Saturday, September 17th, 2011

Manning rushes St. Marys to victory

By Tom Montgomery
ST. MARYS - Another strong performance by running back D.J. Manning helped St. Marys stun Lima Bath 36-19 on Friday night in Western Buckeye League action.
Manning ran for 229 yards on 35 carries and scored three touchdowns to outshine Bath's star ball carrier Aaron Smith, who was limited to a season-low 74 yards on 23 carries.
Manning seemed to run at will against the Bath defense and scored on runs of 47, 27 and 7 yards.
The game proved to be a rough ride for the Wildcats, who came into the game with a record of 2-1 overall and 1-1 in the WBL. Following St. Marys' win, both teams now are now 2-2 overall and 1-2 in league play.
Manning led off the scoring with a 27-yard scamper at the 5:54 mark of the first quarter. The extra-point attempt was blocked and St. Marys led 6-0. St. Marys charged in front 12-0 at the 1:07 mark of the second quarter on a 53-yard pass from T.J. Powell to Jarett Taylor.
Bath got on the scoreboard just before halftime with 33 seconds on the clock when Smith scored on a two-yard run. Davey Briggs' PAT kick cut the Roughriders' lead to 12-7 at the half.
Both offenses kicked into gear in the second half. Manning ran for a seven-yard touchdown at the 10:21 mark of the third quarter, and his successful two-point conversion run upped the lead to 20-7.
Bath cut St. Marys' lead to 20-13 on a four-yard TD run by quarterback Brad Davis with 8:50 to go in the game. The Roughriders struck back on a 39-yard pass from Powell to Tre Sherman at the 7:13 mark and Manning's two-point conversion run made it 28-13.
The Wildcats refused to fold, however, and with 6:19 to play in the game, Davis' nine-yard touchdown run made it 28-19 with the hosts still out in front after the two-point conversion attempt failed.
Bath's hopes of rallying late ended at the 5:25 mark on a nifty reverse-field run by Manning that covered 47 yards for a touchdown. Steven Paulus' run for the two-point conversion made the final score 36-19.
"He (Manning) ran that just the way we coached it," joked St. Marys' coach Greg Phillips, referring to the final touchdown. "Good players just find a way to make plays.
"We played hard tonight. They earned it," Phillips continued. "I told them they needed to play for 48 minutes tonight and they responded."
Additional online stories on this date
CELINA - Miss Ohio 2011 Ellen Bryan didn't consider herself a cyclist until Aug. 29, the day she began an 850-mile trip throughout Ohio to raise money for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals. [More]
NEW BREMEN - It was a battle of big plays on Friday night at Cardinals Stadium, and as it often does, the team that made the last one came away with the win. [More]
Subscriber and paid stories on this date
GRAND LAKE - Farmers are making progress complying with new manure rules triggered in January when the state designated the Grand Lake Watershed as distressed.
CELINA - Pastor Randy and Tricia Christian believe something good has come from a tragedy they faced two years ago.
After the drug-related death of
Bulldogs give up 365 yards on the ground
WAPAKONETA - A punishing Wapakoneta rushing attack and four Celina turnovers buried the Bulldogs on Friday night at Harmon Field as the Redskins rolled to a 41-20 victory in Western Buckeye League action.
ST. HENRY - Rarely seen through the first three games of the season, Coldwater broke out the big play on offense often as the Cavaliers extended their winning streak over St. Henry in the Backyard Battle with a 28-7 win at the Wally Post Athletic Complex.
MINSTER - Last season the Marion Local Flyers and the Minster Wildcats faced each other twice with very different results. Marion Local won the regular-season game at home in dominating fashion 41-6 but Minster got its revenge in the playoffs by upsetting the Flyers 30-26.
Western Buckeye League Roundup
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
Maty Mauk threw five touchdown passes as Kenton stayed undefeated on the season with a 34-7 win over Shawnee at Robinson Field in Hardin County.
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
St. John's scored the last 22 points of the game to rally and pick up a 29-21 win over Anna in Midwest Athletic Conference action on Friday night at Booster Field in Shelby County.
VERSAILLES - The Versailles Tigers scored 41 points in the first half and went on to defeat the Parkway Panthers 55-26 in Midwest Athletic Conference action at H.B. Hole Field.