Football Routs Chicago King in Playoff Opener

The Sterling Golden Warriors left no doubt as to who the better team was in their first round playoff game vs. Chicago King. The Jaguars (7-3) came into the game with three Division 1 recruits, but Sterling (8-2) still dominated the game from start to finish and recorded a 41-0 victory.

The Golden Warriors got the offense rolling early with a six-play, 65-yard drive that was punctuated by Joe Schneiderbauer’s 35-yard TD run just 3:26 into the game. Raciel Ocampo kicked the PAT to give Sterling a 7-0 lead.

Sterling forced King into a “three and out” on their first possession, and aided by short punt, took the ball at the King 43-yard line. Four plays later, Schneiderbauer again found pay dirt, this time from 25 yards out. Ocampo booted another PAT to make the score 14-0 with 4:18 left in the 1st quarter.

The Jaguars had their best drive of the game on their next possession, moving 63 yards on 9 plays. After a sack by D.J. Jones, the drive bogged down at the Sterling 20-yard line and the Jaguars turned the ball over on downs. The Golden Warriors took over and methodically picked apart the King defense with a 17-play, 80-yard drive that drained 8:54 off the clock. Aaron Cooksey capped off the drive with a 9-yard TD run. Ocampo drilled another PAT and boosted the Golden Warrior lead to 21-0 with 3:06 left in the half.

The Sterling defense forced another “three and out” on King’s next possession and the offense set up shop on their own 30-yard line. QB Cory Renner then led the Golden Warriors on a 7-play drive and finished it off himself with a nifty 23-yard TD run with 0:44 left in the half. Ocampo made it 28-0 with another perfect PAT kick.

The second half was short and sweet. Sterling scored two more times on long, clock-grinding drives. Renner added an 11-yard TD run that capped off a 12-play, 70-yard drive that took 7:06 off the clock. Back-up QB Niko Rivera finished the Golden Warrior scoring with a 15-yard TD run late in the 4th quarter.

Sterling finished the game with 420 rushing yards and 450 total yards of offense while limiting King to 116 total yards. The Golden Warriors had 23 first downs and held King to just five.

Schneiderbauer led the offense with 155 yards on 15 carries. He also caught a 26-yard pass from Renner. Cooksey added 61 yards on 12 carries. Codtey Albright carried 7 times for 49 yards and Renner had 46 yards on 6 carries. Rivera had two carries for 30 yards.

Sterling set a school record for most lop-sided playoff victory, surpassing a 26 point (33-7) win over Peoria (Notre Dame) in 1991.

With the victory, Sterling advances to the second round of the Class 5A playoffs. They will travel to Rochelle next Saturday (11/4, 1:00 p.m.) to take on the Hubs, a 14-0 winner at Geneseo on Saturday.

Sterling Vs. King Boxscore