WAPAKONETA -- The Riders capitalized on an early muffed punt, weathered a couple of nasty turnovers and held off determined Redskin attacks when they had to, to record a 17-9 win to spoil Wapakoneta's 2008 Homecoming game.
The Roughriders returned to form in the first half against Wapakoneta, holding the Redskins to three first downs and putting on a clinic with an 80-yard, 16-play scoring drive that ate up nearly seven minutes of the second quarter.
Wapak took the opening kickoff, failed to move the ball, then fumbled the snap on the ensuing punt attempt and gave the ball up on downs to St. Marys at the Riders' 26 yard line. After laboring with pathetic field position all night last week against Defiance, the Riders took advantage of the break and punched the ball into the end zone in five plays. Koby Frye did the honors, running it in from three yards out, and Kenny Bruce kicked the PAT for a 7-0 St. Marys lead.
The teams traded 3-and-outs the next two possessions, but Wapak won the field position battle with a punt into the end zone that pushed the Riders back to their own 20. From there, a Derek Dunlap deflected pass ended up in the hands of Wapak's Devin Chambers, who returned it to the St. Marys 19 yard line.
A Redskin short run, a recovered fumble for a loss and a short pass only netted three yards, bringing up a 4th-and-7 situation at the 16 yard line as time ran out in the first quarter. The first play of the second quarter was a 33-yard Dan Dripps field goal that cleared the uprights with room to spare at the 11:55 mark, closing St. Marys' lead to 7-3. Dripps boomed the ensuing kickoff into the end zone.
At that point the Rider fans were treated to an old-fashioned exhibition of ball control. The Riders moved the ball, machine-like, 80 yards in 16 plays, never running up against a worse play situation than 3rd-and-three. No passes. Koby Frye took the ball in standing up on an 18-yard sweep with 5:08 left in the half, and Bruce tacked on the PAT to set the halftime score of 14-3, Riders.
The Riders appeared to be on the move after receiving the second-half kickoff. After a Kenny Bruce return to the 31, a couple of dives set up a Koby Frye sweep good for 14 yards to midfield.
But the fumble bug bit on that play, and Wapak's Devin Chambers recovered the ball, returning it to the St. Marys 42. The Redskins looked pinned down on a 3rd-and-11 play, until quarterback Drew Parker completed a pass under pressure to the St. Marys 20 yard line. The fired-up Wapak line took over, and four plays later Adam Lowther finished the drive with a 3-yard TD with 6:55 on the third quarter clock. The PAT kick attempt went wide to leave the score St. Marys 14, Wapak 9.
After a kickoff out-of-bounds, the Riders put together another passless series that took five minutes and ran 11 plays. Kenny Bruce capped it off with a 25-yard field goal to put the Riders up a key eight points, 17-9.
Almost immediately, Corey Menker intercepted a Drew Parker pass two plays into Wapakoneta's next possession to put the Riders back in business at midfield.
But the Riders couldn't take advantage of this turnover, and the two teams traded punts.
The Redskins made one last attempt to tie the score. Starting at their own 10 yard line following a holding call on St. Marys' Tyler Norton's punt into the end zone, the Redskin running back trio of Adam Lowther, Zach Lauck and Garret Lange put together a scary string of gains, taking the ball out to the St. Marys 32 yard line with 2:35 left to play. But a couple of Rider stops forced a 3rd down and nine situation, and with their ears laid back, the defense put enough pressure on Wapak quarterback Parker to result in two incomplete passes, and a change of possession on downs.
The Riders proceeded to run out the clock to preserve the win. St. Marys now leads the 102-game series with Wapakoneta, 63-34 (5 ties).
The Roughriders are now 3-2 on the season and 3-1 in the WBL, setting up a big game with Ottawa-Glandorf next week. O-G beat Elida 66-0 to go 4-0 in the league, and a Rider win at Ottawa next week would force a tie for first place in the league.
Wapakoneta drops to 1-3 in the WBL and 1-4 overall. The Redskins travel to Van Wert next week, who will be grouchy after tonight's 35-7 loss to Defiance.
