Rocks Slip Past Bay 22-16 for Crab Trap

The Saint Stanislaus Rock-A-Chaws (2-3) outlasted cross-town rival Bay High for a 22-16 victory to reclaim the Crab Trap Trophy ‘between the walls’ Friday night. The victory over the Tigers (2-3) also improved the Rocks’ lead in the series to 35-20.

Both teams exchanged possessions to start the game.  On their second possession, SSC had three consecutive carries of 16, 6, and 10 yards by Chandler Chapman that gave them a little breathing room before Hudson Osborne connected with Ethan Galloway for a 55-yard scoring aerial with 4:21 left in the first quarter. Evan Noel converted the PAT for a 7-0 for SSC.

The Tigers answered back quickly on the ensuing possession with four consecutive carries by Jalen Antoine of 10, 2, 2, and 1 yard before Xander Ladner found Antoine for a 59-yard scoring toss with 1:13 left in the first quarter. The PAT by Brennan Acosta was good knotting the score at 7-7.

After the touchback, Chapman ripped off a 76-yard run down to the Tiger four-yard line. Two plays later, Chapman scored from three yards out with :06 left in the first quarter. Noel’s PAT made the score 14-7 in favor of the Rocks.

Each team traded possessions twice before the scoreboard changed numbers. Bay High’s Vincent Lan intercepted a Rock pass at the Tiger 20 yard line and returned it 80 yards for a touchdown with 3:15 left in the first half. The two-point conversion failed leaving the score 14-13.

After the ensuing kick, SSC took over at their own 40 and pushed the ball down to the Tiger 20 yard line. With no time on the clock, Noel attempted a 37-yard field goal for SSC which was blocked by Alex Harris leaving the score 14-13 at intermission.

The Tigers opened the second half with a 15-play drive down to the Rock 23-yard line where Avery Harris attempted a 40-yard field that fell short with 6:02 left in the third quarter.

The Tigers held firm on defense with two stellar rushes off the edge by Tysen Hawkins forcing a Rock punt.

Bay High put together a 10-play drive that culminated with a 25-yard field goal by Acosta with 10:06 left in regulation that put the Tigers up 16-14.

The teams traded possessions twice before SSC took over at their own 27 yard line.

Chapman put together five consecutive runs of 31, 10, 2, 4, and 6 yards to move the ball to the Tiger 20 yard line. Henry Nunmaker scored on a 20-yard run for SSC with 2:43 left to play. Osborne found Jackson Dicerbo for the two-point conversion to make the score 22-16.

The Tigers attempted four straight passes but came up empty and the Rocks took over on downs at the Tiger 20 yard line. The Rocks kept the ball on the ground with Chandler running into the heart of the Tiger defense as time expired.

Bay High head coach Jeremy Turcotte commented, “My hat is tipped to SSC for bowing up when they needed to. We had miscues in the red zone and did not finish drives. That will stall an offense every time. Our defense played well enough for us to win but we had a difficult time finishing drives.”

The Tigers were led on offense by Jalen Antoine who rushed for 68 yards on 22 carries and caught 4 passes for 84 yards and a touchdown.  Ladner was 10-for-27 for 132 yards and a touchdown. Defensive stats were not available for the Tigers.

SSC head coach Nate Encrapera stated, “We have things that still need to be ironed out such as penalties. We try to play with super effort and sometimes things happen but we have to get better at putting ourselves in a more advantageous situation. We did not play a clean game and this must be remedied. Our mental focus in the game was where it needed to be and our body language stayed better throughout the game. We have to continue with this mindset to be successful in division play which begins soon.”

The Rocks were led on offense by Chapman who rushed for 252 yards and a touchdown on 26 carries. On defense, SSC was paced by Jacob Bradford with 12 tackles including 6 tackles loss while Bruno Dall added 10 stops with 7 solos. Chesley Rhodes added 8 tackles with 4 tackles for loss and a fumble recovery.

The Tigers travel to Greene County on Friday to open Division 8-4A play while Saint Stanislaus hosts Lakeshore (LA) ‘between the walls’ in their final non-division game. Both games are set to kickoff at 7:30 p.m.