Rough night for 'Dogs

CELINA - St. Marys and Celina were close statistically Friday night.

The annual Battle of Grand Lake was far from close on the scoreboard, however.

The Roughriders likely punched a fourth consecutive ticket to the playoffs with a fourth straight victory over Celina, winning 35-6 at Celina Stadium. St. Marys improved to 66-29-6 all-time in the Battle of Grand Lake.

"Give a lot of credit to coach (Brennen) Bader and the Celina Bulldogs," said the always-gracious Roughrider coach Doug Frye. "I thought their kids played extremely hard. This is always a tough place to play. Both teams ought to be proud of their effort. But I thought our kids did a good job of weathering the storm and kept playing hard. That's what we ask of them every week."

Although the score was lopsided, Bader and Bulldogs know this one could have been a lot different. The game plan didn't fail them. It was shoddy execution in key moments that did.

"I don't think the score is quite reflective of how we played," Bader said. "I thought we had a great effort. I thought the game plan was correct. At times we were really, really good on both sides of the ball. But to beat a very good program, a program that has won, you've got to do the small things consistently. We had more mental breakdowns than they did."

Celina came away empty handed in the red zone twice - once at the end of half one and then again right after intermission. The Roughriders turned three Bulldog turnovers into points. St. Marys ended up winning in total yardage by a 227-214 margin.

St. Marys started its second drive of the contest at the Celina 41. Facing a fourth-and-one, Kurt Bubp handed the rock to Ethan Wedding, who was awarded a first down after a measurement. The next play Bubp connected with Ty Howell on a deep shot for a 31-yard score. Brandon Bowers' extra point made it 7-0 with 7:06 to go in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs responded with an 11-play drive, kept alive thanks to a fourth-down run by Cooper Jones. The Celina quarterback scrambled about 30 yards west to east and ultimately picked up six yards on a fourth-and-four just inside of midfield. Jones followed with completions of 17 and 19 yards to Jaxson Silliman and Max Thobe before capping the drive with a 3-yard TD run. A missed extra point kept Celina down 7-6.

St. Marys increased its lead to 21-6 by halftime. Aiden Hinkle capped a 14-play, 72-yard Roughrider drive with a 3-yard touchdown. Celina fumbled two plays into its next series and St. Marys recovered. Ty Howell ran for a 25-yard touchdown on St. Marys' ensuing snap, making it 21-6 with 8:21 remaining in the half.

Late in the half, Celina moved inside the 10 before getting pushed back. Facing a fourth-and-goal from the 11 with six seconds left, Jones threw a pass to the corner of the end zone for Collin Harris, who made the reception but was ruled out of bounds.

On their opening drive of the second half, the Bulldogs worked inside the Roughrider 15. This drive again stalled on fourth downs, though, as Jones was sacked for a loss on fourth-and-seven.

The Roughrider defense took over from there.

Tanner Howell had a 41-yard scoop-and-score after a Jones' fumble bounced into his hands with 2:46 left to play in the third. Moments later, Wedding intercepted Jones, which led to a Ty Howell 3-yard TD run.

"What I was disappointed in early in the year was we weren't getting those turnovers," Frye said. "We've been working hard on getting those in practice and we're starting to capitalize on them now."

Celina held a six-minute advantage in time of possession but its offense was held in check for a second consecutive week. After scoring 20-or-more points in six of seven games to start the season, the Bulldogs have been held to six points over their last two. In four straight losses to St. Marys, Celina has been outscored 142-20.

"I'm proud of the kids for fighting, for being physical. That's the No. 1 thing you have to do when you play St. Marys," Bader said. "We did that. Our effort was there. The heart was there. The energy was there. It was a great week, but the consistency with mental mistakes in key situations was the deciding factor."

Ty Howell accounted for 120 yards of total offense (89 rushing, 31 receiving) in his three-touchdown performance for the Roughriders (7-2, 6-2 Western Buckeye League), who host Defiance next Friday.

Jones rushed for 81 yards and passed for 85 to lead the Bulldogs (3-6, 3-5 WBL), who visit Van Wert in Week 10.