Jake Wickline had a team-high eight tackles today for Slippery Rock.
Wearing dark shades and a big smile, Slippery Rock senior linebacker Jake Wickline couldn’t have been happier this afternoon.
Wickline returned to the place he once played and left with a 24-23 win at Edinboro’s Sox Harrison Stadium.
“A great win,” Wickline said. “To come up here on their homecoming, come down to the wire and win like that, that was a great win.”
Wickline transferred to Slippery Rock from Edinboro after playing three seasons for the Scots. He transferred in part to be closer to his home of Beaver Falls after his dad died last year at the age of 52.
Wickline’s aunt passed away at the age of 56 in March of this year.
However, Rock coach George Mihalik had to convince Edinboro to release Wickline so he could transfer to Slippery Rock.
Today couldn’t get here soon enough for Wickline.
“I’ve been waiting for this day,” he said. “Real excited. Been circled on my calendar for over a year now since I went to Slippery Rock to come back here. So yeah, I was real excited.”
Wickline, who led Edinboro in tackles in 2009, had a team-high eight tackles, a sack, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery and interception.
“Our defense is ranked No. 1 in the nation for a reason,” Wickline said. “Straight up and we all believed and it was a total team effort. To come out and have a pick and another pick and another pick and then to have a fumble recovery. And then to have our offense come back and score when we really needed them, that was a total team effort. Just glad to be a part of it.”
