LIMA – Visiting St. Marys rolled to their 10th straight series win with a 42-0 shutout against Shawnee on Friday night at Shawnee Stadium with a mix of defense, passing, and typical Roughrider long offensive drives.
“We’re starting to play our best football in all phases of the game” said St. Marys fourth year head coach Bo Frye.
On their first two possessions the Riders (5-2, 4-2) accounted for 140 yards and a pair of scores to take a 14-0 lead.
Though their first score came from the running game’s Caleb Schmidt, the Riders turned to the air for their second as junior Aiden Meinerding connected with wideout Tre Moore for the first aerial marker of the season.
Moore, a 5’7 sophomore speedster slipped just past a would be Shawnee defender with 6:19 left in the first half and turned his body just perfectly to receive the offering from his quarterback from 35 yards out for his first career touchdown.
“Aiden to Tre was a nice connection. They’ve been doing it in practice for weeks and it’s good to see the confidence rising in both of them and for it to show up on Friday nights” said Frye.
After another defensive three and out against the Indians, the Roughrider offense utilized their second 15-play drive, this time around covering 4:42 to jump ahead 21-0. Senior running back Dominik Osborne finished the drive with his 10th rushing touchdown of the season from two yards out.
Shawnee found a pair of penalties with no time remaining on the defense and a free play opportunity just in front of the half, but were unable to finish with a flourish as a long heave was incomplete in the endzone.
Already with his first career rushing score a week ago and his first passing touchdown in the first half, Meinerding ran the Roughrider lead to 28-0 on the opening drive of the third period as he cashed in from three yards out. St. Marys marched 79 yards over 11 plays on this drive in increasing their advantage on the Indians.
Sophomore defensive back Parker Beam made his presence well known to Shawnee in the second half with a pair of interceptions. After the Riders took a four score lead, Beam snagged a pass from Indians quarterback Caleb Bacome just outside of the endzone.
Later in the game with the lead now 35-0 following a second touchdown run by Caleb Schmidt, it was the defensive back who struck again to cue the running clock by racing 41 yards untouched down the Shawnee sideline for a pick six to seal the games final score.
“Parker Beam is a good football player” said Frye. “He has been since he walked in the door last year as a freshman. You will continue to see him get better and be used more throughout his career here at St. Marys.”
Shawnee (2-5, 1-5) was forced to start Bacome under center for this game as starting quarterback JJ Spyker was knocked out of last weeks loss to Wapak and unavailable for this week with an elbow injury. Bacome finished 7/18 for 79 yards and two interceptions through the air and accumulated just four yards on five rushes on the ground.
Dominik Osborne finished with 82 yards and a score on 16 carries while backfield mates Caleb Schmidt (15/78/2), and Colton Mabry (12/81/0) helped the Riders outgain Shawnee 355-123 overall. On the ground St. Marys outperformed the Indians 307-44.
Two of the most penalized teams in the Western Buckeye League entering play Friday night, the squads helped add to their totals as they combined to be hit for 200 yards of infractions on 18 flags.
Shawnee travels to Van Wert (2-5) next week seeking to end their five game skid while the Riders will return home for their last regular season trip to Grand Lake Health Systems Field for a WBL tilt against Kenton (1-6).
“I am proud of our seniors for taking the bull by the horns and continuing to get better” finished Frye. “We are a pretty good football team when we execute and we have great kids.”