Box Score
EAST STROUDSBURG - Ryan Lehmeier ran for 229 yards and two touchdowns and Damarcus Cleckley added 109 yards and a score to lead Slippery Rock to a 31-24 win at East Stroudsburg University on Homecoming at Eiler-Martin Stadium.
Slippery Rock (5-1) ran for 332 yards, threw for 220 and held the ball for more than 39 minutes in the contest. Lehmeier carried 27 times and averaged 8.5 yards per carry, and Cleckley ran 19 times and hit the century mark on the Rock's final drive of the game.
Junior Tim Roken threw for 236 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another, and sophomore Sam Shuman caught five passes for 93 yards to lead the ESU offense.
Slippery Rock got on the board first on an 18-yard field goal by C.J. Bahr with 6:04 left in the first quarter. ESU came right back with a three-play, 71-yard touchdown drive which started with a 53-yard pass from Roken to redshirt freshman Jeff Giglio and closed with a 16-yard touchdown pass to junior Drew Stem which put the Warriors ahead 7-3.
A 42-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Greg Knauss gave ESU a 10-3 lead early in the second quarter, but the Rock answered with a 65-yard touchdown drive capped by a 25-yard pass from Nate Crookshank to Colin Golden with 9:08 left in the second quarter.
Special teams plays set up the next two touchdowns, as ESU junior linebacker Fred Rice fumbled the kickoff and Slippery Rock capitalized on a 26-yard run by Lehmeier with 8:18 on the clock.
The Warriors tied the game at 17-17 on their next possession, with Stem doing most of the work with a 66-yard kick return to the Rock 28. Roken hit junior Doug Ogden for 24 yards before going in from four yards out with 7:20 remaining in the half.
Lehmeier put Slippery Rock back in front with a 47-yard touchdown run on the first drive of the second half, and Cleckley scored from one yard out on the final play of the period to extend the advantage to 31-17.
ESU went 75 yards to pull within a touchdown with 10 minutes left, with junior tailback Joe Partridge breaking runs of 14 and 20 yards and Roken doing the rest with his arm, including a seven-yard touchdown pass to Ogden to make the score 31-24.
Slippery Rock held the ball for nearly five minutes on its next possession which ended with a turnover on downs at the ESU 20, but the Warriors were unable to earn a first down and punted the ball away with 3:49 left. Lehmeier and Cleckley helped the Rock pick up four first downs on the ground on their final possession to seal the victory.
Junior David Pacchioni led the ESU defense with 12 tackles and two pass breakups and was one of four Warriors to hit double figures in tackles. Senior Jayson Frank, the leading tackler in the PSAC entering the game, had eight stops and returned an interception 41 yards on the final play from scrimmage in the first half.
The Slippery Rock defense recovered four fumbles on the afternoon and was led by defensive back Anthony Walls, who finished with nine tackles and two pass breakups.
ESU will return to PSAC East action next weekend at 1 p.m. at Cheyney.
