SKIP BAUGHMAN STADIUM -- Holding off a scrappy Sidney team, St. Marys made it seven season-opening wins in a row Friday night with a 28-14 victory over the Yellowjackets at Skip Baughman Stadium.
The Roughriders scored twice in the first six minutes of the game and appeared to be heading for a blow-out.
"We hadn't put anything on the board in our scrimmages," St. Marys head coach Doug Frye said, "so putting 2 TDs up in a hurry was very big for both the players and staff."
But the Jackets made some key on-field adjustments and were able to make it interesting.
After Sidney’s offense opened the game with a three-and-out, the Rider “O” took the field and seemingly moved at will. St. Marys
marched 67 yards in eight plays, including big runs by Koby Frye and Scott Laman. Junior quarterback Derek Dunlap went the final yard
behind center for a 6-0 lead with 6:36 left in the first quarter. Doug Burke’s PAT kick sailed wide.
On Sidney’s next play from scrimmage, Marcus Sheipline stepped in front of a pass by Sidney’s Devon Langhorst and returned it to the Sidney 19 yard line. On the very next play, Frye weaved his way through the Sidney defense for a 19-yard touchdown. Frye caught his breath and ran in the two-point conversion for a 14-0 lead with 6:15 left in the first quarter.
But Sidney was not ready to roll over in the face of two quick scores. The Yellowjacket defense began crowding the line of scrimmage, while the offense spread out.
“Our defensive coaches made some adjustments, and we tried to open our offense up to get our skill players the ball,” Sidney Coach Dan Cairns said.
A 44-yard completion from Langhorst to Nic Waters set up a three-yard touchdown run by Austin McVety with 6:07 left in the half to cut the Rider lead in half.
Sidney had a golden oppportunity to tie the game after another long completion and run by Langhorst. However, on a first-and-goal at the two, Langhorst fumbled and the Riders recovered in their own end zone.
Four plays and a shanked punt later, the Sidney offense was back in business. But sophomore linebacker Josh Zimmerman turned the tables, intercepting a Langhorst pass and returning all the way to the Sidney 27.
"This is the most coachable group I have seen in my nine years here," Frye commented. "They are very green and ask a lot of questions, but if we can get all eleven clicking at the same time we'll have a very good team."
The Riders had their own golden opportunity fizzle when a double-reverse halfback pass from Frye hit a wide open Sheipline in the numbers at the 10 yard line, but the ball bounced off his hands and fell harmlessly to the turf.
Despite trailing 14-7 at the break, Sidney still carried the momentum into the second half with a strong second quarter. However, the Roughriders made an impressive statement to open the second half, marching 53 yards in nine plays to regain a 14-point lead. Laman did the scoring honors with a three-yard run.
“That was a big drive because we wanted to get the ball back right away,” Cairns said. “St. Marys is a good team and we had trouble stopping them. I thought they played the perfect game.”
"Coach Cairns has done a great job," Frye said. "Sidney has had its ups and downs in the past but the last two years they have played us very tough the whole game."
Sidney was able to cut the deficit back to one touchdown early in the fourth quarter. Langhorst ripped off a 32-yard gain on a quarterback draw and then threw a 13-yard completion to Josh Topp for a first-and-goal. Sidney backed up on a motion penalty, but on third down Langhorst rolled right and found a wide open Thomas Slife for an eight-yard scoring strike with 10:22 left in the game.
St. Marys was quick to answer, with a grind-it-out possession culminating in the only completed pass of the night -- a 10-yard touchdown toss from Derek Dunlap to a wide open Adam Johns. Burke’s PAT made the score 28-14 with 6:40 left to play.
A 21-yard completion to McVety and another long run by Langhorst got Sidney right back into scoring position at the St. Marys 18, but the drive stalled on four straight incompletions and the ball was turned over on downs.
St. Marys gave it right back two plays later on a fumble by Frye -- the Riders' only turnover of the night -- but Sidney again failed to take advantage, turning the ball over on downs, giving the Riders the opportunity to run out the clock.
Langhorst was the main cog in the Jacket offense as he completed 9 passes for 184 yards and ran 16 times for 84 more yards.
"Langhorst is an excellent quarterback," Frye said. "We have seen three exceptional quarterbacks now, with tonight's game with Sidney and the scrimmages with Piqua and Urbana, and I think that helps build our experience."
“I thought Devon made some big plays for us tonight,” Cairns said. “But we made too many mistakes. Too many turnovers and too many penalties. We tried to establish the run early, but after we got down by two scores we had to open it up, and that was what was working for us.”
St. Marys did most of its damage on the ground led by Laman with 122 yards on 17 carries. Frye finished with 114 yards on 22 carries.
The Riders will be back at home next Friday against Celina, which suffered a heart-breaking 26-24 loss to Lima Senior Friday.
Frye added," Everyone was saddened this week by the loss of Skip Baughman. I am humbled and awed to come in every day and sit in this (Baughman's former) office. Every time you walk out on the field, as a coach or player, you feel the legacy of coach Baughman."
I write this with a certain amount of hesitation.
One of my lasting memories of Skip Baughman is how awkward he seemed when people were heaping accolades upon him. He never wanted the story to be about him. He didn’t brag and had contempt for those that did. He was a humble man and accepted his acclaim politely with just enough enthusiasm as to not offend those who were honoring him.
So in his passing, I’m reluctant to wax poetic with another “Skip was great” puff piece that I’m sure would have embarrassed him in life.
By the time I first met Skip, he was in his 28th year as the head football coach at Memorial High School. Even though he was still five years away from the first of three tournament State Championship seasons, his God-like reputation had already been cemented.
For many in St. Marys, Skip could walk on water. He could raise his hands to the skies before a game and quell a thunderstorm or conjure up a downpour, depending on the field condition he desired.
In the weeks and months after I moved to St. Marys, the many loyal critiquers of The Evening Leader wasted no time in educating me on the importance of Roughrider Football and its place in the universe. Like Skip, I’m not from St. Marys. I never played for him and didn’t have a kid who played for him. I think he sensed that I wasn’t “one of them” and subsequently he felt a little more comfortable around me.
In my old “Bottom of the Well” column, I used to predict the scores of the games each week. Skip used to joke with me about the cataclysmic reactions that often ensued when I would predict St. Marys would lose, including a phone call he once got to see if he could get me fired from The Leader.
I quickly learned each of Skip’s hiding places at away venues. After the game he would find a quiet out-of-the-way hallway or corner to grab a quick cigarette, talk to his wife and meet with reporters. He wanted to be as far away from the crowd as possible. Always respectful to reporters, he never pouted after a loss. In fact, I got my best quotes after losses. He never really wanted to say much about 49-7 wins.
Each Wednesday during the season I would meet Skip on an isolated stretch of McBroom Gym bleachers to talk about Friday’s game for a preview story. I usually got the same quote every week: “We have to execute and play with emotion.” If we were playing a “big” game against an opponent with a good record the quote was: “We have to execute and play with emotion, damnit.”
However, the real conversation would begin after Skip would say, “just between me, you and the fence post,” which was his way of saying “off the record.” The more I got to know Skip and the more he trusted me, the more interesting the just-between-you-me-and-the-fence-post stories got. Sometimes he would talk about injuries he didn’t want opposing coaches to read about in the paper, but usually the conversation wasn’t even about football.
One year at the Rider Rooter Golf Outing, I had just come off the course and was talking on the phone in the clubhouse. I hung up and Skip was standing right behind me.
“My wife’s having a baby,” I said.
He looked at me blankly for a second and then said, “What the hell are you doing here?”
I guess I was intentionally teasing him a little, since my wife was scheduled for a C-section the next morning, and I was just calling home to make sure everything was okay. I explained to him that this was going to be my first child, and for about 15 minutes we stood off to the side in the clubhouse talking about fatherhood. He seemed to relish the fact that for the first time all day he wasn’t talking about who the starting fullback was going to be or what teams were going to be tough this fall. Finally someone came up and grabbed his shoulder, “Let’s go Skip, we’re going to eat.” He sort of rolled his eyes at me and walked away.
Make no mistake, I have also seen the man obsessed with football. Skip used to run the Adult Recreation Program during the winter months. This job basically consisted of unlocking the doors to McBroom Gym every Wednesday evening and rolling a few basketballs out onto the floor. One particular Wednesday evening I walked into the locker room looking for some basketballs. Skip was in his office watching the games films from the Marysville playoff game, which was just now about two months old.
He kept rewinding one or two plays, pointing out a missed block here, a stumble there, a blown assignment -- just reliving that agonizing 6-0 loss on a frozen field in Lima. About 90 minutes later I took the balls back in. He was still there, staring at the screen with a new play to dissect over and over again. I often wondered what time he eventually went home that night.
I have never known a coach in any sport at any level to get more out of his players than Skip did, but as we reflect on what a great coach he was, let’s not forget what a great father, husband and person he was. I think Skip would like that.
- Dave Stilwell
