With boost from defense, Stratford's runners take charge

CUMMING -- Stratford didn't win the time of possession battle in its GHSA Class A private school quarterfinal victory over Pinecrest on Friday.

The battles the 10th-seeded Eagles won, however, came in takeaways and field position. And that allowed the team's deep running game to shine in a 43-15 victory over the second-seeded Paladins.

"That win shows that we can compete with anybody, if we can play our game and do what we're supposed to do," Stratford running back/defensive back O'Showen Williams said. "We don't win games on Friday. We do it during the week in practice, and we just focus."

Despite a four-minute edge in time of possession (26:11 to 21:49), Pinecrest's offense struggled to keep up with a Stratford offense that was too deep to be stopped.

Stratford's running back combination of Williams, Tyler Jordan and Kasey Sanders ran for 328 of Stratford's 339 yards on the ground, scoring five of the Eagles' six touchdowns. And with Pinecrest turning the ball over twice on fumbles in the first quarter and having just two possessions go into Stratford territory in the final three quarters, the Paladins (10-2) simply couldn't keep pace.

"It was good (to have the running game going), but the biggest thing was our defense," Stratford head coach Mark Farriba said. "Our defense played so well. It was a tough transition, because you go from one style of offense last week (against Calvary Day) to a totally different style of offense this week. It requires a lot of discipline and things, and I just thought our defense played so well.

"When a team like them or like us gets behind, it's awful hard to catch up."

In the first quarter, Pinecrest saw its first series end on downs at its own 35 before having its next two series end with fumbles. And while Stratford led just 7-0 after 12 minutes and gave up the lead briefly in the second quarter, the stage was set for a big night from the Eagles.

Friday night wasn't the first game this season that Stratford (9-3) enjoyed three 100-yard rushing performances. But it's that type of effort that allowed the Eagles to win without having to go to its passing game, which features a player who is committed to a Big Ten program.

Quarterback Sim Patrick completed just 1-of-8 passes, an 8-yarder to Wisconsin-bound Quintez Cephus in the first half. But with the Eagles' running game going as strong as it was, those passes just weren't needed.

For the season, the Stratford rushing trio has 2,960 yards and 35 touchdowns, with Williams at 1,325 yards and Sanders needing 90 to reach the 1,000-yard mark. Jordan has 714 yards.

"I knew they were going to key in on me, so I told Kasey and Tyler that they needed to step up," Williams said. "I knew one of them would go up, so I figured I would be able to get free sometimes. That's just what happened in the second half. I just ran hard, and they did, too."

It was in the final six minutes of the second quarter in which the flow of the game changed for good.

Pinecrest drove 81 yards on 10 plays -- much of the yardage coming on a 55-yard pass in which Pinecrest receiver Will Patota came up with the ball against double coverage -- to tie things up with 6:23 to go in the second quarter. But the Paladins didn't get much in the way of favorable field position after that, and that's when Stratford took over.

Sanders' 47-yard touchdown run on the ensuing drive swung momentum Stratford's way. Pinecrest was held inside its own 15 following a block in the back call on the kickoff, and the Eagles regained possession near midfield for a nine-play drive that quarterback Sim Patrick capped with a 1-yard dive to put Stratford up 22-7 just before halftime.

Stratford iced things in the second half with three more touchdowns. By the time Pinecrest's offense made it back to the Stratford side of the field early in the fourth quarter, the game was well in hand.

"We knew it was going to be a tough matchup coming into the game," Williams said. "They were a trick play team. We just had to be disciplined and do what we had to do individually to win the game."

Up next for Stratford is its third meeting of the season with Aquinas. The Eagles lost both previous meetings, a regular-season game and the Region 7-A championship game, both played in Macon.

Should Stratford figure out a way to beat Aquinas on Friday in Augusta, the reward of a championship game in the Georgia Dome awaits.

"It means everything (to make it this deep in the playoffs)," Sanders said. "It's why I want to be here. I want to go to the Dome."

This story was originally published November 28, 2015 at 4:22 PM with the headline "With boost from defense, Stratford's runners take charge ."