Photographs by Andrews Photography |
DATELINE SEPTEMBER 5 - SKIP BAUGHMAN STADIUM - HOME of the ROUGHRIDERS
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"We stunk."
That was the first game summary your reporter, away on business for the weekend, received re the Roughrider's 1997 home debut, delivered by an MHS student witness to the derailment. We considered the submittal acutely, and found it to be a keen journalistic accomplishment; colorful, succinct and reasonably edifying, if somewhat lacking in detail.
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And yet, it wasn't entirely precise, as it tars all the parties with the same brush. In retrospect, this would seem undeserved.
The Roughrider defense held the visiting Van Wert Cougar offense to a reasonable output. They allowed but one touchdown on the night, blocked the extra point attempt, blocked a field goal try and partially blocked a punt.
It was the offense, which had performed immaculately and with elan the two previous outings, who waxed malodorous. They committed a clip on receiving the opening kickoff and promptly fumbled the ball away on the very first play scrimmaged from the home 13-yard-line. Having gained such an admirable situation, the inconsiderate Cougars capitalized and established the ultimate final score a mere minute-and-a-half into the game.
The defense never allowed the enemy within 13 yards of the goal again. They limited the Cougars to a paltry 1.3 yards per carry, and, although the locals ran at 3.5 yards per, we could never punch it in at the pinch, suffering an interception and two lost fumbles as insult on top of injury.
While it may be true enough that defense wins championships, that still depends, rather heavily, it would seem, on the offense winning games first. Both squads must now prepare for the 1-1 Shawnee Indians in next week's home game. One suspects practices this week may not be times of pure joy for the lads.
| GAME STATS (Stolen from The Evening Leader) | ||||
| St. Marys | Van Wert | St. Marys Season | Opponents Season | |
| First Downs | 11 | 13 | 31 | 20 |
| Rushes-Yards | 50-174 | 37-50 | 119-558 | 62-68 |
| Completions / Attempts - Yards | 4/12-19 | 11/20-118 | 6/15-43 | 18/34-205 |
| Had Intercepted | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Offensive Plays | 62 | 57 | 134 | 96 |
| Total Offense | 193 | 168 | 601 | 273 |
| Punts-Yards | 3-110 | 5-167 | 3-110 | 10-342 |
| Blocked | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 2-2 | 0-0 | 3-3 | 3-3 |
| Penalties - Yards | 2-20 | 2-20 | 5-40 | 3-25 |
| RIDER STATS | ||||
| Rushes | Yards | Season Rushes | Season Yards | |
| 7 Rick Haines | 8 | -5 | 20 | 23 |
| 11 Aaron Seewer | 2 | 15 | ||
| 13 John Meinerding | 2 | 8 | ||
| 21 Bobby Huttis | 10 | 67 | ||
| 23 Andy Slone | 7 | 17 | 16 | 59 |
| 27 Brandon Meyer | 2 | 35 | ||
| 28 John Thistlethwaite | 17 | 93 | 29 | 203 |
| 30 Ken Williams | 2 | 7 | ||
| 32 Jason Clark | 18 | 69 | 30 | 118 |
| 34 Josh Lamb | 6 | 24 | ||
| Completions / Passes - Interceptions | Yards | Season Completions / Passes - Interceptions | Season Yards | |
| 7 Rick Haines | 4/11-1 | 19 | 6/14-1 | 43 |
| Receptions | Yards | Season Receptions | Season Yards | |
| 23 Andy Slone | 1 | 21 | ||
| 28 John Thistlethwaite | 2 | 14 | 2 | 14 |
| 32 Jason Clark | 2 | 5 | 2 | 5 |
| 86 Spencer Williams | 1 | 3 | ||
| Viewing Tip: If stats table is off-center, Increase Font (under "View" in Netscape). | ||||
AROUND the WESTERN BUCKEYE LEAGUE September 5...
Celina ~ Beat Elida 21-14 ~ 2-0 ~ 1-0
Defiance ~ Beat Kenton 36-8 ~ 2-0 ~ 1-0
Ottawa-Glandorf ~ Beat Bath 34-0 ~ 2-0 ~ 1-0
Van Wert ~ Beat St. Marys 6-0 ~ 2-0 ~ 1-0
Wapakoneta ~ Beat Shawnee 34-18 ~ 1-1 ~ 1-0
Bath ~ Lost to O-G 0-34 ~ 1-1 ~ 0-1
Kenton ~ Lost to Defiance 8-36 ~ 1-1 ~ 0-1
St. Marys ~ Lost to Van Wert 0-6 ~ 1-1 ~ 0-1
Shawnee ~ Lost to Wapak 18-34 ~ 1-1 ~ 0-1
Elida ~ Lost to Celina 14-21 ~ 0-2 ~ 0-1
Other Scores
Bellefontaine 26 - Sidney 12
Graham 42 - Urbana 7
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