The Sterling football team made a few more plays when it mattered most Friday night, as the seventh-ranked Golden Warriors defeated United Township 38-27 in a Western Big 6 Conference game at Soule Bowl.
Sterling senior kicker Luis Diaz drilled a 38-yard field goal with 1:02 left to put it out of reach in the regular-season finale.
UT coach Nick Welch was proud of his team’s effort and commended Sterling, who had a banged up secondary and players of its own, after the game.
UT sophomore quarterback Matthew Kelley, who had to sit out last week for undisclosed health reasons, kept things tight with numerous big plays. He briefly was knocked out after a sack and had to have his left, non-throwing hand taped up on two fingers.
Welch said the team did not get Kelley back until Wednesday.
Sterling QB Drew Kested scored the game’s opening points with a 1-yard touchdown carry midway through the first quarter.
Then, the second quarter featured a shootout with 42 combined points between the teams, much like what occurred in UT’s 47-44 thriller to cap the spring season in the previous matchup.
Kelley finished 11-for-24 with 340 yards, four touchdowns and an interception in the loss. Three scores came in a 21-point second quarter as Kelley hit Damahz Slater for 89-yard, Oscar Perez-Velazquez for 64-yard, and Loren Arrington for 30-yard touchdown passes.
The Golden Warriors (7-2, 6-1 Big 6) stifled the UT (4-5, 2-5) run game and harassed Kelley inside the pocket throughout the night, and forced two strip-sacks and three UT fumbles lost.
Western Big 6-leading rusher Antonio Tablante led Sterling with 205 yards and two touchdowns on 39 carries. Kested fooled the UT defense with a carry on third-and-7 late in the second quarter, pulling the ball out and sprinting for a 72-yard score to put Sterling up 28-14.
The Panthers responded as Kelley found Arrington on a 30-yard screen pass with 36 seconds until halftime.
Kested added a 17-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and Kelley found Perez-Velazquez deep once again for 72 yards with 6:01 left in the third.
UT’s deficit was 35-27 heading into the fourth quarter after a blocked PAT.
Mistakes, dropped passes and penalties cost the Panthers on a few drives, and Sterling stepped up when its defense was on its heels.
UT blocked a punt after forcing a Sterling three-and-out to start the third quarter, but could not score after recovering inside the 30.
While UT was prolific in the pass game, it could not stop Sterling’s staple run game. The Golden Warriors attempted just three passes, but racked up 414 rushing yards and held UT to 30 yards on 21 carries. Arrington had two carries of 10 yards apiece to lead the backfield with 41 yards.
UT forced a turnover on downs with 6:55 left, but Sterling forced a three-and-out of its own.
UT elected to punt from its own 29 on fourth-and-10 with 5:44 left and lean on its defense. The punt went out at the Sterling 42, and the Golden Warriors were able to grind things out on the ground until kicking the final Diaz field goal.