ST. MARYS – Friday night at Grand Lake Health Systems Field the host Roughriders finished off a perfect home regular season slate with a 24-21 victory over visiting Chaminade Julienne in the second round of the OHSAA playoffs.
Chaminade Julienne shocked the fans in attendance as they recovered an onside kickoff to open the contest and notched the games first score, an eight yard pass from QB Luke Chandler to wideout J.P. Peltier with just two and a half minutes gone to put the Eagles on top 7-0.
Following a pair of punts and an exchange of field position the Riders took over at their own 23 yard line with 3:13 remaining in the opening stanza.
Eight rushes by senior Ross Henschen helped lead the blue and gold across midfield and inside the Eagles five yard line before a one yard sneak by Gavin Reineke tied the score at 7-7 and finished off a 14-play drive that covered 7:05 in the quarter.
Kenyon Owens return of nearly 50 yards put the Chaminade Julienne offense in plus territory on the ensuing kickoff but amounted to nothing on the scoreboard as the Eagles were forced to punt away the football following a pair of incomplete passes.
Again starting deep in their own territory and faced with traveling the length of the field the Roughrider offense rose to the occasion once again with a drive that covered 82 yards and 6:41 of time over 15 plays and ended with a one yard plunge by Aiden Hinkle for his 22nd career rushing score and a 14-7 St. Marys lead.
Chaminade Julienne opened the second half with a three and out punt that was returned to their 49 to set the Riders up with 9:59 on their opening possession of the third.
Despite being able to reach double digits in plays run the Roughriders were forced to settle for an attempted 41-yard field goal that was connected on by kicker Brandon Bowers to break the previous school record of 40 yards set by Clayton Trogdlon, Nick Pfeffenberger, Cruiser Holtzauer, and Bowers himself just last year to run the lead to 17-7.
Utilizing their quick strike passing offense the Eagles quickly soared into the redzone on their next drive but found themselves victims of theft when corner Keegan Sharpe batted a ball away from an intended receiver and back to himself while managing to place both feet in bounds for his third interception of the year.
Starting from their own 20 after the touchback the Riders ground game pounded out 80 yards over the course of 15 plays to take 8:17 off the fourth quarter clock. Runs from Ross Henschen, Gavin Reineke, Brayden Sullivan, Aiden Hinkle and eventually Reineke again from two yards out upped the hosts lead to 24-7 with 4:08 remaining.
The final two scores of the night came from the Eagles passing game as a 30-yard lob to the back corner of the endzone was hauled in by Quinten Johnson with 2:41 remaining to cut the deficit to 24-14.
Fourteen plays and nearly two minutes melted off the clock for Chaminade Julienne after forcing a three and out by St. Marys before Aiden Lowery scored for the third time on the season to trim the lead to 24-21 with :22 to go.
Though the final onside kick of the night was disputed, St. Marys would find themselves in possession of the football and able to run out the clock on a kneel down by Gavin Reineke to secure the win.
“I thought we were very physical tonight. Our kids continue to play as a team and are playing together with a lot of heart. CJ was a very athletic football team. I’m proud of our kids effort tonight in all three phases of the game” said St. Marys boss Bo Frye after the hard fought victory.
Chaminade Julienne (4-6) QB Luke Chandler finished his final game as an Eagle by completing 19 of 29 passes for 199 yards and a trio of touchdowns to go along with his interception. Chandler also paced the CJ ground game with 48 yards on 11 carries.
St. Marys (10-2) as a team carried the football on all 63 of their offensive plays and netted 292 yards led by Ross Henschen who picked up his second 100+ yard game of the season with 148 yards on 31 totes. Aiden Hinkle tossed in 86 yards on 13 rushes and a touchdown for the offense that picked up nearly five yards per carry on the ground.
In the previous two meetings between St. Marys and Chaminade Julienne which were both won by the Roughriders (1992/2004), St. Marys has gone on to play in the state title game.
Next up for the Riders is a third round contest against top seeded Hamilton Badin next Friday night at a site yet to be announced by the OHSAA.