THE SKIP -- St. Marys tied a school record for most points in a game as the Riders put an exclamation mark on the end of their regular season with a 70-7 thrashing of Elida Friday at Skip Baughman Stadium.
The Riders finished the regular season at 7-3 overall, tied for second in the Western Buckeye League, and await the Computer Gods to see if they can hang on to a spot in the Division III playoffs. Ottawa-Glandorf kept St. Marys’ playoff hopes alive by knocking off Shawnee 28-7 to claim the WBL title.
The Riders put 70 points on the board for the second time in school history, matching a 70-point outburst against Van Wert in 1991. Elida was able to avert a shutout, scoring in the final minute of the game against the Riders’ third-string, exchange-student defense.
Seventeen seniors playing their final game at Skip Baughman Stadium went out in style, including quarterback Derek Dunlap, who tied a school record with three touchdown passes in a game. Senior Tyler Norton etched his name in the record books as well, joining nine other receivers with two TD grabs in a game.
An unofficial record may have been the latest ending time for a game at Skip Baughman Stadium. A 50-minute lightning delay spanning halftime kept the game going until nearly 11 p.m.
But while the game seemed to last forever, the outcome was never really in doubt, as the Riders rolled to a 42-0 lead at intermission. Kenny Bruce rushed for two touchdowns in the first half, Koby Frye one, and Cory Dammeyer returned an interception for a first half score. Two of Dunlap’s TD passes also came in the first half. He threw his third on the first drive of the third quarter before taking a seat for the rest of the game.
Frye rushed for 122 yards on 14 carries, and did not play a single down in the second half. Ten different St. Marys runners rolled up 384 yards of rushing, while Dunlap finished with 102 yards passing, completing six of nine passes.
The Rider reserves got into the act in the second half as Dan Roberts, Trevor Kill, and Aaron Homan all scored rushing touchdowns.
Elida finishes its season at 0-10, and was led by sophomore quarterback Shane Conrad who completed 11 of 26 passes for 99 yards, and carried the ball 15 times for 29 yards.
Despite the win, early results indicate that the Riders will not qualify for the playoffs in 2007. 6-4 Rossford's win over Div.II Sylvania Northview propelled Rossford to clinch the number 8 slot in the Div.III Region 10 tournament. St. Marys slips to number 10 behind Lewistown Indian Lake, and out of contention.
Koby Frye finishes his record-shattering MHS career with an unofficial 4,296 yards rushing as the only Roughrider running back ever to break the 4,000 yard mark.
Despite losing their last two games, the defending Div.II state champion Piqua Indians made the playoffs. Piqua will travel to Toledo Central Catholic next week.
Ottawa-Glandorf defeated Shawnee 28-7 at Ottawa to take the WBL championship. O-G is in the playoffs and will probably play at Fostoria in the first round of the Region 14 tournament, but the outcome of Saturday's Milan Edison vs St. Mary Central Catholic game may affect the final Region 14 point totals.
If that pairing holds, O-G will have a chance to avenge its 21-20 overtime loss to the Redmen in the 2007 opening game.
No other WBL team made the playoffs this year. Good luck to the Titans as they represent the WBL in the OHSAA tournament.
