ST. MARYS – St. Marys first home game under new head coach Bo Frye turned into a showcase for their offense early on as the Riders piled on the points to the tune of a 56-0 victory on Friday night.
Though able to work deep into Defiance territory on the opening possession of the game the Riders found themselves unable to pick up a first down on the the tenth play of the drive and forced to punt the ball to the Bulldogs.
A strong defensive effort by St. Marys forced a three and out and a 14 yard punt to set up the first of four straight possessions that would find the hosts set up inside midfield.
Led by a 26-yard gain by freshman Colton Mabry the offense utilized nine rushing plays before entering the games first score, a four yard touchdown run from Ross Henschen to take a 7-0 lead with 2:22 left in the opening stanza.
Working this time from the Bulldog 38 the offense again relied on Henschen to cap off a drive as he punctuated a 10 play drive with a plunge from a yard away to run the advantage to 14-0 with 10:22 before the half.
Defiance’s best possession of the opening two quarters saw the Bulldogs pick up a first down as they moved near midfield but ended with a sack and a fumble that was recovered by the Riders at the visitors 35.
Four plays and the third touchdown of the game by Henschen and the lead moved to 21-0 with 4:08 to go in the second quarter before a second fumble by Defiance once again was gobbled up by the Riders just plays later.
Aiden Hinkle capped off a five play 17 yard drive for the final marker of the half for St. Marys as he thundered in with 1:06 to push the blue and gold advantage to 28-0.
Starting the second half with the football but missing starting QB Gavin Miller due to an injury late in the opening half the Bulldogs were forced to turn to wideout Kam’Ron Rivera to lead their offense.
Rivera connected on a 19-yard pass for a first down and led the Bulldogs inside St. Marys territory for the first time in the game but was unable to lead a pick up on fourth down at the Riders 34.
Brayden Sullivan, Henschen, and Colton Mabry did a majority of the heavy lifting on the nine play, 66 yard drive for St. Marys but the score this time around would belong to Kayden Sharpe who notched his first career varsity score and instituted the running clock at 5:28 with the Riders taking a 35-0 lead after the fifth successful extra point by Brandon Bowers.
St. Marys defender Drew Dammeyer picked off a pass from Rivera and returned it 19 yards on the very next offensive play of the game with 4:45 to go in the third for the first Riders defensive score of the season and a 42-0 score.
Despite again being able to move the football on the ground the Bulldogs committed their fourth offensive miscue in the game as a runner was stripped and recovered by Carter Sharpe of St. Marys at the 44-yard line.
Freshman starting running back Colton Mabry joined the scoring parade for the hosts on just a two play drive moments later as he raced 54 yards through the heart of the white jerseys in front of him for for his first varsity touchdown and a 49-0 lead following a Hunter Sprague extra point.
Early in the fourth quarter both teams began working in their bench and the result unfortunately stayed the same for the Bulldogs on the offensive side as their new QB was sacked for a 14-yard loss on fourth down to give the Roughriders a short field to work with offensively with their new troops.
Six plays and the final marker of the game for St. Marys was punctuated by a plunge for Jacob Kessler and a Logan Rush extra point at 5:21 for a 56-0 advantage.
Reserve defender Tristan Gardner’s first career interception again put the Riders on the offensive side of the ball before they were forced into their first punt since the games opening drive as time ran out on the celebration of Youth Football night and a Roughriders victory.
Defiance (1-1, 0-1) was led in rushing by Rivera who carried 10 times for 42 yards while also connecting on 1/3 through the air for a team high 19 yards. Offensively Defiance was held to 99 total yards who will start a two-game homestand next Friday night when they welcome defending state champion Van Wert to town.
St. Marys (2-0, 1-0) has now downed the Bulldogs in seven straight meetings with just seven points allowed in the last five contests between the two programs and a quartet of shutouts.
Ross Henschen (13 rushes, 58 yards, 3 touchdowns) and Tanner Howell (11 rushes, 51 yards) led the Roughrider offense on the ground as they racked up 333 yards as a team on the ground behind a total of 10 rushers utilized in the game.
Next up for St. Marys is a week three trip across Auglaize County to Wapakoneta where they will battle the rival Redskins at Harmon Field in a contest that will see the winner remain unbeaten at the top of the WBL standings.