ST. MARYS – Although the last name remains the same it will be a new Coach Frye who leads the St. Marys Memorial football team into battle this season as Bo Frye takes over for his father Doug.
Formerly a member of his fathers staffs in both Wapakoneta where he gained his first coaching experience out of college and later upon the elder Frye’s return to the land of blue and gold, Bo takes over a squad coming off of a 6-3 campaign in 2020 that returns many starters on both sides of the football.
“I’m very excited to get the season kicked off, we’re still in the limbo period of finding out who we are yet but we’re ready to roll” said Frye near the eve of his first Friday night as the Roughriders top position.
Offensively St. Marys returns three starters on an offensive line that helped produce 251 rushing yards per game led by a pair of 2nd team All-WBL selections in senior left guard Stash Patterson and center Chase Jacobs who will both be joined by right guard and classmate Ryan Dabis.
Fresh off of a Western Buckeye League heavyweight wrestling title is 300 pound junior right tackle Braden Saeler and junior Caleb Miller (6’4/245) who will draw the task of replacing All-Ohio left tackle Bryan Ward who was lost to graduation.
Gavin Reineke returns for his senior season as the Roughriders signal caller coming off of a junior campaign that saw him connect on 32 of 79 passes for 487 yards, 4 touchdowns, and a lone interception. Last season Reineke tossed three of his scores against Greenville in the playoff opening win and will be trusted to stretch the field this year to open the running lanes with targets the likes of senior tight end Ryan Meier (6’5/200), Kyle Kogge (Sr/6’2/195), and a multitude of rushers out of the backfield.
In 2020 the Riders were hit hard by the injury bug and found themselves without the services of talented WR/DB Braeden Hemmelgarn (Sr/5’9/180), and FB/LB Ross Henschen (Sr/5’9/210) for various parts of the season. Henschen rushed for 209 yards and a pair of scores before being injured while Hemmelgarn showed flashes of brilliance in his time on the field as well with a pair of interceptions and a 66-yard catch and go on the offensive side for a score.
Joining Henschen in the Riders backfield is senior Tanner Howell who logged 162 yards and 2 touchdowns on 31 carries while mostly playing on the defensive end. Aiden Hinkle, a bruising back who blitzed Celina for 223 yards and four scores is also back for St. Marys as he led the blue and gold in yardage on the ground with 669 yards and nine touchdowns.
New to the starting lineup this season is Colton Mabry, a 5’10/170 freshman back that big things are expected to come from as the season wears on.
Special teams will be led by the dual threat of Brandon Bowers (6’4/175/Sr) who will do double duty as both the kicker and punter in addition to his duties in the defensive backfield. Bowers connected on 22 of his 23 extra points while amassing a 35.4 yard per punt average on his way to being named the WBL’s 1st team kicking specialist in 2020.
Multiple year standout Tanner Howell leads the Riders return game and will seek to improve on a terrific season in 2020 in the return game that saw him average almost 34 yards per kickoff return and a touchdown that came in the playoff loss to Bellbrook.
Defensively Howell led the squad in tackles for the second year in a row as he finished with 95 in just nine games while being honored with a a 1st team WBL mark.
Returners Dylan Giesige (6’3/215/Sr) is back from an Honorable Mention year of 61 tackles and four sacks and is joined by Stash Patterson who finished with 58 tackles and six sacks of his own. Up front the Riders add Braxton King (6’0/235/Jr) and Carter Sharpe (5’10/200/Sr) to their rotation.
Newcomers in the linebacking crew include Drew Dammeyer (6’0/195/Sr) and Jace Schaefer (6’0/190/Jr) to a defense that surrendered just 114 yards per game on the ground a year ago.
Seniors Ty Kiehl (6’0/160/Sr) and Brandon Bowers headline the rest of the returners for a secondary that allowed 138 yards a game through the air and will feature newcomers Brayden Sullivan (5’11/185/Jr) and Keegan Sharpe (5’9/165/Jr) who combined for 25 tackles in 2020 as reserves.
St. Marys kicks off their 105th season on Friday night August 20th as they travel to Bowlus Field in London, Ohio to take on the Red Raiders and talented Indiana University signee Isaiah Jones.
Every game this season can be heard live on the home of Roughrider football WKKI with pregame starting at 6:30 P.M. and kickoffs slated for 7:00 P.M.
2021 Schedule:
DATE TIME OPPONENT
8/20 7:00p @ LONDON RED RAIDERS
WESTERN BUCKEYE LEAGUE GAMES
8/27 7:00p DEFIANCE BULLDOGS
9/3 7:00p @ WAPAKONETA REDSKINS
9/10 7:00p @ OTTAWA GLANDORF TITANS
9/17 7:00p VAN WERT COUGARS
9/24 7:00p SHAWNEE INDIANS
10/1 7:00p @ KENTON WILDCATS
10/8 7:00p ELIDA BULLDOGS
10/15 7:00p BATH WILDCATS
10/22 7:00p @ CELINA BULLDOGS