BYRON – Stillman Valley coach Mike Lalor earned his 100th career victory with a 56-15 win at Byron Friday.
The three-time state championship coach is in his 10th season with the Cardinals, which gives him an average of 10 wins per season.
“I think that says a lot about the great teams and great players we’ve had here,” Lalor said. “You don’t get to 100 wins that quickly without having an outstanding amount of kids through the years.”
The Cardinals (6-0) clinched a playoff spot for the ninth time in Lalor’s career with the road win.
Four different players had at least 88 rushing yards for Stillman Valley. Shay Bubnack led the way with 154 yards and three touchdowns on seven carries. Alex Cox followed with 128 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries. Cody Brewington added 125 yards and one TD on 11 carries, and Keegan Myrvold had 88 yards on 11 rushes.
“They’re an outstanding team, and they have a lot of weapons you have to stop,” Byron coach Mike Elsbury said. “Eventually, they’re going to get to you. It comes down to matching up with their personnel, and this year they really outmatched us.”
Byron (1-5) scored all its points in the first quarter on a 21-yard run by Andrew Smith and a 49-yard run by Kyle Smith. Stillman Valley matched the Tigers with two first-quarter, 1-yard TD runs by Cox.
The Cardinals added a 34 run by Bubnack and a 61 run by Brewington in the second, and they led 29-15 at halftime. Stillman Valley dominated the game after the break, allowing Byron just 19 offensive yards and recovering two Tiger fumbles.
Stillman Valley tacked on four more TD runs. Two came from Bubnack (33 and 25 yards), one from Cox (34 run) and Nick Peterson ended the game with a 2-yard run.
“Our linebackers weren’t hitting a couple of gaps, and we got that changed at halftime,” said Lalor, whose team had 21 first downs compared to Byron’s seven.
“I think our kids really came out and played hard after the first half, because at halftime it was still a close game.”
Kyle Smith finished with 103 yards on 12 carries for Byron.
- Emily Tropp, rrstar.com
