STILLMAN VALLEY - After Stillman Valley's 21-0 win over Richmond-Burton, what impressed coach Mike Lalor most was how coachable this year's team is.
Dressing only 23 players, the Cardinals gave R-B a textbook lessen in effective labor practices.
"In practice, only one person sets in scrimmages," Lalor said. "Everyone gets reps. That's helps in a game."
Whether it was Shawn Cox and Alex Cox grinding long drives behind the interior front five of Dylan Bensen, Barry Glaudel, Cole Bishop, Zach Diehl and Tyler Engel, or Brandon Watts coming up with big stops on defense, everyone was getting into the act for Stillman.
The Cardinals even demonstrated multiple touchdown passers. Shay Bubnack connected with Matt Arnold on a 41-yard halfback pass for Stillman's first score.
Bubnack made it 13-0 with a minute left in the first half on a 53-yard reception from quarterback Cody Brewington.
"If the weather wasn't so bad, I think we would have passed more," Lalor said. "They were loaded up at the line."
In between both touchdowns, Bubnack had a crushing block on a Brandon Schwengels punt return to midfield, helping to set up the second score.
"Brandon made a nice cut back and I came in late," Bubnack said. "That was a nice one."
Alex Cox put the game away in the third quarter on a fourth down, 5-yard touchdown run. That capped off a 13-play, 65-yard drive, keyed by a Shawn Haas fourth-down reception.
"Lalor does a great job with them," R-B coach Pat Elder said. "Once they got up 13-0, that's like 35-0 for a lot of teams."
The Rockets were able to force Stillman to turn the ball over on downs five times, but unable to get anything going offensively themselves, especially on counters. They did drive to the 10-yard line just before half, but fumbled.
The best play of the game for R-B was a 60-yard punt downed at Stillman's 2-yard line. For the game, the Rockets were forced to punt seven times.
"Actually, (R-B) played a pretty solid game," Lalor said. "I was pleased with how disciplined we were."
- Andy Colbert, rrstar.com
