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September 22 News Story
Wildcats Spoil Roughrider Homecoming
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Photos by Andrews Photography
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ST. MARYS, OHIO - SKIP BAUGHMAN STADIUM - A series of crucial fumbles in the red zone and a potent Kenton offense proved to be a deadly combination for the Roughriders Friday night at Skip Baughman Stadium.
The Wildcats hung on for 34-28 win to spoil the St. Marys Homecoming and drop the Riders to 2-2 in the Western Buckeye League and 3-2 overall.
"We were fortunate time ran out," Kenton Coach Mike Mauk said. "St. Marys was playing very hard. They're well coached and had some opportunities to win the game."
The Riders played catch-up the entire second half, after losing a fumble on their first drive after intermission at the Kenton 9 yard line. Trailing by six points in the fourth quarter, St. Marys had two chances to take the lead, but fumbled at the Kenton 19 with 7:15 to play, and then fumbled again at the Kenton 13 with 46 seconds to play.
"Our offense has to learn to take advantage of opportunities," St. Marys coach Doug Frye said. "We have to learn to finish."
The Roughrider offense did its part with 472 yards of total offense, but the defense gave up 448 yards, including 348 through the air.
Things started fast and furious, as both teams scored twice in the first quarter.
The Cats never had a second down on their first drive, running four plays, picking up four first downs, the last of which was a 26-yard touchdown pass from Ben Mauk to Chad Baughman.
The Riders made things look just as easy, as a 53-yard run by Eli Holsinger on the second play from scrimmage set up a five-yard Nathan Homan TD run.
Kenton cracked the scoreboard again with 4:18 left in the quarter when Mauk found Brandon Cornell in the end zone from 34 yards out.
St. Marys stalled on its next possession, but Steven Kill's punt was fumbled and recovered at the Kenton 42 by Adam Doenges. It took Homan just one play to cover that distance, as his 42-yard run tied the score at 14 with 1:46 left in the first half.
The Wildcats used a bit of trickery to score on their next possession. On fourth-and-seven from the St. Marys 40, Cornell took the ball on an end-around, stopped and threw a strike to Baughman in the end zone. The kick failed and the Riders trailed by six with 9:47 left in the half.
St. Marys countered with its best ball control drive of the first half. However, red zone problems again haunted the Riders. On third-and-six from the Kenton 10 yard line, St. Marys was penalized for delay of game, and then Tyler Sampson was sacked. On fourth down, Sampson's pass to Ty Dingledine was a yard short of the first down and Kenton took over on downs at its own 5 yard line.
The Rider defense stiffened and got the ball back as the Cats punted out of their own end zone. Holsinger capped a 37- yard drive with a five-yard run, and when Dusty Dircksen booted his third extra point, St. Marys held its first lead of the game 21-20.
But the Riders made the mistake of leaving 1:25 on the clock. The Cats started on their own 35, and Mauk wasted little time, launching a 54-yard strike to Cornell, who was tackled at the St. Marys 11. Three plays later Nate Manns bulled his way over from the one yard line. The two point conversion was simply a matter of Mauk flicking a pass to a wide open Cornell for a 28-21 Kenton halftime lead.
"I thought we did a pretty good job of controlling the tempo in the first half," Mauk said. "We let them score, which you don't want to see happen, but I was more worried about letting them do it with an 18 or 20 play drive."
Frye said a key to the game was the Riders' inability to control the ball.
"We needed to eat more clock," he said.
Coaches always stress the importance of the first drive of the third quarter of a close game. And it appeared the Riders would set the tone for the second half, grinding up territory in big chunks, but inside the Kenton 10, Sampson fumbled a handoff and the Cats took over.
Kenton regained the momentum with a 12-play 91-yard drive that saw Mauk throw his fourth touchdown pass of the game. This time he capped things off with a 13-yard toss to Cornell with 6:31 left in the third quarter.
When the Riders went three-and-out on their next possession, you got the feeling that Kenton's offense wouyld not be stopped again. The the St. Marys "D" rose to the occasion, and got the ball back inside their own 20. Kill ripped off a 42-yard gainer, followed by connescutive first down runs by Holsinger.
The Riders slowed down inside the Kenton 10, but Sampson fooled the Kenton defense big time on fourth-and-eight, as he rolled right and threw back to a wide open Kill, who could have tip-toed into the end zone from eight yards out.
Dircksen's kick pulled the Riders to within six with 10:34 to play.
Despite some inspired defensive play, the Riders would fumble away their final two possessions, and any chance at winning the game.
After sitting out two games with an injury, Holsinger returned in style with 170 yards rushing on 22 carries. Kill added 97 yards on 12 carries and homan netted 46 yards on 10 carries.
"I was proud of the kids and proud of the way they played," Frye concluded. "They are striving to get back to that championship level, and they will get there."
Mauk, just a sophomore, is nearing 2,000 yards in passing for the season. He was 16 of 32 for 308 yards, and was not intercepted.
Now 3-2 overall, St. Marys will look to get back on the winning track next week on the road at Elida. |
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Photos ©2000 Andrews Photography.

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