CELINA, OHIO -- With 25 first downs and 380 yards rushing, the St. Marys offense took control of a back-and-forth game, and made it seven in a row over Celina with a 32-20 victory over the Bulldogs Friday on the west shore of Lake St. Marys.
The Riders erased a 20-19 second-half deficit with an offense that refused to be stopped. St. Marys did not punt the ball and turned the ball over on downs only once deep in Celina territory.
Bo Frye scored four of the Riders’ five touchdowns as he rushed for 166 yards on 29 carries. Junior Scott Laman picked up 118 yards on 18 carries while Sophomore Koby Frye netted 89 yards on 16 carries.
The lead changed hands six times in the Western Buckeye League opener as Celina’s offense was able to move the ball successfully for three quarters to counter the gains made by the Blue and Gold offense.
Following a short Celina kick-off, the Roughriders were able to score quickly and easily on the game’s first offensive possession.
Bo Frye capped a five-play scoring drive with a 12-yard sweep into the endzone with less than two minutes off the clock at the 10:03 mark of the first quarter.
Celina’s offense responded with a three-and-out, giving the ball back to St. Marys at its own 32.
The Riders overcame two five-yard penalties and drove inside the Celina 25-yard line before a fourth down pass fell incomplete turning the ball over on downs.
The stop was huge for the Bulldogs who were able to put the brakes on the Riders’ early momentum and mount an impressive drive of their own.
Celina went 76 yards in 16 plays which included several big plays. Quarterback Eric Chapin did most of the damage scrambling and throwing.
Chapin completed two passes for first downs and ran for two first downs on the drive. The key play came when an apparent interception by St. Marys’ Aaron Powell was nullified by a pass interference penalty, which gave the Dogs a first-and-goal at the St. Marys two yard line.
Chapin scored the first of his three touchdowns on the very next play to pull the 'Dogs to within one point with 9:27 left in the half.
With place kicker Brandon Ley out with an injury, the Bulldogs decided to go for the two point conversion, which was good for an 8-7 lead when Chapin passed to Jordan Heuker.
The Riders were able to answer on the next possession -- a 64-yard 12-play drive, all of which was on the ground. St. Marys chewed up five or six yards at a time, with the longest run being a 14-yard gain by Bo.
Bo also finished off the drive with a two-yard dive at the 5:04 mark of the first half. The Riders decided to try and answer Celina’s two point conversion despite leading in the game. It was a strategy that never really panned out as Quarterback Brett Baker’s pass was incomplete.
The Rider lead was very short-lived, as Celina answered on its very next play from scrimmage. From his own 30, Chapin rolled out on a bootleg and outran safety Brett Baker for a 70-yard touchdown. The 'Dogs tried for the two-point conversion, but Chapin was stopped short for a 14-13 Celina lead with 4:50 left in the half.
Another short Celina Kickoff set the Riders up in good field position at their own 42. Laman gained 23 yards on a sweep to move the ball inside the Celina 35. Without ever being forced into a third down, the Riders marched the ball into Celina’s end zone to regain the lead on a three-yard run by Bo, with 1:58 left in the half.
Again the Riders shunned the PAT kick, and Baker’s fumble thwarted the conversion giving the Riders a 19-14 lead which held up until halftime.
Celina regained the lead on its intial possession of the second half. Aided by two crucial 15-yard face-mask penalties on St. Marys, the Bulldog were able to get their second referee-aided touchdown of the night.
After what appeared to be a 10-yard sack on third down, Chapin got new life on a personal foul face-mask penalty, and passed to Heuker for a first down. Four plays later, another facemask penalty on St. Marys moved the ball to the Rider 10-yard line. Four plays later on fourth-and-goal from the St. Marys one, Chapin just snuck into the endzone on a rollout.
With 5:25 left in the third quarter, Celina tried to add to its 20-19 lead with a two-point conversion, but Chapin was pulled down from behind when he tried to roll out into the endzone.
Celina was then forced to kick-off, handing the ball back to a Roughrider offense, which they had not stopped all night. And the ensuing drive was no different.
St. Marys went 65 yard in 11 plays. This time it was Koby Frye putting the exclamation point on the possession with a five-yard run with 54 seconds left in the third quarter. St. Marys again went for the two-point conversion, and again came up short as Baker’s pass was incomplete.
Without the benefit of a facemask penalty, Celina was forced to punt on its next possession, and St. Marys finally had the opportunity to take a two-score lead.
The Riders took over at the Celina 44 and marched 56 yards with another double-digit play drive. This time St. Marys ran 11 plays with Bo scoring from two yards out for a 31-20 lead with 6:21 left in the game. Cooler heads prevailed and the Riders decided for the one-point conversion, which was good by the left-footed Doug Burke.
Celina went to the shotgun formation for the rest of the game as Chapin pretty much took things into his own hands. He converted a key third-and-15 situation with a 30-yard pass to Eric Sams. The ‘Dogs drove inside the St. Marys 20 with less than 3:30 left to play, but on third down he was intercepted in the corner of the end zone by Mark Reisen.
St. Marys had no problem running out the clock and going to 2-0 on the season and 1-0 in the Western Buckeye League. Celina saw its record fall to 0-2.
The Riders finished with 395 yards of total offense as Baker completed two of four passes for 15 yards.
Chapin was pretty much the entire offense for Celina. He carried the ball 23 times for 142 yards and completed seven of 16 passes for 92 yards. Brad Jeffries carried the ball the eight times for 30 yards.
The Riders will open the 2005 season at Skip Baughman Field next Friday by hosting the Defiance Bulldogs. Defiance comes into the game with a 1-1 record after a 28-14 win over Wapakoneta Friday night.
