FORT SHAWNEE -- St. Marys caught two passes on offense, but caught four passes on defense to preserve a 10-0 upset victory over Shawnee Friday on the Indian Homecoming gridiron.
The Roughriders are the toast of Wapakoneta, as the loss dropped the Indians into a first place tie with Wapak at 5-1 in the Western Buckeye League. The Riders are now just a game back at 4-2 and have jumped into contention in the playoff race. St. Marys went into the week in 11th place in Region 10 of Division III, and will pick up some significant points with the win over Shawnee.
The four interceptions and a fumble were Tribe killers, but it was a 16-play, 58-yard, 9-minute scoring drive in the fourth quarter that put the tomahawk through the heart.
Mitch Dunlap intercepted a Josh Miller pass on the second play of the fourth quarter at the St. Marys 42. From there Koby Frye and Scott Laman combined for 14 carries to push the ball to the Indian one. Derek Dunlap needed two cracks behind center Aaron Pfeffenberger to get the ball into the end zone.
There was less than three minutes left in the game when St. Mary kicked off with a 10-0 lead. Three plays into Shawnee’s drive, Derek Dunlap snagged his second interception of the game with two minutes to play. Shawnee coach Dick West then strangely threw in the towel, never bothering to use any of his remaining timeouts as the Riders were able to run the clock out.
The Riders dominated the time of possession, running 66 offensive plays compared to just 35 for Shawnee. Fyre had a record setting night with a school-record 42 carries for 173 yards. The old record was held by big brother Bo Frye, who toted the ball 37 times against Ottawa-Glandorf in 2004.
St. Marys had great field position in the first half, starting four possessions inside Shawnee territory, but had little to show for it with just a field goal in the final minute of the half.
Frye took the opening kickoff into Shawnee territory with a nice return. The Roughriders were able to grind out a couple first downs, but the drive stalled at the Shawnee 10-yard line when a pass from Derek Dunlap to Adam Johns was ruled incomplete in the end zone.
The Indians coughed up the first of five turnovers on their first possession, when quarterback Josh Miller was picked off by Brad Frazier at the St. Marys 43.
Unable to pick up a first down, the Riders were forced to punt. Shawnee sophomore speedster Brandon Stephenson pushed the ball into St. Marys territory with a 28-yard gain, but the drive eventually stalled as the Indians turned the ball over on downs at the St. Marys 31.
Again, the Riders were unable to generate much offense, but Victor Long’s punt was fumbled by Shawnee, with Kenny Bruce coming up with the loose ball at the Tribe 27. But yet again St. Marys was unable to capitalize, as another Dunlap pass fell incomplete on fourth down, turning the ball over on downs.
The Rider “D” pinned Shawnee deep forcing a punt out of the endzone, which netted just 14 yards, and set St. Marys up in great field position at the Indian 33.
Dunlap connected with Marcus Sheipline for a gain of 25 yards inside the 10. Once again the Riders were unable to push the ball into the end zone, but this time on fourth down St. Marys coach Doug Frye sent the field goal team in, and Doug Burke nailed a 20-yarder with 44 seconds left in the half for the first points of the game.
The Riders and Tribe both had long drives to open the second half but neither team threatened. Derek Dunlap’s first interception gave the Riders good field position, but following a crucial holding penalty, Scott Dammeyer lost a fumble in the Shawnee Red Zone.
Three plays later Mitch Dunlap came up with the interception setting up the Riders long game-clinching scoring drive.
The Riders, now 5-2 overall, will return home next Friday to face nemesis Kenton in in the final game home game of the season. The Wildcats fell to 4-3 on the season with a 45-10 loss at home to Wapak Friday.
