Trailing by 10 less than two minutes before halftime, Sterling was looking for a spark to change the momentum Friday night against Quincy.

The Golden Warriors got it in the form of a 56-second touchdown drive to close the first half, then they added four straight scoring drives in the second half to pull away for a 38-17 Western Big 6 win at Roscoe Eades Stadium.

“We just had to keep the flow of the game going. We started hot [in the second half], and then we just had to keep going,” Wyatt Cassens said. “You really just have to put everything together that you do in practice the week before, use what the coaches are teaching you and just do your job. Once you do it, the rest plays out for you.”

Sterling (5-3, 4-2 WB6) trailed 17-7 when it took over possession at its own 35-yard line with 1:23 to play in the second quarter. Berlin completed passes of 16 yards to Koltyn Chapman and 30 yards on a jump ball to Jack Saathoff, and added an 18-yard scramble to set up a first-and-goal at the Quincy 2. Maurice De La Cruz took a direct snap into the end zone two plays later – his second score on a direct snap – to cap the 65-yard drive with 26.8 seconds left in the half.

That propelled the Golden Warriors into the second half, and they scored touchdowns on drives of 74 yards (capped by a Berlin 30-yard slant pass to Quincy Maas) and 21 yards (finished off with a Berlin 15-yard pass to Saathoff). In between the two drives, a Landon Kukowski interception got Sterling the ball back.

That pick near midfield turned the tide for the Sterling defense, as it gave up just 52 yards of total offense in the second half after Quincy (5-3, 4-2 WB6) amassed 278 yards in the opening half.

“That [interception] was great, and we really needed it,” Cassens said. “It’s not just about the score of the game, but it’s about our mental game, a part of getting in that rhythm to carry the momentum forward. You’ve just got to push as a team.”

In addition to Kukowski’s interception – which came two plays after a fumble recovery was waved off due to an inadvertent whistle – Sterling’s D got a fumble recovery from Deseo Ibarra-Castillo in the first half, and limited the Blue Devils to five first downs and forced two punts and a turnover on downs in the second half.

While the defense slammed the door shut, the offense was in a groove. The only drive Sterling didn’t score on over the final 25 minutes was when it took a knee from victory formation to end the game.

Berlin finished 14-for-17 – including a perfect 10-for-10 after halftime – for 223 yards and two touchdowns, and he combined with four other ballcarriers to rush for 147 yards. De La Cruz led the way with 57 yards and three TDs on 12 carries, and Cobey Shipma added 43 yards on seven rushes, including two big runs on the Warriors’ final touchdown drive. Ryan Gebhardt kicked a 35-yard field goal to give Sterling a 31-17 lead with 2.5 seconds left in the third quarter.

Maas (five catches, 100 yards, TD), Saathoff (six catches, 86 yards, TD) and Chapman (three catches, 37 yards) led the receiving corps.

“After last week [a loss to Geneseo], we really wanted to come out and show we can run the ball, and we had a good balance tonight,” Berlin said. “After we got the score at the end of the first half, there was so much energy in that locker room, and it showed when we came out in the second half. We play our best when we’re at our peak energy, and we put more points on the board and pulled away.”

Quincy quarterback Hunter Schuckman was 20-for-34 for 211 yards, but 184 of them came in the first half when he completed 13 of his 16 passes. He also ran six times for 33 yards, and Mason Dent rushed for 86 yards on 23 carries, with touchdown runs of 1 and 6 yards. Noah Wells caught seven passes for 143 yards, and Cole Burgess added five receptions for 35 yards.

The Blue Devils scored on three of their first four possessions, capping an 18-play, 9-minute opening drive with a 25-yard field goal by Connor Kelley before answering Sterling’s first touchdown on their second drive. Quincy set up its second touchdown with a 57-yard screen pass from Schuckman to Wells on its fourth series.