Explosive first-half offense, stout defense lead Sterling in rout of Lakes

Ryan, Schilling each find end zone twice; Kested punt return TD adds to first-half dominance

Sterling’s AJ Kested broke several tackles to run back a punt for a TD against Lakes Friday, Aug. 26, 2022.

STERLING – Hosting nonconference foe Lakes at Roscoe Eades Stadium for a Friday night season opener, the Sterling football team started off 2022 with a bang, scoring 34 first-half points en route to a 40-7 win over the Eagles.

Sterling senior quarterback Kael Ryan opened the scoring with 3:23 to go in the first quarter, capping a two-play drive with a 55-yard touchdown run down the right sideline. The Golden Warriors took over the drive on their own 45 after a Christian Beasley sack forced a turnover on downs.

“I thought we flew to the football well at times, and offensively, we just attacked them at times,” Ryan said. “We need to play a more complete game going forward, but I think that tonight was really good.”

Sterling senior quarterback JP Schilling stretched the lead to 14-0 with 11:52 to go in the second quarter, scoring on a 19-yard keeper of his own after stepping up to evade pressure and scampering down the left sideline.

Ryan scored his second rushing touchdown of the game on the next Golden Warrior drive, taking a quarterback keeper up the gut, then bouncing it out to the left sideline on his way to a 68-yard score, as 6:48 remained in the first half. Sterling took a 20-0 lead on the play.

Special teams got in on the scoring action just over three minutes later, as AJ Kested slipped a few tackles down the left sideline, then reversed field and raced down the right sideline for a spectacular 68-yard punt return touchdown. With 3:10 to play in the first half, the Golden Warriors led 27-0.

“I was watching from the bench because I had just gotten off the field, and I just kind of put my head down when he was getting gang-tackled by three people,” Ryan said. “And then everyone cheered so I looked up, and he was just like in the end zone. It was the most ridiculous play I’ve seen in a while.”

“A few times [I thought he’d get tackled]. He’s a little bit shifty, he’s hard to get a good one on,” Sterling coach Jon Schlemmer said of Kested. “He just kind of contorts his body here and there, so I thought they had him down the second time. Then I saw him spin out and we were able to get some guys out in front of him. He’s a good player. He doesn’t want to go down. Played hard tonight. That was a pretty neat play. I’m excited to watch that one on film.”

Sterling’s Antonio Tablante (left) and AJ Kested celebrate a score against Lakes Friday, Aug. 26, 2022.

Schilling capped the first-half scoring with a six-yard quarterback keeper as 1:03 showed on the game clock, bowling over a defender as he crossed into the end zone.

Kested made another game-changing play early in the third quarter, intercepting a Bausch pass and returning it about 45 yards to the Lakes 15. Two plays later, Sterling stretched its lead to 40-0 as running back Antonio Tablante cut back into an interior back and raced up the middle for a 20-yard touchdown run.

Late in the fourth quarter, after a fumbled Sterling punt return, Lakes took over at the Warriors 29. In two plays, the Eagles capitalized with their first touchdown of the game.

Bausch set up the scoring drive with an 18-yard scamper on the first play, then got to the outside edge and extended past the pylon for an 11-yard touchdown run on the next with 1:08 to play.

Sterling’s Lucas Austin hauls down Lakes’ Max Bausch Friday, Aug. 26, 2022.

Ryan finished with 138 rushing yards and two touchdowns on five carries. Schilling had 55 rushing yards on eight carries, and completed 3-of-4 passes for 32 yards. As a team, Sterling gained 283 rushing yards on 27 carries.

Bausch completed 20-of-34 passes for 181 yards, and rushed 14 times for 57 yards and a touchdown. Tyson Dewey paced the Eagles with 94 receiving yards.

“We gotta finish plays, we gotta finish our tackles. We didn’t tackle great, we gotta finish our blocks on the edge that could’ve sprung us some longer runs,” Lakes coach Jason Ellerman said. “I thought our O-line played good. Tyson, I thought, had a great game. Our special teams gotta get better. We gotta clean up the operations of getting them on and off. We gotta get down on special teams. Our effort on special teams wasn’t great, and they know that.

“So we’re going to treat this kind of like a preseason NFL game. We got tape on guys, we’re going to evaluate, and try to fix it on Sunday and next week.”

A host of Sterling tacklers take down Lakes’ Tyson Dewey Friday, Aug. 26, 2022.