Photographs by Andrews Photography |
DATELINE OCTOBER 24 - HARMON STADIUM - WAPAKONETA, OHIO
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On an evening highlighted by a soaking but wondrously consistant 50°F drizzle, an occurance difficult to categorize was witnessed by 2400 Rider fans, and the Wapak Band Parents. The St. Marys Roughriders' offense took the opening kickoff, marched straight down the field for a touchdown in an impressive drive, and then amazed all by vanishing from the face of the earth without a trace.
Granted, the match oft-times appeared on the bias, as our cowboys battled on foot versus Redskins mounted on zebras. For instance, Wapak was unable to advance the pig until its third possession when, down 7-zip, a highly questionable pass interference call virtually on the Wapak bench gave the homeys a crucial third-down conversion beyond midfield. The 'Skins went on to score and even though Mark Scott raced in from the end to block the extra point, the tone was set for the remainder of the game in regards to official philanthropy.
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Midway through the second quarter, the Rider offense glimmered on the horizon, as if it would reappear, when QB Rick Haines honest to God looked like he was going to pass the ball on third and long, but ran up the wide-open middle instead for a big gain to the 12. We punched it in from there in four plays. Kurt Kill pulled the PAT attempt wide to the left and we took a 13-6 lead into halftime.
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The St. Marys All-Brass Band, all in '50s garb, reprised their "Grease" show to great approbation from both sides of the field. The Wapak band members, waiting, as it were, in the wings, were dancing and doing the "Hand Jive" to the echoes of the big SMABB sound blasting off the home side stands.
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The mysterious absense of the St. Marys offense became, unfortunately, even more obvious in the second half. After racking up 214 yards in total offense in the first half, we gained but 14 yards in the second, and did not record a first down after halftime. And while the Riders were trying to play a game always on defense, the officials were carrying the savages whenever possible or necessary, which was most of the time. Ball placement always seemed to give that extra yard to the home team and subtract that crucial foot from the visitors. And a second pass interference call not even valid enough to be called "questionable" sustained a fizzling Redskin drive and led to the tying touchdown in the third quarter, which ended knotted at 13.
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The Rider D again performed manfully, doing everything except score points, which they have not, alas, done yet this season. Mark Scott plucked a Wapak pass from the ether in the second half to give us excellent field position at midfield, only to see the effort return to the ether on yet another (highly) offensive three-and-out. With the second string out as search party for the offense and the third string forming a posse to find the second, the defense, as it did last week against Defiance, got tired, and gave up one more touchdown, an uncharacteristic long run up the gut, to put the final nail in for the record, 13-20.
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Yes, the offense got conservative after that first touchdown, but no, the play-calling this game was not as monotonously predictable as usual. Passes, pitchouts, options and sweeps were run, and not always at the expected times. The problem is beginning to emerge that perhaps the Rider offense is incapable of executing a high-school-level pass play. If memory serves, Haines actually released the ball on a pass play but twice this evening, once for an interception and once to an abandoned sector of the turf. Little wonder opposing Ds are wont to stack against the run.
The Roughriders now face a trek to the boonies next week to play a motivated Ottawa-Glandorf team, which will be fighting to maintain its #1 seed in the playoffs. In the meantime, if anyone sees a lost and disoriented offense wandering in limbo, email me, and I will relay the information to the Northwest Ohio Athletic Director of the Year, St. Marys' own Steve Moor, selected this week. Congratulations, Steve!
| GAME STATS (Stolen from The Evening Leader - Thanks, "Joe Mendon") | ||||
| St. Marys | Wapakoneta | St. Marys Season | Opponents Season | |
| Points Scored | 13 | 20 | 228 | 130 |
| First Downs | 10 | 13 | 116 | 114 |
| Rushes-Yards | 52-227 | 38-196 | 470-2463 | 331-1080 |
| Completions / Attempts - Yards | 0/3-0 | 5/17-49 | 17/44-276 | 77/172-1157 |
| Had Intercepted | 1 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| Offensive Plays | 55 | 55 | 517 | 397 |
| Total Offense | 227 | 245 | 2739 | 2231 |
| Punts-Yards | 5-152 | 6-183 | 34-1306 | 30-1335 |
| Blocked | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 0-0 | 0-0 | 13-6 | 13-9 |
| Penalties - Yards | 6-60 | 6-40 | 36-333 | 32-238 |
| RIDER STATS | ||||
| Rushes | Yards | Season Rushes | Season Yards | |
| 7 Rick Haines | 14 | 82 | 64 | 241 |
| 11 Aaron Seewer | 0 | 0 | 2 | 15 |
| 13 John Meinerding | 0 | 0 | 2 | 8 |
| 21 Bobby Huttis | 0 | 0 | 24 | 115 |
| 23 Andy Slone | 7 | 16 | 72 | 397 |
| 27 Brandon Meyer | 0 | 0 | 2 | 35 |
| 28 John Thistlethwaite | 11 | 43 | 136 | 866 |
| 30 Ken Williams | 0 | 0 | 7 | 39 |
| 32 Jason Clark | 20 | 88 | 126 | 663 |
| 34 Josh Lamb | 0 | 0 | 22 | 99 |
| Completions / Passes - Interceptions | Yards | Season Completions / Passes - Interceptions | Season Yards | |
| 7 Rick Haines | 0/3-1 | 0 | 14/33-4 | 192 |
| 28 John Thistlethwaite | 0/1-0 | 0 | 0/1-0 | 0 |
| Receptions | Yards | Season Receptions | Season Yards | |
| 21 Bobby Huttis | 0 | 0 | 2 | 94 |
| 23 Andy Slone | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21 |
| 28 John Thistlethwaite | 0 | 0 | 5 | 47 |
| 32 Jason Clark | 0 | 0 | 5 | 62 |
| 34 Josh Lamb | 0 | 0 | 1 | 18 |
| 86 Spencer Williams | 0 | 0 | 2 | 10 |
| 88 Chris Duncan | 0 | 0 | 1 | 24 |
| Viewing Tip: If stats table is off-center, Increase Font (under "View" in Netscape). | ||||
AROUND the WESTERN BUCKEYE LEAGUE October 24...
Team ~ Game ~ Record ~ WBL ~ Yet to Play
1st Defiance ~ Beat Van Wert 31-0 ~ 9-0 ~ 8-0 ~ S
2nd Celina ~ Beat Shawnee 27-7 ~ 7-2 ~ 6-2 ~ K
2nd Ottawa-Glandorf ~ Beat Elida 10-0 ~ 7-2 ~ 6-2 ~ SM
4th Kenton ~ Beat Bath 20-14 ~ 6-3 ~ 5-3 ~ C
5th St. Marys ~ Lost to Wapak 13-20 ~ 5-4 ~ 4-4 ~ O-G
5th Van Wert ~ Lost to Defiance 0-31 ~ 5-4 ~ 4-4 ~ W
5th Wapakoneta ~ Beat St. Marys 20-13 ~ 4-5 ~ 4-4 ~ VW
8th Bath ~ Lost to Kenton 14-20 ~ 3-6 ~ 2-6 ~ E
9th Elida ~ Lost to O-G 0-10 ~ 1-8 ~ 1-7 ~ B
10th Shawnee ~ Lost to Celina 7-27 ~ 1-8 ~ 0-8 ~ D
Other Scores
Piqua 7 - West Carrollton 5
Vandalia-Butler 20 - Sidney 9
Urbana 25 - Greenon 21
Coldwater 24 - St. Henry 14
New Bremen 7 - Marion Local 6
Versailles - Miami East 0
For more area scores see WKKI's website: K94 Sports
Last Week's Games | Next Week's Games
Ohio High School Athletic Association
Playoff Watch (before Oct. 24 games)
Defiance ~ #2 in Division II Region 6, #2 last week WON
~ #2 in State Division II (AP poll), up from #4 last week.
Celina ~ #3 in Division II Region 8, #3 last week WON
~ #14 in State Division II (tied with Geneva, AP poll)
Ottawa-Glandorf ~ #1 in Division IV Region 16, #1 last week. WON
Kenton ~ #5 in Division IV Region 16, down from #3 last week. WON
Non-WBL Area Teams
Greenville ~ #4 in Division II Region 8. WON
Bellefontaine ~ #3 in Division III Region 10. WON
~ #10 in State Division III (AP poll)
Columbus Grove ~ #3 in Division V Region 18. WON
~ #8 in State Division V (AP poll)
Coldwater ~ #4 in Division V Region 20. WON
~ #10 in State Division V (AP poll)
Versailles ~ #5 in Division V Region 20. WON
Delphos St. John's ~ #1 in Division VI Region 22. WON
~ #1 in State Division VI (AP poll)
St. Henry ~ #5 in Division VI Region 24. LOST
~ #10 in State Division VI (AP poll)
New Bremen ~ #6 in Division VI Region 24. WON
(The top 4 teams in each Region qualify for the OHSAA post-season tournament.)
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