Stanwood brings Stilly Cup back home
Published 11:42 pm Friday, October 31, 2008
STANWOOD — Brad Gee is certainly glad he won’t be judged on his performance during Friday’s game strictly on the first six minutes.
After turning the ball over on Stanwood’s first two possessions, the junior running back rebounded to rush for 226 yards and three touchdowns on 34 carries, and the Spartans withstood a late Arlington rally to win 48-39 in the annual Stilly Cup on Friday at Stanwood High School.
“The first half didn’t go my way but I knew if I kept working hard, everything could change in a moment,” Gee said.
It certainly did as the Spartans ended Arlington’s bid to capture the Wesco North’s final remaining playoff spot.
“We did bring that up, but I don’t think that was our big motivation,” Stanwood coach Dick Abrams said. “I think our thing was playing at home and really salvaging our season. We haven’t been that bad of a team. We’ve had a lot of injuries and things like that. I think we’re better than our record and it’s nice to get out here and play a good team.”
“It was nice,” Gee added. “It’s a big rivalry game. It’s been going since who knows when and it’s nice to come out and throw down some hard hits and get in there and make sure we have some bragging rights for the rest of the year.”
Devon Wooldridge added 89 yards on 16 carries and three first half touchdowns for Stanwood.
“I think we executed really well on offense,” Abrams said. “We ran some different things this week that we haven’t run before but I thought out kids did a real nice job making it happen and doing the right thing.”
Things didn’t start out perfectly on senior night, however.
Gee was intercepted on a halfback pass on Stanwood’s first possession and fumbled on its second. His fumble was picked up by Arlington’s Jake Parduhn, who returned it 12 yards for the game’s first touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 6:15 to play in the opening quarter.
Wooldridge responded with two touchdown runs and Stanwood never trailed again, though Arlington continued to battle in the back-and-forth first half. Eagles’ quarterback Andy Smith passed for two touchdowns, before Wooldridge and Gee each added another touchdown to give the Spartans a 28-21 halftime lead.
Ryan Schroyer’s 40-yard interception return for a touchdown made it 34-21 with 10:38 to play in the third quarter.
Gee followed with touchdown runs of 13 and 20 yards, sandwiched around an 8-yard touchdown run by Parduhn to make it 48-27 and it looked like Stanwood had taken control.
But then Arlington made it interesting.
Smith scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to cap a seven-play, 70-yard drive. Then the Eagles recovered an onside kick and scored again to make it 48-39 with 1:49 to play. But Stanwood’s Dan McGlinchy blocked the point-after attempt, sealing the victory for Stanwood.
“We don’t always execute the best, but they never quit,” Arlington coach Greg Dailer said of his team. “Stanwood played really well tonight – they were really prepared. I give them all the credit, they played a great game.”
Arlington quarterback Smith completed 20 of 33 passes for 322 yards and three touchdowns. He was also intercepted twice.
Smith kept it close as Stanwood all but eliminated Arlington’s ground attack.
“Our defense played well when they had to,” Abrams said. “Our secondary play wasn’t great all the time, but we did stop them from running and doing the things that they do well.”
At Stanwood H.S.
Arlington714018—39
Stanwood721137—48
A—Parduhn 12 fumble recovery (Larson kick)
S—Wooldridge 3 run (Schmidt kick)
S—Wooldridge 4 run (Schmidt kick)
A—Varnell 3 pass from Smith (kick failed)
S—Gee 5 run (Schmidt kick)
A—Lindberg 63 pass from Smith (Shell pass from Smith)
S—Wooldridge 2 run (Schmidt kick)
S—Schroyer 40 int. return (kick failed)
S—Gee 13 run (Schmidt kick)
A—Parduhn 8 run (kick failed)
S—Gee 20 run (Schmidt kick)
A—Smith 1 run (pass failed)
A—Lindberg 24 pass from Smith (kick blocked)
Records—Arlington 2-4 league, 5-4 overall. Stanwood 3-3, 3-5.
