ST. MARYS -- The Urbana Hilltoppers came out throwing to top the St. Marys Roughriders 26-7 in a rare Friday night Chicken Bowl scrimmage.
Taking the ball first, the Riders 1-2-3 (trap-dive-sweep) opening drive script took them to the Urbana 10 yard line, but the drive stalled on an incomplete pass into the end zone and the Hilltoppers took over on downs. Two plays later, Urbana scored on an 88-yard bomb down the middle of the field and never looked back.
The locals got a good look at an effective passing offense as Urbana racked up big plays on the way to building a 20-0 second-quarter lead.
The Riders got on the board for the first time with less than a minute to go in the half. Justin Nagel had a big gainer on a sweep when an Urbana defender pulled Nagel's helmet off attempting to make the tackle. Nagel kept his feet and gained an extra five yards to the Urbana 37, which put the ball at the 22 yard line after the 15-yard facemask penalty was marched off. It looked like the drive might stall out inside the 20 again, but on 4th and 3, quarterback Zach Menker hit tight end Matt Schlater with a pass to the flat that Schlater took in for a 16-yard TD. The PAT kick was good to make the score Urbana 20, St. Marys 7.
The teams traded possessions to start off the third quarter, but a Roughrider fumble at midfield set up the Hilltoppers' final drive. A quarterback scramble and a halfback run took Urbana down to the St. Marys 9 yard line. St. Marys was called for pass interference on what would have been a sure touchdown, and Urbana ran it in on the resulting 1st-and-goal play from the 5 yard line. The kick failed to end the varsity scoring at Urbana 26, St. Marys 7.
The rest of the scrimmage each team ran two sets of ten plays with their second string and JV players. Urbana's lack of depth might be a weakness, as the Riders rolled up about 170 yards of offense to the Hilltoppers' 25. The defensive gem of the night was an interception by St. Marys of a pass tipped by an Urbana receiver which was run back nearly 40 yards for a touchdown.
As usual in scrimmages, the St. Marys players did not wear their own numbers, so identification was difficult.
The Riders play for keeps next Friday, August 23, hosting Sidney in the season opener. Look for complete coverage of all the Roughrider football games here at ridertown.com.
