UPPER ARLINGTON, OHIO -- Finishing the regular season unranked in about every major high school football poll, and seeded fifth in Region 12, the St. Marys Roughriders embarked upon the Division III playoffs as perpetual underdogs. Now there is but one Goliath left to be slain.
St. Marys knocked off Columbus Bishop Watterson 14-3 Saturday to set up a Division III Final against the Defending State Champion Cleveland Benedictine Bengals next Saturday at 11 a.m. at Canton's Fawcett Stadium.
Justin Nagel scored on a 63-yard run, and Corey Vossler returned a fumble 38 yards in the third quarter, as the Roughriders galloped from behind to claim victory.
"This is tremendous," a jubilant St. Marys coach Doug Frye said after the game. "This team has come together as a group of kids, and has really epitomized that word -- team... They believed in themselves and they got it done with a lot of heart."
On a night not fit for man nor beast, the Roughriders fell behind early, but made some second half adjustments and took command of the game.
A very strong wind out of the north at Upper Arlington's Moorehead Stadium blew in a weather system that seemed to coincide with the kickoff. Rain, light at times, and coming down in sheets at others, help drive down temperatures through the 40's during the game.
Watterson won the toss and deferred. The Riders took the ball, and the Eagles the wind at their backs.
After Matt Swartz booted the opening kick through the end zone, the St. Marys offense went three-and-out, forcing a Nick Yahl punt into the wind, and even with the benefit of a couples of bounces and a roll, Yahl's punt still came to rest in St. Marys territory at the 46.
The Eagles were impressive on their opening possession as running backs Eric Hard and Vinny DeMaria took turns running through holes in the Rider defense and breaking tackles.
Without pausing for a third down, Watterson marched the ball inside the St. Marys 10 for a first-and-goal at the six yard line.
However, a procedure penalty seemed to throw the Eagles off-stride. Quarterback Robie Rosner was stopped for no gain on a roll-out, Hard went off-tackle for two yards and Rosner threw incomplete on third down.
On fourth down, Swartz nailed a 23-yard field goal with 5:12 left in the first quarter to get the Eagles on the board.
The Riders had much better success moving the ball on their second offensive possesion. After two first downs on the ground, Corey Vossler got St. Marys into Watterson territory with a 13-yard pass to Zachary Taylor.
Three plays later, the Riders were faced with a fourth-and-one at the Watterson 33. Bo Frye got the call and picked up two yards to keep the drive going.
Nagel gained 16 yards on the very next play to give St. Marys a first down at the Watterson 15. But Frye lost two yards on a fumble that Nagel was able to recover, and the Rider momentum had slowed. A one-yard gain, followed by two incomplete passes turned the ball over on downs as the Riders did not consider a possible tying field goal with the wind at their backs.
Watterson got its biggest run from scrimmage on the next series, when fullback Jonathan Thomas ripped up the middle for a gain of 25 yards. But the Eagle drive stalled just into St. Marys territory and Watterson coach Dan Bjelac elected to go for the first down on fourth-and-two from the St. Marys 44.
The Rider defense came up big with the stop, but the offense could not move the ball, punting after a two-yard gain by Frye sandwiched around incomplete passes.
The Blue and Gold Defense responded with its first three-and-out, and with Watterson punting into the wind, it appeared the Riders would have an excellent chance to get some points with decent field position before the half.
However, Watterson's punt bounced backward and off the leg of a St. Marys player. The Eagles recovered and were back in business with 5:40 left until the break.
Rosner completed a 22-yard pass to Alan Strange, but the Eagle drive stalled on a holding penalty and a 43-yard field goal attempt by Swartz wasn't even close.
Thanks to some key third-down gains by Hard, Watterson was able to move the ball to start the second half. But again the drive stalled inside the St. Marys 40, and on fourth-and-two the Eagles came up short, as the Rider "D" prevailed.
Three plays later, Nagel swept to the short side, broke a tackle, got the corner and turned on the afterburners. He raced 63 yards to paydirt, and Ross Quellhorst added the PAT for a 7-3 lead with 4:49 left in the third quarter.
"Justin Nagel had a great game for us," said Frye of his senior running back, who carried the ball seven times for 98 yards. "He played very hard, and he was playing through a hamstring injury."
Waterson completed just two plays on its next possession. On the third play, running back Sam Jacobs fumbled the ball, which Vossler scooped up and rambled 38 yards for the Riders' second TD in less than three minutes. Quellhorst was good again for a 14-3 lead with 1:51 to play in the third quarter.
"Our defense was outstanding tonight," Frye said. "We made some good halftime adjustments and came at them in the second half... The kids came into the locker room at halftime down 3-0, and I could see it in their eyes that they were determined to win this game one way or another."
The second score was big for the Riders, as it forced the Eagles into doing something they're not comfortable doing -- passing the ball -- especially under the terrible weather conditions.
As the game moved into the fourth quarter, Watterson had an opportunity to cut into the lead when Yahl was forced to punt into the wind from his own end zone, following a series of St. Marys penalties.
The Eagles took over on the St. Marys 34, but the Rider defense was gaining strength with each series. On fourth-and-nine, Rosner was sacked, turning the ball over on downs.
Watterson had one more offensive possession, which ended in a fumble, recoved by Tom Burke near midfield with 4:44 left to play.
From there, the Riders were able to grind out three first downs, force Watterson to use its timeouts , and ended up taking three straight "knees" inside the Eagle 15 to end the game.
The Riders, now 13-1, face the 11-3 Bengals next Saturday. Benedictine came from behind twice to defeat Canal Fulton Northwest and advance to the title game.
"We're living one day at a time, and tryng not to look too far ahead," Frye said. "I'm going to have to tell my wife that she's going to have to wait another week before I can clean out the garage. I haven't been able to get to it all season."
Game Notes: In four playoff games this season, St. Marys has outscored its opponents 49-19 in the second half. The Riders have given up just six points in the fourth quarter during that span...
The Roughriders have taken care of just about all of Ohio's major metropolitan areas, beating teams from Cincinnati, Dayton and Columbus. Next up -- Cleveland...
Benedictine will be making its third consecutive trip to the Division III Championship game. The Bengals were runners-up in '02 and knocked off the WBL's Kenton Wildcats 12-0 last year...
Benedictine and the Riders now have one common opponent this year. The Bengals beat Watterson 22-17 during week five of the regular season...
Teams from the WBL have now advanced to the state title game in each of the last five years. Since 1990, WBL teams have been in the Final Four nine times, winning six state championships...
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