By Craig Juer -- Daily Staff Writer

STRASBURG — In a downpour of rain, incomplete passes, fumbles and penalty flags, Colton Koontz was the only thing that refused to hit the ground.

The junior rushed eight times for 186 yards and two touchdowns as Stonewall beat Strasburg 21-12. Koontz played just over a quarter, finally hitting the turf for good with a right leg injury returning an interception early in the second quarter.

"This is the truth, I've been here 22 years and I've been coaching 37: he may have the best feet that I've ever coached," Stonewall coach Dick Krol said. "It's hard to be any quicker or have any better feet than he's got."

Koontz's second run of the night was an 86-yard touchdown run in which he gashed the Rams up the right side, fought through tacklers to get back to the left hash mark, then out-ran the defense the rest of the way. Around the 20-yard line of Strasburg, he preternaturally sensed Will Orndorff closing in on him, then juked right out of Orndorff's grasp and into the end zone with 9:25 left in the first.

"He's a pro at cutting, and I guess he just took shorter strides," Dylan Dawson said of Koontz, who was seemingly the only player unaffected by the slippery conditions. "Me and the other backs, we had a little trouble keeping our feet."

Koontz gave the Generals all the points they would need eight minutes later, running off right tackle on Stonewall's first play of the drive before cutting left and sprinting to the finish line from 79 yards.

"Colton's really good," Strasburg coach Mark Roller said. "But we missed lots of tackles."

Koontz fumbled away the ball on the next drive, but intercepted Strasburg quarterback Mark Reynolds on the following play. He didn't get up, however, had to be helped off the field and didn't return.

"We don't know," Krol said of the injury. "It's ankle or shin. The trainer said sprain or fracture."

The Stonewall offense immediately sputtered in Koontz's absence. The Generals issued their first punt on that very same possession, then fumbled it away, punted again and threw an interception.

But the Rams failed to score on the Generals in the first half, or off any Generals turnovers (four fumbles and the interception).

"It's always frustrating when you can't take a turnover and put points on the board," Roller said. "That's the way you win games."

The Rams put in a different look in the third quarter, going from the sophomore Reynolds to Justin Sager, a senior, at quarterback. Sager mostly operated out of the shotgun spread, and often lined up evenly with running back Tanner Orndorff. They both put their hands up to catch the snap, trying to keep the Generals from knowing who would end up with the ball. Though Orndorff finished with 27 carries for 109 yards, the Generals didn't give up any big running plays and were seldom fooled by the deceptive play calling.

"They're both in the same position, and either one of them can do the same thing," Stonewall defensive back Pete Pendleton said of the formation. "So we didn't really have to adjust to it too much."

Roller said the Rams went with Sager because of his superior running ability to Reynolds', and that the plan had been for Sager to get snaps behind center all along. Roller said he expects the team to move forward with Reynolds as the quarterback, however.

"We'll stick with Michael and see where we can go from there," Roller said. "We were just trying to give Stonewall a different look."

The Rams did manage to fight back some in the second half. After a short Strasburg punt from deep in the Rams' territory, Stonewall punctuated a 39-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run on a John-Michael Pirtle bootleg to close out the third. But trailing 21-0 in the fourth quarter, the Rams moved the ball 62 yards downfield and scored on a 5-yard pass from Sager to Sheldon Stickley. The Rams also scored on a batted pass intended for Bub McKelvey that went straight to Stickley, waiting behind the defense to catch it and run for a late 59-yard touchdown.

"You always need a little bit of luck," Roller said.

But it wasn't enough luck, and the Rams had to let the Generals celebrate the first official Shenandoah County football championship — finally decorated by an actual trophy — on their field.

"When Colton went out, we lost our speed — as we say, 'Fred Astaire,'" said Dawson, who rushed 15 times for 148 yards in Koontz's absence. "We had to adjust.

"It's real important to me knowing I was a part of getting the first county championship trophy."

*Contact Craig Juer at cjuer@nvdaily.com