The Ponies traveled to O’Shaghnessy Stadium to take on the Raiders in a much anticipated rematch of Stillwater’s 12-7 conference championship victory the previous year. The win snapped CDH’s 30-game Suburban East Conference win streak though much was made of the Raiders playing without their all state quarterback. No less was on the line as a victory over the defending state champs would help earn the Ponies a share of a second consecutive conference title. A seesaw battle from beginning to end featured five lead changes. The Big Red offense and defense achieved something few others had done since CDH joined the conference in 2005 – outscoring them and allowing less than 300 yards of offense. The Ponies ran 19 more plays than the Raiders and gobbled up clock throughout the game, keeping the explosive Raider offense off the field. The offensive line, led by senior two-way player and co-captain Mitch Elmer and Brock Horwath, opened holes for running back Jerome Hamilton. The Red and Black scored all its touchdowns on the ground but would not have been in position to score without stellar quarterback play from Adam Paulson who was timely and efficient. Paulson connected six times with sophomore two-way player Nate Ricci, who hauled in a 33-yard reception on a third-and-11 play on one scoring drive and ripped the ball away from two Raiders defenders for a 26-yard gain while facing a fourth-and-10 on another series. Meanwhile, a gritty performance was made by the Ponies defense, led by co-captains Andrew Rose at linebacker and Carson Cannon at defensive back. Cannon also had a 45-yard punt return which directly led to junior Sam Pearson’s 38-yard field goal which gave the Ponies a brief lead, 24-21. CDH responded with a touchdown to leave the Ponies down four points with five minutes remaining. Stillwater used all but 11 seconds to pull ahead 31-28 - their 17th point of the quarter - when junior defensive tackle Cartier Alexander powered over the goal line behind the lead block of Rose. Two plays later, Rose tipped a last-gasp attempt by the Raiders that Elmer intercepted, setting off a white tidal wave at midfield.