NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT – STC junior running back Eric Medina takes on a host of Pella Christian Eagles on Friday, Oct. 10.

The 2025 STC football team is headed to the postseason. With their 28-27 victory over Pella Christian last Friday, Oct. 10, the Trojans secured a playoff spot in Class 2A.

“We’ve all been working hard for this for a long time,” said sophomore quarterback Ryan Brant. “We always believed we could do it and to see it happening is just awesome.”

The game against the Eagles had an ominous start. Pella Christian received the opening kickoff and found the end zone on their second play from scrimmage. Senior running back Landon Nunnikhoven broke loose and scampered 43 yards to give the Eagles a quick 7-0 lead.

But — in what would become a theme of the night — the Trojans had an answer for each Pella Christian score. On STC’s first possession, they drove 83 yards on 19 plays to score a touchdown of their own. The drive was highlighted by a punishing Trojan rushing attack. Junior Eric Medina led the efforts, with contributions from Brant and junior Eli Cruikshank. Brant capped off the drive with a 3-yard touchdown dive. However, after their point-after-attempt was blocked, STC found themselves still trailing, 7-6.

On their ensuing drive, the Eagles marched quickly down the field as far as the STC 10-yard line. Threatening to score again, Pella Christian was suddenly stopped by an interception by Trojan sophomore defensive back Alfredo Villa. Making his first career varsity start for the injured senior Tanner Large, Villa stopped the Eagle’s momentum for the time being.

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT – STC offensive linemen Ayden Vest (left), Drew Mellies (center), and Lakyr Peska (right) block against Pella Christian. The line helped STC rush for 252 yards on the night.

But after the Trojans were forced to punt, Pella Christian got the ball with great field position at the STC 25-yard line. Five plays later they scored on a 5-yard touchdown reception and took a 14-6 lead in the second quarter. However, STC answered three plays later with one of their more explosive pass plays of the season. Brant rolled out and found senior Garrett Surman for a 59-yard touchdown reception. After the successful point-after kick, the Trojans had cut the lead to 14-13.

Before the halftime break, Villa intercepted his second pass of the half and, once again, stifled the Eagle offense.

“It feels amazing,” said Villa after the game. “It was hard to lose Tanner (Large) to injury in the last game. I felt like I had to step up.”

Villa’s play helped keep the score at 14-13 at the half. The second half was thrilling theater, as every team’s possession seemed critical. STC started with the ball and methodically marched down the field on a 63-yard scoring drive. Medina carried the bulk of the yardage, and sophomore running back Izak Schroeder contributed a key 23-yard rush.

After 10 plays, Brant punched it in from 1-yard out for his second rushing touchdown of the game. After Medina converted a 2-point conversion, the Trojans made a strong statement coming out of the break and held a 21-14 lead.

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT – STC junior running back Eli Cruikshank hurdles a Pella Christian defender.

However, Pella Christian immediately answered with a scoring drive of their own, capped off by a 2-yard touchdown run to even the score at 21-21. STC now faced one of the critical drives of the night that included the transition from the third to fourth quarter. Driving 78 yards, the Trojans converted on two long third down plays along the way.

On 3rd and 10, Brant found senior Nick Upah for a 28 yard gain to keep the drive alive.

“The pass play to Nick is a play we’ve practiced a lot but haven’t run in a game much,” said Brant. “We set it up well with our run game and Nick ran a great route to get open.”

Brant also scrambled for 25 yards on a 3rd and 12 to keep the chains moving.

“It was a called pass play, but I didn’t like what I saw,” Brant said. “Instincts took over, I scrambled, and I ended up getting a lot further than I expected.”

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT – STC sophomore Alfredo Villa tackles a Pella Christian ball carrier. Villa had 5 tackles and 2 interceptions on the night.

Eventually on the drive, Medina punched in a 6-yard touchdown run and gave STC the 28-21 lead. It was now up to the Trojan defense to find a way to stop the Eagle attack with 8:54 left to play in the game. Things did not look good for STC, as the Eagles quickly drove from their own 12-yard line to score on a 9-yard touchdown run.

With the score now 28-27, there was a timeout on the field, as everyone at the stadium waited to see what Pella Christian would do. Sending their offense back onto the field, the Eagles opted to go for the lead with a 2-point conversion rather than kick the point-after for the tie. The Trojan defense had one more chance — and, as he has done so often this season — junior linebacker Kyle Youngbear came through.

After the Eagles handed the ball off to Nunnikhoven, Younbear shot through the line and stuffed him for no gain.

“They’d been running to the inside all night, so I was expecting that,” said Youngbear. “We were just able to make a play when it really mattered.”

Sophomore defensive lineman Lakyr Peska quickly met Youngbear at the tackle to preserve the lead.

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT – STC junior running back Eric Medina backs into the endzone to score the game-winning touchdown in the 4th quarter against Pella Christian.

“We were just trying to fly to the ball,” Peska noted. “Then we heard people going crazy — it was fun.”

The Trojans still had a job to do, however. Getting the ball back with 4:47 on the clock, Brant summed up what the offense’s mindset was.

“Entering the drive, we wanted to have clean snaps, clean handoffs, hold onto the ball, and stay inbounds. We were also watching the clock to take as much time as possible and we needed to get a couple of first downs,” he said.

STC was able to execute that plan to perfection, as Pella Christian only had one timeout remaining to use. The Trojans used Medina and Cruikshank to pound the ball on the ground, gaining two first downs on six plays. Brant was able to kneel out the clock on the final two snaps and STC celebrated their critical 28-27 victory.

With the win, the Trojans took sole possession of third place in District #7 of Class 2A. The top four teams in each district qualify for the postseason. Even if STC should lose their final regular season game, tiebreakers would assure that they remain in the third place playoff spot within the district.

NEWS CHRONICLE PHOTO BY STEVE BRANT – STC sophomore quarterback Ryan Brant signals for a first down on the victory-sealing final drive against Pella Christian. Seniors Drew Mellies (55) and Garrett Surman (12) are also pictured.

“Coming into the game we wanted to win it for the seniors and give them at least one more game to play this season,” said Brant. “We’re also happy for the coaches, who get to experience the playoffs after going through a lot of hard seasons.”

On the evening, Brant finished 4/8 in passing for 87 yards. Medina rushed 33 times for a total of 189 yards. Youngbear and senior Marcus Bear led the Trojans in tackles with 9 each. They were followed by: Villa (5), junior Michael Henry (5), Brant (5), and Upah (5). Villa’s two interceptions immediately placed him second on the team for the season behind Henry’s three.

Eleven Trojan seniors were honored before the big victory. These included: Tanner Large, Carver Cecak, co-captain Nick Upah, Marcus Bear, Garrett Surman, co-captain Wes Hanus, Drew Mellies, Ayden Vest, Timm Chandonia, Josh Strong, and Alejandro Valdez Madera.

Up next for the Trojans (4-3) is the final game of the regular season: a two-hour trip to Bloomfield to face the Davis County Mustangs (0-7). The game will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 17. Following that, STC awaits the announcement of their first postseason game.