By STUART GROSKREUTZ
September 7, 2011

OAK PARK HEIGHTS - There were many new cast members when the curtain fell, but the script was a familiar one for Stillwater, which pulled out a 27-20 victory over Woodbury in Friday's Suburban East Conference football opener at Stillwater Area High School.

Head coach Beau LaBore made his debut for the Ponies and they delivered against his former team as Stillwater (1-0 SEC, 1-0) improved to 31-4 all-time against the Royals.

The coaching shuffle drew its share of pregame attention, but the focus turned quickly to the field as the teams combined for four touchdowns in the first nine minutes of the game - a wild stretch that included a combination of big plays and consecutive on-side kicks by the Royals. More conventional play followed the fast-paced opening quarter and a plus-3 turnover margin for the Ponies helped seal the victory for the defending conference champs.

"As we got closer to the game (facing my former team) was something that I thought about, but when the game started it was nice because it was football," said LaBore, who spent the previous six seasons coaching the Royals. "You could focus on our players and our team and do what we have to do to be successful and have some fun."

An all-conference receiver a year ago, Nate Ricci has made a smooth transition to quarterback as he contributed to all four Stillwater touchdowns - two rushing and two passing, with each covering 20 yards or more.

The junior engineered two drives in the fourth quarter to help Stillwater extend its lead and keep the ball away from the Royals. The Ponies outgained Woodbury 110-18 in the final quarter, with junior tailback Nick Anderson racking up 71 of his game-high 104 rushing yards in the fourth.

With Stillwater leading 21-14 at halftime, the Royals had an opportunity to tie the game midway through the third quarter after taking advantage of good starting field position to finish a five-play drive that included four carries by newly inserted quarterback Joe Wood.

Wood did not attempt a pass on the drive, but rushed four times for 31 yards as Woodbury pulled within 21-20 with more than seven minutes remaining in the third. The Royals gambled, however, after Stillwater jumped offsides on the extra-point kick and Woodbury accepted the penalty and tried for a two-point conversion that failed when Wood was stuffed at the line of scrimmage.

It was a decision first-year Royals coach Andy Hill said he wished he could have back.

"It was a very bad call to not just kick the extra point," said Hill, a Woodbury graduate. "If we just kick the extra point then it's a tied game and there's less pressure. I needed to not put (the team) behind the eight ball."

The Ponies took charge from that point forward while allowing just one first down to Woodbury over the last 19 minutes of the game - and running 31 plays on offense compared to just 10 for the Royals.

Stillwater drove 78 yards in 11 plays, capped by a 21-yard scoring pass from Ricci to Joshua Weess with just 4:19 remaining to grab a 27-20 lead after failing to convert the extra-point kick. The drive chewed up more than six minutes.

"It was outstanding timing and it was outstanding execution," LaBore said of the Ricci-Weess hook-up. "We obviously ran the ball a lot tonight, but we did set up a couple of nice plays there."

Woodbury coughed up the ball on the third play of its ensuing drive and opportunistic Sam Brynestad secured his second fumble recovery in the game at the Woodbury 41. That was a back-breaker for the Royals and Stillwater was able to run out the clock from there.

"It's a nice compliment to our offensive line and our players in general that we get the ball midfield and say, hey, we've got to grind out some first downs and if we do, the game is over - and they did just that," LaBore said. "We lined up in jumbo (set) and we're not trying to fool anybody. We're coming at them and trying to get nine yards in a couple of plays."

The Ponies eventually drove down to the Woodbury 2 before Ricci took a knee to run out the clock.

Most of the fireworks - not including the power outage late in the fourth quarter (see sidebar) - occurred early in this one. Charlie Register took the opening kick off back 45 yards to give Stillwater prime starting field position for its first possession. Ricci wasted little time taking charge after scampering for 18 yards on a third-and-long play to help set up his 22-yard touchdown run just two plays later.

Sam Pearson's extra-point kick gave the Ponies a 7-0 lead less than four minutes into the game, providing a nice confidence boost for a largely inexperienced offense dealing with the installation of a completely new system since last fall.

"There were nerves at the beginning," said Ricci, who embraces the additional responsibilities that come with playing quarterback. "It's a lot different and you have to be in a lot more command. Last year I was just running routes, but this year I've got to really know the whole offense and control everyone, kind of like a second coach out there on the field."

The Royals also came to play and they answered with a nine-play, 58-yard drive to tie the game with 5:21 remaining in the first quarter. Senior running back Junius Wilson scored on a fourth-and-goal play from the 2 as Woodbury evened the score.

The Royals gambled on fourth down and didn't hesitate to take another chance while recovering the ensuing on-side kick at the Stillwater 37. On the next play - just 10 seconds after scoring its first touchdown - Woodbury grabbed a 14-7 lead when Sawyer Moon hooked up with Connor McKeen down the left sideline.

The surprises kept coming from the Royals as they attempted another on-side kick, but it didn't travel 10 yards. Stillwater took over with good field position and converted quickly on another Ricci touchdown run - this one from 24 yards out - to tie game at 14-all with 3:47 left in the quarter.

Although familiar with the players at Woodbury, scouting for the first game was more challenging because of the new head coach. With help from Google and a few other search techniques, the Ponies were able to take away some of the surprise factor.

"We expected them to run at least one on-side kick and our players saw it, they just didn't make the play," LaBore said. "We knew he was a coach that liked opening things up, throwing the ball and using trick plays, both on offense and on special teams, so we were ready for that. I was able to do a little bit of research on him and just kind of get what he thinks philosophically and he was true to what he had been doing in Virginia."

After the early flurry, the teams traded possessions until midway through the second quarter when Stillwater covered 52 yards in eight plays to grab a 21-14 lead. Ricci found Register on a slant pass over the middle and he cut through traffic for a 25-yard touchdown with four minutes remaining in the half.

Woodbury didn't help itself while losing fumbles on its next two drives, but the Ponies were unable to convert after Pearson's 35-yard field goal attempt fell short as time expired in the first half.

Turnovers were a big factor in the game as Stillwater coughed up the ball three times but was able to maintain possession each time. The Royals, meanwhile, lost all three of their fumbles.

"Turnovers are really big in football," said Ponies running back/linebacker Zach Krenz, who finished with a team-high seven solo tackles and added two assists.

Despite some early fireworks, a potential shootout never materialized and Stillwater held the Royals to just 192 total yards.

"It didn't turn out to be (a shootout) at all," Krenz said. "The offenses were rolling and they got that on-side kick and the one throw, but other than that I think our defense really stepped up later in the game and made some stops when we needed to. Turnovers are the main thing and being able to get on that ball and we made plays when we needed to to. We stopped them defensively when we needed to and the offense drove when we needed to."

Stillwater totaled 299 yards, including 229 on the ground. Ricci completed 7 of 12 passes for 70 yards.

"The offensive line had a good push almost the whole night," Ricci said. "We just had a few breakdowns, but nothing we can't fix. The turnovers would have been huge if we had lost them, but I'm glad we hopped on a few of those and were able to bring them back."

LaBore became the first Stillwater football coach to win his debut since the Carver Fouks-led Ponies defeated Kellogg 21-20 to open the 1965 season. Next for LaBore will be trying to finish off the first winning season for a new head coach at Stillwater since Vic Dunder went 5-4 in 1926 - none of the 11 coaches that followed Dunder have accomplished that feat.

"I'm still getting to know Stillwater High School and I'm still getting to know our personnel," LaBore said. "There's still a lot of new things here and new experiences, but when it comes down to it, it's football and we've had a good three weeks. We have a long ways to go to get to where we want to go, but we're off to a good start. One thing we do know is that we have some gritty kids who can battle through some adversity and play hard for four quarters and respond to coaching."

He's also hoping the Stillwater-Woodbury rivalry gets back to the players on the field rather than those on the sidelines.

"I'm very happy for the Woodbury staff that has obviously handled the transition well and I'm happy for the players," LaBore said. "Almost every player on that field is someone that I know and I've spent a lot of time with and I'm very happy to see that they're going to have a successful season. I want them to have success and have happiness as well."

Woodbury: 14-0-6-0 - 20
Stillwater: 14-7-0-6 - 27

St - Nate Ricci 22 run (Sam Pearson kick) 11:49.
Wo - Junius Wilson 2 run (Trevor Lo kick) 8:05.
Wo - Connor McKeen 37 pass from Sawyer Moon (Lo kick) 5:19.
St - Ricci 24 run (Pearson kick) 5:11.
St - Charlie Register 25 pass from Ricci (Pearson kick) 8:11.
Wo - Joe Wood 3 run (run failed) 8:57.
St - Joshua Weess 20 pass from Ricci (kick failed) 10:27.

Team stats

First downs: Wo 11, St 19
Rushes-yards: Wo 28-117, St 56-229
Passing yards: Wo 75, St 70
Total yards: Wo 192, St 299
Comp-Att-Int: Wo 5-14-0, St 7-12-0
Fumbles/lost: Wo 3/3, St 3/0
Penalties/yards: Wo 5/55, St 4/20
Punts/avg: Wo 3/28.0, St 3/32.7

Individual statistics

Rushing - Wo: Junius Wilson15-55, Joe Wood 5-33, Sawyer Moon 5-29, Ryan Fritze 2-5 and Quran Al-Hameed 1-(-5); St: Nick Anderson 22-104, Nate Ricci 16-68, Zach Krenz 8-36, Nate Law 9-21 and team 1-0.

Passing (com-att-yds-td-int) - Wo: Sawyer Moon 5-12-75-1-0 and Joe Wood 0-2-0-0-0; St: Nate Ricci 7-12-70-2-0.

Receiving - Wo: Connor McKeen 1-37, Quaran Al-Hameed 1-13 and Junius Wilson 3-1; St: Charlie Register 2-30, Joshua Weess 1-20, Austin Holmberg 2-11, Nate Law 1-9 and Nick Anderson 1-0.

Kickoff returns - Wo: Quran Al-Hameed 3-68 and Quintin Strub 2-36; St: Charlie Register 2-65 and Lance Bauman 1-3.

Punt returns - Wo: Junius Wilson 3-41; St: Charlie Register 4-11.

Interceptions - Wo: none; St: none.

Fumble recoveries - Wo: none; St: Sam Brynestad 2-0 and Joe Stanton 1-0.