Sterling responded to make it a one-score game against Moline in Friday night’s Western Big 6 Conference opener, and the Golden Warriors were just a stop away from halftime and enjoying some positive momentum.

Moline’s Marc Cary had other ideas.

The compact speedster found an opening, taking it 45 yards for a touchdown with just a second until halftime. It turned out to be a key play as the Maroons won 36-20 at Prescott Memorial Field.

Cary finished with 158 yards rushing and two scores while Eli Warren added 140 yards and two TDs. Moline rushed for 396 yards in the win.

“I saw the opportunity to get outside, and my teammates made a good block,” Cary said. “It was daylight from there.

“All it takes is one block.”

The score put Moline (2-1, 1-0 Big 6) up 23-6 at halftime.

Sterling (1-2, 0-1) continued to fight, but Moline always answered as Sterling never got under a 10-point deficit.

“That stung,” Sterling coach Jonathan Schlemmer said of Moline’s long TD just before half. “That was a blow. It was just a little schematic thing that we had changed.

“We just kind of got out of gap discipline for a second there and they made us pay. That was a tough one.”

Sterling scored to open the second half to make it 23-13 when Maurice De La Cruz caught a 27-yard TD from Brady Berlin. Berlin finished 19 of 27 passing for 229 yards and three touchdowns.

Jack Saathoff had six catches for 91 yards and two TDs, including a nice 24-yard scoring connection to make it 30-20 with 7:43 to play.

Schlemmer said Berlin has continued to get better each game in his first year as varsity QB.

“A few that I think he probably wished he had back, but nonetheless, they did some good stuff coverage-wise,” Schlemmer said. “Our guys got open ... there’s a ton of positives to take from tonight.”

Moline put the game away with its final drive, capped by a 12-yard TD pass from Kasen Ponder to Tim Schebler.

Moline averaged 7.7 yards per carry while Sterling tallied just 42 yards on the ground on 24 carries.

“They ran between the tackles as good as a team we’ve played in a long time,” Schlemmer said of Moline. “The two running backs, they’re not huge dudes, but they get kind of lost in there.

“The line of scrimmage was won by them tonight.”

Sterling made a goal-line stand late in the second quarter to force a turnover on downs at the 1-yard line, but Moline’s Jaxson Soliz tackled the tailback in the end zone for a safety that made it 16-0.

Wyatt Cassens continued to make plays for Sterling on defense, finishing with six tackles (two for a loss), a sack and a forced fumble. Vitor Polo led Sterling with nine tackles.

Despite the loss, Sterling showed it can compete with one of the top contenders in the Big 6 with room to improve.

The Warriors finished with 271 yards and lost a fumble in the setback.

“We’ve just got to continue to get better in the run game and the run fits,” Schlemmer said. “We’ve got some young kids that their eyes were pretty big on the sideline today, but they grew up real quick.”

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Sterling’s Wyatt Cassens forces a fumble of Moline’s Kasen Ponder Friday, Sept. 12, 2025. (Alex T. Paschal)