football senior day 2021
63
Winner Slippery Rock ROCK 8-1 , 5-1
21
Gannon GAN 4-5 , 3-3
Winner
Slippery Rock ROCK
8-1 , 5-1
63
Final
21
Gannon GAN
4-5 , 3-3
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
ROCK Slippery Rock 21 14 14 14 63
GAN Gannon 0 14 7 0 21

Game Recap: Football | | Bob Shreve, Assistant Director of Athletics Media Relations

Curtis Tosses Pair of Touchdown Passes in Senior Day Loss to No. 15 Slippery Rock

ERIE, Pa. – Kory Curtis (Cape Coral, Fla.) threw a pair of touchdown passes, one to Johnny Freeman (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) and the other to Bransen Stanley (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston), but Gannon could not slow down Slippery Rock's high-powered offense on Saturday afternoon, as The Rock handed the Golden Knights a 63-21 defeat.

Gannon falls to 4-5 on the season and 3-3 in PSAC West action, while Slippery Rock is now 8-1 and 5-1, respectively. SRU came in ranked 15th in the latest AFCA Division II Top 25 and 16th in the D2Football.com poll. Of Gannon's five losses, four have come to nationally-ranked teams.

It was Senior Day at McConnell Family Stadium, with Gannon recognizing three seniors prior to kickoff. Defensive end Jay Bullock (Garfield Heights, Ohio/University School) and free safety Trevaughn McNeill (Philadelphia, Pa./La Salle College HS) were honored, along with linebacker Ryan Vessels (Bowie, Md./St. Johns College HS). Bullock and McNeill have been integral parts of GU's football program since as far back as 2016. Vessels suffered a career-ending injury in the 2019 game against Slippery Rock which left him paralyzed. He has since made a full recovery and reamains a part of the program as a student assistant coach.

SRU would jump out to a 21-0 lead after one quarter. After a three-and-out for Gannon to start the game, SRU drove 76 yards on 10 plays behind new starting quarterback Noah Grover. The transfer from North Dakota was making his first career start, with the junior ending the day with a school-record eight touchdown passes. The first was a 17-yard pass to Jermaine Wynn Jr. with 10:23 left in the first quarter.

Gannon would fumble on its very next play from scrimmage, with Slippery Rock taking over at the GU 10. Two plays later Grover was throwing a seven-yard TD pass to Cinque Sweeting, one of six receivers to catch scoring passes, for a 14-0 deficit with 9:35 left in the quarter.

The Golden Knight's next possession resulted in a three-and-out, with SRU talking over at its own 28 following a 44-yard punt by Isaac West (Wexford, Pa./North Allegheny). The Rock used close to four minutes to drive 72 yards on 10 plays, taking a 21-0 lead with 4"07 left in the opening quarter on a 13-yard pass to John Eakin.

SRU's next possession resulted in another long drive, but the Gannon defense rose up to produce a stop inside the GU 5, a common occurrence in recent weeks. Facing a 4th-and-1 at the GU 3, Evyn Holtz was stopped for no gain by Bullock and Trey Baker (Kettering, Ohio/Kettering Fairmont).

Curtis would connect for the first of his two touchdown passes midway through the second quarter as Gannon closed the gap to 21-7. After forcing an SRU punt, Curtis directed a quick-strike three-play, 85-yard drive. The big redshirt sophomore rambled for 14 yards on first down, and on the next play he found Sam East (Jackson Township, N.J./Saint John Vianney) for a gain of 22 yards. Curtis then stepped back and just before getting hit, threw to Freeman, who was wide open down the middle. The redshirt sophomore wide receiver caught the ball at the 20 and went into the end zone untouched to complete a 49-yard scoring strike with 7:05 left in the half.

Unfortunately, Slippery Rock answered with Grover's fourth and fifth TD passes less than two minutes apart. The Rock needed just four plays to go 73 yards, with Grover finding Max Maciejewski for a 36-yard TD pass with 5:46 remaining in the half.

They regained possession of the ball following a punt and this time went 68 yards on two plays. The second was a 62-yard catch-and-run for six points by Kyle Sheets. That left Gannon trailing 35-7 with 3:09 left in the half.

Gannon would close the gap to 35-14 in the final minute on a very improbable touchdown. Back-to-back completions from Curtis to Freeman covered 46 yards, and with a roughing the passer penalty mixed in, Gannon was at the SRU 16. Two holding penalties would push GU back, and the Golden Knights eventually faced a 4th-and-30 from the 36. Curtis lofted a long pass down the right sideline to Bransen Stanley (Chagrin Falls, Ohio/Kenston), who was able to get behind the SRU secondary and score a touchdown to make it 35-14 with 44 second remaining in the half.

Gannon made it back-to-back scores early in the third quarter, as the Golden Knights pulled to within 35-21 with 12:06 left in the period. The score was courtesy of the special teams, as Damerisse  Freeman Jr. blocked the SRU punt. Luke Sittinger (Erie, Pa./Cathedral Prep) recovered the loose ball at the SRU 15 and returned it for six points.

SRU would quell any Gannon comeback hopes with scores on their next four possessions, the first three by Henry Litwin. The Rock would score twice in the third period for a 49-21 lead after three quarters. Litwin, an All-American wide receiver, caught TD passes of 58 and seven yards in the third quarter, then opened the fourth with a six-yarder. It was Grover's school-record eighth touchdown pass.

Tim Smith capped off the scoring with a six-yard run to conclude a 13-play, 62-yard march that covered exactly nine minutes in the fourth quarter.

Slippery Rock finished the day with 671 total yards, while Gannon totaled a season-low 244 yards. The Golden Knights had featured a bruising ground game the previous two weeks, but they were unable to move the ball via the rush on Saturday, totaling 36 yards. SRU would end the day with 224 yards rushing. Gannon threw for 208 yards while SRU had 447 yards through the air.

Gannon was hoping to celebrate the first 1,000-yard rusher in a season since Marcus Jones in 2018 with Melvin Blanks (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) entering the game with 945 yards. The junior was held to 20 yards on 10 carries as GU was forced to abandon the ground game early.   

Curtis completed 12-of-24 passes for 208 yards and 2 TDs, and also was the leading rusher with 27 yards on four carries. The redshirt transfer, who previously played at Ohio State and Bryant, now has 1,866 yards passing and 18 TDs with just 4 INTs. He has moved into seventh place in season passing yards and sixth in touchdowns passing in a season.

Johnny Freeman (Philadelphia, Pa./St. Joseph's Prep) posted career-highs with 6 receptions for 112 yards. He previously caught 5 passes for 111 yards at Bloomsburg earlier this year. Stanley added 3 receptions for 51 yards.

Glover completed 32-of-40 passes for 439 yards with 8 TDs for SRU. Litwin was the recipient of 10 passes for 127 yards with 3 TDs, while three other players caught six balls. Holtz, a transfer from Portland State who missed the first seven games with an injury, was the top ballcarrier with 109 yards on 18 carries.

Edinboro concludes the regular season with a pair of road contests. First comes the shortest road trip of the season as they make the short trek to East 38th Street to face crosstown rival Mercyhurst on Saturday, November 6 at 12 noon. Then comes the longest trip of the year with a journey across the state to play PSAC East foe East Stroudsburg on Saturday, November 13 for a 1:05 p.m. kickoff.
 
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