FOOTBALL: Stoney Creek runs roughshod on Rochester, likely knocks rivals from postseason picture
BY DAN STICKRADT
SENIOR EDITOR
dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com
Twitter: @LocalSportsFans
ROCHESTER — Apparently those around Rochester Stoney Creek’s football team remembered last season’s Week 9 team defeat to Rochester.
Oh, boy, did they remember.
Stoney Creek defeated Rochester in all phases of the game Friday and sacked Rochester with a humiliating 40-14 OAA crossover defeat.
The Cougars rolled up 389 yards of offense and defensively held the Falcons to 154 yards total offense while sacking Rochester quarterback Brent Burtraw six times in the contest.
Stoney Creek saw its season end in the 2015 finale by the hands of Rochester — a 30-16 loss. The Falcons entered this year’s regular season finale with a 5-3 record this season with a postseason berth on the line.
The Cougars knocked Rochester form the postseason picture.
“You know, never in my 45 years of coaching have I had a team that played that many teams that had a chance at the playoffs,” said Stoney Creek coach Mike Lantzy. “If (Rochester) would have won, it would have been eight teams that had a shot at the postseason. We’ve played such a tough schedule.”
And Stoney Creek exacted some sweet measure of revenge on the Falcons.
“I think the boys were thinking about being a spoiler,” said Lantzy. “But I told them, ‘Don’t worry about your opponent and their situation, just worry about yourself. We just have to go out and make the plays we need to succeed.’”
The Cougars never trailed against Rochester, scoring on their first three possessions for a 20-0 advantage in the first quarter. Stoney Creek eventually led 27-7 at the half.
Stoney Creek held its largest lead of the contest when Nate Davis hauled in an 11-yard strike from Frank Potenza with 3:14 left in the third stanza, good for a 33-7 advantage.
Potenza, a sophomore and second-year starter, finished 12-for-20 passing for 171 yards and three touchdown passes, while Anthony Miller also had a 27-yard pass for the Cougars. Dylan Trudo led the ground assault with 116 yards on 17 carries for Stoney Creek.
Trudo (11-yard run), Miller (11-yard run) and the combo of Miller-to-Brady Campbell (27-yard TD pass) gave Stoney Creek its commanding 20-0 lead.
The Cougars added a fourth first-half touchdown when Potenza fired a 17-yard dart to Nate Davis.
In the second half, Potenza connected with Davis with another 11-yard scoring toss, while Campbell caught a 4-yard TD pass from Potenza to cap the scoring for the Cougars.
“I think we saw it in Week 2 against Lake Orion. We were in it for a half but we just ran out of steam,” said Lantzy. “We had a lot of close games but we ran out of steam in the second half in a lot of those games. But not this time.”
(Rochester (5-4) never really got untracked against Stoney Creek and will likely sit on the outside of the postseason bubble looking in — needing substantial additional bonus points for an at-large berth.
The Falcons, who picked up a 5-yard touchdown run from JaMeir Scott in the second quarter, did not convert again until there was 5:51 left in the game when Anthony Smiles scored on an 8-yard run.
Time ran out on the comeback. Rochester punted the ball away six times, turned the ball over on downs three times and had another drive stalled at the half.
Burtraw finished the night 8-for-19 passing for 128 yards for Rochester. Tomas Loftus had five catches for 108 yards for the Falcons, who had only 26 rushing yards.
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