Finally, Stratford could take a deep breath before the final snap.

That’s because the Spartans gave perhaps their best wall-to-wall effort of the season Saturday night, cruising to a three-touchdown lead by halftime and routing MacArthur 45-14 in a District 19-5A game at Tully Stadium.

Junior running back Rodney Anderson had something of a breakout game, rushing for 72 yards and scoring a 3-yard touchdown in the first quarter but catching six passes for 100 yards.

Stratford’s (5-2 overall, 3-1 district) previous four wins were by an average of 8 points, but the Spartans sprinted to a 14-0 lead by late in the first quarter and 28-7 at halftime.

“We played pretty well for four quarters and that’s really the first time we’ve done that this year,” said Stratford coach Elliot Allen, whose team lost 19-14 to district leader Eisenhower on Oct. 13.

The Spartans erased that bitter pill early.

Senior quarterback Andrew Luck accounted for four touchdowns, rushing for scores of 1, 1 and 9 yards and throwing a 21-yard touchdown to B.J. Griffin. Anderson found himself outside several times, moving to inside receiver when Stratford emptied the backfield.

He had key catches on four scoring drives, catching a game-long 19-yard pass to set up a Charlie Jackson touchdown in the fourth quarter.

But it’s not the first time Stratford has seen Anderson has dependable hands as well as quick legs. That talent first came to light during a successful trip to California for 7-on-7 drills last summer.

 “We have several running backs and occasionally we’ll put (Anderson) out there,” Allen said. “He had a great game.”

Luck’s 1-yard score put Stratford ahead 21-0 with 9:47 left in the first half. MacArthur (2-5, 2-2) got within 21-7, the closest it was for the rest of the night, with 4:16 left in the half when Roger Nunnery scored from 7 yards.

Luck rushed for 128 yards and was 13-of-26 passing for 185.

“Last week we had a setback against Eisenhower and this week we just busted our butts in practice,” said nose guard Jimmy Burge, a Missouri commitment. “MacArthur has always been a team that runs downhill. They have a good running back, a strong line and they’re really well-coached, but … we’re built to stop the run and we stopped it all night.”

MacArthur’s Jesse McQueen had an 8-yard touchdownrun with 1:30 left.

Nunnery rushed 16 times for 118 yards.

Stratford pulled into a second-place time with Nimitz (6-1, 3-1), a game behind unbeaten Eisenhower (4-3, 4-0). But the players insist they’re not paying to the district race with games remaining against Northbrook, Nimitz and Memorial.

“We just go out and take it a game at a time,” Anderson said. “We do our best and hopefully we’ll come out on top at the end.”

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