“Land of my high endeavor,
Land of the shining river,
Land of my heart forever,
Scotland the brave.”- Robert Wilson
“Scotland the Brave” 3rd stanza
Slippery Rock hosted the Edinboro Fighting Scots under lights Saturday night, but not before Slippery Rock, PA hosted thousands at the annual Village Fest. We will get to the game, but this is worth a quick shout out.
The Village Fest opening ceremony was held at 9:55 AM, and it closed promptly at 5PM with Hot Rod Willie closing the show.
The festival featured a wide selection of riveting events including:
- A Donut and Hot Dog eating contest.
- A Chili and Rib Cookoff
- A Hula Hoop Contest
- Cornhole Tournament
For the Kids there is an entire Kids Zone just for the little tykes including:
- Scatter Ball
- Ballon Darts
- Roller Ball
- Lego Slide
- Football Toss
- Sno Cones
- Face Painting
DJ Dave spun the tunes on the Grass Lot for half the day, with the other music coming from legends like:
- Seth Verba Band
- Treebeard Brown
- Kleeman Bros. Band
- Hot Rod Willie (Closed the Festival from the Gazebo Stage)
The festival sounds like a blast of a day, but that was just the buildup for the real big event. I really need to get myself to PA next fall.
With the festival closing at 5, it gave the passionate football faithful time to fill Mihalik-Thompson Stadium in time for the 6pm kickoff. With the ranked “Rock” favored heavily, it spelled a certain defeat for the Fighting Scots. Just as you would expect with a 1-3 team on the road at a ranked top 10 squad the game started poorly for the Edinboro squad.
Slippery Rock led the Fighting Scots 28-0 midway through the second quarter, and as you would expect, Edinboro laid down and ended up getting embarrassed on the road in front of a sold-out crowd.
Only, that’s not what happened…
Yes, Edinboro were in a deep 28-0 hole, but NO! The Scots did not lay down and surrender.
After spotting the 9th ranked home team a four-touchdown advantage, the Fighting Scots did what they do best, fight. By halftime, the score was cut to 28-10, and by the fourth quarter, the score was somehow, someway, 28-23.
With 9 minutes to go in the game, Fighting Scot Punter Reed Martin, who has been player of the year for the Scots thus far, pinned the home team down at the 1 yard line giving his defense a chance to win the game. To be on that sideline, it had to be inspiring to be in such a position after trailing 28-0 to such an elite squad.
With their backs against the wall, and the Scots simply needing one more scoring chance, the Slippery Rock offense proved their quality. Rock closed the final 9 minutes of the game with the ball in their possession moving the ball 90 yards on an impressive 18 play clock draining drive and further, sealing the fate of the Fighting Scots.
Edinboro 23 @ #9 Slippery Rock 28
Edinboro now fall to 1-4 and 0-1 in PSAC play.
What a game. What a fight. Proud of the Fighting Scots. They never surrendered.
This team fights. They fight like hell. Other than the 26-0 road loss to Top Ten Kutztown, they have been in every game. 8/10 times they would beat Bloomsburg, who they lost to at home in the final seconds last week.
8/10 times the Scots would beat East Stroudsburg at home, who they lost to in Week 1 12-24. 1-4 is the record but the Scots season’s fate is not yet sealed.
With a bye week incoming, Edinboro has time to regroup before their next game.
October 12th Edinboro will host Indiana University of Pennsylvania for homecoming. 2pm inside Sox Harrison Stadium. I’ll have a preview out late next week. Until then,
Fight on, you Fighting Scots.
Find the Humor and keep on Movin’
Whit W.