ST. MARYS – While they may not be traditional rivals the rivalry between traditional WBL powers St. Marys and Ottawa Glandorf added another classic finish to their history on Friday night as the Titans emerged victorious in 2 OT 27-20 over the Roughriders.
Trailing 6-0 in the third quarter St. Marys marched down the field to tie the game on a ten play drive over nearly four minutes that was capped off by a Dylan Trogdlon 14 yard score but were unable to take the lead as the ensuing extra point was stuffed before it could begin by the Titans.
OG responded on their next offensive possession with a five plus minute drive of their own just moments later that was highlighted by a 44 yard third down run by Ian Fenbert and finished with a Fenbert reception for a seven yard score from QB Jacob Balbaugh to take a 13-7 lead.
Despite being held scoreless in the first half for the third time this season, the Roughriders raced 58 yards to tie the game at 13-13 with 1:23 to go in regulation on a two yard Trogdlon touchdown run.
Nearly identical to how he scored a week ago in overtime to help defeat Wapakoneta, St. Marys back Aiden Hinkle sprinted past defenders to the edge to give the home team a 20-13 lead on a quick three play scoring drive.
Ottawa Glandorf faced the peril of losing the contest twice on their first possession of the initial overtime as they were able to fall on top of a loose football and recover from a pair of stuffings at the goal line by the Rider defense.
Facing a fourth down just outside of the goal line the Titans used a timeout to set up what would be the game tying touchdown pass from the hands of Balbaugh to freshman wideout Colin White to send the contest into a second overtime tied 20-20.
Opening the second extra period with the football Ottawa Glandorf quickly connected on a 12 yard pass play for a first down inside the St. Marys 10 before Balbaugh tossed a four yard score to junior teammate Caleb Kuhlman to make it 27-20 Titans.
St. Marys running back Ethan Wedding who finished the evening with a game high 114 yards on 17 carries picked up 12 yards on first down on the first play of the drive to put his offense in business at the eight.
Fourth down and goal from the four yard line and needing to score to send the game into another overtime faced the Roughriders but they would be stopped short on a Dylan Trogdlon run that secured the second straight victory in the series for OG.
Trogdlon rushed 18 times for 105 yards and a pair of touchdowns and also led his team in receiving with four catches for 43 yards for a Rider offense that amassed 369 total yards.
Ottawa Glandorf QB Jacob Balbaugh connected on 25 of 33 attempts in the game for 222 yards and four touchdowns. Caleb Kuhlman hauled in eight passes for 73 yards and a score while teammates Will Kaufman (seven catches, 64 yards), and freshman wideout Colin White (four receptions, 36 yards, 1 touchdown) helped the Titans amass 294 yards of team offense.
With the win OG head coach Ken Schriner moves to 10-12 all-time against Doug Frye and adds to his total of the most wins of any coach against the St. Marys mentor.
St. Marys falls to 2-1 on the season and will travel to WBL leading Van Wert next week while the Titans (2-1) travel to Lima to battle the Bath Wildcats on Friday evening.