DEFIANCE – St. Marys senior fullback Aiden Hinkle scored two rushing touchdowns for the second week in a row as his Roughriders defeated conference foe Defiance 21-6 Friday night on the road at Fred J. Brown Stadium.
St. Marys biggest play of the early part of the contest came on the defensive side when a Defiance drive stalled and saw the Bulldogs looking to attempt a 24-yard field goal. Unfortunately for the hosts their attempt to reach the scoreboard first was dashed by Roughriders senior Keegan Sharpe who crashed through the left side and blocked the kick and watched as the ball was snagged out of the air by teammate Brayden Sullivan who scampered 95 yards for a score.
Sullivan’s touchdown return was aided by a Logan Rush extra point to give St. Marys a 7-0 advantage with 4:05 left in the opening period of play.
Following a Defiance punt, the Roughriders wasted no time as they marched 55 yards in a minute and a half near the end of the first quarter to take a 14-0 lead that saw Hinkle explode through would be tacklers for a 20-yard trip to paydirt and a 14-0 lead.
Sophomore quarterback Brez Zipfel worked the hosts down the field on their ensuing drive after the score but watched as an attempted halfback pass by Brian Phillips fell to the turf in the endzone on fourth down to end the sequence.
Both teams were able to find ways to move into the others territory in the remaining moments of the half but were unable to add a score and saw the contest head to the stoppage with the Riders in control 14-0.
Fumbles and punts dominated the third quarter as each team coughed up the pigskin on their opening drive of the second half.
St. Marys, starting from their own 35 with just under half a minute remaining in the stanza utilized rushes from Hinkle and Sharpe as well as the duo of QB Cody Wallace and Colton Mabry but were unable to add to their lead when a 30-yard field goal attempt from kicker Jace Schaefer sailed wide left.
Three plays were all the Bulldogs needed on their next chance with the football as a pass launched down the middle of the field found the waiting arms of halfback Brogan Castillo for a 76-yard touchdown. Defiance’s extra point attempt was no good and the lead remained 14-6 with 6:35 to go.
Hinkle carried three times for St. Marys on their next drive of the game and helped the blue and gold take off over three minutes of game time as he picked up 25 on his second carry and 11 on his third to finish off a six play drive that was heavily aided by a penalty for a facemask on a first down run by Colton Mabry.
Trailing 21-6 the Bulldogs took again to the skies looking for a score but were unable to connect as three incomplete passes and a St. Marys sack of Zipfel forced a turnover on downs with 2:19 to go before the Riders took over and ran out the stadium clock to secure the victory.
Defiance (1-1, 0-1) suffers their eighth straight loss to St. Marys and will be back in action next weekend as they take on the defending WBL champion Van Wert Cougars.
Zipfel finished 18 of 37 for 213 yards and a score through the air while Castillo led the ground gainers with 76 yards on 16 carries for an offense that ended with a total of 299 total yards but that were held to just 3/11 on third down.
St. Marys (2-0, 1-0) will take on Wapakoneta in their annual Auglaize County battle on Friday on their home turf. The Riders were led by Wallace’s 3 of 5 for 71 yards and an interception. Aiden Hinkle’s 148 yards on 18 carries and a pair of scores led the blue and gold while teammate Keegan Sharpe hauled in two passes for 36 yards to pace the air attack.