By Chris Botkin
ridertown.com
ST. MARYS, OHIO - A combination of key injuries to both teams and a slew of St. Marys turnovers dealt the Roughriders a losing hand in the 2000 WBL opener here Friday.
On a very hot, humid evening, St. Marys and Ottawa-Glandorf played two completely different games: the Titans by air, and the Riders on the ground. A smothering defense against the rush and an early injury to the Titans starting fullback forced the visitors into a pass-heavy offensive game plan. "We wanted to try to run a balanced offense," Titan Coach Ken Schriner said, "but St. Marys took us out of that early on. We were fortunate to have some different people step up tonight and make an impact on the game."
The first half was anyone's game, as the two teams tested each other without either scoring in the opening stanza. With O-G's running game bottled up they took to the air, and finally hit a big third-and-five pass from QB Tony Ball to wideout Chris Kuhlman for 27 yards to the St. Marys 7 yard line. The same pair connected with another pass on the next play for paydirt and the first score of the game. Jason Inkrott kicked the PAT to make the score 7-0, Titans.
The teams traded short possessions until the Riders mounted a serious drive at the 2:40 mark in the second quarter. On the first play of the drive which began at the St. Marys 19, Stephen Kill ripped off 51 yards up the middle. Seven plays later Nathan Homan pounded it into the end zone from a yard out to put the Riders on the board. Dusty Dircksen converted the kick for the point after and the game was tied with 30 seconds remaining in the half.
"St. Marys had the momentum going into the locker room at halftime, and that concerned us," Schriner admitted. "You never know what team is going to come out in the second half."
"We thought we had them where we wanted them at halftime," Rider Head Coach Doug Frye said after the game. And the Riders came out of the locker room ready to play defense.
Ottawa-Glandorf received the 2nd-half kickoff and ran it out to their 42 yard line. But after two incomplete passes St. Marys Defensive Back Tyler Slone stepped up with an interception, returning it to midfield. On the very next play, Nathan Homan broke loose around the right end and apparently ran 49 yards for a touchdown, but the play was called back on a clipping penalty. The Rider offense mustered one more first down on the possession, but a holding call and a wingback-counter play which was sniffed out by the Titans left St. Marys 4th-and-27 on their own 46 yard line.
And then it got worse.
The snap from center was launched 40 yards downfield, and when the dust cleared the Titans had the ball first and goal on the St. Marys 3 yard line.
But once again the defense rose to the occasion, stuffing Ball's QB sneak on first down, batting down a pass in the front corner of the end zone on second down and forcing an incomplete end zone fade pass to force O-G into a field goal. Inkrott poked it through from 20 yards and the Titans took the lead, 10-7, with 7:42 left in the third quarter.
"That [sequence of plays] made a big difference in momentum," Frye noted. "We went from a scoring a touchdown to giving up a field goal, and never regained the upper hand on offense. We feel the defense improved noticeably from last week, though, with several players stepping up their games a notch."
St. Marys next drive stalled, but they gained some field position as O-G bobbled the ball on the return and were forced to start from their own seven. But a big 3rd-and-eight conversion pass for 30 yards from Ball to Sophomore Nick Ruhe proved to be a game-breaker. O-G went on to score on that drive (kick failed) and take a commanding 2-score lead at 16-7.
Then the fumble bug took the Roughriders right out of the game, as they lost their next four possessions through turnovers. A fumble, an interception, a fumble for an O-G touchdown, and a fumble at midfield left the Titans with a 22-7 lead and the ball with 5:54 to play in the game. They mounted an 8-play scoring drive and converted the PAT to round out the scoring at 30-7 with 2:12 on the clock.
"Turnovers were huge," Schriner said. "You can't control that; you just hope you come out on top and tonight we benefitted from them."
Coach Frye made the same point. "Turnovers always kill you," he said without elaboration.
It didn't help matters that Rider speedster DB Dustin Alexander aggravated a knee problem and left the game in the third quarter. O-G QB Ball threw 43 passes, only completing 16. But too many of those were "home runs" that kept drives alive.
The Roughrider running back trio of Eli Holsinger, Nathan Homan and Stephen Kill shared the load, gathering totals of 70, 73 and 83 yards rushing, respectively. Kill, Homan, Ty Dingledine and Adam Doenges caught passes from QB Tyler Sampson, who threw for 64 yards.
"The WBL champions this year will not be undefeated," Frye said. "We just need to keep doing what we're doing, and do it better."
The Riders travel to Van Wert to take on the Cougars next week.
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