SKIP BAUGHMAN STADIUM -- St. Marys dominated the first half, and then hung on in the second half for a rare 21-14 victory over Kenton Friday in its final home game of the season.
The win was just the second in the last 9 years over Kenton, and pushes the Roughriders to 6-2 overall and 5-2 in the Western Buckeye League, one game back of league-leading Wapak and Shawnee. The win also keeps the Riders in contention for a playoff berth in Region 10 of Division III.
St. Marys took advantage of two critical Kenton fumbles in the first quarter, and controlled the first half. The Wildcats ran just five plays in the first quarter, and 16 plays in the first half -- 20 fewer than the 36 plays St. Marys ran. And indicative of the play count, St. Marys had the ball for 18:10 of the first half compared to 5:50 for Kenton.
"Keeping Kenton's offense off the field was key," St. Marys coach Doug Frye said.
But all the first half stats just added up to a 14-0 lead at intermission.
“The turnovers hurt us, and St. Marys did a nice job of controlling the ball,” Kenton Coach Mike Mauk said. “We got out of our game plan a little early, but I thought we were fortunate to be down just 14-0 at halftime because I knew our offense would come around.”
"Turnovers were the big difference in tonight's game," Frye agreed. "Our kids did a good job of securing the football."
St. Marys had the ball first, and was able to extend its opportunity when Kenton muffed the game’s first punt and St. Marys recovered on the 16 yard line.
Five plays later Koby Frye followed the left side of the line into the end zone. Doug Burke's PAT kick gave the Riders a 7-0 lead with 5:46 left in the first quarter.
Following the St. Marys kickoff, Kenton quarterback Dailyn Campbell fumbled on the Wildcats’ first official play from scrimmage. This time the Riders recovered at the Kenton 29.
From there it took the Riders six plays, with Frye going the final two and Burke adding the kick for a 14-0 lead with 2:25 left in the first quarter.
Kenton was able to run five plays without fumbling, but had to punt in the closing seconds of the first quarter.
St. Marys put together a decent drive to start the second quarter, but ended up turning the ball over on downs at the Kenton 21 with 6:16 left in the half.
The two teams then traded possessions with the Riders getting another decent chance to score when Kenton was forced to punt deep out of its own end zone with less than 30 seconds to play.
St. Marys quarterback Derek Dunlap scrambled on the final play of the half, but he was stopped short at the Kenton four yard line, and the half ended.
The St. Marys defense forced a three-and-out to start the second half, but the Wildcats got their scoring machine in gear midway through the third quarter.
Campbell hit Billy Price for two 10-yard completions, and then found Dustin Clapsaddle open over the middle for a gain of 27 yards to the St. Marys 15. Three plays later Campbell rolled left and dove into the end zone. Trevor Beazley added the PAT kick to cut Rider lead in half with 4:57 left in the third quarter.
The Kenton touchdown was the first points scored against St. Marys in the last 12 quarters going back to the first half of the O-G game three weeks ago.
The Riders answered on their next possession. Frye had the big play of the drive, as he broke tackles on a simple dive play and ended up rumbling 37 yards. Scott Laman and Frye took turns from there, with Frye scoring his third touchdown of the night from 10 yards out with 21.2 seconds left in the half.
"That drive was huge," Doug Frye said, when asked about answering kenton's score. "We did what we had to do to win the game."
Burke picked up the PAT hat trick as he split the uprights for a 21-7 lead.
The Wildcats clawed right back with what amounted to a two-play, 65-yard drive.
Campbell found Price for a 20-yard completion on the first play of the drive. A pass interference penalty netted the 'Cats 15 more yards, then Campbell found Sean Klinefelter open from 30 yards out for a touchdown. Beazley’s extra point brought the 'Cats back to within a touchdown with 11:46 left in the game.
The Riders were able to pick up a first down on its next possession but had to punt with 7:28 to play. Kenton responded in kind, moving the ball to midfield, but punting after reaching midfield with 6:23 left in the game. That was the last time the Wildcat offense would touch the ball.
“I thought we could get the ball back from there and play field position,” Mauk said. “If I had to do it over agin I’d probably do the same thing.”
A personal foul backed the ball up the the St. Marys 11, but the Riders were able to grind out a couple of first downs. Laman had a nice 19-yard gain past midfield, and tacked on a little excitment when he fumbled, but recovered his own fumble.
Kenton then began using its timeouts, and appeared to have a chance at getting the ball back when a third-and-long pass by Dunlap was batted away. But Dunlap was hit late, and the roughing-the-passer penalty gave the Riders a huge first down, enabling Dunlap to a take a few knees and milk the rest of the clock.
“I thought this was a very physical and typical WBL game,” Mauk said. “Both teams teams played hard and showed each other a lot of respect. I’m disappointed with the loss, but not with the effort.”
"Kenton came out and played hard in the second half," Frye said. "It's nice to win a close one against them."
Campbell was the offense in total for Kenton. He completed 10 of 23 passes for 142 yards and a touchdown. He also carried the ball 13 times for 40 yards. Campbell played from an empty backfield all night, and never handed the ball off to a running back.
Frye had a big night for the Riders as he carried the ball 39 times for 164 yards, and went over 1,000 yards for the season.
Laman finished with 84 yards on 17 carries, as the Riders rushed for 290 yards and threw for eight.
St. Marys finishes the regular season on the road, traveling to winless Elida next week and Bath the week after.
