Spartans overpowered by Sto-Rox
Laurel (0) vs. Sto-Rox (43)
Written: Oct 20, 2012
By Joe Sager
New Castle News
McKEES ROCKS — Laurel High fumbled the ball seven times last night.
It’s not that the Spartans had butterfingers or the ball was soaked with rain. Sto-Rox’s defensive players just ripped the pigskin out of their hands on a couple of them.
Those overpowering plays summed up Laurel’s night as the host Vikings cruised to a 43-0 triumph in a WPIAL Class A Big Seven Conference game.
The Spartans (3-4 conference, 4-4 overall) lost four of the fumbles. The final one came when Deion Redmon tore the ball out of a Laurel player’s hands and raced 36 yards for a score on the first play of the second half and a 43-0 Sto-Rox lead.
“You can prepare the best you can, but that’s a heck of a team they have there, for sure,” Laurel coach Jerry Holzhauser said. “You have to play perfect football with the best personnel you can find. They are just a great football team.”
It took a while for the Vikings (6-1, 7-1) to get going offensively. They turned the ball over on downs on their first drive. However, their defense stuffed Laurel and Ben Shackelford returned a punt 85 yards for a 7-0 lead.
“Anytime you get a punt return and force some turnovers and score a defensive touchdown, that’s what really swings it one way or another,” Sto-Rox coach Dan Bradley said. “That punt return came after we were stopped deep in the zone. We made some bad reads and didn’t do our jobs. But, that punt return sparked us.”
Sto-Rox recovered a fumble on Laurel’s ensuing drive. Lenny Williams found Craig Johnson for a 29-yard TD pass to boost the lead to 14-0 early in the second quarter.
The Spartans fumbled on their next two possessions and the Vikings scored off the second one. Williams juked his way through the defense for a 10-yard TD trot.
Marcus Jackson added a 24-yard scoring run and Shackelford snagged a 56-yard TD aerial from Williams to make it a 36-0 halftime lead.
The victory sets up Sto-Rox’s showdown at Rochester for the conference championship Friday.
“Rochester is Rochester. They are a disciplined and tough football team. We have to go down there and play our best game,” Bradley said. “That’ll be special. Rochester is the closest opponent to us (geographically), so it should be a great environment and will have a playoff atmosphere to it.”
Meanwhile, Laurel’s loss eliminated it from postseason contention. The Spartans close out the season Friday at home against Shenango.
“We’ll have fun preparing and hopefully have a good game against the Wildcats,” Holzhauser said. “It doesn’t matter what the records are when we play them. Hopefully, we heal up and maybe get a player or two back.”
(Email: ncsports@ncnewsonline.com)
LAUREL STO-ROX
4 First downs 10
138 Yards Rushing 127
20 Yards Lost 22
118 Net Rushing 102
2 Passes Attempted 14
0 Passes Completed 7
0 Passes Intercepted 0
0 Yards Passing 130
118 Total Yards 232
7-4 Fumbles-Lost 2-0
3-28 Punts-Average 0-0
3-35 Penalties-Yards 7-40
LAUREL 0 0 0 0 — 0
STO-ROX 7 29 7 0 — 43
Scoring plays
STO-ROX —Ben Shackelford, 85-yard punt return (Elisha Bonner kick).
STO-ROX — Craig Johnson, 29-yard pass from Lenny Williams (Bonner kick).
STO-ROX — Williams, 10-yard run (Bonner kick).
STO-ROX — Marcus Jackson, 23-yard run (Shackelford run).
STO-ROX — Shackelford, 56-yard pass from Williams (Bonner kick).
STO-ROX — Deion Redmon, 36-yard fumble return (Bonner kick).
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