Missed opportunities turned out to be the difference in Aberdeen’s 19-12 loss to Steliacoom on Friday at Stewart Field in Aberdeen.

Playing in a rare early-season homecoming game, the Bobcats (1-1 overall), played well enough to win, but lack of execution on a handful of pivotal plays led to the defeat.

Aberdeen took the opening kickoff and drove inside the Sentinels’ 10-yard line, but a bad snap on a 4th-and-4 play from the 4-yard line turned the ball over to Steliacoom (2-0).

The Cats defense would hold after the Sentinels drove to the Aberdeen 10-yard line, but a Micah Schroeder tackle in the backfield followed by an incomplete pass ended the Steliacoom threat and kept the game scoreless after one quarter of play.

Aberdeen then drove the length of the field on a 14-play, 83-yard drive to take the lead on a 6-yard sweep run from Schroeder with just over five minutes to play in the first half.

Steliacoom responded on its next drive, moving the ball inside the Aberdeen five with under a minute to play.

Aberdeen had a golden opportunity to end the threat and possibly pad its lead when Sentinels quarterback Titus Kaeka’s slant pass was read by Aberdeen sophomore defensive back Brody Sherman, who had nothing but green turf in front of him. But the ball bounced off Sherman’s hands and incomplete, breathing new life into the Steliacoom drive.

The Sentinels cashed in on the very next play with Kaeka rolled to his right and found junior receiver Ezra Metcalf in the back corner of the end zone for a touchdown.

Tommy Floch’s extra-point kick put Steliacoom up 7-6 at halftime.

The Sentinels offense was once again on the move to open the third quarter, driving inside the Bobcats red zone, threatening to extend their lead.

But Kaeka’s pass to the end zone was intercepted by Aberdeen senior defensive back Adonis Hammonds, who turned on the jets and outraced the field for a 102-yard touchdown that energized the large homecoming crowd.

“That’s got to be a school-record,” Aberdeen head coach Todd Bridge said of the electric play.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen’s Adonis Hammonds returned an interceptions 102 yards for a pick-6 touchdown in the Bobcats’ 19-12 loss to Steliacoom on Friday in Aberdeen.

After a missed two-point conversion, Aberdeen led 12-7.

The lead was short-lived, however, as Steliacoom started its next drive at midfield after a good kickoff return by Noah Maxwell and scored six plays later when Maxwell took a pass from Kaeka in the flat and raced up the sideline 39 yards for the go-ahead score.

On the ensuing drive, Aberdeen drove 55 yards to get inside the Steliacoom red zone on a drive that included a 26-yard halfback pass from Hammonds to tight end Dustin Creamer for a key third-down conversion.

But the drive stalled out and Aberdeen faced a 4th-and-long at the Sentinels 18-yard line.

The Bobcats called timeout and decided to go for the conversion rather than attempt a makeable 35-yard field goal, a decision Bridge said he would do differently in hindsight.

“I’m going to take the blame. We should’ve kicked the field goal,” he said. “We thought we had a play dialed up and dialed in. … It’s nothing against (Bobcats kicker Gabe) Matthews. We’re pretty sure Gabe can hit one. That was on me.”

Steliacoom threatened again in its next drive, moving the ball to the Bobcats 11-yard line.

But Sherman made up for his earlier dropped pick in a big way, leaping in the air to make a one-handed, twisting interception then having the presence of mind to down the ball to give the Bobcats new life at the 20-yard line.

“How about our sophomore (Sherman) with the presence of mind to go down when he’s thinking, ‘I can run the distance too,’” Bridge said. “It really speaks volumes. I think our football IQ is really high.”

In the fourth quarter, an Aberdeen fumbled handoff on third down was recovered by Steliacoom, which scored two plays later when Maxwell burst through the Cats defense for a 37-yard touchdown run.

But the Bobcats blocked the extra-point attempt, keeping the deficit at seven with 4:32 to play.

Hammonds took the ensuing kickoff to the Sentinels 44-yard line and Aberdeen used the remaining time to drive down the field.

Bobcats senior running back Riley Wixson converted a third-down run for 13 yards to put Aberdeen inside the red zone with just over a minute to play.

After two short runs and an incompletion, Aberdeen faced a 4th-and-6 situation at the 12-yard line.

Bobcats quarterback Mason Hill dropped back to pass and lofted the ball toward Schroeder in the back of the end zone. But the backpedaling Schroeder tripped over the feet of Steliacoom defender Owen Goings – who appeared to have impeded Schroeder’s route – leading to an incompletion and a turnover on downs.

Steliacoom took a knee to close out the final 50 seconds of the game and hand Aberdeen the loss.

Aberdeen had 245 total yards, led by Wixson’s 109 rushing yards on 15 carries.

Steliacoom was led by Kaeka’s 258 passing yards on 11-of-21 completions and receiver Evan DiPetrillo with 107 receiving yards on four catches.

The Sentinels finished the game with 352 total yards.

After the game, Bridge said he was pleased with the way his team fought against a Steliacoom team that had a much larger offensive and defensive fronts, including three-star Air Force Academy commit Xander Shaw, a senior tight end that didn’t have a catch in the game.

“We kind of keyed on him all night. He’s a good football player, I thought we neutralized him though,” Bridge said. “The kids played their guts out and I’m really proud of them. How many times could we have died and rolled over? Four or five times. We never died, never rolled over and were fighting to the end. … That’s two very well-coached teams. They’re good kids and we’ll play them again.”

Aberdeen plays at Rochester in a non-league matchup at 7 p.m. on Friday.

Steliacoom 0 7 6 6 – 19

Aberdeen 0 6 6 0 – 12

Scoring

First quarter

None

Second quarter

Aberdeen – Schroeder 6 run (pass fail), 5:03

Steliacoom – Henry 4 pass from Kaeka, (Chang kick), 0:16

Third quarter

A – Hammonds 102 interception return (pass fail), 8:21

S – Maxwell 39 pass from Kaeka (run fail), 6:56

Fourth quarter

S – Maxwell 2 run (kick blocked), 4:32

Passing: Steliacoom – Kaeka 11-21-2-258. Aberdeen – Hill 9-14-0-67; Hammonds 1-1-0-26.

Rushing: S – Maxwell 13-78; Kaeka 8-16. A – Wixson 15-109, Schroeder 18-61, Hill 3-(-18).

Receiving: S – DiPetrillo 4-107; Henry 3-79; Maxwell 3-74; Byrd 1-(-2). A – Hammonds 6-45; Schroeder 2-32; Creamer 1-26; Schreiber 1-0.

RYAN SPARKS | THE DAILY WORLD Aberdeen defenders Cole Nylander (background) and Sam Schreiber (8) tackle Steliacoom running back Noah Maxwell during the Bobcats’ 19-12 loss to Steliacoom on Friday in Aberdeen.