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September 14, 2005 Roughrider Retrospective
Wapakoneta Series
ROUGHRIDER RETROSPECTIVE - by Buz Howard
This is installment #8 in a series of articles on St. Marys football history. On each Monday during the season, Ridertown will focus on a memorable game from the team series with the upcoming opponent.
On Wednesday each week there will be a follow-up article that will overview the entire competitive series.
 Wapak is not the oldest football rival of St. Marys, but, through the decades, the Roughriders have played the Redskins more than any other opponent. Starting in 1921, the series has consisted of an even 100 games. St. Marys leads, 62-33-5.
In the early years the two schools often played twice in a season, the second meeting usually the traditional “Turkey Game” on Thanksgiving Day. The Turkey Game, though not always on the original schedule, would often be added to the end of the season if the schools mutually agreed.
One such Thanksgiving Day battle took place in 1935, when Memorial High School squeezed past the Blume High School Redskins, 7-0.
Team Captain, Bob Ramshaw, scored the game’s only touchdown in the second quarter. Then the Roughriders had to stave off two relentless Wapak attacks in the final quarter. The first of these was stopped by an interception on the four-yard line. In their final drive down the field the Redskins were stopped by the clock, as time ran out when they were about to score.
Since there was no scoreboard clock in those days, the referee would fire a pistol to signal the end of the game. In this case the pistol failed to fire. Fans from both sides didn’t realize the game was over until the St. Marys players rushed onto the field and carried Captain Ramshaw off on their shoulders. The confusing events at the end of the 1935 game would foreshadow a similar situation in the so-called “Slow Clock” game that would take place 32 years later.
Ed Noble, an end on that 1935 squad, recently recalled the celebration that followed the St. Marys victory. “We all took our dates to the Wapak Elks to celebrate,” said Noble. “That was the ‘in’ place to go back then. When we arrived, our coach, Bob Reed, was already there. Every time we’d dance past Coach Reed and catch his eye, he would smile from ear to ear. It was a wonderful evening.”
Noble said that, in the 1920’s and ‘30’s, Wapak was the biggest St. Marys rival. “It later became Celina, but back then our fiercest rivalry was with Wapak.”
In 1944, Coach Lyle Barber’s Roughriders, on their way to an 8-1 season and a WBL crown, beat the Redskins, 13-7. On that night, the most famous person ever to appear on the field in the whole history of the series made his debut. Neil Armstrong, who would become the first person to walk on the moon, was a sophomore baritone player in the Blume High School marching band.
In 1950, on a snowy and windy night at Memorial Field, St. Marys led, 28-0 after three quarters, only to find themselves holding off a Redskin flurry that produced 20 points in the final stanza.
Quarterback Dean Cook, who now is known mostly for his basketball prowess at St. Marys and Ohio State, dominated the game with an 85-yard scoring run and touchdown passes to Sam Sanford and Don Skinner. The final touchdown for the Roughriders came on a 64-yard run by Skinner.
The 1967 St. Marys-Wapak game at St. Marys will always be remembered for the notorious “slow-clock” controversy. The scoreboard had gone out midway through the fourth quarter with Coach Hank Stroh’s Redskins leading, 13-12. The game clock, as the public address announcer reported, would now “be kept on the field.”
The Roughriders found themselves gaining possession on their own 34-yard line with an even four minutes remaining. Skip Baughman’s offense then launched one of its typical drives, relying entirely upon the run. Jeff Huwer, who would gain 134 yards that night, got the bulk of the carries.
The Riders moved steadily down the field. As they approached the Wapak goal, in what must have seemed an eternity for the visiting fans, a deep-throated booing sound emanated from the Wapak bleachers. They felt that the game had to be over, but still the St. Marys team marched on. The boos intensified. A Wapak assistant coach pounded on the wall of the pressbox. The Roughriders would run 16 plays in all, with Huwer finally taking it in from the five. After the touchdown the P.A. man, relaying a signal from the on-field officials, announced that there were seven seconds remaining. It was an unhappy visiting crowd that left the stadium that evening, certain that somehow the home team had manipulated the clock, giving themselves the time they needed to tally the winning score. The final score was 18-13.
The 1975 game was the 6-2 Wapak win in the driving rain. That game was the focus of the previous installment of these retrospectives.
The game at St. Marys the following year, in 1976, was another tooth-and-nail encounter that would determine the League championship.
With a 0-0 score and just minutes remaining, Ronnie Keith, the long-striding halfback who would finish the season with 1214 yards, led a drive down the field for the only touchdown of the night. Keith scored on a two-yard dive play with 20 seconds left. The 7-0 victory paved the way for the first of four consecutive WBL championships in the late ‘70’s.
Skip Baughman’s 200th win came against the 1985 Redskins, a team that featured quarterback Darin Stiles and linebacker Kyle Stroh, who would go on to a successful collegiate career at the University of Cincinnati.
With 60 seconds to play, the Roughriders found themselves behind 13-12 on their own 15-yard line. It looked so bleak that some St. Marys fans left the stadium, including a group of five prominent Rider Rooters. What they missed was a four-play, 85-yard drive.
Quarterback Bill Fitzgerald connected with wide-out Bruce Wibbeler for 44 yards. Then, with the fleet Wibbeler serving as a decoy, Fitzgerald found Preston Keith for 39 more yards, moving the ball to the Wapak two. A quarterback sneak came up short, and the Riders were forced to take their final time-out. Fitzgerald then found Wibbeler in the right corner of the end-zone for the game-winner. Final score: 18-13.
In the 1990 campaign, in which the Roughriders would go 14-0 and win their first State playoff title, Wapak almost pulled the upset. In a taut defensive struggle, Vince Yahl’s interception set up the Riders’ only touchdown, a six-yard sweep by Mike Compton. Defensive end John Dysert then tackled Redskin quarterback Aaron Link in the end-zone for a safety, and then the Roughriders held on for a 9-6 victory. Yahl’s interception was just one of four that evening for St. Marys—the others coming from Dysert, Mike Elston, and Scott Chilcoat.
Another tightly contested game would take place in 2003, with the Riders again prevailing, 21-20. Scott Vossler, currently playing linebacker at the University of Dayton, scored two touchdowns that night on a 22-yard interception return and an 18-yard pass from his brother Corey. The Riders’ third TD was a three-yard pass to Nick Yahl.
The Roughriders won last year’s encounter, 34-7, at Skip Baughman field.
Next week: Ottawa-Glandorf
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