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October 19, 2005 Roughrider Retrospective
Roughriders v. Elida Bulldogs, Series
ROUGHRIDER RETROSPECTIVE - by Buz Howard
This is the 18th installment of a series of articles on St. Marys football history. During the season Ridertown will publish two installments each week.
 The St. Marys-Elida series began in 1970, with the two schools playing annually ever since. The first two meetings between the schools were non-league affairs, but then Elida joined the Western Buckeye League, along with Delphos St. Johns, when the league expanded from eight to ten schools.
St. Marys currently leads the series with the Bulldogs, 31-4.
The first meeting of the schools, the ninth game of the 1970 campaign, was hyped as the “Battle of the Champions,” since the Roughriders had finished atop the WBL, and the undefeated Elida team had won the Northwest Conference. Coach Skip Baughman’s St. Marys squad scored early and often, coasting to a 52-0 win. It was a typical Baughman running attack with fullback Mike Dzalamanow gaining 217 yards, and Mike Youngs adding 134. Sophomore Craig Huwer intercepted two passes, and Clayton Harmon picked off another.
After two more years of St. Marys runaway victories, the competition in the series tightened up in the second game of the 1973 season. The Roughriders stunned the crowd by scoring three touchdowns in the final 2:36 in a 32-20 comeback win. The first TD came on a 14-yard pass from Joe Hurlburt to Dave Hausfeld. Then, with 52 seconds remaining, the two future University of Toledo teammates hooked up again on a 44-yard pass that turned out to be the game-winner.
Dana Etter then scored an anticlimactic touchdown from 2l yards away on the final play. Earlier in the contest defensive end Rick Haines had scored on an 11-yard fumble return.
The Elida quarterback that season was Ken Roethlisberger, a dangerous scrambler with a strong throwing arm. His rib injury early in the second half, coming in a collision with a teammate, was certainly a factor in the game’s outcome.
Roethlisberger went on to a college career as a defensive back and a baseball player ( a pitcher) at Georgia Tech, and, of course, raised a celebrated son, Ben Roethlisberger, who also became a football player, currently the quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers, and, as of this writing, one of the most popular players in the NFL.
In 1974, a year in which both teams finished in the middle of the pack in the league standings, the Bulldogs scored their first win of the series, 22-20.
In 1977, Ron Keith scored two first-quarter touchdowns, and the Riders, on their way to a league title, hung on for a 14-12 win.
The following season, 1978, the Roughriders won, 28-0, tagging Elida with their only loss of the season. St. Marys went on to a perfect 10-0 season and advanced to the playoffs, only to lose to Elyria Catholic, 7-6, in the State semi-finals at Berea.
The 1980 game was a historic win for Elida. The Bulldogs’12-7 victory snapped the Riders’ 35-game regular-season winning streak. The streak, stretching back to the final game of the ’76 season, is still a school record.
The 1981 clash, a 10-6 St. Marys win, was the focus of the previous installment in this series.
Elida captured their only Western Buckeye League championship in 1982, thanks to a 7-6 win over St. Marys. The Bulldogs finished with an 8-0-1 league record, one-half game ahead of the Roughriders, who were 8-1-0.
The only Rider score was an 81-yard punt return by Dave McMurray.
In 1984, a season in which the Bath Wildcats won the title, the Roughriders won another of the string of nail-biters with Elida. Quarterback Bill Fitzgerald, with just 39 seconds remaining in the contest, tossed a 39-yard scoring strike to halfback Bill Hausfeld for a 26-23 victory. Hausfeld matched the feat of his older brother, Dave, who, 11 years before, had also caught the game-clincher against the Bulldogs.
After the game, Elida coach Jim Dally, noted for his strong passing offenses, remarked on the irony of the game: “Imagine getting beat by a pass from St. Marys. That’s a switch—though that quarterback throws a good ball.” If it made Dally feel any better that night, the Roughriders did score a couple of touchdowns in their traditional style, with Mike Henkle breaking a trap for 85 yards for one scoring play, and Eric Pax running 33 yards for another. Another crucial factor was two field-goal blocks by Jim Hollman.
The 1988 game was a 28-20 overtime win for the visiting Roughriders. Quarterback Derek Turner rolled out for a five-yard score in the first overtime possession, and then the Elida team fumbled on their own possession to end the game. A big St. Marys play in the contest came from Chris Weng, a nearly unstoppable pass rusher who later would enjoy a collegiate career at the University of Cincinnati. Weng picked up a fumble and rambled 28 yards for a first-quarter touchdown. Other major plays came in the form of three St. Marys interceptions--two by Todd Bowman, and another by Charlie Baker.
In 1991, the Riders amassed 517 rushing yards in a 50-12 win. Leading the way were Shawn Lamb (244 yards), Luke Kleinhenz (151), and Mike Elston (135).
The 2001 game was another one-sided affair, the Roughriders posting a 61-7 victory. It marked the biggest victory margin for either team in the series.
In last year’s 48-14 St. Marys win, Bo Frye ran for 245 yards.
Next week: Bath.
Skip Baughman and the team celebrate the 1981 Elida win.
Photo courtesy Andrews Photography. Click for larger image.
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