OAK PARK HEIGHTS — The Stillwater football team started a losing streak that also ended its run of four straight sub-district championships.
The Ponies fell to winless White Bear Lake 24-17 in a Metro East Sub-District game on Friday, Oct. 4 at Stillwater Area High School, knocking them out of a three-way tie for the league title.
Stillwater could have clinched at least a share of the championship before losing in Week 5 at Forest Lake, but the Ponies (3-2 ME, 3-3) were left out of the celebration altogether after the loss on Friday to White Bear Lake (1-4, 1-5) and the title-clinching victories by the Rangers (4-1, 4-2) and Mounds View (4-1, 4-2).
“We didn’t want one poor half of football against Forest Lake to turn into two disappointing results,” Ponies coach Beau LaBore said. “We felt like we prepared well, were focused and we worked our tails off, but we just did not execute it.”
The Ponies won 21 straight sub-district games before the loss to Forest Lake, but was unable to bounce back against a determined White Bear Lake team that entered the game with just three wins in its last 18 games against Stillwater.
Stillwater, which was hoping to match the program’s run of five consecutive conference championships from 1992 to 1996, jumped out to a 14-3 lead in the first quarter before the Bears answered with 21 straight points to build a 10-point advantage midway through the fourth.
“Our kids are going to be really disappointed,” LaBore said. “They had an opportunity to win a sub-district championship and had an opportunity to be a part of a school record five straight sub-district championships and we were up 14-3 and lost 24-17. There is disappointment all over this field, and it’s a nasty feeling.”
The Ponies had some opportunities late in the game, starting in earnest after Landon Huber kicked a 36-yard field goal with 4:11 remaining to climb within 24-17. But White Bear Lake gained two first downs on the ensuing possession to keep Stillwater’s offense on the sidelines until the final seconds.
Each team finished with 18 first downs and the Ponies narrowly outgained White Bear Lake 345-339 in total yards.
“We ran a ton of plays and we had a bunch of first downs, but we didn’t finish on offense,” LaBore said. “We opened up a crease for them to believe and they walked right through it.”
Ernest Goodwin connected on a 51-yard field goal to cap White Bear Lake’s opening drive and provide a 3-0 lead, but the Ponies answered quickly as Emilio Rosario-Matias raced 80 yards for a touchdown on their first offensive play of the game to move in front 7-3.
Rosario-Matias also scampered 29 and 31 yards on Stillwater’s next possession and that drive eventually ended with his second touchdown of the game, this one from 4 yards out, to build a 14-3 lead.
The Bears entered the game allowing an average of 6.3 yards per carry and it looked like the start of another big night for Rosario-Matias, but they tightened up on defense after that while limiting the junior running back and leading rusher in the Metro East to just 24 rushing yards the rest of the game.
He finished with 18 carries for 169 yards, giving him 955 yards and 10 touchdowns through six games.
Stillwater also moved the ball on its third possession to create a first-and-goal from the 10, but a fumble that lost four yards and three incomplete passes — with an unsportsmanlike penalty thrown in — halted that drive without points.
The Ponies were assessed a total of eight penalties for 73 yards.
White Bear Lake followed with an 11-play drive that covered 71 yards and ended with Ben Lockwood hauling in an 8-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Oluwatomi Asimasaun with just 1:32 remaining in the half, closing the deficit to 14-10.
“We had some penalties, but we didn’t have nearly as many penalties as we had opportunities to finish some drives and give ourselves a better chance to be successful,” LaBore said. “We had all kinds of opportunities, we just didn’t come through.”
Stillwater turned the ball over on downs to start the second half and the Bears covered 69 yards in nine plays when Levi Arvig powered in from 1 yard out to put them in front 17-14 with five minutes remaining in the third.
The teams traded possessions before White Bear Lake produced the biggest play of the second half. Lockwood, who finished with four catches for 109 yards, took a pass from Animasaun after getting behind the defense and raced 59 yards down the right sideline to extend White Bear Lake’s lead to 24-14 with 5:42 remaining.
“We put ourselves in a good situation early, but we lost a little steam and didn’t take advantage of some opportunities that we had,” LaBore said. “It opened up a little window for them to think that they could go out and get their first win of the year and they scratched and clawed for a win that has probably made their season.”
This was the 107th meeting between these teams, which is believed to be the most-played rivalry in the state. The Ponies still lead the series 62-42-3, but this stung because of what was at stake.
“There were dozens of opportunities for us to produce a different result,” LaBore said. “I hope it doesn’t sit well with them, and I hope that they’re willing to get back to work tomorrow morning. We’ll have to have our best week of practice and our best game of the year against one of the top teams in the state with Edina.”
Lockwood picked up the slack for the Bears, but Stillwater limited Easton Miles to just one catch for a loss of 1 yard. Miles entered the game with a sub-district leading 21 catches for 272 yards.
Running back Brian White also delivered for the Bears, rolling up 141 yards on 29 rushing attempts.
Ponies quarterback Nick Kinsey completed 12 of 29 passes for 154 yards, with Owen Egge catching five of those passes for 83 yards.
Linebacker Cal Nitti made seven solo tackles, including two for a loss, and added two assisted tackles to finish with a team-high 20 defensive points. Kahlid Afuye recorded six solo tackles while Henry Zollar and Joe Fredkove added five solo tackles apiece.
• After meeting reigning state runner-up Edina (4-2) in Week 7, the Ponies are scheduled to host Park (2-4) in another non-league game to close out the regular season game on Thursday, Oct. 17.
White Bear Lake 3 7 7 7 — 24
Stillwater 14 0 0 3 — 17
WBL — FG Ernest Goodwin 51, 7:29.
St — Emilio Rosario-Matias 80 run (Landon Huber kick) 7:16.
St — Rosario-Matias 4 run (Huber kick) 2:06.
WBL — Ben Lockwood 8 pass from Oluwatomi Animasaun (Goodwin kick) 1:32.
WBL — Levi Arvig 1 run (Goodwin kick) 4:55.
WBL — Lockwood 59 pass from Animasaun (Goodwin kick) 5:42.
St — FG Huber 36, 4:11.
Team stats
WBL St
First downs 18 18
Rushes-yards 45-196 24-191
Passing yards 143 154
Total yards 339 345
Comp-Att-Int. 8-15-0 12-29-0
Fumbles/lost 1/0 3/1
Penalties/yards 8/64 8/73
Punts/avg. 4/31.0 3/37.0
Individual statistics
Rushing — WBL: Brian White 29-141, Nate Tvedt 1-21, Levi Arvig 5-14, Easton Miles 3-11 and Oluwatomi Animasaun 7-9; St: Emilio Rosario-Matias 18-169, Jack Runk 1-12, Chase Edstrom 1-11, Owen Egge 1-0 and Nick Kinsey 2-(-1).
Passing (com-att-yds-td-int) — WBL: Oluwatomi Animasaun 8-15-143-2-0; St: Nick Kinsey 12-29-154-0-0.
Receiving — WBL: Ben Lockwood 4-109, Rithy Sain 3-35 and Easton Miles 1-(-1); St: Owen Egge 5-83, Carter Zollar 3-42, Conor McGlynn 2-15, Chase Edstrom 1-15 and Jack Runk 1-(-1).
Kickoff returns — WBL: Malik Doumbia 2-17; St: Jack Runk 2-35.
Punt returns — WBL: none; St: Owen Egge 1-2.
Interceptions — WBL: none; St: none.
Fumble recoveries — WBL: Cam Oxton 1-0; St: none.
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