Hempfield grad Justin Sliwoski rallies St. Francis (Pa.) past Duquesne

Associated Press | Saturday, October 30, 2021 9:01 p.m.

JD Chavrich | St. Francis Athletics

St. Francis (Pa.) quarterback Justin Sliwoski is Hempfield’s all-time leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns.

Backup quarterback Justin Sliwoski (Hempfield) threw a go-ahead, 5-yard touchdown pass to Kahtero Summers after his 61-yard run set up the score early in the fourth quarter and St. Francis (Pa.) rallied to beat Duquesne, 17-10, in Northeast Conference play on Saturday.

Sliwoski entered the game to start the second half after the Red Flash (4-4, 3-1) failed to score with Jyron Russell at the helm and trailed 7-0 at halftime. Sliwoski directed an eight-play, 52-yard drive on the Red Flash’s first possession of the third quarter, culminating in Marques DeShields’ 1-yard TD run to pull St. Francis even at 7. The key play came when Sliwoski hit Brandan Lisenby for a 36-yard gain to the Dukes’ 1-yard line.

Duquesne (4-3, 2-2), which hadn’t lost to the Red Flash since 2016, regained the lead on freshman Andrew Smith’s 39-yard field goal 9 seconds into the final quarter. But Sliwoski needed just five plays to find Summers on the ensuing drive and put St. Francis on top for good. Alex Schmoke kicked a 22-yard field goal with 53 seconds remaining to wrap up the win.

Sliwoski completed 7 of 9 passes for 69 yards and ran for 59 yards on two carries. Russell finished 7 of 15 passing for 65 yards.

Evan Nelson was 8 of 21 passing for 85 yards and a TD for the Dukes. Freshman Billy Lucas rushed for 99 yards on 22 carries.

The two teams combined for just 462 yards of offense.