Too much firepower

SIDNEY - St. Marys had a goal-line stop against Trotwood-Madison to end the first half on Friday.

Stops, however, were tough to come by for the Roughriders after halftime.

After taking a 7-0 lead into halftime, the Rams used big plays of 49 and 53 yards to take a three-score lead in the third quarter and pulled away from there for a 41-7 victory in the Division III, Region 12 semifinal at Sidney Memorial Stadium/30 & 0 Field.

"I thought early on that our kids played with spirit and emotion, but obviously when you play a team like this, you have to do the little things well and I think they exposed the weaknesses we had tonight," St. Marys coach Doug Frye said.

Trotwood (9-3) advances to play Hamilton Badin (9-3) in next Friday's regional final at a site that will announced by the OHSAA on Sunday.

Not executing what Frye called the "little things" hurt. But the Rams' big-play ability didn't help the Roughriders' cause, either.

It started great for St. Marys, which ran 14 plays and took 7 1/2 minutes off the clock on the game's opening drive, marching inside the red zone with 11 running plays. Then the Roughriders tried a passing play and quarterback Kurt Bubp was sacked for a loss of eight yards. Another sack sent St. Marys outside of field goal range. Bubp's pass attempt to the end zone on fourth down was just off the finger tips of his receiver.

The Rams and Roughriders traded punts on the only other possessions of a 20-minute first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Ty Howell fielded a 23-yard Trotwood punt and returned it 15 yards to midfield. But Trotwood's Sammy Anderson recovered an Aiden Hinkle fumble on St. Marys' following play.

Three runs by Hezekiah Hudson-Davis moved the Rams to the 24-yard line, then Ke'shawn Huguely took a handoff, broke a few tackles, changed field and was gone for a touchdown with 8:58 remaining in the half.

Later in the half, Trotwood began a drive at its own 44 and rode Hudson-Davis down the field again - eventually setting up for a first-and-goal from the 2.

St. Marys followed with its third short-yardage stand of the postseason, though, stuffing Trotwood on four runs. On third-and-one, the Rams ran Hudson-Davis on the outside, but he was met with force and dropped by Tanner Howell. On the fourth-day play, Keon'tae Huguely was dropped for no gain.

The Rams had a penalty-riddled drive to begin the second half. It didn't matter, though. One big play cancelled out three penalties. Trotwood faced a first-and-24 from the 49 when quarterback Cooper Stewart dropped a pass right in the breadbasket of a wide-open Carl Blanton Jr. for a touchdown.

A 23-yard run by Ty Howell put St. Marys across midfield on its first series of the second half. Howell, however, was later intercepted on a running-back pass attempt when his team faced a third-and-long.

Trotwood's penalty count was up to eight late in the third quarter, which included a holding call that moved the ball back into its own territory after a long gain across midfield. Once again, it didn't matter.

On the next play after the hold, Ke'shawn Huguely struck again - sprinting past the Roughrider defense for a 53-yard TD with 46 seconds left in the third.

Midway through the fourth, Bubp threw a screen pass to Hinkle, who rumbled 27 yards deep into Ram territory. It led to a 12-yard scoring strike from Bubp to Dylan Trogdlon with 5:03 left in the game.

After Trotwood recovered an onside kick, Ke'shawn hit the hole and was gone for a back-breaking, 22-yard TD run.

The Rams had a pair of scoop-and-scores by Davon Anderbrahan and Ke'shawn Huguely with the Roughriders trying to make something happen late.

"We just never seemed to grab the momentum tonight," Frye said. "When we needed it, it just didn't happen. The score wasn't reflective of the game, I don't think. They're a good football team, but I think if we did the little things well, it could have been a game to the wire."

Ke'shawn Huguely had 11 carries for 130 yards and four total TDs.

Howell had a team-high 53 yards on just six carries for St. Marys (9-3), which saw its eight-game winning streak end.

"Obviously from where we were at 1-2, the way we finished the regular season and got the playoff win was a good thing," Frye said. "But when you come in against Trotwood, you're going to have to do the little things well and try to negate their athleticism. We were unable to do that tonight."