Staff report
ST. MARYS — Sidney led 33-14 at one points but trailed 36-33 when the game was suspended with 9:36 left in the final period because of lightning.
It was a familiar scene to open the game, the Roughriders driving 85 yards for a touchdown and doing it all on the ground. It ate up nearly half of the opening quarter, the score coming with 6:09 left in the period.
Sidney picked up a first down in two plays on its first possession, then Andre Gordon completed a 62-yard touchdown pass, only to have it negated by a holding penalty. The Jackets were ultimately forced to punt and St. Marys took over on its own 36.
This time, however, Sidney recovered a Rider fumble and took over on its own 48. After Gordon rushed for eight yards, he was sacked for a five-yard loss. But Isaiah Bowser then broke looks and went for 45 yards and a touchdown on third-and-7. However, the PAT kick was wide so the Jackets still trailed 7-6 with 1:01 left in the quarter.
St. Marys then fumbled on the ensuing kickoff and Jack Feazel recovered on the Roughrider 27. Bowser then went 27 yards on third-and-10 to put the Jackets up 12-7, the extra-point kick again failing.
Gordon hit Conor Beer for a 77-yard scoring strike for a 19-7 lead, but again the kick was returned into Sidney territory, at the 33. St. Marys got into the endzone on a 1-yard run, but the Jackets responded with a 65-yard drive, the last 55 yards coming on a Gordon-to-Bowser pass on a broken play for a 26-14 lead. And that’s how the half ended.
Gordon then threw another TD pass to open the third quarter, but from that point, the Roughriders took over and were leading 36-33 with 22 straight points when the game was suspended.
FR 21, Lehman 20
SIDNEY — Lehman therew a scare into defending state champion Fort Recovery, but came up short in a 21-20 thriller at Sidney Memorial Stadium Friday.
The Cavaliers stunned the defending D-7 champs with a 71-yard scoring drive in just two plays to open the game. They increased the lead to 10-0 before the Indians regrouped and took a 14-10 lead at the half on a pair of touchdown passes by Toledo-bound quarterback Caleb Martin.
Jake Earhart went 20 yards on the first play of the game from the 29 for Lehman, the quarterback Elliott Gilardi kept the ball and went the rest of the distance for a 7-0 lead with 11:24 left in the opening quarter.
Lehman then held the Indians and when the Cavs got the ball back, Gilardi went 25 yards to Fort Recovery’s 35. The drive stalled, however, and the Cavs settled for a 33-yard Michael Denning field goal.
Lehman got one more shot at the endzone after picking off a pass at the FR 25. But the Cavs settled for another field goal attempt, and this one was wide.
The Indians scored the second of their touchdowns with under a minute to go in the half to take the lead.
The Cavaliers retook the lead on a fourth-down touchdown from Gilardi to Arnold for a 17-14 lead with 1:33 left in the third quarter. And the Cavs then recovered the ensuing kickoff deep in Recovery territory. On fourth-and-nine, the Cavs converted down to the two, but had to settle for a field goal and a 20-14 lead in the final period.
The Indians then drove to a score, with Will Homan going in from the one. The extra-point kick was good for a 21-20 lead.
Loramie-Minster
FORT LORAMIE — Minster led Fort Loramie 20-14 with :30 left in the second quarter when the game was suspended because of lightning.
Minster scored first on a short run by Jared Huelsman but Loramie responded with a 31-yard scoring strike to Jake Ward for a 7-6 lead.
Minster came back with a 54-yard TD pass from Huelsman to Jonny Niemeyer, but Loramie scored again on a 47-yard pass from Siegel to Ward.
Minster then put up another score on a pass from Huelsman to Niemeyer to give the Wildcats the lead at 20-14.
Anna 28, Arlington 0
ARLINGTON — Anna rolled to a victory in its season opener Friday, routing 28-0 in the fourth quarter in action at Arlington Friday night.
The Rockets will return home Friday against Brookville.
Anna got outstanding games from running back Aiden Endsley and quarterback Travis Meyer. Endsley carried 25 times for 123 yards and a touchdown, and Meyer completed 12 of 22 passes for 222 yards and a score. He also ran in for a touchdown.
Riley Huelskamp carried seven times for 82 yards and a touchdown, and Wyatt Bensman caught a touchdown pass.
“We finished a couple of drives like we needed to,” said Anna coach Nick Marino. “And I think our conditioning paid off at the end. Our ofensive line picked up their blitzes decently and our defense did a pretty good job. It was a good way to start out the season.
