Football: Stillwater storms into section title game

OAK PARK HEIGHTS - Thanks to a 10-day layoff since its last game, Stillwater dressed up like a healthy football team for Halloween.

The Ponies also played the part of top seed while pulling away for a 42-21 Section 2AAAAA semifinal victory over Irondale on Saturday at Pony Stadium.

Stillwater (9-0) racked up a season-best 408 yards and scored three defensive touchdowns while stopping the fourth-seeded Knights (6-4) to earn a spot in Friday's section finals. The second-ranked Ponies, who are seeking their first trip to state since 2006, will host Mounds View on Friday at Pony Stadium. The two-time defending section champion Mustangs defeated Roseville 28-0 in the semifinals on Saturday.

Quarterback Miles Heller celebrated his return to the huddle by completing 13 of 24 passes for a school record 279 yards. The senior, who missed the past two games with a broken thumb, was one of several Ponies who took advantage of the quarterfinal bye to recover from an assortment of injuries.

Running back Jesse George, who rushed for 133 yards on 30 attempts, and fullback Evan Heinbigner, who caught three passes for 44 yards, also returned to the backfield. Junior Paxton Harvieux also returned to convert all six of his extra-point kicks for the Ponies.

"The bye was big," Ponies coach Scott Hoffman said. "We got a lot of guys healthy."

Facing an Irondale offense that was averaging more than 400 yards per game, Stillwater forced four turnovers and returned three of them for touchdowns to help break open an otherwise tight game.

The teams were tied 14-all at halftime and the Knights recovered a perfectly executed on-side kick to start the second half and quickly drove inside the Stillwater 20. Eric Bradley sacked Irondale quarterback Tim Colwell for a 10-yard loss and the Ponies turned up the heat again on a fourth-and-long play.

Jake Lammi forced a Colwell fumble that was picked up by linebacker Jeremy Gillard and returned 55 yards for a touchdown and a 21-14 lead with 8:27 remaining in the third.

"I was blitzing off the outside and then I saw the quarterback get hit really hard by Jake and fumbled," Gillard said. "We're always taught to scoop and score."

The Knights never recovered as Gillard's touchdown provided a huge boost for the Ponies while reeling off 28 straight points in the second half. Gillard recorded a school-record 51 defensive points, finishing with 10 solo tackles and 4 assists. Andrew Rose led the Ponies with 11 solo tackles and finished with 40 defensive points.

"They get an on-side kick and had all the momentum in the world and we turn around and score," Hoffman said. "That's a huge play."

With the touchdown, Stillwater's defense has now scored more points than it has allowed in the third quarter this season. The Ponies have outscored opponents 65-0 in the third quarter and 125-29 in the second half of games.

Stillwater outgained the Knights 282-210 during a lively opening half, but the Ponies remained tied after turning the ball over twice on downs in Irondale territory.

"All the coaches were kind of saying the same thing (at halftime)," Hoffman said. "Let's get out there and play. It's almost like we were giving them too much respect. Let's go out and play Stillwater football. The second half has been a real strong half for us all year so let's take it to them. Obviously the defense the second half - what an explosive game they had - and offensively, I just thought overall we were much more physical in the second half."

The Ponies also scored on their first offensive possession in the second half after marching 76 yards in eight plays, capped by Jesse George's second touchdown of the game on an 8-yard run with 4:05 remaining in the third. George broke free for 24 yards and Heller hooked up with Andrew Nepp for a 23-yard gain on Stillwater's first two plays of the drive.

Nepp, who is averaging 19.5 yards per reception this season, finished with five catches for 128 yards.

"He is Mr. Dependable," Hoffman said. "He is very solid and he's our long-snapper, too."

Stillwater punted on its only offensive possession of the fourth quarter, but still scored 14 points after Gillard intercepted a Colwell pass and returned it 58 yards for his second touchdown of the game with 5:30 remaining for a 35-14 lead.

"My zone was curl to flat and I saw the guy going into the flat so I just cut under him and got the ball," Gillard said. "I was really surprised. It's just a great feeling."

Just seconds later, Colwell was stripped again by Parker Adams - his second forced fumble of the game - and Andrew Rose picked it up and returned 38 yards for a touchdown and a 42-14 lead with 5:11 remaining.

With its three fumble/interception returns, the Stillwater defense nearly compiled as many return yards (151) as the Knights gained on offense (153) in the second half.

Thanks to four more takeaways on Saturday, the Ponies feature a plus-17 turnover ratio this season.

With the game out of reach, Irondale scored a late touchdown to become the first team to score more than two touchdowns in a game against Stillwater this season. The Ponies are allowing just 8.2 points per game.

Led by Colwell, a slippery dual threat quarterback, Irondale is not an easy team to defend with its wide open no-huddle offense. Running back Cory Canaday carried 24 times for 127 yards and caught five passes for 34 yards while Colwell rushed for 88 yards on 21 attempts and completed 12 of 27 passes for 148 yards.

"The coaches spend a lot of time and (defensive coordinator Mark Elmer) did an unbelievable job getting set for a no-huddle offense," Hoffman said. "You've got to get kids organized and they have to understand sets and they have to understand the calls and all that. It takes a lot of practice and organization and they did it.

"We just wanted to keep (Colwell) from getting the big ones. I thought we did a pretty good job on him. Our kids put hits on him."

Heller, meanwhile, showed no lingering effects from the thumb injury that sidelined him the past previous two games. The senior didn't miss a beat, completing his first three throws and racking up 244 passing yards by halftime.

"I was really excited to start playing again," Heller said. "It felt fine. I think it's almost 100 percent right now. I felt like I was ready and it feels really good."

By mid-week, Hoffman could tell throwing would not be an issue for Heller, although he did not resume punting duties because they don't want to take a chance any chances and because Aaron Bunton has filled in nicely.

"Bunton has been doing fine so there's no reason to switch," the coach said. "We saw how well he was throwing in practice. The only thing we were worried about was the snap."

A Heller to Nepp hook-up for 32 yards and a roughing the passer penalty on the play helped set up Stillwater's first touchdown. George ran in off left-tackle for a 2-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 3:15 remaining in the first. Heinbigner also picked up a key first down on the drive with a 13-yard catch and run on a third-and-11 play near midfield.

The Knights answered on their ensuing possession as Colwell capped an eight-play, 77-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run to even the score at 7-all with 50 seconds remaining in the first quarter. The key play on the drive was a 38-yard pass to Brandon Kedrowski on third-and-10. Colwell escaped a swarming pass rush before finding Kedrowski on a desperation throw down the right sideline.

A holding penalty - one of nine penalties for 71 yards - backed Stillwater up near its goal line and gave the Knights strong starting field position midway through the second quarter. Colwell needed just one play to find Kedrowski on a 34-yard touchdown pass for a 14-7 lead.

Stillwater responded with a six-play, 71-yard drive to even the score when Nepp hauled in a 42-yard scoring pass from Heller with 7:12 left in the half. Nepp and a defensive back both slipped on the play, but Nepp regained his footing quickly enough to run under the ball and make the catch.

"He's really sure-handed and he just made plays," Heller said.

Irondale also backed itself up with 11 penalties for 85 yards.

Irondale 7 7 0 7 - 21

Stillwater 7 7 14 14 - 42

St - Jesse George 2 run (Paxton Harvieux kick) 3:15.

Ir - Tim Colwell 1 run (Vasco Poppe kick) :50.

Ir - Brandon Kedrowski 34 pass from Colwell (Poppe kick) 8:43.

St - Andrew Nepp 43 pass from Miles Heller (Harvieux kick) 7:12.

St - Jeremy Gillard 55 fumble return (Harvieux kick) 8:27.

St - George 8 run (Harvieux kick) 4:05.

St - Gillard 58 interception return (Harvieux kick) 5:30.

St - Andrew Rose 38 fumble return (Harvieux kick) 5:11.

Ir - Cory Canaday 1 run (Poppe kick) 2:37.

Team stats

Ir St

First downs 23 21

Rushes-yards 46-215 39-129

Passing yards 148 279

Total yards 363 408

Comp-Att-Int. 12-27-2 13-24-1

Fumbles/lost 3/2 1/1

Penalties/yards 11/85 9/71

Punts/avg. 3/34.3 3/29.0

Individual statistics

Rushing - Ir: Cory Canaday 24-127 and Tim Colwell 21-88; St: Jesse George 30-133, Jack Baglio 1-7, Samuel Magilke 2-5, Zach Gardner 1-4 and Miles Heller 5-(-20).

Passing (com-att-yds-td-int) - Ir: Tim Colwell 12-27-148-1-2; St: Miles Heller 13-24-279-1-1.

Receiving - Ir: Brandon Kedrowski 4-79, Cory Canaday 5-34, Taylor Sweeley 2-34 and Kevin Poster 1-1; St: Andrew Nepp 5-128, Carson Cannon 3-87, Evan Heinbigner 3-44, Josh Green 1-12 and Ryan Duxbury 1-8.

Kickoff returns - Ir: Kareem Korngor 2-32, Nick Lucas 2-24, Caleb Mendoza 1-17 and Brandon Kedrowski 1-15; St: Justin Bernardin 1-1.

Punt returns - Ir: none; St: Justin Bernardin 2-1.

Interceptions - Ir: Nick Lucas 1-0; St: Jeremy Gillard 1-58 and Justin Bernardin 1-12.

Fumble recoveries - Ir: none; St: Jeremy Gillard 1-55 and Andrew Rose 1-38.

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