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The Stratford Tiger football teams have absolutely dominated their first five opponents in 2019 with two 80+ point wins, and by winning every game by at least 40. With these base stats, we really wanted to dive in and ask the question: just how dominant is Stratford?
Yards Allowed: 48
The Stratford Tiger defense has allowed only 48 yards of offense across 5 games that include holding Tomahawk to -75 yards and Rib Lake/Prentice to -12 yards. The most yards they have given up this year was the 60 yards they gave up week 1 to Spencer/Columbus Catholic.
Points Allowed: 0
The Stratford Tigers have yet to allow an opponent to score this season. The current state record for least points given up in a 10 plus game season was set in 1981 by Cashton at 3 points over 12 games. Stratford holds the second-best mark with 13 points over 12 games set in 1986.
The record for most shutouts in a season is a tie between four teams at 11, including Edgar’s 11 shutouts over 14 games in 2009. That 1986 Stratford team is in a tie for second with 10 shutouts over 12 games.
Total Points Scored: 306
Stratford is also on pace to shatter the record for most points scored in a season. The current record is held by the 2015 Amherst Falcons when they scored 736 points in a 14 game season, averaging 52.57 points per game. Through the first five weeks of the 2019 season, the Stratford Tigers are averaging 61.2 points per game. If they are able to keep up this pace they would score 857 points for a 14 game season.
Players to have scored a TD: 17
17 different Tigers have scored a touchdown and Matt Handrick and Teddy Redman are tied with the most at 5 total (both have 4 rushing and 1 receiving). This includes the fact that 14 different players have at least one rushing TD. This count does not include quarterback Max Schwaube who has thrown for 12 TD and 0 INT on the season.
Kick & Punt Return TD: 3
Chase Flink has been a huge weapon in the kicking game this season. He has returned 3 kickoffs a total of 171 yards and 2 touchdowns, along with a punt return for a touchdown.
Points scored on Defense: 8
The Tigers defense has forced 4 safeties this season for 8 points.
Strength of Schedule
The final category is not easily defined, Stratford has had a few easy opponents along the way, but their schedule has not been soft by any stretch. Week 1 they played a good Spencer/Columbus Team that is again near the top of the Cloverbelt.
Week two, they played up two divisions and dismantled a Division 3 school in Antigo. Week 3 was a conference game against Tomahawk, but then they went right back into the grinder Week 4 with an (at the time) unbeaten Division 4 Columbus team.
So can Stratford keep up this pace?
Hard to say, they have some tough games ahead in Auburndale and Edgar, and the playoffs look to be no picnic with a lot of tough teams having the potential to be in Division 5 this year. But if the first five games are any sign, the Tigers are ready to take on any opponent.
Watch the Tigers for the next three weeks as they take on Auburndale, Marathon, and Edgar at OnFocus.News/Sports and see for yourself how good they are.