Friday Flashback: Roughriders beat VW

Editor’s note: The Friday Flashback feature is back on the Sports page of the VW independent until the end of August. Each Friday, the VW independent will turn back the hands of time by featuring a sports story dating back 10 years or longer. This installment goes back to October of 2011 and a WBL football game between Van Wert and St. Marys Memorial. Below is the story as it appeared on the Sports page.

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

ST. MARYS – The Van Wert Cougars got some bragging rights, but that didn’t totally erase the taste in their mouths from a 34-14 loss to the Roughriders on Friday night.

The Cougar defense did something few other teams have been able to do: Hold St. Marys running back BJ Manning under 200 yards of rushing. The Roughrider senior, who averages 240 yards a game and has rushed for more than 300 yards in one game this year, ran for just 142 yards against Van Wert, thanks to good defensive penetration that allowed Cougar tacklers to catch Manning in the backfield a number of times.

However, Manning did rack up three touchdowns on the night on runs of 40, 1 and 2 yards. The big play also did plenty of the damage to the Cougars, as three of St. Marys’ TDs came from 40, 64 and 70 yards out.

Van Wert stayed with the Roughriders for the entire first half as each team traded lone touchdowns in each of the first two quarters. St. Marys was first on the scoreboard with Manning’s 40-yard scramble at 6:13 of the first quarter. Jarett Taylor kicked the extra point and it was 7-0, Roughriders.

The Cougars returned the favor 2½ minutes later when sophomore quarterback Tyler Williams found classmate Terrance Branson in the open for a 19-yard TD with 3:49 left on the clock. Austin Reichert kicked the PAT and the game was all tied up.

The Roughriders again scored first in the second quarter on a 70-yard run by Tre Sherman at the 4:27 mark of the period. Taylor again kicked the PAT and St. Marys led by a touchdown, 14-7.

Van Wert nearly didn’t get another score in before the half, but a 13-yard run by junior Lucas Sullivan with just 36 seconds left on the clock again knotted the score, following Reichert’s point after kick.

Unfortunately, the second half was pretty much all St. Marys, as the Roughriders scored three more times in that half.

The only score of the third quarter was a 1-yard run by Manning at the 8:37 mark. Taylor again kicked the point after to make 21-14.

The fourth quarter saw the Roughriders’ two final touchdowns. The first came on a 64-yard pass from TJ Powell to Taylor, who also kicked the PAT, at the 9:31 mark, while the second and final score came on a 2-yard run by Manning. The kick was the only one of the night for either team that missed the mark.

Manning was the top rusher, earning those 142 yards on 29 carries, while Sherman’s 70-yard touchdown run put him second on the night.

For Van Wert, Sullivan led with 43 yards on 10 carries and a TD, while Williams garnered 30 yards on 14 carries.

Leading receivers for the Cougars were Tyler Crone, with six catches and 79 yards and Branson, who caught three passes for 45 yards and a TD. For St. Marys, Taylor caught two passes for 88 yards and a touchdown.

The Roughriders had 321 yards of total offense to 271 for Van Wert. Williams was 13 of 28 for 170 yards, a touchdown and one interception through the air, while St. Marys quarterback TJ Powell was 4 for 7 for 106 yards and a touchdown.

For possibly the first time all year, the Cougars didn’t fumble the ball once, while St. Marys had one miscue, but a Roughrider player fell on it before Van Wert could do so.

With the loss, the Cougars remain winless on the season at 0-8 in the Western Buckeye League and 0-9 overall. St. Marys is 3-5 in the WBL and 4-5 overall and will finish the season against Shawnee.

Elsewhere around the league, Kenton downed Defiance 54-15, Elida blanked Celina 56-0 and Wapakoneta was a 41-14 winner over Shawnee. That means unbeaten Kenton and Wapakoneta will be playing for the league title when they meet this coming Friday at Wapak.

Van Wert will play Ottawa-Glandorf, which was a winner over Bath, 35-18, in its final game of the season this coming Friday.