Sterling High School Athletics

Football: Warriors Win Wild One at Dixon

DIXON – The Sterling Golden Warriors improved to 5-1 overall and remained alone in first place in the NCIC (Reagan) at 3-0 with a thrilling 42-28 victory over Dixon (1-5, 1-2). Sterling had a comfortable halftime lead of 21 points, but the Dukes stormed back to tie the game at 28-28 with 6:29 left. The Golden Warriors, however, would score two late TDs to salt away the victory. The win was the 17^th consecutive regular season road victory for Sterling.

Sterling got off to a great start on the game’s opening drive by covering 66 yards in seven plays and got on the scoreboard with a six-yard TD run by Lazaro Sifuentes. Raciel Ocampo added the PAT kick to give Sterling a 7-0 lead.

The Golden Warriors forced Dixon to a three and out on their first possession and bumped the lead to 14-0 with 4:16 left in the 1^st quarter as Jake Hermes out-ran the Dixon defense from 29 yards out.

Dixon narrowed the Sterling lead to 14-7 with 1:17 left in the 1^st as Ben Emmole scored on a 21-yard TD run, but the Golden Warriors answered right away with another TD run by Hermes – this time on a 45-yard run. Ocampo’s PAT gave Sterling a 21-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Hermes scored his third TD of the first half on a 25-yard run with 1:32 left in the 2^nd quarter and the Golden Warriors enjoyed a 28-7 halftime lead.

The Dukes, however, were not going to go down without a fight. Their defense kept Sterling out of the end zone for most of the second half and also forced two huge turnovers. Dixon’s offense also started to click and the result was 21 straight Duke points and a tie game with 6:29 left in the 4^th.

The first Dixon score of the 2^nd half came on a 57-yard interception return by Jake Blackburn early in the 3^rd quarter. Shortly after a Sterling fumble with 4:57 left in the 3^rd, Jordan Kettler took one in from seven yards out for the Dukes to make the score 28-21. Bryce Lumzy then raced 19 yards for the game-tying TD on Dixon’s next possession and it was a brand new ballgame.

Hermes returned the ensuing kickoff to midfield and the Golden Warriors’ offense started to have some success again. However, the drive stalled at the Dixon 21-yard line and Ocampo was called upon for a 38-yard field goal attempt with 3:30 left to play. His kick was wide left, but a roughing the kicker penalty on Dixon gave Sterling a first down at the Dukes’ 10 yard line. Hermes then put the Golden Warriors on top to stay with a 10-yard TD run.

Dixon’s second comeback attempt of the night was thwarted by Hermes as he picked off a pass near midfield. Niko Rivera later added the final score of the night with a 30-yard TD run with 0:35 left to play to give Sterling a 42-28 victory.

Hermes had another stellar evening for Sterling as he rushed for 192 yards and 4 TDs on 21 carries. Sifuentes added 47 yards and a TD on 10 carries, while Rivera was 5 of 8 passing for 103 yards. His favorite target on the night was Clay Hadley who caught 3 balls for 69 yards.

Sterling returns to Roscoe Eades Stadium for the final three games of the regular season, the first of which will be against the LaSalle-Peru Cavaliers on Homecoming this coming Friday night. L-P brings a 4-2 overall record into the contest. They are 1-2 in the NCIC (Reagan) after a hard-fought 3-0 loss at Geneseo.

The Golden Warriors’ win over Dixon qualified them for the IHSA playoffs for a school-record sixth consecutive season.

Sterling Vs. Dixon Boxscore
Sterling Vs. Dixon Radio Broadcast
Sterling Vs. Dixon Audio Highlights