SKIP BAUGHMAN STADIUM -- Sophomore Koby Frye rushed for 249 yards, scored a touchdown and threw a touchdown pass to lead St. Marys to a dominating 35-15 victory over Defiance Friday.
The Roughriders dominated the line of scrimmage, rushing for 485 yards, while stifling the Bulldogs to minus 28 yards on 17 running attempts.
“Their line beat the crap out of us on both sides of the ball,” Defiance Coach Jerry Buti said. “We expected to have trouble with their offensive line, but their defensive line was unbelievable. They just crushed our offense.”
"We made good progress this week in practice," Rider head coach Doug Frye said after the game. "Our running success tonight is a credit to our offensive line."
Unable to establish any kind of a ground game, Defiance spent the second half in the shotgun where sophomore quarterback Adam Wagner completed 24 of 40 passes for 208 yards and two touchdowns.
Wagner was unable to complete anything deep on the Riders as he completed a few screen passes and took advantage of the 10-yard cushion his wideouts were getting for some short completions.
"I'd say we took about three steps forward on defense from last week to this week," Frye said. "We've got young players on defense - Sam Rammel started his first game tonight - but our new defensive coaches (defensive line coach Shane Patterson and secondary coach Seth Watson) are bringing them along."
Defiance played six and seven players down on the defensive line and kept most off its defense within five yards of the ball, but it didn’t matter. The Riders were able to pick up huge chunks of yardage all night on the sweep play and Koby and Scott Laman had success on either side of the field.
“They were all a blur,” Buti said of the St. Marys backs. “The run the same plays a hundred times and you still can’t stop them. Their front line just destroyed us. After that there’s nothing to talk about. It doesn’t really matter how good their backs ran.”
St. Marys was able to overcome some self-destructive tendacies especially in the first half. The Riders fumbled the ball four times, lost one, and were penalized seven times for 65 yards for a very ugly 22-7 halftime lead.
"I'm not used to the mistakes we made tonight," Frye commented, "that's not typical of St. Marys teams."
The Riders got things started on their second possession of the night. A 37-yard run by Koby pushed the ball into Defiance territory. Bo Frye capped the eight-play drive with a four yard burst into the end zone with 6:23 left in the first quarter. Doug Burke hooked the extra point wide right.
Defiance was unable to pick up a first down in response, but Corey Stork’s booming punt went right through the arms of Laman, and the Bulldogs recovered at the St. Marys 19 yardline.
Seven plays later on fourth-and-goal from the six, Wagner found Michael Swary open in the left corner of the end zone, after a Roughrider defender appeared to slip on the outside cut.
The 'Dogs took a one point lead with 2:54 left in the first quarter when Stork nailed the extra point kick.
The Riders responded on their very next drive going 70 yards in 12 plays, overcoming a few broken plays and a fumble along the way. Brett Baker finished off the drive with a two-yared sneak for a touchdown, and Laman had no trouble with the two-point conversion for a 14-7 lead with 10:50 left in the half.
After trading punts Defiance was able to threaten thanks mainly to some St. Marys penalties. A roughing-the-passer flag gave the Bulldogs 15 yards and a first down, and a defensive holding penalty wiped out a 12-yard sack on fourth down. But even with the generous hospitality from their hosts, the 'Dogs still turned the ball over on downs at the St. Marys 29 with 3:44 left in the half.
The Riders then mounted one of their most improbable drives in recent memory.
Out of timeouts, the Riders kept the drive alive with a fake punt at midfield with just under two minutes in the half. A holding penalty erased a nice 35-yard run by Baker, followed by a clipping penalty and then a motion penalty. But on second-and-25 Koby gained 27 yards for a first down.
The Riders moved the ball inside the Defiance 20 where Baker spiked the ball to stop the clock with 15.4 seconds to play.
The Riders then tried to isolate 6-5 tight end Adam Johns in the left side of the end zone, but Baker’s pass was off–target. Johns then lined up on the right side and laid out in the end zone to snag Baker’s pass for a TD with 4 seconds left in the half.
"Brett Baker stepped it up and came out of his shell tonight," Frye said. "He didn't get much playing time at quarterback last season and it's taking us some time to get on the same page. But that drive before halftime showed good leadership. Adam Johns sprained his ankle slightly on Tuesday and overcame it to have a good game tonight."
After a Defiance penalty, the Riders went for two and took a 22-7 lead into intermission, thanks to Laman’s PAT run.
“That was huge,” Buti said. “We were only down one score before that and I was ecstatic, especially with the way things were going. They scored right before half and they changed the game.”
The Riders lost a fumble on their first possession of the second half, but the Rider “D” got it right back
St. Marys went 97 yards in nine plays. The big plays included a 52-yard run by Koby and a 24-yard run from Laman. Koby finished off the drive with a 13-yard halfback pass to Eddie Minnich with 59 seconds left in the third quarter. Burke’s kick was good to make the score 29-7.
"I guess Koby had to step it up to make up for big brother not being 100%," grinned Doug Frye.
After forcing another Defiance punt, the Riders threatened to put the game on ice early in the fourth quarter, but Scott Dammeyer lost the Rider’s third fumble inside the Defiance five yard line.
Defiance was able to mount a late drive, with Wagner stringing together several short completions. He then connected with Corey Lamb on a 27-yard screen pass to move the ball inside the St. Marys' five. On the next play, Wagner hit Swary for his second touchdown completion with 2:47 left to play.
Following a failed onside kick attempt by Defiance, Koby Frye capped a sensational night with his best run. Koby broke the line of scrimmage, made a 360-degree spin move and raced 43 yards for the game’s final touchdown with 1:38 left to play.
Scott Laman turned in his second 100-yard game in a row, rushing for 122 against Defiance, besting his 118 yard total last week at Celina.
The Roughriders improve to 3-0 on the season and 2-0 in the Western Buckeye League. Defiance falls to 1-2, 1-1. St. Marys travels to Wapakoneta next Friday for the historic 100th meeting with the Redskins.
