Bowers’ boot wins it
With just 2 field goal attempts all season, junior connects under pressure
SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP — You can put lipstick on a pig but it’s still a pig.
You can also call a win ugly but it’s still a win.
Aggressive all season on fourth downs with 13 attempts coming into Friday’s Western Buckeye League game against Shawnee and adding two more attempts on Friday, it was the call not to go for it on fourth down with the game on the line that won it for the Roughriders.
Facing a fourth and 11 at Shawnee’s 36yard line, Frye opted to punt the ball instead of going for it with 12:00 left in the game.
That decision proved wisely.
Brandon Bowers pinned the Indians up against their endzone, the defense bounced back from their performances the last two weeks and Bowers connected on a go-ahead field goal to hand St. Marys a 10-7 road win at Shawnee Stadium.
“I am so happy for the kids that we were able to pull out a win tonight,” Frye said. “I thought the kids played with belief and spirit the entire way. My heart goes out to the kids like crazy and it was great to get back on the winning track.”
St. Marys faced a pair of fourth-down plays in the second half on fourth and 3 from Shawnee’s 30-yard line and faced a fourth and 4 from the Indians’ 18yard line on the ensuing offensive drive — but the Riders came up empty in both situations.
By not going for fourth down the third time, Frye put the game on Bowers and his defense and both responded.
Bowers pinned the Indians offense to the 4-yard line, putting the Roughriders defense — a unit looking for redemption after two subpar games — in a position to keep that Shawnee offense deep.
Mission accomplished.
Shawnee mustered just two yards in three plays and the Roughriders got the ball back in great field position after Shandon Sewell’s punt was partially blocked as the Riders set up shop at the Indians’ 31-yard line with 10:45 left in regulation.
Fullback Aiden Hinkle carried the ball six times for 25 yards on the drive as the Riders advanced inside the 10-yard line but two outside runs stymied the offense — forcing a 25-yard field goal, but the snap and hold were perfect as Bowers nailed the ball through the uprights for the goahead score.
“You have to get a feel on every game of what is going on and we just felt that we were in a field position ballgame and our defense was playing well,” Frye added. “It’s typical of the way we have won here in St. Marys over the years.
“Sometimes you take the risk but tonight it was better to play the field position game.”
For a unit who has not had many opportunities so far this season — the team has attempted just two field goals entering Friday — the special teams unit executed under pressure.
“I thought it was well done by our snapper, our holder and our kicker — [Chase] Jacobs, [Dylan] Trogdlon and Bowers did an exceptional job,” Frye said. “That’s not easy because we have a lot of young kids growing up, we’ve had a lot of injuries in and out of the lineup but I just really liked how our kids responded and handled the pressure.”
With the lead, it was the defense’s turn and after surrendering 564 passing yards and nine touchdowns in the last two losses, the defense stood tall.
After nearly sacking quarterback Tyler Windau that went for a Shawnee first down, the defense tightened on third down when Windau received the toss back on a flea-flick
er and was gobbled up by Dylan Giesige for a sack.
With 1:59 left, Hinkle took the ball up the gut for an 8-yard gain as the Indians had no timeouts left, allowing the Roughriders to run out the clock.
Shawnee scored first on a Windau to Keaton Cooper 38-yard catch-and-run pass in the opening quarter. Windau found Cooper in the flat on third down as Cooper shed Aidan Eigenbrod’s tackle and scampered in for the score.
St. Marys responded in the opening seconds of the second quarter when Tanner Howell took the handoff to the left side, broke a tackle in the backfield and powered his way in from 2-yards out for the score.
Howell’s score was set up by Ethan Wedding’s
24-yard run in the final minute of the first quarter.
And after their firstquarter touchdown, the Indians managed just 48 yards of total offense in its eight offensive possessions and crossed midfield just once.
It was a welcoming performance for the Roughriders defense by allowing just 120 total yards of offense and 81 passing yards after facing potent offenses in back-to-back games.
Bowers was the player of the game with four punts totaling 135 yards, an average of 33.8 yards per punt and two punts downed inside the 20 — not to mention his go-ahead 25-yard field goal.
It wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win as the Roughriders return home to conclude the regular season next week against archrival Celina at Grand Lake Health System Field.
“I thought the special teams were huge tonight in this ballgame,” Frye said. “We were playing back and forth on field position, we fielded the ball well and I think the field positioning and the conditioning in the second half won the football game for us.”