Sterling routs top-seeded Payton 50-0 in IHSA 5A football first round

CHICAGO – Sterling’s Cale Ledergerber had a feeling Saturday afternoon would be a good day for Sterling after the first play of its Class 5A first-round game against Payton.

The Warriors forced the Grizzlies’ kickoff return back into their own end zone and Sterling took the lead without snapping the ball.

“It was definitely a good start to the game,” Ledergerber said. “It set the tone for the game.”

Sterling never looked back after taking that early lead, dominating Payton on both sides of the ball to win 50-0. The Warriors went from barely making the postseason at 4-5 to becoming the first No. 16 seed to beat a No. 1 seed in the opening round of the Class 5A playoffs since 2018.

“It means a lot,” Ledergerber said. “Coming from being an underdog to besting the No. 1 seed, it means a lot.”

Sterling (5-5) showed off its determination to run the ball with four rushes on its first drive. Kaedon Phillips capped the drive with an 11-yard rushing score to give the Warriors a 8-0 lead with 10:35 left in the first quarter.

The offense kept humming when Drew Nettleton completed a 17-yard pass to Gabriel Celestino to give Sterling a 15-0 lead with 2:14 left in the first quarter. Nettleton found Phillips for a 38-yard touchdown and Andre Klaver scored on a 6-yard run in the second quarter before Ledergerber intercepted passes on consecutive drives and returned them for touchdowns to give Sterling a 43-0 lead at the half.

Will Ports scored on a 15-yard run in the third quarter to make it a 50-0 game.

Ledergerber finished with 106 rushing yards on nine runs while Klaver had 60 rushing yards on six runs. Nettleton completed five of his seven passes for 67 yards.

“It’s about the opportunities you get when they present themselves, how are you going to take advantage of those,” Sterling coach Jon Schlemmer said. “Clearly you saw what our kids were able to do tonight. I’m really proud of them.”

Sterling’s defense set the tone early after Payton regrouped on its first offensive drive and moved the ball down to the Warriors’ 21-yard line. The Grizzlies needed a yard to pick up the first down but the Warriors came up with the stop and did Payton’s most-successful drive.

“It was definitely a good start to the game. It set the tone for the game.”

—  Cale Lederberger, Sterling senior

Payton ended the game with 81 yards of total offense and the players credited that fourth-down stop on the Grizzlies’ drive for building a buzz for the rest of the team.

“It really gave us a lot of momentum,” Nettleton said. “It got our offense more hyped and the defense just played really well.”

Sterling will host St. Francis 8-2 in the second round of the playoffs. St. Francis won the first matchup 42-28 and Schlemmer knows how talented his second playoff opponent will be.

He’s ready for the test after picking up key wins to get to this point.

“They’ve got a lot of good players but we think we’ve got some good players too,” Schlemmer said. “We’re excited to just get the opportunity to go home and see what happens.”