Sterling falls short of 6th win with 45-31 loss at Moline

MOLINE – Big plays and a few too many mistakes cost Sterling in the regular-season finale against Moline on Friday night at Browning Field.

The Golden Warriors lost 45-31 to finish 5-4 and 4-2 in the Western Big 6 Conference as Moline (7-2, 5-1) won a fifth straight game on its senior night. Sterling will await its playoff fate as brackets are revealed Saturday night beginning at 8 p.m.

The Golden Warriors appear to be safely in with five wins and 34 playoff points entering the game.

Both teams punted only twice and neither had a turnover in the game, but Sterling had two turnovers on downs and struggled to stop the run as Moline had 288 yards on the ground. Adrian Cooper had 139 yards on 13 carries with three touchdowns for the Maroons.

Sterling senior Kaedon Phillips said Moline had some big players on the offensive line, which led to some wide openings.

“It wears on the guys, but as a coaching staff, they’re trying to help us and have us move around a lot,” he said, “but it was just a tough team.”

Sterling’s lone score in the first quarter was a 39-yard field goal from Ryan Gebhardt. It was his 17th career field goal as he becomes the program’s career leader in field goals.

Cooper’s first TD was the first score of the game, and Moline tacked on when its first pass after play action led to a 56-yard score from Eli Taylor to Nolan Ducey to help make it 14-3.

Taylor had a rushing touchdown 19 seconds before halftime that helped make it 28-17 at the break. Elijah Warren had a touchdown run and Ducey kicked a field goal after Sterling had a botched punt as the Maroons built a 38-17 lead midway through the third.

“They’re good,” Sterling coach Jon Schlemmer said. “Their backs run hard, and their quarterback orchestrates it all. He did a good job of getting it out in the flat tonight.”

Schlemmer said the team followed the adjustments, but there was only so much it could do against Moline’s size.

“We don’t have a bunch of big stature guys,” he said. “We’ve got to stop at the point of attack and try to get downhill. They’re a good offense. They had a really nice game plan and kudos to them. But it’s my job to get our kids in a little better position than we did tonight.”

Sterling’s first TD came from Cobey Shipma to make it 14-10 in the second quarter. Cooper’s second TD for Moline made it 21-10, but Phillips struck on Sterling’s first play of the ensuing drive as he took a 65-yard pass to the house just 10 seconds later.

Sterling continued to battle as another Shipma TD made it 38-24 with 11:55 left in the game. But Cooper answered with his biggest run, a 78-yard scamper with 10:07 left to make it 45-24.

Cooper said the Maroons weren’t thinking about what happened last season. Sterling finished last season with a 22-17 home win in OT over Moline.

“We just wanted to come out here, play for each other, play for the guys, play for the seniors,” the 6-foot, 185-pound senior tailback said. “We knew what we had to do to get it done, and we executed.”

Sterling missed out on a couple of potential big gains as there were open passes dropped and connections missed.

Sterling QB Drew Nettleton finished 13-of-19 passing for 186 yards and a touchdown. Shipma had 31 yards and two scores on 10 carries, and Cassens ran for 67 yards and a score on six carries. Phillips had 92 yards on five catches with a score to lead the receivers.

Taylor was 5-of-8 passing for 145 yards and a TD for Moline, including the 56-yard TD to Ducey and a 52-yard connection to Warren.

Moline averaged 6.7 yards per rush on 43 carries, while Sterling averaged 3.2 yards on 29 caries. The game ended with Moline in the victory formation and senior Bennett Gorgal taking the final snap after entering the game late to applause. Gorgal was the team’s starting center before tearing his ACL before the season.

“It’s a good challenge for our kids and something we have to figure out,” Schlemmer said. “How to stop that run game. They did a really nice job.”