Top performances - Stillwater vs. Woodbury

Two Ponies stood out above the rest Thursday night in Stillwater when the Ponies defeated the Woodbury Royals <a href="https://prepredzone.com/2024/09/stillwaters-defense-running-game-dominates/">34-15</a>. However, there was no shortage of other guys who made their mark.    Fredkove was all over the field for the Ponies. Early, he came off the edge, forcing a rushed throw. On offense, he made a great block on the edge as a tight end spring running back Emilio Rosario-Matias around the corner. The lanky, athletic senior then immediately got into the backfield and turned that into a sack. He was too quick off the line of scrimmage and too quick around the corner for the Royals' tackles. Next, he didn't get the sack but hurried the quarterback into a rushed throw. Against the run, he made a tackle at the line of scrimmage. He uses excellent quickness off the line and speed around the corner as his primary weapons.   He continued to terrorize Woodbury's quarterback. Fredkove didn't get the sack but got a hit on the quarterback. To deal with the constant edge pressure, Woodbury's quarterback rolled to his side, but Fredkove stayed with the quarterback and knocked down the pass. He got his hands on another pass - deflecting a pass on fourth and short.     Ebensteiner took the opening kickoff into Stillwater territory. During the return, he was patient and let his blockers set up. He found a hole and exploded through the hole for a fifty-yard return. He was the Royals' most explosive offensive option. Although the defense did a good job bottling him up, he did catch a quick crossing route to convert on fourth down.     The primary reason Ebensteiner was held to a few catches was Runk. Runk made an open-field tackle early and had perfect coverage on a deep ball down the sidelines. Later in the game, he pulled the same trick with a second deep ball, in which he was step for step with the receiver down the sidelines.     As dominant as Fredkove was on defense, Rosario-Matias was just as good on offense. The running back showed patience at the line of scrimmage when he stutter stepped at the line of scrimmage before exploding through the line for 25 yards. Then, he bounced a run to the outside for good yardage. His excellent vision and feet allowed him to bounce another run to the outside—this time, for a seven-yard touchdown. Rosario-Matias has a low center of gravity and is thick across the chest and thighs, giving him a good combination of quickness and power.   Not just a runner, the junior ran a wheel route and hauled in the pass for twenty yards. Later, back-to-back carries resulted in a bounced run to the right side for 35 yards, and then, he bounced another run to the right for 20 yards. He even picked up yards, throwing the ball. The running back completed a halfback option pass down the sidelines. He showed off his speed to the corner for a 20-yard touchdown and then used his speed on a swing pass to pick up a first down.    [player_tooltip player_id='1583302' first='Jeffrey' last='Akwuba'], [player_tooltip player_id='1277324' first='Dominic' last='Slaughter'], [player_tooltip player_id='615516' first='Siwon' last='Youn'], Christian Yangwakue, [player_tooltip player_id='1642221' first='Nolan' last='Von Behren']   Much of Rosario-Matias' success came running to the right. Von Behren and Yangwakue consistently moved their men off the line of scrimmage, allowing Rosario-Matias to bounce his runs outside. Firing off the line of scrimmage, they sealed off the edge multiple times for big yardage, Yangwakue sealed the edge again later in the game for Rosario-Matias, creating a big run. Youn and Akwuba showed their agility and got out into space. They made great blocks downfield to spring [player_tooltip player_id='1633442' first='Carter' last='Zollar'] for a touchdown on a screen pass, showing great agility to stay with their defenders down the field.    Puglisi closed quickly on a run to the outside. Then, he flowed to the outside effectively to make a tackle for a short gain.     Karkula came off the edge clean to make a tackle for loss. Then, he got off a block and made another tackle for loss.     Schlattman has a cannon for a leg. He launched three punts that traveled more than 40 yards. Two of them went 50 yards.     Mellgren made sure the Royals' offense couldn't just avoid Fredkove by running away from him. Mellgren was solid on the other side as well. He read the option and made a tackle for a short loss. He put pressure on the quarterback multiple times – one time getting home off the edge for a sack.     Schmitz held the edge well and came down the line of scrimmage well to make a tackle for a short gain. Later, he had solid coverage on a deep in route.     Gora made two plays late in the game that stood out. First, he made an open-field tackle. Then, his tight coverage on the outside led to an immediate tackle, keeping the Royals short of the sticks.     Heath briefly got the Royals back into the game with a pick-six from sixty yards out. He cut in front of a deep out and used his speed to house the pick for six points. Later, he played the run, stringing out a sweep and making a tackle for a short gain.

Two Ponies stood out above the rest Thursday night in Stillwater when the Ponies defeated the Woodbury Royals 34-15. However, there was no shortage of other guys who made their mark.