SKIP BAUGHMAN STADIUM -- St. Marys shrugged off a two-game losing streak in impressive style Friday, reducing the Titans of Ottawa-Glandorf to mere pygmies with a 35-7 Homecoming victory.
The Roughriders dominated the time of possession and controlled the game from the outset, jumping out to a 21-0 halftime lead, which was never threatened.
"We challenged the kids this week to re-establish Roughrider football," St. Marys head coach Doug Frye said. "We stepped up tonight against a good football team."
Hard-running junior Koby Frye carried the mail for the Riders with 202 yards rushing on 35 carries. Junior quarterback Derek Dunlap threw for two touchdowns and the St. Marys “D” came up with three turnovers.
With Homecoming Queen Molly Keighley looking on, the Riders pounced on an O-G muffed punt, setting up a short 31-yard scoring drive. Frye pushed the ball down to the 10 yard line, where Scott Laman scored when the St. Marys offensive line opened up a huge hole.
Doug Burke was a perfect five-for-five on PAT kicks and he gave the Riders a 7-0 lead with his first of the night at the 7:56 mark of the first quarter.
The Titans move the ball on their first possession, thanks to some hard-nosed running by Brian Recker. But the O-G drive stalled at the St. Marys 35. A shanked punt gave the Titans another chance in St. Marys territory, but Junior Marcus Sheipline stepped in front of a Tyler Closson and returned it to the St. Marys 45.
The Riders were once again able to capitalize on the miscue, this time grinding out the 55 yards in 15 plays, twice converting on fourth downs, including a seven-yard touchdown pass on fourth down from Dunlap to Adam Johns with 7:25 left in the first half.
St. Marys tacked on one more opportunistic score late in the half. Calling timeout to force an O-G punt, the Riders rushed the punter with Sheipline getting a piece of the punt at the Titan 24 yard line with less than 50 seconds to play in the half.
The blocked punt set up a great 12-yard touchdown catch by Frye, who leaped at the goal line and hung on to a pass from Dunlap with 23 seconds left in the half.
"The credit for this game all goes to our seniors and my assistant coaches," Frye said. "They did a great job, and had everything to do with tonight's effort."
O-G made a play to get back in the game with its first possession of the second half. Closson capped a 55-yard drive with a 15-yard scramble into the end zone with 7:44 left in the third quarter.
The Riders then responded with one of their most impressive drives of the season, which ironically did not result in any points. St. Marys marched from its own 30 on a three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust drive that chewed up more than nine minutes before turrning the ball over on downs at the O-G eight yard line.
"Buz Howard gave each player a copy of his book [Roughrider Retrospective] this week," Frye said, "and I made it mandatory reading." The lesson in Rider tradition seemed to pay off.
The St. Marys defense forced a three-and-out, and with 6:10 left in the game Frye scored on his longest run of the night, a 28-yard jaunt around the left side.
A few minutes later junior linebacker Sam Rammel got the defense into the act, as he intercepted a pass near midfield and raced into the end zone, capping the scoring with 4:10 left to play.
"This is not that complex a game... last week, I gave our blocking and tackling a 2 out of 10," Frye said. "Tonight it was about a 7 out of 10. Obviously much better, but there's still room for improvement."
With the win, St. Marys goes back above .500 for the season at 3-2 overall and 2-2 in the Western Buckeye League. The Titans fall to 2-3 overall and 1-3 in the WBL. St. Marys will play four of its last five games on the road, including a trip to Van Wert next Friday.
