Warriors Held Scoreless in Second Half; Lose to #16 Evangel

Sterling, Kan. – The Warriors were home again Saturday evening against the 16^th ranked Evangel University Valor. SC put in a solid first half, and in fact were leading into the final minutes of the first half, before being held scoreless the final 30 minutes. Sterling lost 38-14.

The Warriors showed they were not intimidated by the highly ranked Valor as they received the ball first and marched the ball right down the field after Jakobi Spence returned the ball 43 yards on the kickoff. After reaching the redzone, Sterling fumbled the ball and the Valor took over. On the first play for the Valor, RB Eric Williams took the ball straight up the middle and didn't stop until he reached the house giving Evangel the early 7-0 lead. Evangel settle for a field goal on their next possession and made it 10-0 Evangel.

A couple of possessions later, Sterling was able to strike when Jordan Slocum found Ryan Stucky behind the Valor defense and hit him in stride for an 83 yard touchdown. Jacob Jimenez completed the PAT to make it 7-10 early in the second quarter. After trading turnovers, Kendrick Bell reached paydirt on a 15 yard scamper on 4^th down and 3 and Sterling had a 14-10 lead midway through the second quarter. Evangel methodically moved the ball down the field and scored a touchdown to take the lead before halftime after a drive that took over six and a half minutes off the clock. Evangel held the halftime lead at 17-14, and they were to receive the second half kickoff.

The second half belonged to the Valor as they outscored Sterling 21-0 in the final two quarters. Adding the touchdown just before the half and Evangel scored 28 unanswered points that put the game out of reach. Sterling ended up taking a 38-14 loss.

Sterling had 262 yards of total offense in the loss. It was a well-balanced attack with 144 yards in the air and 118 yards on the ground. Slocum took the majority of the snaps and he was 4-9 for 116 yards passing. The big throw to Stucky being the big play of his night. Rocklin Baptista was 6-8 for 28 yards as he split time with Slocum from the QB position. Baptista was also the leading rusher for the Warriors with 47 yards rushing. Stucky had a 100 yard game receiving with 3 receptions totaling an even 100 yards and a TD. Kendrick Bell was the workhorse RB for Sterling with 13 carries for 38 yards and the TD midway through the second quarter that gave Sterling the lead.

Special Teams was effective with Jakobi Spence leading the way. He had 2 kick returns for 69 yards really helping the field position from the opening kickoff. Spence also had an interception and return for 38 yards. Dexter Walker Jr. had his fingerprint all over the game as well, with an interception and 6 tackles. Flin Cameron led the defense with 9 tackles and a sack on his stat line, the first sack of the season.

The Warriors hit the road next weekend to Lindsborg, Kan. to take on the Bethany College Swedes as SC looks for its first win of the season.