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October 3, 2005 Roughrider Retrospective
Roughriders v. Shawnee Indians, 2003
Unbelieveable. |
ROUGHRIDER RETROSPECTIVE - by Buz Howard
This is the 13th installment in a series of articles reminiscing the history of St. Marys football. During the football season two installments each week will appear in Ridertown.
It was a season of unlikely finishes. In the opening game of the Roughriders’ 2003 schedule, Sidney, with a three-point lead and a chance to run the clock out, fumbled the ball away with only 39 seconds left, to allow the Riders to score the winning touchdown. The following week the Defiance offense, late in the game, moved to within five yards of icing the game, only to be stopped by a St. Marys goal-line stand. The Riders then pushed across the game-winner in the final minute. In week three, Wapak, in a position to tie the game in the fourth quarter, missed an extra-point kick, and the Roughriders again squeezed out a win.
After a couple of less nerve-wracking games, against Van Wert and Ottawa-Glandorf, it was once again time for high drama when the Shawnee Indians came to Skip Baughman Field.
It turned out to be a game of big plays, featuring the running of senior Justin Nagel (205 yards in 29 carries) against a balanced Shawnee attack led by talented junior quarterback Matt Hershey and halfbacks Skylar Irons and Tristan Kelly.
The teams traded touchdowns with the score tied at halftime, 14-14, and at the end of the third quarter, 20-20.
Early in the fourth quarter, Shawnee put together a 75-yard drive to take a 26-20 lead, and as the scoreboard minutes clicked by, the Roughriders found their backs against the wall, a position which they almost seemed to prefer in the drama-packed season of 2003.
With under three minutes remaining, the Indians forced a St. Marys punt, and it appeared that they could run out the clock. That was when Dame Fortune began to smile on the Roughriders.
An emotional St. Marys defense not only held Shawnee to a three-and-out, but also forced them into 17 yards of losses in the short possession. Shawnee had to give up the ball. The resulting punt was shanked out on their own 27. St. Marys had time for another possession, but there was only 1:28 on the clock.
On the first play Eric Sullivan ran a wingback counter all the way to the four-yard line. Here the Shawnee defense stiffened, and after three more plays the Roughriders faced a fourth-and-goal on the one. With the game now riding on this single play, the St. Marys offensive line and quarterback Cory Vossler executed a wedge play to knot the score at 26. However the Riders botched a chance to win with a faulty snap on the extra-point try. It looked to be a sure overtime situation when the ensuing kick gave Shawnee the ball with just 1:03 left.  But a clipping call and a St. Marys time-out put the Indians into a fourth-and-twenty-five on their own 20-yard line. The scoreboard clock showed 2.5 seconds remaining.
Shawnee coach Dick West, a former Roughrider assistant for Coach Skip Baughman’s teams in the mid 1970’s, chose to punt the ball away.
The Shawnee punter, Patrick Donovan, bobbled the snap slightly, but it was enough to give Nick Yahl, a player with an uncanny knack for big plays, the extra step he needed to knife through the tackle-end gap and block the kick, taking it off the chest just as it left the punter’s foot. As the scoreboard horn sounded the end of the game, the ball shot back into the Shawnee end-zone, where defensive back Andy Maze fell on it for the winning touchdown.
It was an astounding turn of events, and it had a delayed effect on the spectators. St. Marys fans near the north end-zone, where the play had unfolded, cheered wildly, and then the wave of shouts and applause rolled out to the rest of the home side of the field. Bedlam broke out on the field as players and coaches rushed out to celebrate. The Shawnee side, naturally enough, sat in stunned silence.
Mike May, Roughrider defensive coordinator, recently discussed the team’s preparation for the final play. “We try to put in a new special-teams play every week, and this kick-block was the one we added for the Shawnee game.” The strategy, according to May, was for linebacker Paul Rammel to hook the left tackle and drive him inward. Two defensive linemen would occupy the end, hoping to create a crease for Nick Yahl to rush the punter. “The play work as it was designed,” said May, “but the bobbled snap sure helped.”
St. Marys head coach Frye recently was asked for his reaction to Dick West’s decision to punt, rather than to try to run out the clock. “There were dangers each way,” said Frye. “They were deep in their own territory, in no man’s land. If you attempted to run out the clock from there, a lot of bad things could happen—things that might involve the referees, the clock operator, or the judgment of the player running around with the ball. And you have to remember that they never had a punt blocked. Frankly, I would have done the same thing.”
St. Marys went on to a 9-1 record, a WBL championship, and a home playoff game (losing to Cincinnati Wyoming, 18-16).
In a big game the following season, Dick West’s Shawnee squad managed a measure of redemption with a 7-6 win against the Roughriders, the two teams sharing the WBL title. It was Shawnee’s first taste of the championship since 1966.
Justin Nagel rushed for 205 yards on 29 carries.
Photos courtesy Andrews Photography.
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