Sterling City Nabs 1st State Title in Win over May
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Updated: December 16, 2020
Class 1A Division I State Championship Game
ARLINGTON - The Sterling City Eagles (14-0) and May Tigers (13-1) kicked off the 2020 University Interscholastic League slate of State Championship games - this one to settle the Class 1A Division I crown.
1Q
The teams wasted no time as each scored on their opening drives. May scored on their first play from scrimmage when Kaden Halk ran 67 yards for the score. Francisco Gonzales then answered for Sterling City capping their opening drive with an 11 yard TD run. Both teams scored the 2 point conversions making it 8-8 early on.
May turned the ball over on downs and Sterling City's Cross Knittel wove through the May defenders for a 27 yard score. The missed XP left SC with their first lead 14-8.
The Eagles found Halk wide open for his second score of the game. The 46 yard score and missed PAT left the teams knotted up at 14-14. Undaunted, Sterling City leaned on Knittel again as his consecutive runs left them 1/2 yard shy of a 1st. On the 4th down attempt it was another Knittel run and a sure first down. The running game setup a beautiful pass when Hudson Cox connected with Damian Calderon on a 30 yard TD score. Another missed PAT left Sterling City in the lead 20-14 with with 4:20 left in the quarter.
The May Tigers mixed up running and passing on the next drive. Sterling City was not impressed though, and intercepted a 4th down conversion attempt to regain possession. The Eagles had miscues of their own and faced a 4th and 2 as the quarter came to an end.
2Q
Sterling City not only converted the 4th down play but Knittel took a toss back and then found QB Hudson Cox open for 62 yards and the score. The PAT gave SC the lead 28-14. The May Tigers took over were unable to make anything happen. Facing 4th and 5, they came up short of the first down and turned the ball over.
Sterling City again went for the throat tossing a bomb to Calderon but he came down out of bounds. The Eagles were undaunted and two plays later, Knittel scrambled between the defenders for a 31 yard scoring run. With 7 minutes to go in the half, the Eagles led 36-14. After back to back scoreless drives, May answered strongly. Halk ran past defenders to catch a 41 yard TD pass from Blake Harrell in full stride. The conversion cut SC lead to 36-22.
A quick 42 yard pitch to Knittel, and accompanying PAT, was all Sterling City needed to regain their 22 point lead, 44-22. The first play of May's next drive was full of action as an option pass to Harrell seemed to have him heading into the end zone. The ball was stripped however, and recovered by Sterling City in their own end zone. Knittel continued to show his dominance as his next run brought him up to 200 yards rushing with over 4 minutes left in the first half. The Eagles showed no signs of slowing and rode the legs of Cross Knittel to paydirt. His 36 yard run went from sideline to sideline with cuts throughout before finishing in the end zone for his 4th touchdown of the game. Sterling City extended their lead to 30 points, 52-22.
With their backs nailed to the wall, May was unable to answer the call. Once again, they turned the ball over on down leaving Sterling City 59 seconds on the clock. Kas Johnson smelled blood and took the first Sterling City handoff the length of the field, 63 yards, for a score and a 38 point lead, 60-22.
Facing a crucial possession with only 36 seconds to go in the half, May was unable to get anything going. The teams went into the break knowing that a 45 point lead in the second half would invoke the Mercy Rule. This gave both coaches plenty to discuss during the break.
3Q
With the prospect of a Mercy Rule victory looming, Sterling City opened the second half needing just a single touchdown to end the game. One play into the second half, Calderon caught a TD pass and they were just an extra point play away from the win. With the kick, Sterling City won their first every state championship 68-22.
The Offensive MVP was Cross Knittel (pictured below) who finished with 249 yards rushing and 4 TDs. Chance Ferguson was Defensive MVP.
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