STERLING, Kan. — Sterling opened up home play with a loss to last year’s Kissinger Division Conference Champions Evangel (MO) 42-13 on Saturday, Sept. 5. The Warriors passed for 232 yards but was limited to 65 rushing yards and threw two interceptions.
Sterling spent much of the first quarter defending the Valor’s possessions, and the visitors turned two drives into a 14-0 lead. On the opening series, Sterling got pressure from Landon Pfannenstiel and a 10-yard tackle for loss by DaMontae Muse, but a Warrior penalty changed third-and-20 into third-and-5 before Kyle Cummings later scored on an 8-yard run at 9:14. Sterling’s first offensive possession started at its 26 after Jordan McGowan‘s 18-yard return, and Steven Werking moved the ball with a 14-yard run on third-and-12 but the drive stalled and resulted in a James Henisey punt from the Sterling 38. The defense produced another negative play when Turner Sampson and Pfannenstiel sacked Matt Allen for an 8-yard loss, but Cummings followed with a 30-yard touchdown run at 1:49, and Sterling’s late drive reached its 33 on Werking’s 10-yard third-down run as the quarter closed with the Valor ahead 14-0.
The Warriors kept the Valor off the board on two of their three full drives in the second quarter, highlighted by Jaquan Lowman‘s interception at the Sterling 14 after Weston Tossie had dropped the quarterback for a 6-yard sack. The offense followed with a short possession, and the Valor later produced the quarter’s only points on Matt Allen’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Brady Allen with 8:52 left. Sterling answered by moving from its 25 to the Valor 42 behind Werking completions of 14 and 12 yards to Nicholas Trepton, but penalties and a sack pushed the drive back before Henisey punted. In the final minute, Werking completions to Stephenson Kennard, Khyaire Hines and Gabriel Corona moved Sterling to the Valor 31 before a holding penalty stalled the possession, and the Valor took a 21-0 lead into halftime.
Sterling produced the third quarter’s only points on a nine-play, 64-yard drive that Werking capped with a 5-yard touchdown run at 6:47, followed by Emmanuel Roman‘s kick. Earlier, the Warriors’ opening possession stalled on fourth-and-1 at its 44, but the defense answered with a turnover on downs after Lowman broke up a first-down pass and Kenny Dominguez made the fourth-down stop. On the scoring march, Werking opened with an 18-yard run and later completed a 17-yard pass to Hines to reach the Valor 2, with a roughing-the-passer penalty also moving Sterling into the red zone. Sterling created another short-field chance when Marques Zenon recovered a fumble at the Valor 44, and Werking immediately hit Noah Khokhar for 42 yards to the 2 before the drive ended with an interception in the end zone. The Valor later moved to the Sterling 45 on the final listed possession, and the listed game score stood at Valor 21, Sterling 7.
The Warriors’ fourth-quarter highlight came after the Valor had built a 35-7 lead, when Bryance Sanders opened a three-play, 75-yard drive with a 26-yard run and Werking finished it with a 59-yard touchdown pass to Khokhar at 7:50. Earlier, Sterling faced two Valor touchdown drives and had one possession end on an interception, though McGowan added kickoff returns of 17 and 20 yards to set up the offense. After Khokhar’s touchdown, Sterling’s defense forced a punt with Dutton Taylor making a tackle for loss, Jorge Cereceres and Carlos Lujan combining on another stop behind the line, and Lujan ending the series with a third-down tackle. Sterling later kept a drive alive on a roughing-the-kicker penalty and reached its 47 before turning the ball over on downs, and the Valor added a late touchdown before the game ended with Sterling falling 42-13.
Werking completed 15 of 27 passes for 232 yards and a touchdown and rushed 18 times for 32 yards and another score. Khokhar caught three passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. Dutton Taylor led Sterling with 12 tackles. Lowman recorded an interception and added two tackles.
The Warriors (0-2) will look to bounce back as they travel to Ottawa, Kan. to take on Ottawa (2-0) on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 6 p.m.
Be sure to check for news and updates on Sterling Warrior Athletics on Facebook (/SCWarriors), Twitter (@SterlingCSports), and Instagram (sterlingcsports), as well as the hashtag #SwordsUp. Watch the Warriors’ live home events on the Sterling College Sports Network.
