By Joseph W. Gex II/Sports Writer

BAY ST. LOUIS — The Stone Tomcats entered the Brother Philip Memorial Athletic complex on Friday evening looking for consistency and balance on the football and what they created was terror on the field for the Saint Stanislaus Rock-A-Chaws on their Homecoming Night. The final result saw the Rocks avoid a third consecutive shutout and the offense find the endzone for the first time in 171 minutes of football.

The Tomcats (2-3) delivered a 42-7 knockout of the Rocks (1-5) on the evening where Kate Garcia was crowned Homecoming Queen.

Stone wasted little time finding the endzone as Ayden Green ripped off a 30-yard scoring four plays into the game with 9:30 left to play in the first quarter. Ren Hendrix converted the PAT to make the score 7-0. 

A strong defensive showing forced a Rock punt and needed just three plays on the ensuing drive to find paydirt. Green scored on a 11-yard run with 7:58 left in the opening quarter. Hendrix made the score 14-0 with his PAT. 

Another Rock punt gave the Tomcats the ball at the Rock 24-yard line following a 22-yard return by Jayden Collins. 

Two plays later, Zander Howard tossed a 19-yard scoring aerial to Collins with 5:29 remaining in the first quarter. The score was 21-0 following the PAT by Hendrix.

Another Rock punt was forced; however, on the third play from scrimmage for Stone, Tripp Lee of SSC forced a fumble that was recovered by Brody Bourgeois at the Rock 21-yard line. 

The good feeling did not last long as the Rocks threw an interception that was return 41 yards for a touchdown by Jacoby Jones with 2:05 left in the first quarter. Braden Fountain converted the PAT to make the score 28-0.

While the Rocks did gain a first down on Drake Schmitt’s 10-yard carry, the Rocks did have to punt away. Lew Monti’s punt was downed at the Tomcat 28-yard line. Two plays later Howard threw a 75-yard scoring aerial to Avyon Stringfield with 9:29 left in the first half. Hendrix made the score 35-0 with the PAT. 

The Tomcats added another score before intermission when Amarion Fairley scored on a one-yard dive with six seconds left in the half. Fountain made the score 42-0 with the PAT. 

With roughly six minutes left to play in the first half, it was determined to implement a running clock. The second half started with a running clock as consecutive turnovers gave the Rocks the ball back at their own 25-yard line. 

The third quarterback used, Landon Makamson, tossed a 20-yard pass to Brayden McDonald before getting hooked up with Liam Hayes for a 55-yard completion that marked the longest pass play this season. Two plays later, McDonald scored from three yards out with 7:07 left to play. Jude Babin’s PAT made the final score of 42-7.

SSC head coach Tate Thigpen commented, “We played all three quarterbacks tonight looking for some momentum. At times, all three played well. We are beginning to get back some players from injury which should help us going forward. It is beginning to sink in that these younger players are capable of doing the things we ask of them. We are now 0-0 with a tremendous amount to play beginning next Friday.

Howard was 8-for-9 passing for 168 yards and 2 touchdowns while Stringfield had three catches for 115 yards  and a touchdown. 

Stone head coach Jacob Aycock stated, “It is no secret that we have struggled offensively as of late. We got Zander Howard back at quarterback tonight and it was nice to see him operate the offense efficiently. Our skill players played really fast tonight. We will be faster than most teams we line up against and that was good to see happen in the game. And, we played a relatively mistake free game. We have a couple of things to clean up penalty-wise. But, the key tonthe game this evening was our ability to win the line of scrimmage. Our line play was solid tonight. We open region play next week with Wayne County. We have to be able to play our best game as they are a team that can match us with speed. They have played a two-quarterback system for most of the non-region season so we need to be able to stop the play of the quarterback.”