ST. MARYS – While the Roughriders honored their past before their week eight matchup with Elida it was the current blue and gold who would provide the biggest highlights of the evening as they downed the visiting Bulldogs 42-7.
For the third straight week the Riders opened with the football and marched down the field for the first score of the contest to take an early lead.
Twelve plays over the course of nearly six minutes saw the Riders push across the goal line with 6:43 left in the first when Aiden Hinkle thundered across for his third rushing score of the season for a 7-0 advantage.
Starting from their own 24 on their opening possession the Bulldogs wasted little time pulling even at 7-7 when a pump fake froze the Riders secondary just long enough for sophomore Jackson Covault to connect with senior wideout Jayden Irons for a 59 yard touchdown at 4:06.
Six players rushed the football for St. Marys on their ensuing possession that spanned 61 yards and nearly all of the remaining four minutes of the first period. Senior running back Braeden Hemmelgarn cashed in on his first of two scores on the evening as he raced untouched through the heart of the Bulldog defense for a 17 yard score and a 14-7 Roughrider lead with 6.6 seconds before the change of sides.
Elida picked up three first downs and nearly 80 yards of offense as they looked to tie the game in the opening minutes of the second stanza but found themselves unable to tie the game as a pair of incompletions forced a turnover on downs at the St. Marys 25.
Following a pair of punts and a trade of field positioning the Roughriders upped their lead to 21-7 with 50.6 to go before the halftime break when QB Gavin Reineke ended a nine play drive with a sneak for his third ground score of the season.
Starting in place of injured QB Larkin Henderson the Bulldogs signal caller Covault attempted to float a pass over the top of the Roughrider secondary but was forced to watch as it was snatched by Brayden Sullivan and returned 59 yards for a touchdown to give the hosts a 28-7 lead.
Working in opponent territory the Riders followed up an Elida turnover on downs near midfield with a 3:55 drive with a 15 yard Hemmelgarn scamper and a 35-7 advantage.
Twelve plays and nearly six minutes into their second possession of the second half the Roughriders again punched into the endzone, this time on the second touchdown of the season from Kayden Sullivan for a 42-7 lead following the final extra point of the game by Brandon Bowers with 9:56 remaining.
Under a running clock for the final nearly ten minutes of the game the Roughriders once again quickly found themselves with the football on the offensive side as a driving rain forced an Elida fumble that was scooped up by Stash Patterson at the Bulldogs 20.
Unfortunately for the hosts they were unable to capitalize any further on the scoreboard as Bowers pushed a 35 yard field goal attempt no good.
Elida (4-4, 3-4) was held to just 30 yards rushing on 22 attempts on the evening while Jackson Covault connected on 6 of 16 passes for 130 yards, one touchdown and one interception on the way to 167 total yards of offense. Next week the Bulldogs will play host to WBL leading Van Wert.
St. Marys (6-2, 5-2) racked up 22 first downs and 350 yards on the ground led by Ross Henschen’s second 100+ yard effort of the season.
Week nine will see the Roughriders welcome the Bath Wildcats to town for Senior Night in a contest that can be heard live on WKKI.
Honored before the game were the classes of 2020 and 2021 to the St. Marys Hall of Fame that included Michael J. Bayer, Nikki Miars, Buz Howard, Nick D. Doseck, Katherine Schipper, Mike Elston, Richard L. Schilling, and Sergeant Ronnie Blair.