Rock Island’s big plays sink Sterling

ROCK ISLAND – Needing a win Friday to have the chance for five on the season, the Sterling Golden Warriors struggled to get much going most of the night as the Rock Island Rocks played spoiler with a 14-7 Western Big 6 victory at home.

While Sterling (3-5, 3-2 WB6) will still have a slim chance at a playoff berth with a win next week because of its playoff points, this week was not the result the Warriors were looking for.

“For sure, we’ll be ready to go,” senior running back Cale Ledergerber said. “We definitely have to get win against Moline if we want to have a chance at making the playoffs. That’s really all there is to it.”

“At home for the last one, they should play their tails off,” coach Jon Schlemmer added. “We’re excited to get out and coach them for one more week, and we’ve got to find a way to win.”

As for Friday night’s game, here are a few takeaways:

Difference-maker

Coming into the game, Rock Island senior Garr Tarr had 110 carries for 530 yards and three touchdowns. But he was the man for the Rocks (2-6, 2-3) against Sterling, rushing 24 times for 221 yards and both Rock Island touchdowns.

The first gave the Rocks a 7-0 lead after two long runs, and the second was just as explosive.

After Sterling started the second half with a three-and-out, the Rocks got the ball and handed off to Tarr three times. He had runs of 33 and 26 to set up Rock Island at the Sterling 13-yard line, then took the next handoff and ran left, beating the Warriors defense into the end zone for a 14-7 lead just 1:12 into the second half.

“At the beginning of the game, our offense in general was just not clicking. Our coach had a talk with us, and everything just started clicking with us; I don’t even know what happened, really, but everything started going well,” Tarr said.

Rock Island’s defense made that stand up. Sterling had a couple of drives into Rock Island territory in the second half but couldn’t finish them off with points, turning the ball over on downs both times.

Then the Rocks offense took over, with a pair of drives that took more than 9 minutes off the clock in the final 13:29 to put the win on ice.

“Our defense just kept us in the game, every single time they came on the field, they came with energy. They didn’t put their heads down and blame the offense early on, they just made sure they played hard and got the job done every single possession,” Tarr said. “Our defense has been a great part of our team this whole entire year, … and they just came out and did their job again, like they’ve always been doing this whole season.”

Turning point

After the two offenses combined for just three first downs in their first 10 combined possessions, the Rocks got on the board quickly the sixth time they touched the ball.

Tarr ran for 47 and 26 yards on back-to-back plays, the second of which was a touchdown sprint where he outran the Sterling defense down the left sideline. It was a shocking burst of offense after a relatively uneventful first 19 minutes, as Rock Island scored in just 35 seconds.

“We played some good defense at times, but No. 2 [Tarr], credit to him, we just couldn’t make the tackles, and that’s kind of been a theme for us this year,” Schlemmer said. “We play against some good backs and we get them where we want them, and we just can’t finish. It’s just tough.”

“It definitely lit a fire under our butts to try to get back in the game,” Ledergerber added.

Sterling finds its groove

After Rock Island scored on a lightning-quick three-play drive, the Golden Warriors answered with their first sustained drive of the game.

Taking over with 6:07 left in the half, Sterling marched 66 yards in 16 plays, taking 5:52 off the clock before Joseph Holcomb dove in from 1 yard out on fourth-and-goal with 15.1 seconds left before the break. Ryan Gebhardt’s extra-point kick tied the score 7-7.

“We were just running the ball well,” Ledergerber said. “We didn’t really have to pass the ball much, which was good because it was raining, so there was no real grip to throw the ball, so we just ran it. We got it going there, and that’s really all there was to it.”

The Warriors had six of their seven first downs in the first half on that drive, and more than doubled their offensive yardage total. Sterling had just 38 yards of offense, and after a high snap on its first punt attempt resulted in a 32-yard loss, the Warriors had 6 net yards in the first quarter and a half.

That bad snap resulted in a turnover on downs on Sterling’s third possession, after a lost fumble and an interception ended the first two series.

But that was the only time the Warriors found the end zone. Despite a couple of forays into Rocks territory in the second half, Sterling couldn’t cash in.

Ledergerber finished with 103 yards on 22 carries, but the Warriors managed just 76 yards of offense other than that.