CELINA – Behind a dominating defensive performance the St. Marys Roughriders downed Grand Lake rival Celina for the sixth straight season by beating the Bulldogs 35-0 at Celina Field on Friday night.
Though the Bulldogs won the opening coin toss and chose to receive the football to bein the contest their time with possession would be short lived as they quickly were forced into a three and out by the Roughriders defense after gaining just three total yards.
Starting with a short field at the Celina 47 the visitors punched into the endzone on a quartet of runs by seniors Ross Henschen and Braeden Hemmelgarn when the latter took a handoff from QB Gavin Reineke and raced 34 yards down the sideline nearly untouched to give his squad the first marker of the game.
Leading 7-0 and working with a short field following a second straight three and out by Celina the Roughriders Aiden Hinkle thundered in from 10 yards away with 5:32 remaining in the first period for his fifth career score against the Bulldogs to cap off a seven play 42 yard drive to push the lead to 14-0 after a successful Brandon Bowers extra point try.
Celina’s third drive of the first quarter proved to be their best of the game early on as they were able to pick up a first down through the air but were again forced to kick away to St. Marys just moments later.
On the ensuing possession the Riders picked up a penalty to start but got first down runs from Brayden Sullivan and Braeden Hemmelgarn before a 27 yard touchdown run by Keegan Sharpe ran the lead to 21-0 with 1:31 before the first quarter stoppage.
Two first downs for Celina again helped the Bulldogs move towards midfield for the first time on their fourth possession of the opening half but a sack of QB Nick Adams forced a turnover on downs at the St. Marys 46.
Twelve plays and nearly six minutes of game time after beginning their fourth offensive possession of the first two quarters the Roughriders rushed in to take a 28-0 lead with 5:48 remaining until halftime on the third carry of the night and season by Jace Schaefer accounted for a one yard score.
After a pair of sacks upped the Roughrider season total to 41 and a Celina punt the St. Marys offense found themselves at the opponent 29 before Gavin Reineke was sacked and eventually picked off in the endzone by Cam Ofray just in front of halftime.
St. Marys opening possession of the second half covered 72 yards and nearly five minutes of play with four backs carrying the football over the course of nine plays before Aiden Hinkle’s second touchdown of the evening, a one yard trek that pushed his team ahead 35-0 and started the running clock for the rest of the game.
Over a nearly eight minute span that crossed from the third into the fourth quarter the Celina offense was able to effectively move the football from their own 20 to the St. Marys 35 but found themselves again forced into a turnover on downs when a fourth down pass from Adams fell in front of a would be target.
First down runs by Kayden Sharpe moved the football across midfield for the Riders on their way to an 11 play drive but saw the blue and gold come up short by a chain link on a fourth down measurement at the Celina 29.
The Bulldogs moved the football and picked up a pair of first downs through the air but saw the game come to an end as a pass by Adams was snagged near the goal line by Riders defensive back Brandon Bowers to give his squad a chance to take a knee in the victory formation just seconds later.
Celina’s 2021 season comes to an end at 1-9 overall and 1-8 in Western Buckeye League games. Offensively Nick Adams connected on 14/26 for 133 yards and an interception. Junior WR Aidan Song hauled in 6 catches for 76 yards to finish as just one of three receivers in the WBL to eclipse the 50 catch mark by finishing with 52 on the season.
Rushing the football the Bulldogs were held to just seven yards on 17 carries led by Jaden King’s 22 yards on 8 runs.
St. Marys (8-2, 7-2) ends their regular season with six straight wins and a combined 199-31 margin of victory that includes a pair of shutouts against Bath and Celina.
Aiden Hinkle’s nine rushes for 56 yards and two scores led a Roughrider offense that picked up 289 yards and five scores on 47 carries in the victory.
Next up for St. Marys is a home playoff contest on October 29th at Grand Lake Health Field against Franklin as of 11:15 P.M. publishing of this article according to Joe Eitel’s D3R12 computer rankings located here.