Crimson Hawks made it pay off in a 17-0 victory in the PSAC West opener for both teams Saturday at George P. Miller Stadium.

IUP bounced back from its first loss of the season to improve to 3-1 overall while the Rock lost for the first time in four games. IUP avenged a 7-3 defeat last year when the Crimson Hawks allowed only 105 yards with a 60-yard interception return by A.J. Saunders providing the only points for the Rock.

This time around the Crimson Hawks surrendered just 143 yards, including 52 on Slippery Rock's last drive of the game, and blanked the Rock for the first time since a 38-0 victory in 1991. IUP has won 10 of the past 12 meetings between the longtime rivals, and Saturday's victory was only the fifth of those 10 wins that was decided by more than seven points.

IUP held Akeem Satterfield to only 56 yards on 27 carries after the Slippery Rock tailback entered the game with a total of 432 yards in only two games this season. The Crimson Hawks limited quarterback Ryan Sabo to 10 completions in 30 attempts for 119 yards, and IUP cornerback Tobias Robinson (Lebanon, Pa./Cedar Crest) brought back an interception 75 yards for a touchdown with 45 seconds left for the final points of the day.

Teddy Blakeman (Penn Hills/Penn Hills), starting in place of the injured Harvie Tuck (Akron, OH/St. Vincent-St. Mary), powered to 87 tough yards on 24 attempts and scored IUP's only offensive touchdown of the game when he went in from two yards out in the final minute of the first quarter for a 7-0 Crimson Hawk lead. James Johnson (Philadelphia/Glen Mills) also contributed on the ground with 52 yards on 13 carries.

IUP had a chance to score on its previous possession when Sabo fumbled on Slippery Rock's first play from scrimmage, and Carl Thornton (Beaver Falls/Beaver Falls) recovered at the Rock 24. But three plays lost a yard and Craig Burgess (Medina, Ohio/Highland) was wide left on a 42-yard field goal attempt.

Midway through the second quarter, the Rock reached the IUP 8 but an intentional grounding penalty moved it back to the 20, and C.J. Bahr misfired on a 37-yard field goal attempt to keep it a seven-point Crimson Hawk lead at halftime.

Neither team mustered much offense for most of the third quarter until IUP took over at its 31 with 5:47 left in the period. Quarterback Bo Napoleon (Carson, Calif./Carson) converted a 3rd and 2 with a 15-yard completion to fullback Larry Federoff (Aliquippa, Pa./Hopewell), and James Johnson (Philadelphia/Glen Mills) gained four yards on another third down play to put the ball at the Slippery Rock 13.

The drive stalled at the seven, and Burgess hit a 25-yard field goal on the second play of the fourth quarter to boost the IUP lead to 10-0 and extend his school record to 40 career makes. Burgess also converted both extra points to increase his streak to 98 in a row, and he has 235 points in his career, eight shy of breaking Josh Telenko's school record for points scored by a kicker.

One week after throwing five interceptions in a 47-20 loss at Bloomsburg, Napoleon did not commit a turnover while producing enough of a passing threat to keep the Slippery Rock defense off balance, completing 10 of 15 throws for 79 yards. The junior quarterback took over the starting job when Pat Smith (Hollidaysburg/Hollidaysburg) was lost for the season two weeks ago with a broken thumb.

The IUP defense continued to stymie the Rock, forcing two straight three and outs, including one that was highlighted by Jeff Vaughn (Canton, Ohio/McKinley) sack. Vaughn finished with his third straight double figure game in tackles with 12 and leads the Crimson Hawks in that category with 41 on the year.

Carl Thornton (Beaver Falls/Beaver Falls) and Mike Gee (Englewood, N.J./Dwight Morrow) added eight tackles each, with Gee adding four tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks and a fumble recovery. Thornton also had a sack and forced and recovered a fumble.

Slippery Rock got the ball back at its own 10 with 1:38 left and used its two-minute offense to move the ball consistently for the first time all day, reaching the IUP 38 before Robinson grabbed his first career interception since being moved to cornerback in the spring and raced down the Crimson Hawk sideline for the clinching touchdown.

For Robinson, it was his sixth career score of at least 75 yards, with the previous five coming as a tailback. Before making the switch to defense, Robinson rushed for 2,179 yards, the ninth-highest total in IUP history, and ranked eighth in the nation in that category as a sophomore in 2008 with an average of 120.3 yards per game.

In addition to Tuck, IUP played without leading receiver Mychal Skinner (Vandergrift, Pa./Kiski Area), who suffered an Achilles injury last week. Offensive tackle Dan Matha (Erie/McDowell), a transfer from Pitt, was finally able to see his first playing time for the Crimson Hawks after being slowed by a series of injuries including a chipped hip he sustained over the summer.

The Crimson Hawks return to the road next Saturday for a 6 p.m. game at Edinboro while Slippery Rock visits Clarion.