Sterling puts together long drives, forces turnovers to beat Rock Island

STERLING – The battle of unbeatens in the Western Big 6 on Friday night at Roscoe Eades Stadium saw both offenses fail to cash in on chances early, as defensive players came up with big plays.

The scoring eventually came for both teams, but Rock Island’s scoring came too little too late as Sterling came away with a 27-18 win.

The Golden Warriors (4-0) scored three times in the second half, taking a 27-0 lead. Noel Aponte carried 27 times for 187 yards and three scores. Kael Ryan carried 10 times for 114 yards. David Tessman had 24 carries for 113.

Overall, Sterling’s rushing attack gained 430 yards on 67 rushing attempts.

“It starts up front for us,” Ryan said. “I really think guys like Ryan Heffelfinger, Cameron Beasley, all of them, they’re the leaders of this team. They took control of the game.”

Though there were a handful of big plays, such as a 59-yard quarterback scramble by Ryan, the Warriors tended toward long, methodical drives most of the night. Four second-half drives averaged a starting field position of the Warriors’ 14, but those drives went for 74, 57, 98 and 87 yards, the last pulling 7:36 off the clock.

“We knew we had to control the ball. We knew we had to prevent the big plays,” Sterling coach Jon Schlemmer said.

Sterling’s rushing attack was able to find running room behind a next-man-up offensive line, with senior Evan Adami pressed into service for his first start at guard due to injury.

“He hadn’t played a single snap on the offensive line all season, and he started for us,” Schlemmer said. “That kind of shows the unselfishness the kids have, what the program means to them to do something that got done for the betterment of the team. That was a team win. That was awesome.”

Rock Island quarterback Eli Reese completed 14 of 25 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns, but also threw a pair of interceptions in the first half.

He and the Rocks’ offense had been held mostly in check through three quarters before some big plays led to three fourth-quarter touchdowns. Reese found Cole Rusk for touchdowns of 17 and 20 yards, the second set up by a 59-yard Perry Slater kick return. Rock Island then recovered an onside kick with 1:10 left and marched 49 yards in four plays, the last a Reese completion to Slater, with Slater breaking several tackles to race 20 yards into the end zone.

But Rock Island (3-1) could not convert a PAT after any of those scores, with a kick sailing wide and a pair of passes off target, and Sterling’s Trevon Jordan corralled a second onside kick attempt with 38 seconds left to allow the Warriors to go into victory formation.

Neither offense was able to get much going early on, and both had promising drives come up short later in the first half.

Rock Island’s first drive came to a quick end when Aponte intercepted Reese. The Rocks went three-and-out with their next two drives, meanwhile gradually falling behind in a battle of field position, with the third drive starting at the Rock Island 2 after the Warriors were able to down a punt there.

Sterling’s first drive fell just short of midfield, and the second reached into Rocky territory before being stopped.

But on the Warriors’ third drive, starting at the Rock Island 36 after the Rocks were unable to move the ball much after starting on their own 2, Aponte cashed in with a 32-yard touchdown run to put the Warriors in front.

“I was just reading the holes,” Aponte said. “It’s all up to the guys up front. They do their job so I can do mine, and we all work together.”

Sterling’s final two drives of the first half both moved the ball, but both came up short. An interception stopped a 14-play drive which had gotten as far as the Rock Island 31, and a drive right before the half reached the Rocks’ 16 before a slew of penalties pushed the Warriors backward. A Hail Mary as time ran out on the half was knocked away.

“When we didn’t give them the short field, our defense did a good job of being physical, making them drive, making them earn everything,” Rocks coach Ben Hammer said.

Rock Island’s biggest offensive play of the first half came when Reese hit Jakobe Bea for an 82-yard pass, with Bea eventually caught from behind by Nick Simester at the Sterling 5. The Golden Warriors defense was able to make a stand from there, with Marriyon Rogers fumbling two plays later and the Warriors’ Nate Ottens recovering at the 4.

“That’s the play of the game,” Schlemmer said of the chase-down tackle by Simester. “That could be 7-7 at that point. That was an absolute effort play. It shows who he is as a player.”

Rock Island had one more shot before halftime, getting to the Sterling 33 before Reese was stuffed on a quarterback keeper on fourth down.

The Rocks also struggled to get going offensively in the third quarter, getting one 14-yard run from Rogers on their first drive of the half before that drive stalled out, leading to a punt.

Rock Island’s next drive got into Sterling territory before back-to-back incomplete passes, one deflected by Ryan, before Ryan intercepted Reese on third down.

“He ran a post,” Ryan said. “I just saw it, carried it out, and got in the right spot.

“We gave up a few big plays. We weren’t great all the time, but we were great when we needed to be.”