| LIMA, OHIO - A 17-play drive that killed the last seven minutes and 38 seconds sealed a defensive gem for St. Marys Friday at Bath.
The Roughriders held the Wildcats to just 11 yards rushing and six first downs to post a 13-7 Western Buckeye League victory and move to 5-2 on the season.
Hanging on to a six-point lead for the entire second half, the Riders returned a Bath punt to the St. Marys 21 halfway through the fourth quarter.
From there St. Marys shifted into its three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust offense. But the big play to keep the drive going was a roughing the punter penalty on Bath that enabled the Riders to convert a fourth-and-seven with four minutes to play.
The Riders converted another first down when Tyler Sampson followed center Jim Bills on fourth down sneak.
Eli Holsinger ran the next three plays, forcing Bath to use all of its timeouts and set up another fourth down, this time fourth-and-two with 1:09 to play.
Holsinger got the call again and converted with a run to the 25-yard line to move the chains. Sampson took a knee twice from there to seal the win.
The Riders got on the scoreboard first , three plays into their first possession. Sampson tossed a screen pass in the flat to Nathan Homan, who did most of the work on his way to a 55-yard touchdown.
Dusty Dircksen booted the PAT, giving St. Marys a 7-0 lead with 9:07 left in the first quarter.
Following an exchange of punts and an exchange of interceptions, Bath mounted its best drive of the game.
The Wildcats went 72 yards on 10 plays to tie the score. Quarterback Curtis Truesdale did most of the damage through the air, as he picked the Rider secondary apart, and then scored himself on a two-yard run with 11:09 left in the half.
The Roughriders answered on their next drive, as Homan made things easy with a nice kick return to the St. Marys 45. Stephen Kill had two big runs on the drive; a 22-yard gain on a counter and a 10-yard touchdown run with 7:53 left in the half.
Dircksen's kick hit the cross bar and fell short, leaving the Riders with a six point lead at the break, which held up in a second half dominated by defense and penalties.
St. Marys came into the game averaging over 350 yards rushing per contest, and was held to 187 by a stingy Bath defense, which did not give up a run of more than 21 yards.
Holsinger led the way for St. Marys with 87 yards on 23 carries. Kill tallied 68 yards on 15 carries, while Homan toted the pigskin nine times for 25 yards.
Sampson did not attempt a pass in the second half and finished the game one of six for 55 yards. Truesdale completed nine of 16 for 100 yards.
Dustin Alexander snared an interception for the Rider defense, while Shawn Hays recovered a Bath fumble.
The Roughriders return home to Skip Baughman Stadium next Friday for a showdown with Celina.
|
