ST. MARYS – Friday night St. Marys took the advice of the 1980 Pat Benatar single “Hit Me With Your Best Shot” to heart to eliminate visiting Miami Trace from the playoffs 28-24.
Facing a fourth and 20 from the Panthers 41 yard line, the Roughriders turned to the arm of quarterback Aiden Meinerding with their season on the line. Meinerding, a junior who entered the night unbeaten as a starter fired a pass to the right sideline that was caught by teammate Parker Beam to send the Riders into the lead 27-24.
Beam, a 6’3 sophomore starter in the defensive secondary for St. Marys hauled in his first pass of the season and as a member of the varsity roster to push the host blue and gold ahead with just :31 remaining.
“Parker Beam has been making those catches since the 7th grade” said Roughrider head coach Bo Frye. “That was pretty cool to see, it was great for him and our entire program.”
Moments before St. Marys took what would be the final lead it was the Panthers who suffered the biggest heartbreak of the night as a third down heave just under two minutes by sophomore Gage Henry on a gimmick play was intercepted and returned across midfield.
Miami Trace (7-4) found themselves with one final heave with :07 remaining, but a second interception, this time by St. Marys defender Logan Chiles of Panthers senior quarterback Trey Robinette sealed the victory.
“That was a wild game” said Frye. “I thought it was the worst we executed the entire season, we were playing with no emotion and making more mistakes than positives. Luckily for us and our seniors in the end we found a way to move on.”
St. Marys opened the scoring in the first quarter on their second possession of the game as senior running back Colton Mabry sliced down the sideline for a 38-yard scamper and a 7-0 lead. Miami Trace however would quickly tie things right back up in the game on their next possession with a 16-yard catch by Skye Salyers with just 1:56 to go in the first.
Celebrating his birthday just a day earlier, senior back Dominik Osborne gave his Riders a present of six points and capped off a 91-yard drive over 10 plays with his 20th rushing score of the season and a 14-7 lead. St. Marys drive covered nearly five minutes and crossed into the middle of the second period of play.
Though the hosts had a chance to extend their lead just before the half, a 32-yard field goal attempt from kicker Bradey Triplett was blocked by the Panthers.
Ten straight markers from Miami Trace, a one yard touchdown run from Julian Baker, and a 34-yard field goal by kicker Levi Morrison gave the Panthers a 17-14 lead with 7:45 left in the fourth.
St. Marys punched back to jump ahead 21-17 just :15 after they fell behind, thanks to a 46-yard jaunt from senior Caleb Schmidt.
On their final trip to the endzone in the game, the Panthers removed over four minutes of time from the Grand Lake Health Systems Field clock to amass a 24-21 advantage on Baker’s second score of the half.
“Honestly, I’m a believer” said Frye. “I knew if we could just connect on one pass we would be ok. We’ve been repping the two minute drill the entire season. I was just hoping for anything to go our way, I didn’t feel like that was how the season should end” said Frye on the game’s ending sequence.
Next week the Roughriders (9-2) will travel south to Tipp City to battle top seeded Tippecanoe, 49-7 winners over Talawanda on Friday night. St. Marys leads the all-time series with the Red Devils 3-0 with the most recent meeting being a 21-14 road victory in the 2008 playoffs.
Dominik Osborne led the Roughrider rushing attack with 15 rushes for 114 yards while Meinerding connected on 4/6 through the air for 106 yards and a score. Jacob Kessler (two receptions/50 yards), and Parker Beam (one reception, 41 yards, one touchdown) paced the receivers.
Senior dual-threat signal caller Trey Robinette completed 16/28 through the air for 196 yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Miami Trace was held to 115 yards on the ground and was outgained 384-311 overall by St. Marys on the evening.
Miami Trace entered play not only missing top ranked tackle Adam Guthrie, ranked #1 in Ohio and #7 nationally, but also without the services of standout wide receiver Cooper Enochs who was injured earlier in the week.
St. Marys moves to 31-4 all-time at Grand Lake Health Systems Field and a perfect 7-0 in postseason play in the same venue with the win.