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St. Marys has qualified for its third straight state football playoff appearance, and its 11th overall with a trip to Bellbrook Saturday and a 7 p.m. kickoff.
The Roughriders will be looking for its first playoff win since the 1993 Division II State Championship. St. Marys lost first round games to Bellvue in 2000 and 2001.
Bellbrook finished fourth in Division III, Regional 12 with a 7-3 record and barely earned the right to host Saturday's game against the 7-3 Roughriders, who finished fifth in the Region.
The Eagles play in the Southwest Buckeye League, and posted wins this season over Brookville, Northridge, Carlisle, Oakwood, Eaton, Milton Union and Preble Shawnee. Bellbrook's three losses came to Miamisburg, Alter and Valley View.
Bellbrook runs a Wing offense, focusing on the run. The two main threats are quarterback Jack O'Dell, a 6-0, 170-pound senior and running back Chris Iacovne, a 5-10, 185-pound senior.
O'Dell is extremely quick and is a threat on just about every play as he returns kicks and punt, plays in the defensive backfield and punts. O'Dell went into the final regular season game with over 700 yards rushing, averaging 7.1 yards a carry and to touchdowns. He also completed 44 of 88 passes for 569 yards, seven touchdowns, and has been intercepted three times.
Against Preble Shawnee, O'Dell returned two punts for touchdowns.
Through nine games, Iacovone had rushed for over 1,100 yards, which includes a very impressive 8.3 yards per carry average. Iacovone has scored nine 13 touchdowns and caught 17 passes for over 200 yards.
The Eagles' top receiver is Jordan Critz (6-5, 210), who has caught 19 passes for 225 yards and three touchdowns (through nine games).
The early scouting report says the key to beating Bellbrook is to contain O'Dell, who looks for the corner on sweeps and quarterback keepers.
Defensively through nine games, the Eagles had given up 1,352 yards on the ground and 618 yards passing. Opponents have averaged 15 points a game.
The Roughriders will be fielding one of their most improbable playoff teams. Expecting to be a rebuilding year, St. Marys won its final four games to finish at 7-3 with probably more sophomores in starting positions than most long-time Roughrider fans can remember.
The key to the success has been a very consistent defense. The Riders allowed one touchdown or less in six games this season. Against the run, the Riders surrendered just 848 yards -- a school record. The previous record for least amount of rushing yards allowed in a season was 1,162 in 1982. Only three teams rushed for over 100 yards, as the Riders allowed just one 100-yard rusher (Will Clay) of Defiance.
The Roughrider offense has been a bit inconsistent, at times looking like an offense with several sophomores in key positions. But there have also been flashes of strength. Sophomore Justin Nagel has rushed for over 1,000 yards with a hard-nose traditional St. Marys running back style. Another sophomore, quarterback Corey Vossler, is quick on his feet and has been able to scramble for critical yardage.
Junior Fullback Shawn Craft missed games with a leg injury. He had to leave the Defiance game with an injury last week and remains a huge question mark for Saturday's game. With Craft gone, the Riders have several options, including moving Nagel to fullback, and using senior Brandt Huttis, sophomore Nick Yahl or senior Adam Chiles. Jared Ackley and Matt Helmstetter also have experience at fullback this season.
St. Marys has run the Wing-T forever, and has always emphasized the run, but this year's team has been one of the most unbalanced in recent memory. In 10 games, the Roughriders have completed only 11 passes, and two of those were halfback passes. Ironically the Roughrider defense has caught more passes than the offense. St. Marys has intercepted 15 passes this season, compared to the 11 completions.
The Riders rarely pass when they don't have to, and that will probably be the game plan Saturday. St. Marys will look to control the ball and keep the Bellbrook offense on the sidelines. The keys will be establishing a running attack and hanging on to the ball. St. Marys has lost 14 fumbles this season.
Roughrider fans are reminded that the kickoff Saturday is 7 p.m. There is also limited seating at Bellbrook, meaning if you want to watch the game from a seat, you'll have to get there early. Bellbrook is located just south and east of Dayton near Centerville.
Checkout ridertown.com throughout the evening Saturday for game reports, photos from Burton Andrews and official stats by Robert "Buz" Howard. Season totals stats are available HERE.
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