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SKIP BAUGHMAN STADIUM -- "Miserable. Disgusting."
That could have been a description of the evening's weather conditions, but it was how Defiance Coach Jerry Buti summed up his feelings Friday night at Skip Baughman Stadium.
"Our defense got the job done tonight," St. Marys Head Coach Doug Frye said after the game, "and our offense and special teams found a way to win."
For the second straight week, St. Marys took advantage of an opponent's fumble to come from behind in the fourth quarter. Two plays after scooping up a loose ball in Defiance territory, Eric Sullivan scored on a 24-yard run to give the Roughriders a 19-14 lead with 6:47 left in the game.
Two close, come-from-behind wins in two weeks "are awfully hard on my heart," said Frye. But he had to be pleased with the outcomes.
The St. Marys defense made the lead hold up, and the Riders won their Western Buckeye League opener to improve to 2-0 on the young season.
"We gave it away," Buti fumed. "We had the pillow over their face and let them up."
The Bulldog defense was like a brick wall all night, as the Riders failed to put together any kind of offensive drive. However, costly fumbles, and a few special teams breakdowns proved to be fatal for Defiance.
The Riders scored on a kickoff return, turned a muffed punt reception into six points, and capitalized on the fourth quarter fumble.
"St. Marys is a good football team. If you give them a chance they'll take advantage of it," Buti said. "That's why they're picked to win the league."
Field conditions were marred by on-and-off downpours, and when it wasn't raining hard, it was just raining. Both teams had trouble hanging onto the the ball, and it was a St. Marys fumble that led to the game's first score.
On the second play of the Riders third possession, Shawn Craft lost the handle on the ball as he went through the line, and Defiance recovered at the St. Marys 20.
But three offensive plays netted just five yards. Sophomore soccer player Cory Stork hit a knuckleball from 32 yards out that just cleared the uprights for a 3-0 Defiance lead with 1:33 left in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs' lead did not last long. Junior Justin Nagle fielded the ensuing kickoff and rambled 89 yards up the middle to paydirt. The PAT kick never really materialized, though, as the snap was bobbled in a mud puddle.
The Riders padded their lead in the second quarter, after L.J. Helton fumbled a Matt Helmstetter punt and Bo Frye recovered at the Defiance 24.
Three plays later Corey Vossler tossed a pass over the middle to a wide open Craft, who scored from 24 yards out for a 12-3 lead. This time Nick Pfeffenberger's PAT was perfect.
Defiance followed with what was the game's only sustained offensive drive, during which Bulldog senior quarterback Austin Keel rolled out left and right with room to run and pass. He piloted the Bulldogs to three first downs, marching down inside the St. Marys 15 before the drive appeared to stall.
A one-yard loss and two straight incompletions, brought up a fourth-and-11 situation at the 12. Coach Buti shunned the field goal attempt, and decided to go for it.
Keel rolled left and found a wide open Will Swary, whose biggest challenge was keeping his feet in bounds as he tip-toed into the left corner of the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown. But the Bulldog PAT never left the rain-covered launching pad, and the Riders held a 13-9 lead at halftime.
"I think Austin Keel is the best quarterback in the WBL," Frye said, "and Dan Orta is everything he's cracked up to be. Our 148 pound left guard has to be breathing a sigh of relief that this game is over."
Orta, Defiance's 340-pound senior nose tackle, is reportedly being courted by two MAC college programs.
The Roughrider defense had some crucial stands in the second half, especially so considering they were on the field for most of the half.
After holding the Dogs to three-and-out on the first possession of the second half, quarterback Corey Vossler fumbled the ball to Defiance on the Riders' first offensive play of the second half.
Defiance recovered on the St. Marys 17 and went nowhere. The Dogs again shunned a field goal attempt and turned the ball over on downs.
But the Rider offense went nowhere too, resulting in another Helmstetter punt.
Defiance took over near midfield, and shifty junior running back Robert Orta finally found a seam in the St. Marys defense. Orta broke free at the line and then ran past the Rider secondary for a 46-yard touchdown.
The PAT kick sailed wide right, giving the Bulldogs a 15-13 lead with 5:56 left in the third quarter.
The Riders failed to pick up a first down on their next two possessions, giving the Defiance offense plenty of chances. Orta broke off another big run, and appeared to be heading for a touchdown that would put the game on ice. However, St. Marys corner Kyle Vossler chased Orta down at the six yard line after a 52-yard gain.
Vossler's tackle turned out to be huge, as the Bulldogs self-destructed from there. An unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, followed by a motion penalty, and fumbled snap backed Defiance up to where a fourth-and-goal pass from the 25 fell incomplete.
Coach Frye thought catching Orta from behind might have been the play of the game. "Every play could turn out to be big, and sometimes you don't know at the time they happen," he said. "Our players on the sidelines thought that one was big."
St. Marys took over on downs again, but failed to pick up a first down, as the Bulldogs had seven down linemen and put 10 in the box, daring the Riders to pass.
Following a St. Marys punt, Defiance coughed up its costliest fumble of the night, which Nick Pfeffenberger recovered at the Defiance 27.
Two plays later Eric Sullivan found a rare hole in the Defiance defense. He shot into the secondary and raced to the endzone from 24 yards out for a 19-15 lead with 6:47 left to play.
Keel connected with Helton for a 33-yard gain on the next possession to get the Dogs moving, but again the Rider defense rose to the occassion, stopping Keel on a fourth down run and turning the ball back over to the offense.
The Riders best play on first down came when Sullivan picked up a fumble and race 16 yards for one of the Riders' five first downs on the night. However, the next three plays netted five yards forcing a seventh punt from Helmstetter.
The defense would get one last challenge, and slammed the dorr shut as Paul Rammel sacked Keel on fourth down to seal the win. The Riders took possession and ran the "victory play," taking a knee to run out the clock and put one in the "W" column.
"I think the world of Jery Buti," Frye admitted. "He has a fantastic program and came in with a fantastic game plan. These are the kind of games (played under adverse conditions) that you hate to see anybody lose."
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