Published: November 16, 2009 10:21 am      

Stratford wallops Gore in Class A

STRATFORD — As she does before almost every Stratford home football or basketball game, Annie Weast prefaced Friday night’s Gore-Stratford Class A first-round playoff contest with a stirring rendition of the “The Star-Spangled Banner”. By the time the fourth quarter began, though, the only person singing in Blackburn Stadium was the fat lady.

Stratford was virtually perfect for the first 22 minutes and dominant for four quarters in a 41-14 rout of the 13th-ranked Pirates that was, considering the setting, perhaps as complete a victory as Michael Blackburn has enjoyed in his eight seasons as the Bulldogs’ head coach.

“I was proud of them,” Blackburn said after a brief postgame celebration with his club, which improved to 7-4 and earned a trip to Tonkawa this week for a second-round showdown with Class A’s No. 1 team. “They played with intensity and they played four quarters.”

Before the Pirates (who finished 7-4) drove 59 yards with the aid of a personal foul penalty to score their only offensive touchdown of the night with 25.6 seconds left in the half and trim a 21-0 defict to 14 at intermission, the Bulldogs had outgained their guests, 248-44, including a staggering 212-8 advantage on the ground.

And following back-to-back games against Wynnewood (a 13-6 loss in Week 9) and Konawa (a 21-6 victory in Week 10 that wrapped up the runner-up spot in District A-5) in which the Stratford offense faded after a fast start, Blackburn’s club kept up the pressure on both sides of the ball over the final two quarters.

By the time the game ended, the Bulldogs had churned out 435 total yards (including 375 rushing) and had held the Pirates — who didn’t have a single rushing attempt in the second half — to minus-6 yards on the ground. Gore managed 187 yards through the air, but Stratford’s defense intercepted Pirate quarterback Logan Andrews twice and registered three sacks.

In fact, the Bulldogs — who have given up just 82 points in their last nine games (seven of the victories) — might have pitched a shutout if not for their only two major mistakes of the night. A late hit on Andrews gave Gore 15 yards and a first down at the Stratford 36 late in the second quarter and set up a 13-yard scoring pass from Andrews to Lane in the final seconds, and a high snap out of the shotgun was recovered by Gore’s Jerome Monroe in the end zone for the Pirates’ other touchdown midway through the final period.

“The defense played well again,” Blackburn said.

The Bulldogs also punched the Pirates in the mouth over and over again on the other side of the ball.

Helped by a dominating performance from his offensive line, Stratford junior quarterback Chase Chamberlain had arguably the best first half of his career, leading four long drives — three of them ending in touchdowns — that chewed up almost 14 of the game’s first 24 minutes. He also turned in the biggest play of the game — and the longest of his career — in the final minutes of the half.

With the Bulldogs leading 14-0 but facing second-and-11 at their own 5 and the prospect of having to punt into a stiff south wind, Chamberlain faked to tailback Tyler Mills, found a crease on the left side and raced 90 yards to the Gore 5 to get Stratford out of the hole in style. He cut back at the Gore 40 behind a block from hustling senior tackle Charles Hawkins that netted him another 35 yards before he was finally pushed out of bounds on the other side of the field. Two plays later, Chamberlain scored from less than a yard out, and Dillon Ward added the third of his five PATs on the night to give the Bulldogs their 21-0 lead.

“There was a good initial hole, then he made some nice moves,” Blackburn said of Chamberlain’s huge run.

Chamberlain, who had played through a nagging injury over the second half of the regular season, had 145 yards rushing on 12 carries and another 36 yards passing by halftime, but he was shaken up on the third play of the third quarter. The Bulldogs punted for the only time all night (a 40-yarder from Ward, subbing for Chamberlain) one snap later, and the Pirates threatened to climb back into the game, driving from their 20 to midfield with the help of another personal foul penalty (this one a horse collar tackle of Andrews) and a 14-yard pass from Andrews to Wacy Connor.

Andrews’ next three passes fell incomplete, however, and Lane was tackled by Ward for a nine-yard loss on fourth-and-15 when he attempted to scramble out of punt formation following a high snap. Ward’s big play gave Stratford the ball at the Gore 36, and seven plays later Mills burst off right guard from three yards out to make it 28-7 with 5:15 left in the period.

Chamberlain returned to the game on the third play of the drive with the Bulldogs facing a third-and-10. Two Mills runs — the second a 10-yarder on fourth-and-9 — gave Stratford a first down, and after Mills gained five yards on the next snap, “power” back John Sinnett ripped off 17 tough yards to the 3 to set up Mills’ touchdown.

The Pirates got two quick first downs on the ensuing position, but on second-and-10 for the Gore 42, Alix Vanlandingham tipped an Andrews pass and Mills intercepted at the Stratford 38 and returned the ball five yards. Sinnett — who finished with 32 yards on just three carries — gained 13 on the next play, and six snaps later Chamberlain rolled to his left and found tight end Tyler Gaines alone in the end zone on a 24-yard touchdown pass to extend the lead to 34-7 with :31.7 seconds still remaining in the third quarter.

Nick Cosby’s interception of an ill-advised Andrews throw at the Stratford 44 killed Gore’s first drive of the final period, and Cosby’s sack of the Andrews for a seven-yard loss on third-and-1 from the Bulldogs 14 — three plays after Lane had hit Dylan Humphrey on a 39-yard option pass on a reverse to the 23 — on Gore’s next possession put the Pirates in a fourth-and-long situation.

Ward broke up Andrews’ fourth-down pass to give Stratford possession again, but one snap later Vanlandingham — Stratford’s back-up quarterback — couldn’t handle a high snap out of the shotgun and Monroe came out of a scramble for the loose ball in the end zone to make it 34-14 with 5:46 to play.

That was the last hurrah, however, for the Pirates, who didn’t touch the ball again on offense for almost five minutes. Vanlandingham led the Bulldogs on a 66-yard drive to the game’s final touchdown, with junior tailback Regand Ardery gaining 71 yards on the march on 10 carries — the last three after a 12-yard holding penalty had made it second-and-goal from the 17 — and scoring on a sweep to the left from five yards out with just :50.9 seconds remaining.

Stratford’s first sack of the night — a five-yarder by Cody Watts on third-and-14 — ended Gore’s first possession of the game and launched the Bulldogs to a touchdown on their first possession.

Chamberlain rolled out and hit Tyler Scoles for 14 yards on third-and-9 from his 40 on the third play of the march and rolled right again to hit Cosby for another 12 yards one snap later. Mills and Chamberlain then combined to rush for the final 34 yards, with Mills getting the game’s first touchdown on a one-yard run with 4:47 left in the opening quarter.

Zack Gates and Dakota Miller dragged down Andrews for a two-yard loss on third-and-1 from the Gore 35 on the Pirates’ next possession, and a 20-yard punt into the wind gave the Bulldogs good field position again at their 47. Vanlandingham made a diving catch on a 10-yard Chamberlain pass to the Gore 39 on third-and-6, Mills gained 22 yards on a sweep to the left one play later, and on first-and-goal from the 6 Chamberlain faked to Mills and popped through a hole off left guard to make it 14-0 with 10:16 remaining in the half.

A 23-yard catch-and-run by Connor on a screen pass gave the Pirates a first down at the Stratford 40 on their next possession, but Sinnett stopped Connor for no gain on the same play one snap later, a fumble on third down cost the Pirates five more yards, and Lane’s long fourth-down pass out of punt formation fell incomplete to end the threat.

Slowed by the injury early in the third quarter, Chamberlain cooled off a bit in the second half but still finished with 156 yards rushing on 16 trips and another 60 yards and the touchdown to Gaines through the air. Mills, who had averaged almost 160 yards rushing in his previous five games, gained 130 yards on 25 tough carries and scored twice.