Staff report
FORT LORAMIE — Only an extra point kick stood between the Fort Loramie Redskins and an opening-night victory over the Minster Wildcats Friday night.
But Minster, after giving up a tying touchdown with under a minute to play, broke through and blocked the point-after to send the game to overtime. And the Wildcats got a 1-yard run from quarterback Jared Huelsman to pull out a 26-20 thriller in a game that ended after midnight thanks to a two-hour lightning delay.
Minster led 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 Austin 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.
There was no more scoring until less than a minute remained. That’s when Siegel hit Cody Gasson on a 24-yard pass down the middle to tie it up. It could go in the books as a TD pass or a fumble recovery, because Gasson lost the handle a bit after making the catch, but came up with the ball in the endzone.
The key play in overtime was a diving catch by Bryce Schmiesing on third-and-10 to give the Wildcats first-and-goal.
Huelsman, trying to fill the big shoes of graduated quarterback Josh Nixon, had a big game, rushing for 211 yards on 30 carries. He also completed six passes for 130 yards, four of them to Schmiesing.
Loamie’s Jake Ward carried 27 times for 128 yards and also caught four passes.
Siegel was 6-for-16 for 5 yards.
Fort Loramie is at defending state champion Fort Recovery Friday. Minster is home to face Lehman.
Sidney-St. Marys
ST. MARYS — After a lengthy lightning delay, the Sidney Yellow Jackets drove 99 yards for the go-ahead score with four minutes remaining, but couldn’t stop the St. Marys Roughriders, who scored with a minute to play to win 43-39 and beat Sidney for the third year in a row.
The Yellow Jackets actually led 33-14 at one point in the third quarter, only to have the Roughriders reel off 22 unanswered points to take the lead at 36-33 before the game was suspended. It resumed at 10:30 Friday night.
Sidney will stay at home Friday night to try to even its record at 1-1 when Bellefontaine comes to town.
Junior running back Isaiah Bowser rushed for 109 yards on 16 carries for the Jackets, and quarterback Andre gordon added 50 yards on the ground.
Gordon cdompleted 7 of 16 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns, with Conor Beer his favorite receiver. He caught four passes for 112 yards.
Sidney had 439 total yards to 395 for the Roughriders.
Anna-Arlington
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.
Versailles-Celina
CELINA – The Versailles Tigers opened the season with a 13-7 come-from-behind victory on Friday night in Celina.
The Tigers trailed 7-0 at the half before outscoring Celina 13-0 in the second half.
The Tigers held the Bulldogs 127 total yards. The Versailles defense held Celina to four first downs in the game.
The Tigers ran for 187 yards and threw for 64 yards. Alex Wendel threw a touchdown pass to Keaton McEldowney. Garrett Thompson scored on and 80-yard run. Thompson finished with 127 yards on the night.
Celina scored on its second possession of the game. The Bulldogs went 80 yards, scoring on a 25-yard run.
The Bulldogs did not threaten the rest of the game, gaining only 47 yards on all other possessions.
With the game tied at 7-7, the Tigers took possession at their own 20 yard line. Thompson was stopped at the line, spun around, and a Celina defender tried to strip the ball. Thompson held on, turned up field and raced 80 yards for the go ahead touchdown.
