Wapak stuns St. Marys

ST. MARYS - It was a wet and wild Friday night at Skip Baughman Stadium.

After fumbling away the go-ahead two-point conversion try with 50 seconds to play, Wapakoneta recovered an onside kick, connected on a long pass and then Tristan Gesler kicked a 23-yard field goal with 18 seconds left to give the Redskins a stunning 26-24 victory over St. Marys.

The win gives Wapakoneta a WBL title split with St. Marys. Both playoff-bound teams finished 9-1 overall and 8-1 in league play.

"Give a lot of credit to Wapakoneta," St. Marys coach Doug Frye said. "I thought they did a lot of the necessary things to win the game. We didn't get those things done. We'll hopefully learn from it and clean it up and get moving with the playoff run."

The teams combined for nine fumbles (six by St. Marys and three by Wapakoneta). The Roughriders lost two of those, including one inside the Redskin 20 early in the third quarter.

St. Marys led 8-7 at halftime.

Luke Beach hit a 24-yard field goal to give the Redskins a 10-8 lead with 4:24 left in the third quarter.

St. Marys followed with a 16-play, 80-yard drive that was capped by Braeden Dunlap 1-yard scoring plunge with 11:19 remaining in the game. Dunlap also called his own number for a successful two-point conversion to make the score 16-10.

Facing a third-and-3 from their own 45 on the next series, Redskins quarterback Brady Erb ripped off a 53-yard run. Evan Kaeck then punched in for a touchdown on a fourth-and-goal with 8:05 to go. Gesler's extra point returned the lead to Wapak.

The lead was soon back in St. Marys' possession as the offense covered 69 yards in eight plays. Sean Perry broke multiple tackles as he ran for a 36-yard touchdown. Ty Howell ran in the two-point conversion for a 24-17 lead.

Wapak came back with an 11-play, 59-yard touchdown drive - benefitting from a number of flags along the way. St. Marys looked to have drive-ending interceptions twice, but one was ruled to have hit the ground and the other was wiped away because of pass interference. The Redskins faced a fourth-and-12 inside Roughrider territory, and Erb's pass attempt went incomplete. However, another pass interference call kept the drive alive. Erb later connected with Aaron Chambers for a 16-yard touchdown with 50 seconds to play, but Kaeck fumbled the go-ahead two-point try.

It didn't matter, though.

The Redskins recovered an onside kick. Erb found Noah Embos for a 34-yard gain and then Gesler supplied the game-winning boot.

"I think we were minus-1 (in turnovers), and we've been up in that department all season. It obviously got us tonight," Frye said. "I was proud of our effort. I thought our kids played hard. I thought their kids played hard. I just thought that we didn't do some of the little things that we have normally done."

St. Marys went three-and-out on the game's opening possession. But the ensuing punt bounced off a Wapak player and the Roughriders recovered at the Redskin 40. St. Marys could only gain 36 yards on a series full of runs. A 22-yard field goal by Gabe Vandever gave the Roughriders a 3-0 lead at the 5:15 mark of the first.

The Redskins marched down the field on their opening possession - the key play was a 35-yard run by quarterback Erb that advanced the ball deep into St. Marys' territory. Later, facing a fourth-and-goal from the 3, Wapak gave the ball to Kaeck, who was swarmed and stopped by the St. Marys' defense for a loss.

But the Wapak defense put points on the scoreboard minutes later.

Dunlap had a shotgun snap go through his hands. He picked up the ball in the end zone, tried to make a play, fumbled and the Redskins pounced on the ball for six points.

Midway through the second, Wapak's punter had a snap go through his hands and out of the end zone for a safety, which cut St. Marys deficit to 7-5.

When the Roughriders got back the ball on offense, Perry went over the 1,000-yard mark for the season with a 22-yard gain into Wapak territory. Vandever later connected on a 30-yard field goal that returned the lead to St. Marys with 3:07 left in the half.

The Redskins threatened to take the lead late in the half, but Carter Ballweg intercepted a pass on the goal line.

Erb finished with 21 carries for 160 yards and completed 7-of-16 passes for 149 yards.

Perry had 25 carries for 188 yards for St. Marys.

Friday's contest was the last regular-season game at Skip Baughman Stadium. The Roughriders will have a chance to go out a winner on their home field next week when they host either Huron or Pepper Pike Orange.

"Seventy or 80 percent of the teams are putting away their equipment right now. We're still playing," Frye said. "Sometimes things like this get you focused and headed in the right direction."