Chapla hopes to add to Slippery Rock points record

With six games left in the regular season and possibly one, if not more, playoff contests, Jake Chapla has several opportunities to add to his record for career points at Slippery Rock.

The Plum graduate and Rock senior kicker set the record Saturday in a 45-14 rout of Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference foe Mercyhurst to help No. 9 Slippery Rock improve to 5-0 and move to 2-0 in conference play.

Chapla, who needed only four points in the game to surpass the previous record of 318 set in 2000, kicked two early extra points and then moved into first with a 37-yard field goal late in the opening quarter.

He added four more extra points in the game to put him at 324 for his career.

FB: 3-2-1 WIN! #10 Slippery Rock shuts out Mercyhurst in the second half and improves to 5-0 on the year with a 45-14 win. The Rock held the Lakers to -12 rushing yards and came up with four INT in the game. Back home next Saturday for Homecoming against IUP. pic.twitter.com/x2RWZ6lRIb

— Rock Athletics (@Rock_Athletics) October 5, 2019

Chapla went into Saturday’s game with a Slippery Rock-record 44 field goals. He kicked his career long of 51 twice — last year and in 2016.

He will go after the all-time PSAC scoring record for a kicker of 361 points owned by Bloomsburg’s Dan Fisher.

Chapla’s record-setting day came with the help of fellow Plum graduates Jackson Gildea, Jacob George and Jake Tecek.

George, a sophomore, is the team’s long snapper, a position he’s held since the start of last season.

Gildea, a redshirt freshman, has taken over as the main punter for the Rock and also serves as Chapla’s holder on extra points and field goals. The two-time special teams all-star at Plum punted four times Saturday with a long of 44 yards. One of his kicks landed inside the 20.

Tecek, SRU’s starting right tackle, blocks on extra points and field goals.

Slippery Rock hosts No. 16 IUP in a key PSAC West contest Saturday at 2 p.m.