Related Links:
Scores
Stats
Standings
Photos by Andrews Photography
CLICK FOR
LARGER IMAGE
|
SKIP BAUGHMAN STADIUM -- Unbelievable, amazing, incredible… take your pick.
It was a Homecoming thriller Friday night at Skip Baughman Stadium, as St. Marys scored the winning touchdown on a blocked punt with no time left on the clock.
All Shawnee needed to do was kill 2.5 seconds and go into overtime. But on fourth down, deep in his own territory, Shawnee coach Dick West made the decision to punt the ball away, rather than try to run the clock down.
“We made the decision to punt,” he said. “With the way the officiating was going we thought we might not be able to kill the last 2.5 seconds.”
With the scored tied at 26, Shawnee punter Patrick Donovan bobbled the snap, giving Nick Yahl enough time to break through the line and smother the punt. Andy Maze jumped on the loose ball in the end zone with no time on the clock to give the Roughriders at 32-26 win.
“He (Donovan) bobbled the snap just a little and that’s all it took,” West added. “We haven’t had problems getting kicks off all year, so we thought it was the smart play.”
"Was I surprised they called a punt?" St. Marys coach Doug Frye commented. "It was a tough call. Dick West made what he believed was the best decision for his team."
"The blocked punt was a called scheme," Fry added. "The kids on defense deserve credit for setting up the play and defensive coach May also for drawing up the scheme."
"We work a lot on special teams and punt-blocking in practice," Frye said. "We've been a little disappointed that we haven't blocked one before tonight. We picked a great time to get the first one."
"I was going to pull my blocker down by his pads," Nick Yahl said of the blocked punt, "but he was cleared out and I had a clear lane" (to the kicker). Yahl said he had noticed on the previous punt (which the Riders came close to blocking) that the punter was a "slow stepper."
"Since the ball was wet, I thought we could get to him," Yahl added.
Frye presented Nick Yahl with the game ball, but he gave it back to Frye.
"Like Coach keeps telling us, there's no 'I' in 'team,'" Yahl explained. "It was a team effort."
The Riders improved to 6-0 with the win and maintain a one-game lead in the Western Buckeye League title chase at 5-0. Shawnee saw its record fall to 4-2 overall and 3-2 in the league.
Saturday morning quarterbacks from both St. Marys and Shawnee will have plenty of opportunities to look back and say “what if” about this one, as both teams struggled to convert extra points in the second half.
The Riders had one of their more impressive starts of the season, scoring on their first drive of the game. Justin Nagel did most of the damage on sweeps to the right, as he picked up 17 yards on one run and then two plays later scored on 35-yard run, as he jumped over and ran through would-be Shawnee tacklers.
Nick Pfeffenberger drilled the PAT, giving the Riders a 7-0 lead with less than four minutes gone in the game.
"The opening drive [for a touchdown following the kickoff] was a good sign," Frye said. "That's something we haven't done all year. I think the offensive line is getting better every week, and that drive was a result of that."
The Rider defense stopped Shawnee on its first two possessions, however the Tribe was able to get great field position when Skylar Irons returned a Matt Helmstetter punt 55 yards to the St. Marys’ 30.
On the very next play, Shawnee quarterback Matt Hershey found his favorite receiver, Brad Goldsberry, wide open for a 30-yard touchdown. The PAT kick by Nick Sadler missed badly to the right.
The Riders answered Shawnee’s score with another big drive. Again Nagel was the key component as he ran another sweep right, and broke free for a 53-yard gain to the Shawnee 25.
Nagel gained another first down on two six-yard carries, and three plays he later busted into the end zone from two yards out. Pfeffenberger again booted the PAT for a 14-6 lead with 9:21 left in the half.
The two teams traded possessions, with the Riders winning the field possession battle thanks to a 61-yard punt by Helmstetter. With less than four minutes to play in the half, and the Tribe punting from their own goal line, it looked the Riders were in good position. However, the next play changed the momentum. Donovan’s punt was fumbled by Shawn Craft and the Indians recovered at their own 45.
Hershey and Goldsberry went to work, connecting on completions of 25 and 13 yards. Tristan Kelley covered the final three yards For Shawnee’s second touchdown.
The Tribe went for the two-point conversion. Hershey spread five receivers, dropped back and had all kinds of time. He eventually found Irons wide open in the middle of the end zone to tie the game at 14 with 12:41 left in the half.
Shawnee would take its first lead of the game in the third quarter. Again it was the Hershey-to-Goldsberry connection that the Riders could not defend. The two hooked up for gains of 14 and 24 yards to set up a five-yard runs by Irons with 4:07 left in the third quarter. Again the PAT kick attempt missed badly to the right, giving the tribe a 20-14 lead.
The Roughrider offense, which looked like it was slipping back into dormancy, came back alive to answer the Shawnee score. Eric Sullivan had a big 25-yard gain, and Corey Vossler tossed a 32-yard completion to Yahl, setting the Riders up inside the Indian five.
Two plays later Vossler scored on a sneak to tie the game with 1:16 left in the third quarter. St. Marys had a chance for the lead, but the PAT kick never left the turf as the Riders were unable to handle the snap.
Shawnee’s offense picked up where it left off on its next possession. The Tribe marched 64 yards on 10 plays, this time doing it all on the ground. Brian Stephenson went over from one yard out with 9:32 left. This time Shawnee didn’t even bother with the kick and decided to go for two. A pass interference penalty on an incompletion gave the Tribe new life, however, Kelley was stuffed from the one-and-a-half, to keep the Indians' lead at six points.
The Riders couldn’t get their offense back in gear on the next two possessions, and had to punt, the second time with just 4:27 left to play. After a six-yard loss by Stephenson, Irons ran for five, but Hershey was sacked, and fumbled on what looked like a pass attempt. The Indians were able to recover, but the ball was all the way back to the Shawnee three-yard line.
Punting from deep in his own end zone, Donovan shanked a punt to the 27. On the very next play, Sullivan ran a counter to the four, giving the Riders first-and-goal with 2:45 left to play.
The next three plays gained just three yards, setting up a fourth-and-goal from the one. In the process of not scoring the Riders were able to run clock and force Shawnee to use up all its timeouts.
On fourth down, Vossler tried the sneak over the right side and nudged into the end zone on second effort to tie the game at 26 with 1:03 left to play. The PAT was for the lead, but the snap went right through the hands of holder Tom Burke and the Indians had new life.
The kickoff went out-of-bounds, giving Shawnee the ball at the 35. But after a clipping penalty on the next play, it appeared the Tribe might be playing for OT. Hershey ran a draw for three yards, and the Riders appeared as though they were willing to left the clock run down.
Then Hershey threw an incomplete pass, stopping the clock 5.7 seconds. On third down Hershey took a knee and the Riders quickly called time out with 2.5 seconds.
"We had saved a time-out to try the stop the clock after third down," Frye explained. "We were fortunate that the quarterback took a knee a little early and that gave us time to call time."
The clock was stopped with 2.5 seconds left in the game and Shawnee facing fourth and long.
With the line of scrimmage at the Shawnee 22, Donovan took the snap at about the seven. The blocked punt squirted into the end zone and Maze won the race for the ball.
Nagel had a big night for the Riders as he rushed for 205 yards on 29 carries.
St. Marys will take its unbeaten record on the road next week to battle the two-time defending Division IV state Champ Kenton Wildcats.
When asked what they would do to top this one, Frye laughed. "I'm still in a bit of shock after this game. We'll start thinking about Kenton this week."
|
