October 26, 2005 Roughrider Retrospective
Roughriders v. Bath Wildcats, Series
ROUGHRIDER RETROSPECTIVE - by Buz Howard
This is the 20th installment of a series of articles that reflect on St. Marys football history.
The first football contest between Memorial High School and Bath High School took place in 1966, when Bath departed the Northwest Conference to enter the Western Buckeye League, replacing the Bellefontaine Chieftains. The schools have met 40 times, with St. Marys currently leading the series, 27-13.
Bath has won or shared eight WBL championships, a mark that is surpassed only by charter members St. Marys (21) and Van Wert (18). The Wildcats have appeared in the OHSAA playoffs nine times.
The first meeting of the schools produced a 15-8 Roughrider victory, breaking a 19-game Bath winning streak under Coach Milt Levy. John Dysert and Dan Kile scored Roughrider touchdowns.
In a game that decided the WBL championship in 1973, Bath posted a 20-8 win behind the running of halfback Nick George. The Wildcat win broke a 20-game Roughrider victory string.
The 1975 game saw the Riders tally an 18-14 win that featured an 86-yard punt return by Chip Cisco, still an MHS record. Fullback Mike Hoenie scored the game-winner on a nine-yard run in the fourth quarter.
In 1976, St. Marys registered a surprisingly easy 32-7 victory. The Riders would win the WBL crown with an 8-1 record, one game ahead of Bath’s 7-2. Halfback Ronnie Keith gained 164 yards and fullback Rick Lauth added 124 behind an offensive line that included all-leaguers Steve Hirschfeld, Bob Roth, Dale Wine and Bob Zink. Hirschfeld, a tackle, was also voted to the All-State first team.
In 1978, the Riders, on their way to an undefeated season, again cruised by the Wildcats, 48-22. Scott Shelby, Jeff Cisco, and Gordon Blue each tallied over 100 yards. That season Brent Schwartz was named WBL “Defensive Lineman of the Year.” St. Marys went on to an undefeated regular season, but lost in the state semi-finals, 19-14, to Brookfield, who then easily won the state championship.
In the 1982 game, the Roughriders fell behind, 10-0, in the opening quarter, but came back to win, 13-10. Coach Bob Priddy’s defense held Bath to just a single yard of total offense in the final three periods. Key interceptions in the comeback win came from Mark Knous and Dave McMurray. St. Marys, against the tough Wildcat defense, managed to scratch out a safety from defensive tackle Don Johnson, a touchdown by quarterback Shawn Spencer, a two-point conversion by halfback John Menker, and a field goal by Tom Walter.
It was one of four field goals by Walter in the 1982 season, and one of six in his career. Both are school records.
The 1982 defensive team, which registered five shutouts for the season, garnered four spots on the All-WBL first team—Walter, Johnson, McMurray, and linebacker Jeff Perry. Johnson was named WBL “Defensive Lineman of the Year, and Perry was the WBL “Defensive Back of the Year.”
In 1984, the Riders defeated Coach Gary DeLuca's Bath squad, 12-6. The major play of the game was a 30-yard pass from Bill Fitzgerald to Deron Goodwin, setting up the winning touchdown with three minutes remaining. Goodwin made a spectacular diving catch on the two-yard line after the ball had been tipped by Wildcat defender, Rich Dackin. In the next play, Fitzgerald followed his center, Dave Brown, into the end-zone. Coach Skip Baughman later praised Goodwin's catch. "That's what I call concentration. That was the kind of attitude we had out there tonight."
In spite of the loss to St. Marys, the 1984 Bath team went on to win their third league title, and advanced to the playoffs for the first time, losing, 7-6, to Elyria Catholic,the eventual Division III state champions.
The season of 1985 saw Bath, in an unusual set of circumstances, beat St. Marys twice. Behind the running of Greg Fasig in both games, the Wildcats won, 24-7, in the regular season and, 18-12, in the first playoff game. The Roughriders hadn’t lost twice in a season to any opponent since Wapak pulled off twin victories against them in 1940.
Bath won the 1989 game, 16-6, but, thanks to a Kenton victory over the Wildcats that year, St. Marys gained a share of the title, both teams with 8-1 league records.
In one of the most dramatic games of the four-decade-old series, the 1990 edition of the Roughriders edged Bath, 11-8, on a 27-yard field goal by sophomore Greg Yingling with only nine seconds remaining. The field goal was set up by a 35-yard pass from Fred Fry to Mike Compton. The narrow win over the Wildcats took place in the second game of a season that saw the Riders reel off a 14-0 record, the final game a 14-3 triumph over Columbus DeSales for the Division II state championship.
The 1992 game, a 20-14 overtime victory by Bath, was the subject of the previous installment of this series of articles.
In 1993, Shawn Lamb ran for 243 yards in 23 carries in a 26-6 Roughrider win over the visiting Wildcats. The Riders duplicated their feat of three years before by becoming the undefeated Division II state champs, this time beating Uniontown Lake, 21-0, in the finals.
In the lowest-scoring game of the series, Bath won in 1996 by a score of 3-0. The Wildcat field goal came in the fourth quarter on a night of non-stop rain.
In 2001, St. Marys nipped Bath, 29-26 on a late touchdown by Nate Homan. Stephen Kill gained 117 yards and scored two TDs of his own.
The 2002 contest went into overtime with sophomore Justin Nagel’s three-yard touchdown giving the Riders a 14-7 victory. The winning score was set up by two strong runs from fullback Shawn Craft.
Last season St. Marys defeated Bath, 35-7. Sophomore Scott Laman ran for 77 yards in only nine carries, and senior end Zach Taylor scored on a 27-yard pass from Corey Vossler.
Currently the Roughriders have won five straight games in the series.
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