Junior wide receiver Carter Zollar and his teammates had to weather — pardon the pun — a lot Friday night.
But neither three separate weather delays, nor an injury to the starting quarterback slowed down the Stillwater offense.
Zollar hauled in three touchdown passes as the Ponies rolled past Mounds View 37-14 in a game that didn’t end until after 11 p.m. Even with a full rainbow arcing the field on Homecoming night at Mustang Stadium, the game’s start was delayed 30 minutes due to inclement weather.
With 5:28 to go in the first quarter, action was paused again due to lightning with Stillwater on the Mounds View 5-yard line. That came after the Mustangs recovered a fumble at the Ponies’ 25 on the game’s opening possession but actually lost a yard and turned the ball over on downs.
When play resumed after a break of about an hour, junior quarterback Jack Runk connected with senior Chase Edstrom on a 5-yard touchdown pass. Then, after the Ponies defense held the Mustangs to a three-and-out, Runk scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak.
The extra point was blocked, but Stillwater took a 13-0 lead with 1:05 to play in the first quarter.
Mounds View again turned the ball over on downs at the Stillwater 41 on its next possession, setting up a 14-yard touchdown pass from Runk to Zollar. The Mustangs fumbled the ensuing kickoff and Runk connected with Zollar on a 4-yard scoring strike to extend the Ponies’ lead to 27-0 with 4:36 remaining in the second quarter.
The defense next came up big after Mounds View reached the Stillwater 12 just before halftime. But junior defensive back Liam McGlynn recorded an interception to keep the Mustangs off the board.
The weather then reared its head once more, delaying the start of the second half by about 30 minutes.
When play again started back up, it was more of the same. McGlynn picked off a pass at his own 11, Runk connected with Edstrom on an 80-yard pass down the Ponies’ sideline and senior Colin Johnston kicked a 30-yard field goal.
But the drive was costly for Stillwater as Runk left the game after carrying for a loss of 2 on 3rd-and-goal.
He did not return. But — after Mounds View got on the board on a 17-yard touchdown catch by senior Cayden Tran — senior backup Ben Fredericks connected with Zollar on a 33-yard touchdown pass with 11:09 to play.
A 20-yard touchdown catch by Mustangs senior Godson Rufus-Okomhanru closed out the scoring.
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