VAN WERT – Friday night’s Western Buckeye League thriller boiled down to one play that decided the outcome of a 34-28 Van Wert win over St. Marys.
Faced with a fourth and three play deep inside Cougar territory, St. Marys final snap bounced off of Ethan Wedding and QB Gavin Reineke and to the Eggerss Stadium grass for a turnover on downs as it was recovered by the Riders and lead to Van Wert taking a pair of knees to secure their win moments later.
Cougars QB Owen Treece was simply brilliant in the contest as he frequently kept broken plays alive with his ability to scramble and improvise and find open receivers for big plays. On the evening the senior three sport athlete connected on 17 of 30 passes for 342 yards and five touchdowns while rushing 17 times for 114 yards on the ground.
Returning defensive back Braeden Hemmelgarn who missed a pair of games for the Roughriders picked off Treece twice in the ballgame and returned a third quarter theft 86 yards for a touchdown as part of a big performance for the junior.
Van Wert got on the scoreboard first with 7:24 left in the opening stanza on an 88-yard catch and run from Treece to wideout Dru Johnson for a 7-0 lead on the longest pass play of the season for the Cougars.
Through the first three weeks of the season the visiting Roughriders did not score in the first half of any of their games but utilized a 66 yard touchdown pass to Hemmelgarn from Reineke to tie up the game with 6:25 left in the period. Reineke would end the night 8/18 for 107 yards and a score.
Johnson and Treece hooked up for a big play at the Riders expense again early on in the second quarter, this time a 29 yard score to finish off an 80 yard drive in just 1:50 to take a 14-7 lead.
Following a Hemmelgarn run of 39 yards to open up the drive the visitors punched in on a four yard scamper by Aiden Hinkle with 7:27 remaining before the half to again tie the game, this time at 14-14.
Wideout Ian Cowan who began play Friday night with 61 yards on the season snuck through the Riders defense and found himself off to the races as Treece danced away from the defense and found Cowan for a 51 yard score to make the score 21-14 Cougars with 6:39 in the second.
St. Marys final possession of their nine in the first half moved deep into Van Wert territory but ended on a fumble by Hemmelgarn that brought the threat to an end.
Similarly to how their last possession ended, the first chance with the football in the third quarter finished with despair for St. Marys as an incomplete pass on fourth down resulted in a turnover on downs and the end to a once brilliant opportunity at a tie game.
Moments after the Hemmelgarn pick six for the tie, Van Wert pushed back on top 28-21 as the duo of Treece and Johnson hooked up again for a 39 yard score just before the end of the third period.
On the ensuing drive for the Roughriders the coaching staff put the offense on the back of sophomore back Aiden Hinkle who would rush on eight of the 11 plays on the drive and into the endzone from a yard out with 7:49 to tie the game once again, this time at 28-28.
One play, one score for Van Wert on their follow up drive gave the Cougars the lead for good with 7:29 left on a 75 yard score for Johnson from Treece for the third time in the game. Unfortunately for the Cougars however their extra point attempt by kicker Damon McCracken was blocked by Ethan Wedding to keep the score at 34-28.
Cougars head coach Keith Recker has now beaten the Roughriders three times during his tenure and stop a skid that dates back to 2013. Van Wert’s victory over St. Marys head coach Doug Frye is their first against the blue and gold boss since 1999 including his stop as the mentor at Wapakoneta.
Van Wert moves to 4-0 on the season and will hit the road to Ottawa next Friday night to battle Ottawa Glandorf while the 2-2 Roughriders head into Lima for a tussle with Shawnee.
Dru Johnson led the way for Van Wert catching the football on the evening as he hauled in six catches for 240 yards and four touchdowns on receptions of 88, 39, 29, and 75 yards for scores.
Overall the Cougars racked up 497 total yards and allowed the Roughriders amass 332 total yards. Aiden Hinkle paced the St. Marys ground game with 123 yards on 25 carries and a pair of touchdowns while Dylan Trogdlon led the receivers by hauling in four passes for 32 yards in addition to the Hemmelgarn 66 yard score.
Van Wert senior Tayzia Havill was named as the 2020 Homecoming Queen in a ceremony that took place moments before the opening kickoff.