Fireworks show

ST. MARYS - There were halftime fireworks above the railroad tracks at Skip Baughman Stadium on Friday.

Then the St. Marys football team provided plenty of offensive fireworks in the second half.

Ty Howell provided the spark - rushing five times for 114 yards and three touchdowns and adding an 82-yard kickoff return score to start the second half - as the Roughriders outscored Kenton 41-7 in the second half to pull away for a 70-29 victory.

"I liked the second half better than the first half," St. Marys coach Doug Frye said. "I thought our kids came out and really decided they were going to take it up a couple notches in the second half, and we really did. It would be a little easier on my heart if they did that in the first half so we didn't have to worry about that."

The defending WBL champion Roughriders (5-0, 4-0) - ranked No. 1 in Division IV - are now the last unbeaten team in league play. Twelfth-Ranked Kenton (3-2, 3-1) had its three-game winning streak snapped.

St. Marys outgained Kenton 457-408 on the night. The Roughriders gained all of their yardage on the ground. Sean Perry had 17 carries for 170 yards and a touchdown and Braeden Dunlap added three rushing TDs.

"They just manhandled us," Kenton coach Brent Fackler said. "They got out on the perimeter and they did a great job with their guards blocking and their running backs blocking out on the perimeter. They did a great job. They put it to us in the second half, and that happens in high school football when you're playing the No. 1 team in the state. They're pretty doggone good."

The Wildcats' had 391 passing yards. Jaron Sharp competed 19-of-33 passes for 264 yards with three touchdowns and one interception before being forced out of the game with an injury in the third quarter.

After a bad snap on the game's opening series, Sharp was called for an intentional grounding in end zone, which resulted in a safety to put St. Marys on the scoreboard 22 seconds into quarter.

Perry returned Kenton's ensuing kick 24 yards to put the Roughriders inside Wildcat territory He covered the remaining yardage himself, too, taking the opening handoff 19 yards and the next 27 yards for a touchdown with 11:08 still left in the first.

Then Kenton's air attack got off the runway.

Piloted by Sharp, the Wildcats covered 57 yards on just six plays. Sharp found Jayden Cornell for a gain of 23 yards and the duo later hooked up for a 7-yard TD.

The Wildcats took over at the St. Marys' 47-yard line after a failed fake punt attempt. They faced a fourth-and-3 from the 16 and the Sharp-Cornell combo moved the chains with another completion. Two plater after, Sharp delivered a 19-yard scoring strike to Landon Rush for a 14-9 lead with 2:46 left in the first.

St. Marys began a drive with 44 seconds remaining in the first quarter and ended it in the end zone with 7:24 left in the half. Ty Howell capped the six-play, 69-yard drive with a 7-yard TD on a fourth-and-goal.

A little more than one minute later, Cornell received a 4-yard touchdown pass from Sharp. A good two-point conversion made it 22-15 Kenton.

But on the first play of St. Marys' next series, Howell carried the ball 53 yards for a touchdown to tie the game.

The Roughriders gained the lead with 1:10 to play in the half on a Braeden Dunlap 4-yard scoring run.

Kenton drove to the red zone late in the half, but Carter Ballweg intercepted a Sharp at the goal line to leave St. Marys in front 29-22 at half.

Howell took the opening kickoff of the second half 82 yards to the house.

Kenton responded on its next drive, though. A couple of Roughrider personal fouls kept the chains moving, and after Sharp had been forced to the bench with an injury, backup QB Jacob Eversole rushed for a 17-yard touchdown.

St. Marys answered 1 minute and 22 seconds later. Sean Perry turned on the speed for a for a 39-yard gain down to the Kenton five-yard line. Dunlap powered his way to paydirt on the next play to put the Roughriders back in 43-29.

The first punt of the game came after St. Marys forced a Kenton three-and-out on the next series. And on the Roughriders' first play, Howell got outside and raced to the end zone for a 46-yard score.

"Ty Howell did an exceptional job," Frye said. "He just had a little fire in his eyes, and you could tell that he was going to come out and play in the second half. It seems to be a different guy each week, which is a good thing."

Dunlap capped a six-play, 48-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown - his third of the game - early in the fourth. Hunter Fraley's 4-yard rushing score cued the running clock with 5:35 remaining. Three minutes later, Christian Triplett capped the Roughrider scoring with a 70-yard, pick-six.

"Give a lot of credit to Kenton," Frye said. "I thought they were playing extremely well in the first half. Right before the half, we made a few adjustments defensively and I thought it helped us a lot in the second half."