Wapakoneta’s Kaden Page has 283 yards and three touchdowns through the season’s first three weeks.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
For St. Marys (2-1, 1-1 Western Buckeye League), this week’s matchup against WBL rival Wapakoneta is all about bouncing back from an upset loss to Defiance.
For Wapakoneta (3-0, 2-0 WBL), it’s all about taking another step toward its coveted, fourth-straight league title.
The Redskins enter Friday night as winners of three straight in the series, and 11 of the past 14 in the rivalry, which dates back more than a century.
Last year, Wapak used two first-half touchdowns to notch a 14-0 victory. It was another run-dominant game, with 80% of total yardage coming on the ground from names like Jace Knous (15 carries, 75 yards) and Caleb Moyer (11 carries, 70 yards) of Wapak and Colton Mabry (24 carries for 112 yards) of St. Marys.
As the case usually is with St. Marys, winning the game at the line of scrimmage and controlling time of possession are the two most important factors.
“St. Marys has a physical run game, and they have the ability to control the time of possession,” said Wapakoneta coach Travis Moyer. “We need to win early downs against them and then get off the field on defense.”
Moyer went on to say that his team needs to continue to take care of the ball on offense, which is something they’ve excelled at through three weeks.
Quarterback Caleb Moyer has yet to throw an interception this season, completing 37 of 51 passes for 517 yards and five touchdowns. He’s found Kaden Page 18 times for 283 yards and three touchdowns.
Jarrett Mullen is the team’s leading rusher with 191 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries. Moyer has 155 yards and six touchdowns on the ground.
For Wapakoneta, all of that offensive firepower starts at the line of scrimmage.
“Defensively, St. Marys is big up front and athletic on the backend,” Moyer said. “They like to bring pressure. We will need to win the line of scrimmage and when we get a chance to make a big play, take advantage of that opportunity.”
That big defensive front for St. Marys is made up of Caleb Turner (46 tackles, two sacks), Owen Ott (15 tackles, two sacks), Hayden Davis (seven tackles) and Matt Murray (five tackles), among others.
In the secondary, the Roughriders are led by Luke Borns (20 tackles, two pass breakups), Ryan Ruvoldt (20 tackles), Parker Beam (10 tackles, one fumble recovery) and Noah Dixon (10 tackles).
That group is tasked with slowing down a Wapakoneta offense that averaged 37 points per game through the first three weeks.
“Wapakoneta is a very athletic, well-coached football team,” St. Marys coach Bo Frye said. “They are good in all three phases of the game.”
Frye and the Roughriders are, of course, powered by the Wing-T, which has produced 1,023 yards and 11 touchdowns on 181 carries.
Dominik Osborne is the team’s leading rusher with 400 yards and five touchdowns on 63 carries. Osborne, Mabry (57 carries, 272 yards, 4 TDs) and Caleb Schmidt (36 carries, 251 yards, TD) have accounted for 89% of the team’s offense and 10 of its 11 total touchdowns.
For St. Marys, this game against Wapakoneta is about flushing what happened in last week’s loss to Defiance and getting back to what they did well against St. Henry and Celina in two dominant victories to start the season.
“On our end, we have to refocus, do the little things, and play with more heart,” Frye said. “All of those things make us a good football team. If we don’t do that, we won’t beat anyone.”
Reach Chris Howell at 567-242-0468 or on Twitter/X at @Lima_Howell
