SIDNEY, OHIO -- St. Marys escaped Sidney with a 21-15 victory Friday in the season opener at the Yellow Jackets' 30-0 Field.
The Roughriders, coming off a 13-2 season, which included a rain-shortened 42-0 over Sidney, had their hands full with the Jackets this time around.
Sophomore Koby Frye scored on a 31-yard with 2:08 left in the game to complete the come-from-behind win.
Sidney's defense scored late in the third quarter to take the lead. Xavier Foy picked up a Koby Frye fumble and rambled 20 yards for the score and a 15-13 lead with 2:27 left in the third quarter.
A personal foul by the Jackets pushed the ball back 15 yards for the extra point kick which was no good.
With eight returning starters, the Rider offense was supposed to be the team's strength, but St. Marys was unable to dominate a determined Sidney defense.
On defense, Senior DB Eddie Minnich pulled down two Sidney passes for interceptions, the big one in the fourth quarter in the Yellow Jackets' end zone.
From there the Riders marched 80 yards in 11 plays to seal the win. On the drive, Bo and Koby Frye did most of the damage, culminating in the nifty 31-yard off-tackle run by Koby, who cut against the grain and broke into the free for the TD.
Baker rolled out for a two-point conversion and a 21-15 lead with 2:08 left to play.
Sidney was unable to mount any last-minute heroics as Langhorst threw two incompletions and was sacked by Adam Johns on third down.
Mitchell Dunlap came up with an ill-advised fourth down interception near midfield to end the last Sidney possession. From there Baker took a couple knees to run the clock out.
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Taking advantage of a personal foul facemask penalty, the Roughriders were able to sustain the season's first scoring drive on their second possession of the game.
Baker appeared to have been stopped on third down sack, but a facemask penalty gave the Riders a first down in Sidney territory.
Four consecutive handoffs to Bo Frye netted a second first down inside Yellow Jacket 25. St. Marys kept the ball on the ground as Scott Laman and Koby each ripped off gains of seven yards sandwiched around a five-yard gain by Bo.
Baker picked up a first down inside the five-yardline on a sneak followed by a one-yard touchdown burst by Bo. Doug Burke tacked on the extra point with a goal-splitting kick for a 7-0 St. Marys lead with 2:34 left in the first quarter.
Sidney answered on the next possession thanks to a couple of big plays. Mitch Allen gained 22 yards on a counter reverse and Jacket QB Devin Langhorst hit a wide open Thomas Slife for a gain of 25 yards to the St. Marys 17.
From there the Rider defense stiffened as the next three Sidney plays netted three yards. Les Sprague came on to attempt a 30-yard field goal, which was good, cutting the the St. Marys lead to 7-3 early in the second quarter.
The scored remained 7-3 at half, but the Jackets were able to take their first lead on the opening possession of the second half. Slife got things set up with a 41-yard return of the second-half kick into St. Marys territory.
From there Sidney did most of its damage in the air completing and 18-yard slant pass Donovan Clark, a 16-yard pass to Josh Shrive and a 15-year touchdown pass to Allen. The PAT kick by Sprague hit the upright and was no-good giving Sidney a 9-7 margin with 8:49 left in the third.
Three minutes later the Riders had the lead back when Bo Frye scored his second TD of the night from 15 yards out, making the score 13-9 in favor of St. Marys. The Riders tried for the two-point conversion and a six point lead, but Koby Frye was stopped short with 5:23 left to play.
After stopping the Jackets in their next series, the Riders got the ball back and were threatening to take control of the game. But Koby's fumble turned the tables, resulting in Foy's touchdown.
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The Riders rolled up 229 yard of offense, all of which came on the ground. The Frye boys did most of the damage carrying the ball a combined 44 times for 227 yards. Koby finished with 121 yards on 19 carries, while Bo had 106 yards on 25 carries.
Baker attempted just one pass, which was intercepted. He carried the ball three times for minus five yards.
Sidney was held to 177 yards of total offense, but was a little more balanced than the Riders. Langhorst completed six of 14 passes for 95 yards. The Jackets picked up 82 yards on the ground on 24 carries.
Mitch Allen led the Sidney runners with 28 yards on five carries.
The Riders will stay on the road next week with the Western Buckeye League opener at Celina. The Bulldogs are coming off a 28-24 loss at Lima Senior.
