BAUGHMAN STADIUM -- It didn’t take the Roughrider offense long to wash the taste of last week’s shutout out of its mouth -- 17 seconds to be exact.
Koby Frye rambled 59 yards for a touchdown on the game’s first offensive play as St. Marys capitalized on some big running plays to post a 28-20 victory over Van Wert Friday at Skip Baughman Stadium.
Koby rushed for 173 yards on his first four carries – all sweeps to the right, finishing the night with 218 yards on 15 carries, while older brother Bo Frye did the dirty work up the middle for 144 yards on 21 carries, including a 35 yard touchdown run late in the game.
“You can’t give up the big plays like that, especially against a team like St. Marys,” Van Wert coach Jeff Hood said. “We struggled to stop the sweep and when we did, they hurt us with the belly up the middle. They have two good running backs and you can’t stop them both.”
Koby's first four touches were runs for 59 (TD), 11, 66 and 37 yards. Bo's long runs went for 24 and 35 (TD) yards, and Scott Laman aded a 29-yard touchdown run to the big-play list.
The Defense was put to the test against a wide open Cougar offense led by shifty quarterback Kyle Smelser, who hurt the Riders passing and running.
Van Wert answered Koby’s long run on its second possession, as Smelser set up some big plays with success on the quarterback draw. A 25-yard completion to Steve Sealscott put the Cougars deep into St. Marys territory. And set up a 20-yard scoring run by Darren Wood, who took an option pitch from Smelser and was uncovered as he sprinted into the end zone. The PAT kick by Kody Heppeard gave the Cougars a 7-6 lead with 2:55 left in the first quarter.
Van Wert would add to its lead with 61-yard drive on its next possession. The big play was a 20-yard run on fourth-and-two by Wood, moving the ball to the St. Marys 15 yard line.
"I thought the Van Wert kids did a great job, especially the offense," St. Marys coach Doug Frye said. "I thought they executed extremely well, made plays - a lot of times we had them pinned in third and long situations... and they would pull it out and make a big play."
Two runs by Smelser gave the Cougars a first down inside the five. The Rider “D” stiffened from there, but on fourth and goal from the one, Wood scored on a pitch sweep to give the visitors a 14-6 lead with 7:15 left in the half.
It didn’t take St. Marys long to answer, as the Riders went 99-and-a-half yards in four plays. The drive started deep in St. Marys territory when Van Wert's kickoff bounced through the hands of Scott Dammeyer, who recovered it while falling down inside his own one yard line.
A sneak by quarterback Brett Baker moved the ball out to the three. Koby then rambled 66 yards on the very same play that he scored on in the first quarter. The very next play saw Scott Laman sweep to the left for 29 yards and a touchdown. A two-point conversion run by Koby tied the game with 5:45 left in the half.
Laman’s touchdown run proved to be controversial as the refs threw a flag on the play in the area one would expect a holding call. But the flag was waved off, incensing Hood to the point of his own 15-yard penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct when he discussed the situation with one of the refs.
St. Marys quickly jumped out on top in the second half, taking advantage of an Eddie Minnich interception on Van Wert’s opening drive of the third quarter.
A 24-yard run by Bo Frye moved the ball inside the Van Wert 20. Four plays later Bo scored on a nice second-effort run from six yards out, as he twisted into the end zone. Doug Burke’s kick made the score 21-14 with 8:52 left in the third quarter.
The St. Marys secondary made some nice adjustments in the second half, as Van Wert was unable to move the ball through the air. However, penalties were killing the St. Marys offense, as neither team was able to score until St. Marys put the game away with a 35-yard touchdown run by Bo Frye with 3:20 left.
Van Wert scrambled to get back in the game, converting a fourth-and-10 pass in its own territory with about two minutes left in the game. Smelser then completed a 23-yard screen pass to Wood to move the ball inside the 20.
Smelser picked up a first down at the St. Marys five, where the Riders appeared to have put up an impressive goal line stand. But on third-and-goal from the one, Smelser appeared to have been stopped for a loss, but the refs signaled a touchdown several seconds after the play had been whistled stopped and the clock had been stopped.
The PAT kick failed and St. Marys recovered the onside kick to run out the clock.
"I was real happy with getting the win tonight," Frye said, "pleased that we were able to bounce back and get the taste of losing out of our mouths from a week ago. that was a tough loss and it's been a tough week of practice. But I was not pleased with the mistakes we made tonight."
The Riders improved to 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the Western Buckeye League, remaining a game behind O-G, which demolished Bath Friday 53-0.
Van Wert saw its record fall to 2-4 overall and 2-3 in the WBL.
St. Marys finished with 404 yards of total offense, all of which came on the ground. Laman finished with 44 yards on six carries. Brett Baker was 0-for-2 passing.
Van Wert was a little more balanced with 105 yards passing and 206 rushing for 311 yards of total offense. Smelser rushed for 81 yards on 22 carries and completed 8 of 26 passes for 105 yards. Wood had a big game on the ground with 102 yards on 14 carries.
St. Marys will be back at Skip Baughman Stadium next week for a Homecoming battle against the Shawnee Indians.
CLICK HERE to listen to Doug Frye's post-game media comments. (4 MB)
