FORT SHAWNEE -- With a dominating third quarter, Shawnee dropped St. Marys from the ranks of the undefeated with a 17-7 Western Buckeye League victory Friday at Shawnee.
Coming into the game with the jinxed No. I ranking in Division III, the Riders fall to 7-1 overall and 6-1 in the WBL, still with a one-game lead over a pack of two-loss contenders. St. Marys faces the surging Kenton Wildcats at home next Friday. Shawnee improves to 5-2 in the WBL and 5-3 overall.
The Indians outscored St. Marys 10-0 in the decisive third quarter, as the Riders failed to pick up a first down in the second half until there was less than six minutes left to play in the game.
Shawnee ran 23 offensive plays in the third quarter compared to two three-and-outs for the Riders as the Tribe broke open a 7-7 halftime deadlock with a dominating second half.
Cody Kopilchack capped an 11-play drive for the Indians with a 30-yard field goal to start the second half.
After three running plays netted seven yards, the Riders were forced to punt on their first second half possession.
The Tribe scored seven points the next time they had the ball, which actually capped the scoring for the night as Shawnee kept St. Marys out of the end zone in the second half. Brandon Stephenson scored from four yards out with 1:32 left in the third quarter.
The Riders had one decent drive in the second half, marching from their own eight yard line in the fourth quarter. St. Marys moved the ball inside the Shawnee 30. But four straight incomplete passes ended the drive and any hope for a come-from-behind win.
All of the first half scoring came on each team’s first possession.
The Roughriders took the opening kickoff and marched 77 yards on 14 plays. All of the damage came on the ground as four different St. Marys backs took turns churning up the real estate. Josh Zimmerman went the final four yards and Chaz Adtkins added the PAT to give the Riders a 7-0 lead at the 6:58 mark of the first quarter.
The Indians counter-punched on their first possession with a 71-yard scoring drive on 10 plays. Most of Shawnee’s yards came through the air as quarterback Josh Miller completed back-to-back passes to sheldon Hall for 15 and 30 yards.
Miller finished the drive out on the ground with a one yard sneak. Cody Kopilchack booted the extra point to tie the score with 2:06 left in the first quarter.
The Riders drove back into Shawnee territory on its second chance on offense. However a procedure and delay penalty stalled the drive and forced a punt into the end zone.
Shawnee equaled the the Riders, driving to the St. Marys 35 before running out of downs. From there the two teams traded turnovers in the waning moments of the first half.
