SANFORD – The Sanford Spartans went back in time, at the request of their coach, and pulled out an old-time 21-6 football victory, beating the Scarborough Red Storm Friday night at Stephen A. Cobb Stadium

Sanford pounded the football inside for 200 yards rushing, while eating up nearly two-thirds of the clock (almost 32 minutes to just over 16 minutes for Scarborough).

“Offensively, we told the guys we were going to play this game like it was 1955,” Sanford Coach Mike Fallon said. “We’re going to slow this thing down and try to keep the ball out of their hands. The kids executed the plan.”

Josh Schroder led the execution, rushing 29 times for 123 yards. He also threw for a 30-yard touchdown on a halfback pass, intercepted a pass and performed the punting chores.

No wonder he cramped up late in the third quarter and briefly left the game.

“And I’ve been drinking water all week, too,” Schroder said.

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Scarborough’s initial play of the game was a deep pass, which Schroder broke up. Fallon let out a breath.

“They have some real threats,” Fallon said. “We felt like they could hit home runs from all over the place. We really worked hard to make sure we didn’t give up the big one.”

Sanford held Scarborough to 130 yards offense. If it were not for Red Storm quarterback Ben Greenberg scrambling for a 24-yard touchdown on fourth down, the Spartans may have had a shutout.

Greenberg’s score, following a fumble recovery on Sanford’s 21, gave Scarborough a 6-0 first-quarter lead.

Then it was all Spartans. Schroder’s 1-yard score in the second quarter capped a 14-play drive, tying the game 6-6.

Sanford’s Colby Perigo blocked a punt with 39 seconds in the half, at Scarborough’s 30. On the first play, Schroder took a pitch from quarterback Chase Eldredge, but then dropped back and passed to a wide-open John Morgan in the end zone. Schroder ran in the 2-point conversion for a 14-6 halftime lead.

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To start the second half, Scarborough went three plays and punted. Sanford got the ball and drove 68 yards in 11 plays, Schroder finishing with a 3-yard run.

Scarborough could not come back, throwing two interceptions (to Slade Watson and Schroder) and losing a fumble (recovered by Haris Layn).

“Turnovers, fumbled snaps, penalties. We just had no consistency on offense,” Scarborough Coach Lance Johnson said. “Our defense played tough. We made them earn it.”

Besides the players making the turnovers, Sanford was led on defense by tackle Jed Scott and defensive ends Nick Love and Nick Veino.

Kevin Thomas can be contacted at 791-6411 or at:

kthomas@pressherald.com

Twitter: KevinThomasPPH

 


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