DEFIANCE – Friday night Defiance found one big play to push ahead and stay there in a 14-10 win over visiting St. Marys.
Trailing 10-8 and starting at their own 20 following a 28-yard field goal by St. Marys kicker Bradley Triplett, the Bulldogs began their march to take a late lead.
Triplett 28 yd FG puts St Marys up 10-8 with 7:53 remaining pic.twitter.com/MLes0PZwXZ
— Michael Hirn (@MichaelHirnPBP) September 7, 2024
Faced with a fourth down deep in Roughrider territory and forced to take a timeout the host Bulldogs came out firing after the stoppage.
Senior quarterback Brez Zipfel’s handoff to running back Anthony Wilder quickly turned into gold for Defiance as Wilder sprinted to his left and tossed a high lob to a waiting Noah Gomez for a four point advantage that sent the home fans into a frenzy.
Defiance with some trickery to take a 14-10 lead with 3:24 remaining pic.twitter.com/Cqt7fqxKW6
— Michael Hirn (@MichaelHirnPBP) September 7, 2024
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs their ensuing extra point attempt failed as a two-point pass found the turf at Fred Brown Stadium.
Kickoff returner Jacob Kessler sent the Roughriders on a path to potentially winning the game in comeback fashion with a near kickoff return for touchdown on the following play but was tripped up by kicker Nicasio Hall as he sprinted across midfield.
St. Marys last gasp came with just over two minutes in the contest after moving deeper into opponent territory when a heave from Kessler was pilfered by Brady Borton near the endzone.
Despite nearly forcing a runner into a safety, the Riders were unable to stop the Zipfel lead attack as the Bulldogs knocked off St. Marys for the second consecutive season for the first time since 2012 and 2013 during a five game win streak in the series.
“We didn’t play hard enough to win tonight” said St. Marys head coach Bo Frye. “I thought we lost focus this week and this game has a way of humbling everyone. Defiance played harder than us and wanted to win more, hopefully this refocuses us and we get back to doing things the right way next week.”
Defiance (1-2, 1-1) will head to Van Wert next Friday night as they battle the Cougars at refurbished Eggerss Field while St. Marys (2-1, 1-1) will seek to regroup when they welcome WBL leaders Wapak to Grand Lake Health Field.
Caleb Schmidt paced the blue and gold rushing attack with his first career 100+ yard game, finishing with 102 yards on 13 carries. Backfield mate Dominik Osborne was held to 90 yards on 18 totes and a single touchdown, a 31-yard scamper on fourth and two in the first half that gave his squad a 7-0 advantage.
Noah Gomez, a 5’9 senior who hauled in a spectacular catch in the closing moments finished with both Defiance touchdowns on the evening as he added a six yard scamper in the last minute of the first half.
Cohen Stockman’s two-point conversion reception following the first Gomez score put the hosts on top 8-7 at the half.
Through the first two weeks of the season the Roughriders attempted just two passes, on this evening the blue and gold finished 3/7 for eight yards and an interception.