OTTAWA – St. Marys picked up their first win of the season on Friday night at Titan Stadium as they rushed for a season high 389 yards in a 41-14 victory over Ottawa Glandorf.
Junior halfback Dominik Osborne gave the Roughriders a starting field deep inside Titan territory on the opening kickoff and then helped his team score on their first opening possession of the year with a pair of carries.
St. Marys marched into the endzone on just eight plays to cover 32 yards on a sneak by signal caller Cody Wallace with 8:52 left in the quarter to take a 7-0 lead, their first of the season.
Ottawa Glandorf junior quarterback Peyton Kuhlman got the hosts on the board and tied the game just 1:36 after Wallace’s score with a 22-yard jaunt of his own through the heart of the Roughrider defense and into the endzone.
Unfortunately for the Titans they were unable to stop the trio of Osborne, Colton Mabry, and Caleb Schmidt who worked behind their offensive line to gain a pair of first downs before Mabry’s 41-yard explosion at 4:35. St. Marys rolled the dice with a successful two-point conversion run from Schmidt to take a 15-7 advantage.
The Roughriders continued to push their lead higher between a pair of Titans punts in the waning moments of the first and the opening moments of the second quarters as Mabry struck again, this time from 19 yards away to run the lead to 21-7.
Though initially successful on their second two-point conversion attempt, a pass from Carter Steinberg, the Roughriders were forced to settle for a 35-yard extra point try after a penalty that was subsequently blocked by OG.
With their offensive line blocking oncoming Titan defenders and creating huge holes the Riders spent their final 19 plays and 8:50 moving from their own 11-yard line and out to a 28-7 halftime margin when Mabry cashed in on his seventh rushing touchdown of the season and third of the half, this time from a yard out.
Caleb Schmidt, a 180 pound sophomore back who had just one carry for two yards last week opened the second half with the first of his two markers to cap off a 65-yard drive over four plus minutes early in the third to send St. Marys ahead 35-7.
Following a three and out punt from Ottawa Glandorf the Riders rode Schmidt to a 41-7 lead and a running clock with 10:03 to go as he finished off a 68-yard trek with a one yard plunge.
Ottawa Glandorf continued to move the football on what would be their final drive of the game behind Kuhlman and cut the score to 41-14 on a 25-yard connection with Ethan Metzger as the finale of a five plus minute drive.
St. Marys ran out the clock with four kneel downs from Wallace after moving deep into Titan territory to earn their first win of the season and second consecutive over OG on their ensuing possession.
“This was a good win for the program. Our kids played extremely hard and we were physical, if we continue to do that we’ll be in it with anyone the rest of the way. OG’s kids played hard and were well coached” said Roughrider coach Bo Frye.
OG falls to 0-5 overall and 0-4 in the Western Buckeye League and will return to action next Friday when they square off with 3-2 Bath under the lights at Titan Stadium.
Quarterback Peyton Kuhlman finished 5/16 for 56 yards and a score through the air while leading the teams ground gainers with 65 yards on 10 carries and a score.
St. Marys ended the evening with a trio of backs near or above 100 yards rushing with Colton Mabry’s career high 169 yards on 25 carries and three scores leading the way. Caleb Schmidt finished with 97 yards and two scores on 14 rushes while Dominik Osborne ended with 13 totes for 79 yards.
Next up for the Roughriders (1-4, 1-3) is the start of four games in five weeks on their home turf starting with a clash against a 3-2 Van Wert squad coming off of a blow out loss to Wapakoneta.