Runaway victory

ST. MARYS - Celina headed to St. Marys seeking its first win since 2015 in the football Battle of Grand Lake.

Dreams of that happening, however, were effectively dashed after the first quarter.

The Roughrider offensive line paved the way for sophomore running back Aiden Hinkle to rush for a career-high 223 yards and four touchdowns on 27 carries, as they won the 102nd edition of the rivalry by a score of 49-6 on Friday at Grand Lake Health System Field.

St. Marys (4-2) is 67-29-1 all-time in the series - and winning in this fashion wasn't expected, coach Doug Frye said.

"I was very concerned about this ballgame," he said. "Celina's a team that's well coached. They play hard. They've been in every game. Their losses have been tight losses. (Jaxson) Silliman and (Cooper) Jones are two of the top-four skill guys in the league. So, I was concerned, but I thought our kids just took it to another level tonight. Hopefully, we can maintain that."

Celina's offense was stuck in neutral. St. Marys' was running in high gear.

The Bulldogs had three consecutive three-and-outs to start the game, gaining a total of 4 yards. Drive No. 4 ended with a turnover on the third play.

Hinkle went over the century mark with 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter. He had a 7-yard touchdown carry to cap a six-play, 55-yard drive with 8:43 left in the first quarter. Five minutes later, Hinkle finished a 10-play, 53-yard scoring drive with a 3-yard carry. St. Marys quarterback Gavin Reineke punched it in for a 4-yard touchdown early in the second quarter.

"It really just came down to physicality for the most part," Celina coach Brennen Bader said. "They just won the line of scrimmage on both sides. That's kind of the bottom line. When that happens against those guys, good things aren't going to happen."

St. Marys had it working defensively, too.

Hunter Fraley sacked Celina quarterback Cooper Jones with the Bulldogs trying to gain traction in the second quarter. Aidan Eigenbrod later intercepted Jones to give his team the ball in Celina territory. Hinkle took over from there with a 29-yard trek to pay dirt exactly 1 minute after Reineke's touchdown.

A 4-yard pass from Jones to Brandon Staugler gave Celina its first first down of the half near the midway point of the second quarter. The Bulldogs took the ball inside the red zone late in the first half, but the drive stalled at the 16-yard line.

Hinkle amassed 153 yards on 15 carries by halftime. The Roughriders held a 243-55 advantage in total yards.

St. Marys eclipsed 300 yards with three runs to start the second half. Hinkle got the drive started with rushes of 16 and 11 yards. Ethan Wedding took the next carry for a 34-yard touchdown to set into motion the 30-point running clock.

A 21-yard burst to the end zone by Hinkle sent him over the 200-yard mark 8 minutes into the third quarter.

Jones broke out of a near sack and scrambled 44 yards for a touchdown on the opening play of the fourth quarter for Celina's lone offensive highlight.

Fraley added a 2-yard touchdown run with 8:15 left in the game for the home team.

Hinkle's previous rushing high was 178 yards on 38 carries last year against Shawnee. Wedding added 87 yards on nine carries for St. Marys, which hosts Greenville in the opening round of the Division III playoffs next Friday.

"(Hinkle) got the benefit of a lot of carries and the yards, but it was a complete team effort on the offensive side of the ball," Frye said.

"We got a nice push up front," he added. "I thought Fraley, when he came in, he did a nice job. I thought Hinkle did a nice job. I thought the fullbacks and all the running backs did a nice job, and I thought our quarterback did a nice job of engineering things back there."

Celina averaged just 3 yards per play while being outgained 448-129.

The good news for the Bulldogs (3-3). They have a big opportunity ahead of them next week when Dayton Carroll visits for the Division III playoff opener. Celina is seeking its first playoff win since 1998.

"We had a good week of practice, but it just didn't translate to the field for whatever reason," Bader said. "It's disappointing because it's your rival. But the silver lining is we get the opportunity to play a playoff game at home and have a chance to win that game, which is something we haven't done in a long time."