Related Links:
Scores
Stats
Standings
OHSAA Rank
Joe Eitel
Div III, Region 12
Photos by Andrews Photography
CLICK FOR
LARGER IMAGE
|
SKIP BAUGHMAN STADIUM -- St. Marys rolled up over 400 yards of offense and forced the Elida Bulldogs to roll over to the tune of 47-6 Friday.
The win sets up a big Western Buckeye League showdown next week at Skip Baughman Stadium as the Roughriders host the once-beaten Bath Wildcats for first place with one game to play.
St. Marys improved to 7-1 overall and 6-1 in the WBL. Bath is the only other team with just one league loss. The Wildcats knocked off Wapakoneta 25-10 Friday.
"It was good to get the taste of losing out of our mouths," said St. Marys coach Doug Frye, whose team bounced back from a 28-0 setback at Kenton last week.
The Riders scored early and often, jumping out to a 27-0 halftime lead, and then tacked on three more scores in the second half before calling off the dogs.
Elida had some success throwing the ball, but were not able to crack the scoreboard until late in the second half when the Riders had begun substituting.
"I thought we had a couple of good defensive series early in the game," said Elida coach Chris Etzler. "We made some stops, but then we gave up some big plays and got in the hole."
On offense, Elida spread things out and went to the air... Nothing new for the St. Marys defense.
"We thought we could attack their zone, and we did find some seams in it," Etzler added. "We were able to move the ball, but couldn't keep the drive going.
"I have to give a lot of credit to (quarterback) Jason Sarno," he added. "This is just the second game he has started and he played very well."
Sarno completed 17 of 30 passes for 218 yards. He threw one touchdown pass and was intercepted twice.
However, the Bulldogs had no running game to go with Sarno's passing. Elida finished with minus 12 yards rushing.
The Riders got the scoring started on their second possession. Junior Justin Nagel ran the sweep to the left side 43 yards for the score with 3:24 left in the first quarter.
Elida turned the ball over on downs on its second possession, and the Riders went right to work. On the fourth play of the drive, quarterback Corey Vossler lofted a 20-yard touchdown pass to a wide open Jared Clark for a 14-0 lead.
The Riders struck again late in the half as Bo Frye capped a 12-play drive with a three-yard scoring burst. Nick Pfeffenberger missed his only kick of the night (against 5 good PAT kicks) to give the Riders a 20-0 lead with 1:40 to play.
Frye, a sophomore and a starter on defense, was a newcomer to the Rider offensive backfield Friday as he shared time at fullback with senior Shawn Craft.
Elida went to its hurry-up offense to try and score, but it back-fired as the Bulldogs gave the ball back to the Riders with too much time left on the clock.
St. Marys got back into scoring position as Vossler one-hopped a lateral to Nick Yahl, who then threw a pass to Scott Vossler, who was tackled at the four yard line.
Two plays later Vossler sneaked in from the one, and Pfeffenberger toed the PAT for a 27-0 halftime lead.
The Riders lost a fumble on their first possession of the second half, however Corey Vossler pick off a Sarno pass to put the Riders back in scoring position.
This time it was Craft with the honors, as he bulled over from three yards out with 3:51 left in the third quarter.
The defense got in the act for the next score. Linebacker Scott Stoner stepped in front of an Elida pass and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown with 2:56 left in the third quarter.
Elida got on the scoreboard on its necxt drive as Sarno connected with Mark Leugers for a 28-yard screen pass.
The Rider reserves capped the scoring with a fourth quarter drive. Sophomore Eddie Minnich and Junior Eric Enriquez did most of the damage.
Minnich carried the final seven yards to cap the scoring at 47-6 with 5:29 left in the game.
Nagle paced the Rider rushing attack with 102 yards on 12 carries. Frye had 82 yards on 11 carries, and Craft picked up 55 yards on 11 totes.
Nine different Riders carried the ball 64 times for 365 yards. |
