Stratford rides another second half surge to 28-13 win over Frederica

Stratford running back and linebacker Tyler Stephens was pretty amped.

“It was my first interception of the year,” the senior said after taking pictures with a happy family. “It felt good.”

That was after the game. When his key pick first happened, Stephens needed a break.

“I feel like I could’ve taken it to the house,” he said. “But hey, we got the win, so that’s all that matters.”

Stephens sat for the first three plays after the pick, then went back on offense and promptly scored to all but seal Stratford’s 28-13 win Friday night over Frederica in GIAA non-region action.

The Eagles improved to 4-0 for the second straight year while the Knights fell to 2-3.

Stratford’s modus operandi this year has been for a suspenseful first half that leads to a riled-up head coach Paul Carroll at halftime, followed by a pretty solid second half.

“I think our coaches do a good job of making some adjustments at half,” Carroll said. “Our kids, they realize they’re not playing good and they realized they got to come out and get things accomplished.”

Frederica quarterback Stanton Beverly and running backs Jayden Gibson and Travis Garland gave Stratford some trouble early on, and the Knights defense kept the Eagles contained.

Stratford scored on its second possession after a three-and-out with a nice 72-yard drive, highlighted by a perfect 36-yard pass from Tucker Johnston to George Dunn on third and 11.

Three plays later, from the I formation, Stephens went in from 9 yards out.

Frederica answered with a nine-play, 80-yard drive. The only third down faced was a third-down conversion, and it ended with a touchdown when Jaylen Baldwin went around the right side on a jet sweep from 11 yards out less than two minutes into the second quarter.

The slugfest continued until the hosts took the lead on a five-play, 79-yard drive.

Gibson went for 45 yards, going left and to the middle and then right before the officials tacked on another 15 yards for a late hit. J.C. Wessel caught the 12-yard pass out of a power formation, and Frederica took a 13-6 lead with 29 seconds left in the half.

Down 13-6 at the break, the Eagles had ‘em where they wanted ‘em. Not.

Did Carroll get a little red-faced?

“He is always red-faced at halftime,” Stephens said. “It doesn’t matter if we’re up 20, he’s red-faced, he’s mad. He wants to be up 50.”

The Eagles have trailed twice in four games at halftime and outscored opponents by only six points.

The halftime chats work. Stratford has outscored its foes 100-18 in the second half.

“Let them know exactly what they’re doing wrong,” Carroll said. “We got to play a lot harder than we played in the first half, and I think we did.”

It took a little while, though the Eagles moved on their first drive only for a misplayed snap to sabotage a 36-yard field goal try on the first trip of the third quarter.

Stratford forced a punt and got it back on its own 13-yard line. On the fifth snap, in the I, Stephens went up the middle and was gone quickly for a 54-yard touchdown. He ran in the conversion for a 14-13 lead with 4:12 left in the third.

Frederica countered with a sweep after a touchback, getting a 24-yard pass to Baldwin on third and 4 to get on Stratford’s side of the field. The Knights were pushed back to the Eagles’ 20 on a touchdown-nullifying hold, however.

Beverly rolled right and threw a strike, but the pass went right to Stephens. The speedster picked it off inside the 5 and took it back to the 42.

Carroll decided over the summer that Stephens would play defense.

“He’s got a knack,” Carroll said. “He’s got a football IQ. He can play man coverage, he can play cover 3 and he breaks on the football.”

He needed some air after the interception. Jalon Smith and Aaron Jefferson picked up 20 yards on three tries, then back came Stephens for a 34-yard touchdown. Smith, an offensive lineman, bulled in the conversion for a 22-13 lead with 8:52 left in the game.

A sack by Maddox Whitehead for a loss of 10 doomed a Frederica possession, and Stratford sealed it with a nine-play drive, Stephens going in from the 5 with 2:38 left.

He finished with 219 yards on 28 carries, while Frederica quarterback Beverly passed for 201 yards.

Stratford held Frederica to 153 yards on 26 carries, with 70 coming on two carries.

Carroll is working on patience with the first-half issues, and expects improvement, which will be needed with Brookstone’s visit next week.

“In high school, it’s hard sometimes to really just come out fast all the time,” he said. “It’s hard for you to match the speed of the game right away.

“The biggest improvement tonight was we lined up and got a little toughness about us.”