OTTAWA – Landen Jordan rushed for three touchdowns and threw for another on Friday night as his Titans dispatched visiting St. Marys 35-16 to claim a WBL and Homecoming victory.
Moments after classmates Morgan Miller and Ben Kahle were named Queen and King respectively the Ottawa Glandorf senior QB opened the contest with a 56-yard connection on the first offensive play of the game with sophomore Colin White and cashed in for a score himself by rushing in from a yard out to put the Titans on top 7-0.
Later in the quarter following the two teams trading possession the Titans scored for the second time on a Jordan touchdown run, this time from six yards away to cap off a four play drive covering just 18 yards after a St. Marys fumble to run their advantage to 14-0 with 1:23 to go before the first stoppage.
St. Marys best drive of the opening half started at their own 39 with 10:47 but came to an end on the ninth offensive play when wildcat QB Tanner Howell’s downfield pass was picked off by Ottawa Glandorf defensive back Landon Morman just outside of the Titan endzone.
Ottawa Glandorf running back Cy Rump found himself with nowhere to go on the Titans first play from scrimmage and was tackled in the endzone by the visiting blue and gold for a safety with 6:26 left in the half to give the Roughriders their first marker of the game at 14-2.
After forcing St. Marys to punt on their ensuing possession the Titans hit for a 36-yard gain on first down and moved across midfield into Roughrider territory before Ian Fenbert crossed for his second touchdown run of the season on a six yard scamper for a 21-2 lead with 2:55 to go in the half.
Roughrider QB Gavin Reineke who would finish the evening by connecting on 10 of 20 passes for 153 yards tossed the first of his two scores on the evening as he connected with Tanner Howell for a 71-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 21-9. The hookup between the two is the second longest passing play in St. Marys history and trails just a 2008 pass from Jake Taylor to Aaron Homan of 75 yards against OG as the longest in school history.
Landen Jordan’s third touchdown run of the first half and fifth of the season finished off the following Titan drive to push the score to 28-9 as the signal caller cashed in from two yards out with just :45 remaining before the break.
Starting with the football to open the second half the Roughriders were once again able to move the football as they utilized a wildcat offense centered around Howell to pick up a trio of first downs before being unable to pick up a fourth down conversion at the Titan 17.
Braeden Hemmelgarn’s interception of Jordan stopped the next Titan drive before a trio of punts and a Rider turnover on downs pushed the game into the early moments of the fourth quarter with neither team allowed a score in the third.
Working with a short field at the OG 47 after a Titan punt traveled just 12 yards, St. Marys cut the lead to 28-16 with 5:59 to go on the ninth play of their drive on the first career catch by Brayden Sullivan from Reineke for a four yard score.
Interceptions by Brandon Bowers of St. Marys and Caleb Kuhlman of OG started the host Titans at the opponents 45 with 3:07 remaining. Ottawa Glandorf began to milk the clock before a 24-yard touchdown catch by Colin White in the corner of the endzone over a pair of would be defenders added the final tally to a 35-16 WBL victory for Ottawa Glandorf.
OG (2-2, 2-1) was led through the air by Landen Jordan who finished with 243 yards on 14 of 25 passing while throwing one touchdown and two interceptions. On the ground the Titans saw Jordan lead the way with 33 yards and three scores on 13 rushes while White led the air attack with five catches for 134 yards and a score.
St. Marys sees their overall record dip to 2-2 with a mark of 1-2 in league contests. Tanner Howell paced the ground game with 40 yards on 14 rushes to go along with his one reception for 71 yards and a score.
Next up for the Riders is a week five home matchup with 4-0 Van Wert while OG is home as well as they take on 3-1 Bath.