South Tama’s Cody Kellogg dives forward for a catch from STC quarterback Darius Lasley-Shields during Round 2 of Playoffs on Monday, November 2. STC defeated New Hampton 49-0. South Tama is set to play Albia tonight, Friday, Nov. 6 in the Quarterfinals. News Herald Photo/Allison Graham

South Tama offered up their 11th win of the season with a 49-0 blow out over New Hampton in round two of the Class 2A playoffs on Monday, November 2.

It was the eighth shut out of the season for the Trojans. STC reserves battled at the end to keep their shutout in tact after New Hampton’s Carter Stochl connected with Keagan John for a 42-yarder down to the Trojan 1-yard line. South Tama forced a fumble that they recovered as the final seconds clicked off.

“It’s always fun when you see a goose egg on the other side,” Hoskey said. “Didn’t know if we were going to get it there at the end. We’re playing sound defense, and our coaches do such a good job of getting us in place and figuring out what they might do.

“Out of 11 games, eight (defensive) shutouts, if you told me that at the beginning of the year I’d think, ‘geez you have a good dream going on.'”

South Tama was able to show off their versatility on Monday. Led by senior quarterback Darius Lasley-Shields, the Trojans scored on their first three possessions. It was just the third start of the season for Lasley-Shields but you may not have guessed that from the box score. He was 12-18 in completions, while rushing for 32 yards and two touchdowns.

Jerry Lowe can’t be stopped as he is one step from the end zone on Monday’s Round 2 match up with New Hampton. Lowe scored two touchdowns for STC. The Trojans defeated New Hampton 49-0. News Herald Photo/Allison Graham Jerry Lowe can’t be stopped as he is one step from the end zone on Monday’s Round 2 match up with New Hampton. Lowe scored two touchdowns for STC. The Trojans defeated New Hampton 49-0. News Herald Photo/Allison Graham

“Darius is such an athlete,” Hoskey said. “You can see he can be capable of making a couple plays. He made broken plays into big plays. Then we have to take a little pressure off of Jerry. Even (the Chickasaws) had eight, nine guys in the box lots of times. As we go deeper into this thing, we’ve got to be able to make (teams) pay if they’re going to play certain things. We have to take advantage. Hayden Fry used to say, ‘scratch where it itches,’ so we have to take advantage of that, and we have guys that can do that.”

Isaac Judge would set up the next opportunity for the Trojans after grabbing an interception thrown by Chickasaw quarterback Alex Troyna. Lowe converted for the Trojans on six-yard touchdown run, his first of two on the night. Lowe scored again with just seconds remaining in the second quarter to give the Trojans a 33-0 lead at halftime.

With a comfortable lead throughout most of the game the Trojans were able to spread the wealth offensively. Lasley-Shields connected with Cody Kellogg for a 35-yard diving catch to set up fullback Peyton Rutledge for his third score of the season. Rutledge pulls double duty for the Trojans and led on defense with 10 solo tackles.

Justin Suchanek hauled in a 19-yard pass that was good for a touchdown in the fourth. The Trojans capped off the night as backup quarterback Lane Koch found Adonis Lasley near the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown. Koch’s touchdown pass would put the Trojans up 47-0. A safety in the fourth quarter would then push STC’s final tally up to 49.

New Hampton was without their star running back Trevor Ambrose who was seen along the sidelines on a pair of crutches. Ambrose had rushed for 1134 yards this season and the Chickasaw offense was unable to get much traction without him.

South Tama Count Assistant Varsity Coach and Defensive Coordinator Nate Doran (left) jumps up with excitement following the STC defensive reserves getting a stop in the red zone in the final minute of the game. This was the eighth shut out for the Trojans who defeated New Hampton in Round 2 on Monday, November 2. News Herald Photo/Allison Graham

There were just a few small hiccups on a near perfect night. But the Trojans haven’t let the mistakes faze them. Early in the game a fumble during a punt return was negated as the South Tama defense held their ground and forced a turnover on downs with the Chickasaws threatening in Trojan territory. The defensive stand that held the Chickasaws from scoring sent a clear message saying “Not in our house.”

South Tama will travel to #1 ranked Albia tonight for the quarterfinal round. The Blue Demons led by senior rushing back Carter Isley are also undefeated. Isley is the workhorse of Albia’s team. He leads class 2A with 1730 yards this season.

Albia 2015 Schedule

8/28 @ Mt. Ayr 36-6

9/4 Fairfield 42-8

9/11 @ Pella Christian 62-21

9/18 North Polk 56-6

9/25 @ Centerville 56-0

10/2 Davis County 50-0

10/9 @ Collins-Maxwell/Baxter 63-6

10/16 PCM, Monroe 42-6

10/23 Clarke, Osceola 50-0

10/28 Iowa Falls-Alden 56-0

STATS

Passing Lasley-Shields 12-18 for 195 yards, Koch 1-1 for 15 yards, Rushing Clark 3-25, Garcia 4-37, Lasley-Shields 5-32, Lowe 22-143, Rutledge 4-35, Vest 3-5 Receiving Clark 1-18, Frakes 3-49, Kellogg 6-82, Lasley 1-15, Rutledge 1-27, Suchanek 1-19 Scoring Lasley 6, Lasley-Shields 14, Lowe 12, Rutledge 6, Suchanek 6, Weiss 3 Tackles Brown 1, Carrillo 3, Chyma 3, Ellenbecker 2, Frakes 4, Garcia 4, Judge 6, Kellogg 3, Kucera 1, McAdoo 1, Probasco 4, T. Probasco 1, Rosenburg 1, Rutledge 10, Schlock 4, Suchanek 3, Thede 8, Vest 1 Interceptions Judge 1, Fumble Recoveries Koch 1, PAT Kicking Weiss 3-5, Kick offs Weiss 8-407 Punting 2-73, Kick off Returns Clark 1-16, Lasley 1-15, Punt Returns Clark 3-23