General McLane grounds Slippery Rock for D-10 semifinal win

Nov. 16--SLIPPERY ROCK -- Friday's District 10 Class AA semifinal between General McLane and Slippery Rock was nowhere as dramatic as the teams' 2012 meeting, when the Lancers won 46-42 in that same round.

Evan Dillen was a major reason the rematch was a more comfortable one for the Lancers.

Dillen recorded two coffin-corner punts and five extra points for McLane, which advanced to next weekend's district final with a 35-15 win over the previously unbeaten Rockets at Slippery Rock University'sMihalik-Thompson Stadium.

However, Dillen wasn't done there. He also recovered a fumbled punt and returned an interception 24 yards for the Lancers' final touchdown with 3 minutes, 24 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

"Pretty big," the junior said when asked how big his eyes got on the latter play. "I was seeing the ball in slow motion."

Dillen's interception was the fifth of the six turnovers the Lancers forced as they ended the Rockets' season for the second straight year.

Tyler Sanders accounted for 161 of the Lancers' 217 yards on the ground.

McLane will take a 9-3 record into its second game this season against Cathedral Prep. Slippery Rock, the Region 5 champion, bowed out at 10-1.

Friday's game started 30 minutes late because the Slippery Rock women's soccer team, host of an NCAA Division II playoff match Sunday, had its afternoon practice run long.

By the time the Rockets finally ran a play from scrimmage, they trailed 14-0.

The Lancers scored on the game's opening possession. Quarterback Zach Fox, on a fourth-down play, connected with Chris Laird for a 20-yard catch-and-carry touchdown.

Slippery Rock'sFrank Conlon fumbled the ensuing kickoff, and McLane's Steve Shinn was credited with the recovery at the Rockets' 40.

Sanders then covered all 40 of those yards on eight carries. He capped it with a 1-yard run that made it 14-0 with 4:39 left in the first quarter.

"Coach (Jim) Wells said it would come down to tackling, turnovers and toughness," Sanders said. "That's what we did tonight."

Slippery Rock finally got on the board thanks to quarterback Jake Whitmer, whose weaving 79-yard run gave the Rockets a first down at the Lancers' 8. Whitmer bowled in from 3 yards out two plays later, but the extra-point kick was missed.

The Lancers maintained their 14-6 edge into halftime and led 21-6 after three quarters, thanks to Fox's 8-yard touchdown run.

Whitmer countered with a 23-yard scoring run for the Rockets on the second play of the fourth quarter, but Slippery Rock came no closer. McLane added two insurance touchdowns in the last 7 minutes of regulation, when Sanders reached the end zone from 6 yards out and then Dillen returned his interception.

McLane was assured of extending its season when Clay Smith recorded the team's fourth interception with 2:16 left.

"We were doing our job stopping their run," Sanders said. "That was our whole game plan."

MIKE COPPER can be reached at 870-1614 or by e-mail. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/etncopper. Read the Varsity blog at goerie.com/blogs/varsity and post comments.

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