Freshman Football

SHS Varsity VS Clear Brook

By Madison Mosley 12/01/2020, 9:00pm CST

The Spartans topped Clear Brook on a wet and stormy afternoon at Challenger Columbia Stadium.

Stratford ends the season with a 6-4 record overall and 4-3 in district play. Three of the losses were down to the wire and decided by 7 points or less. The team was in a 3 way tie for the last two playoff spots and missed out on the tiebreaker by two points.

Congratulations to the coaching staff and Class of 2021 for reestablishing a winning program and building a foundation for the younger players to have further success next year.

The game against Clear Brook came down to timely defensive stops and offensive plays in the fourth quarter. The torrential downpour made it difficult at times to move the ball. Nevertheless, Darese Steptoe scored first for the Spartans on a 61 yard touchdown run. Late in the fourth quarter, AJ Abbott ran a QB sneak for the go ahead score.

With a couple of minutes to go, the defense held on fourth down and the offense was able to run out the clock.

Notable defensive play from Cooper King, who was all over the place and recorded 10 tackles. Both Drew Arend and Lennon Garcia also stood out with 6 tackles and several tackles for loss.

Offensive Stats

Passing

Abbott 11/19 for 180 yards

Rushing

Steptoe 17 for 94 yards, 1 TD

Denson 10 for 49 yards

Moseley 4 for 40 yards

Receiving

Denson 3 for 44

Polley 3 for 37

Moseley 2 for 57

Steptoe 2 for 28

Kight 1 for 14

Varsity Stratford Football versus Jersey Village

By Madison Mosley 11/16/2020, 6:45pm CST

Stratford - 35 Jersey Village – 42

The varsity team went to Pridgeon Stadium and almost walked out with an exciting victory. The game went down to the wire and had many exciting plays. The Spartans are still in the playoff hunt with one district game remaining.

Jersey Village opened up a 21-7 lead, but as time expired in the first half, AJ Abbott hit Ben Moseley for a 50 yard hail mary to cut the deficit to 7.

In the second half, Abbott found Moseley again for a 33 yard score and then hit Hawkins Polley on a 61 yard strike to tie the game at 28. Jersey Village would score again to make it 35-28.

On an exciting trick play late in the third quarter, Stratford had driven down to the 14 and looked to kick a field goal. However, after receiving the snap, the holder Cullen Purcell stood up and fired a 14 yard TD pass to Ben Moseley who had walked to the edge of the field prior to the snap as if to leave the field. Jersey Village never saw him and the score was tied at 35-35.

Jersey Village would score once more for the final. Notable defensive plays were fumble recoveries by Drew Arend and Anthony Cuhel. Brecken Minuet had 13 tackles, Cooper King 11, Dylan Shoemake 10, Reco Grffin 8, Drew Arend and Austin LaRue had 7.

Passing Stats - AJ Abbott went 10 for 23, 224 yards and 3 TDs. Cullen Purcell 1/1 14 yds, 1 TD.

Rushing – Darese Steptoe 17 carries, 45 yards and 1 TD, Diego Denson 8 carries, 43 yds.

Receiving – Moseley 6 for 125 yards, 3 TDs, Polley 3 for 84 yards and a TD, Denson 2 for 24 yards

Special teams – Besides the trick play, all extra points were hit by Giancarlo Chelala. Also observed beautiful snaps on kicks and punts from All American long snapper Connor Able who was back after Grayson Stein filled in admirably last week. Josh Brand hit some nice punts into a strong wind. And finally, great blocking on kick returns with Steptoe going 70 yards on one and Moseley 75 on another.

HUGE WIN AS VARSITY DEFEATS CY CREEK 48-44

By Madison Mosley 11/09/2020, 6:15pm CST

A thrilling shootout erupted at Tully Stadium as Stratford held on for the victory, moving them right back into playoff contention with a 3-2 District record. Jersey Village and Northbrook are the remaining District foes.

The offense roared to life in this game with AJ Abbott tossing 4 TD passes and rushing for another. The coaches went to the air early and often and then followed up with a variety of sweeps, screens, and options which kept Cy Creek off balance for the entire game. Blocking by the line, the backs, and the receivers was strong all night, contributing to long runs, including the go ahead 17 yard scamper by Darese Steptoe with just a few minutes left.

After a great outing last week, the defense came up huge with several sacks and turnovers this week, which were ultimately the difference in the game. The line and linebackers were active all night, holding Cy Creek’s rushing attack in check and forcing fumbles by the Cy Creek QB. In addition, Anthony Cuhel had an early interception and Perry Pope had the game clinching interception with just a couple minutes remaining in the game.

Special teams came up big with Dylan Shoemake blocking an extra point, Axel Waguespack recovering a kickoff, and Giancarlo Chelala connecting on two field goals.