LIMA – St. Marys offense and defense were both in point scoring mode on Friday night as the visiting Roughriders put a damper on host Shawnee’s homecoming festivities with a 41-14 victory.
Beginning with the football for the sixth straight week the Riders went to work early as their vaunted run game moved up the field on carries by Aiden Hinkle, Brayden Sullivan, and Dominik Osborne down to the Shawnee five. Unfortunately for the visiting squad their opening drive came to an end just short of paydirt when quarterback Cody Wallace was stopped at the Indian three.
Shawnee’s Chase Beery’s intended pass for a wide receiver was tipped on the Indians first drive of the game by Jace Schaefer into the waiting hands of teammate Kevin Perry who raced seven yards for the first score by the Rider defense on the season to put St. Marys on top 7-0 with 6:22 remaining in the quarter.
St. Marys ran their lead to 14-0 following a Shawnee punt and a 10-play drive as Wallace snuck in from a yard out with 1:11 to go for his third rushing score of the year.
Eight plays, 58 yards and a drive that covered the change of quarters saw the Indians pull back within a single score early in the second period when Beery rushed through the middle of the Roughrider defense from four yards out to make it 14-7 to finish a drive that saw all runs.
Entering play on Friday night the St. Marys defensive unit that was gashed for 70 points a week ago and is ninth in the league in points allowed at 29.3 points per game showed up for a second time in the opening half to push the Riders ahead. Pushed back near their own endzone after a 68 yard punt from Jace Schaefer, Shawnee’s fumble of the football was scooped up and turned into a score by Jacob Kessler for a 21-7 lead.
The Western Buckeye League’s leading rusher tallied another marker for his blue and gold on the ensuing drive of a Shawnee punt when Aiden Hinkle raced through the would-be defenders for a 70 yard touchdown and a 27-7 lead after a missed extra point.
Working from their own 23 with over four minutes to go before the halftime break the Indians moved the football to near midfield but handed the Roughriders their third turnover of the half when Keegan Sharpe snagged a Beery pass and toe tapped to remain in bounds to send the game 27-7 into the stoppage.
Similar to the way their vaunted running game fired the opening shot of the first half, the Riders struck first in the opening moments of the games final two periods as well. Following an 18 yard run by Keegan Sharpe, Hinkle struck for his league best 11th touchdown jaunt of the season, a 24 yard effort to push the advantage to 34-7 with 9:27 remaining in the third.
Later in the third St. Marys set the running clock in motion for games with a 30 point or more advantage when they finished off a 12 yard three play drive set up by a Keegan Sharpe punt return with a Brayden Sullivan touchdown reception in the corner from Cody Wallace to make it a 41-7 lead.
Once again able to move the football at length to move from their own 16 to the shadow of the goal line, St. Marys took 12 plays over nearly eight and a half minutes but turned over the ball on downs when they were stopped by the Indian defense on fourth down with 5:11 remaining in the game.
Shawnee’s final drive of the contest resulted in the final score of the evening thanks to Beery who notched his second score by rushing in from 11 yards away to cut the deficit to a final of 41-14.
Jordan Banks led the Shawnee rushing attack with 114 yards on 11 carries while Beery finished with 57 yards on the ground and a passing performance of 4/12 for 13 yards and a pair of interceptions for the Indians (1-5, 1-4) who fall to St. Marys found the eighth consecutive meeting.
St. Marys (4-2, 3-2) gained 390 yards on the ground paced by Aiden Hinkle 163 yards and fifth game of the season with a pair of rushing touchdowns. Cody Wallace threw just one pass on the night, a nine yard score to Brayden Sullivan for the Roughriders.
Next week the Roughriders will welcome the Kenton Wildcats to Grand Lake Health Systems Field for a 7pm kickoff that can be heard live on WKKI K94.3 FM starting with the pregame at 6:30pm.