BATH -- A six-yard overtime run by Scott Laman ended a scoreless battle, and put the St. Marys Roughriders on the verge of the Division III playoffs Friday night at Bath Stadium.
St. Marys caps the regular season at 8-2 overall and 7-2 in the Western Buckeye League with its sixth straight win. Bath falls to 3-7 and 3-6 overall. Wapakoneta nailed down its first WBL title in 10 years with a 34-06 victory over Celina Friday.
O-G defeated Defiance Friday 28-8, which probably puts the Riders into the Region 10 Division III playoffs. The final computer standings will be released Sunday, and if they get in, the Riders will play on the road Saturday night, probably at Kettering Alter or Sunbury Big Walnut. (See "Update" below.)
The Roughriders and Wildcats went toe-to-toe in the mud and slop for 60 minutes without either team scoring.
St. Marys won the coin toss at the end of regulation and elected to play defense. Three Wildcat plays netted nine yards, and Bath coach Todd Clark elected to go for the first down rather than the field goal. A quarterback sneak by Bath’s Zach Sterling was snuffed out by the Riders.
St. Marys then had a turn with the ball, starting on the 20. Koby Frye and Laman combined for 11 yards on three carries to give the Riders a first-and-goal at the nine. Frye fumbled on the next carry, but the Riders kept their hopes alive by recovering the loose ball at the eight.
Laman pushed the ball forward to the six, bringing up a third down. Most fans thoughts were about getting the ball in the middle of the field for a field goal attempt by Doug Burke, who has made 23 consecutive extra points.
But Laman left no doubt, as he bulled his way just over the end zone stripe from six yards out for a 6-0 St. Marys win.
Bath outgained the Riders 174-142 in total yardage and limited St. Marys to just one first down in the second half. But the Cats failed to connect on two long second-half field goal attempts, as the Riders seemed content to take the game into overtime.
Each team had decent scoring opportunities in the first half, thanks to some shaky punt snaps.
Victor Long’s second of four first-half punts was blocked when he had to scoop up a low snap. Bath recovered the blocked punt at the St. Marys 34, but the Rider defense was able to get the ball back on downs.
Bath was able to get into the red zone on its next possession thanks to some nifty running by Todd Ruggley and Zac Sterling. However, Sterling was sacked on second down and fumbled with St. Marys recovering its own 11 yard line.
The Roughriders capitalized on a poor Wildcat snap punt late in the first half. Sterling, who also handles the punting duties was swarmed under at his own 30 trying to handle a poor snap.
Two plays later Derek Dunlap hit tight end Adam Johns for a gain of 26 yards to the Bath four yard line with 1:59 left in the half.
Koby Frye pushed the ball down to the two yard line on first down, but on the following play the Riders had movement on the offensive line, moving the ball back five yards to the seven.
The penalty changed the complexion of the St. Marys offense and proved to be very costly, as Dunlap tried to pass on the next down and was intercepted for the first time all season, killing an excellent scoring chance.
Bath capped a 10-play drive with a 44-yard field goal attempt late in the third quarter, but Greg Burleson’s boot with the wind fell short of the crossbar.
The Riders went three-and-out, giving the ball back to the Cats in good field position near midfield. Bath drove to the St. Marys 27 before stalling. This time Burleson attempted a 43-yard field goal, which was blocked. The Riders recovered at their own 35, getting out of a field position hole.
However, the offense still could not get into gear, and the two teams traded punts to push the game into overtime.
Update -- The Ohio High School Athletic Association will officially announce tournament qualifiers and game pairings Sunday, Oct. 29. But unofficially, according to Joe Eitel's Harbin points site, the Riders are in, finishing in sixth place in Region 10, and will play Tippecanoe at Tipp City next Saturday, Nov. 4.
Several Friday game outcomes helped St. Marys in the computer rankings. Biggest was the overtime win over Bath. That combined with Napoleon's loss to Findlay, O-G's victory over Defiance and, ironically, Sidney's victory over Greenville, to push the Riders up in the poll.
Shawnee narrowly missed qualifying by a scant half of one point. But Wapakoneta finished sixth in Region 6 and Ottawa-Glandorf finished eighth in Region 14 to put three WBL teams in the tournament.
Coldwater clinched a home playoff game with a 20-12 win over Delphos St. Johns, and would meet O-G in the Region 14 final if both teams win the next two games.
Good luck to all area teams in the tournament.
