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ELIDA - Jeremy Cable intercepted three passes and Justin Nagel ran for 142 yards as the Roughriders won their third straight road game Friday night at Elida's Roger Kraft Stadium.
Scoring 26 unanswered points, the Riders improved to 4--3 on the season with a 33-14 victory over the Bulldogs.
A wild first half got started with Adam Chiles fielding the opening kick-off on his knee at the St. Marys five-yard line. The Riders' first offensive play was a handoff to Shawn Craft, whose fumble was recovered by the Bulldogs.
The Rider defense backed Elida up momentarily, but a pass interference penalty gave the Bulldogs a first down at the five. Fullback Jon Witham scored from there to get the fireworks started with 11:01 left in the first.
On the ensuing kickoff, Chiles got another chance, found a seam, and raced 85 yards for a touchdown. Nick Pfeffenberger added the PAT to tie the game at seven.
Elida's second possession started much deeper in their own territory, but the result was the same -- seven points. Bulldog quarterback Justin Dunlap completed three straight passes, and was aided by a pass interference penalty.
Brice Miller carried the ball the final five yards to paydirt, and Josh Snider added the PAT for a 14-7 Elida lead with 7:44 left in the first quarter.
After a trade of possessions, the Riders got a good punt return by Nick Yahl to the Elida 20-yardline. That set up a 17-yard touchdown pass from Corey Vossler to Matt Schlater with 1:16 left in the first quarter. Nick Pfeffenberger's PAT boot sailed wide, as Elida held on to a one-point lead.
A partially blocked punt gave the Riders great field position again on their next possession, starting at the Elida 17. From there it took six plays with Vossler scoring from two yards out, giving the Riders their first lead of the night. The two-point conversion was good as Vossler tossed a pass to Brandt Huttis with 1:17 left in the half.
The Riders converted on their first two possessions of the second half and then let the defense take over.
Nagel did most of the damage on the first drive, including a 33-yard sweep into the end zone. Again Pfeffenberger's kick failed for a 27-14 St. Marys lead at the 6:45 mark of the third quarter.
Cable's second interception got the Riders right back in business. Nagel gained 24 to the Elida 11, and from their Vossler ran for six and Brandt Huttis for five and a touchdown.
One final attempt for a two point conversion failed as the scoring was complete with 4:07 left in the third quarter.
Neither team threatened in the fourth quarter as the Riders lost their third fumble of the game and Cable picked off another pass.
With the three interceptions, the St. Marys secondary had one of its best games of the season, as Elida completed nine of 22 passes for 122 yards. The Rider defense held Elida to just 30 yards rushing.
Vossler had one of his best games of the season, completing three of seven passes for 54 yards.
The Riders will be back on the road next Friday at Bath. The Wildcats rallied from a 14-0 halftime deficit to beat Wapakoneta 17-14 Friday to improve to 4-3.
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