It was a snap: L-P's punt follies help Warriors advance

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Luke Hermes of Sterling celebrates after Sterling reclaimed the ball near the end of the first half on Friday evening's regional game in Sterling. (Chris Padgett/cpadgett@svnmail.com)

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STERLING – Macros Rivera won’t soon forget Friday night.

Alec McCleary probably hopes he won’t remember it.

Two punters rarely mean as much as they did during Sterling’s 23-6 first-round 5A playoff win over LaSalle-Peru at Roscoe Eades Stadium.

The players’ performances were summed up on a stretch late in the third quarter. Rivera boomed a 67-yard punt that pinned the Cavaliers at their own 8-yard line. Three plays later, McCleary was tackled by Chris Helfrich in the end zone for a safety, the result of a high snap.

The two points put Sterling ahead 16-6 with 1 minute, 19 seconds left in the third.

Two other times, McCleary could not handle a long snap and was tackled for a big loss. Those three failed punts led to 16 Sterling points.

“Special teams is one of the three phases of the game, and we definitely won that phase tonight,” Rivera said.

“Doing those little things out there make all the difference in a close game,” Rivera added.

For most of the first half, LaSalle-Peru (7-3) was poised to make the plays, big and small.

On the game’s opening drive, Cavs quarterback Sam Renk rolled to his left, drawing Sterling’s defensive backs toward the line of scrimmage. That allowed receiver Ryan Kurkowski to find an open spot, and Renk found him for a 53-yard touchdown. The extra-point kick was blocked to make the score 6-0.

Sterling’s offense struggled to get going in the muddy, sandy turf. The Golden Warriors (8-2) managed only three first downs in six first-half drives.

“We weren’t executing and were making a lot mistakes offensively that we usually don’t make,” senior quarterback Drew Neubauer said. “They were doing a lot of stuff that we had seen on tape from them during the season, but that they didn’t do last week.”

Sterling defeated LaSalle-Peru 27-7 in Week 9 of the regular season. The Warriors have won seven straight since a 1-2 start. Sterling will travel to play the winner of Saturday’s Washington-Rich East game in the second round.

The Cavaliers’ first failed punt came with a minute left in the first half, when the Warriors tackled McCleary on the 22-yard line.

Two plays later, Neubauer hit Dylan Eilers for a 24-yard touchdown on third-and-long. Salomon Ocampo’s kick gave Sterling a 7-6 lead 22 seconds before halftime.

The Warriors received the ball to start the second half, and Corey Judd scored his 20th touchdown of the season on a 53-yard run on the third play to put Sterling up 14-6. Judd had 100 yards on 23 carries.

Sterling sealed the win with a 2-yard touchdown run by Chevy Bushaw with 4 minutes, 23 seconds left in the game. The touchdown was set up when Rivera tackled McCleary at the 6-yard line on another failed snap.

“Getting that kind of field position helps us out a lot,” Neubauer said. “We weren’t moving the ball a lot and they weren’t letting us run the same stuff as last week. So that took the pressure off us.”

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