Grant Stauffer of Wapakoneta breaks away from Parker Beam of St. Marys on Friday night.
Chris Howell | The Lima News
ST. MARYS — Wapakoneta head coach Travis Moyer’s philosophy is that every WBL game is “just another step” in the pursuit of his team’s fourth consecutive league title.
On Friday night, the Redskins (4-0, 3-0 WBL) took another one of those massive steps toward their goal with a 28-14 win over St. Marys.
“The bottom line is that we approach every game as if it’s our most important game,” Moyer said. “Tonight was step number three in our goal of winning the WBL championship. Obviously, we haven’t achieved anything to this point because, in the Western Buckeye League, it’s a grind from Week 2 on if you want a chance to win a championship.
“Credit our entire program. This is a great team win for us. This game is never easy for either team and I’m just really proud of our guys. It was a big win for our community.”
St. Marys (2-2, 0-2 WBL), as it typically does, dominated time of possession 33:20-9:09, but every time Wapakonta had the ball on offense, they made it count, and most times, in a hurry.
In the first quarter, Caleb Moyer hit Grant Stauffer for an 80-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage after the Redksins halted a 14-play, 51-yard drive from St. Marys with a missed field goal.
And on the first play of the second half, Jarrett Mullen scored on a 5-yard run after nearly returning the kickoff for a touchdown.
The play started in disaster for Mullen, who didn’t field the ball cleanly, but he reversed course from the far sideline to the near sideline and was mere inches away from taking the kick all the way back.
“I dropped the ball, then I saw a hole open up and got some great blocks,” Mullen said. “After that, I out-ran the kicker and apparently, I stepped out of bounds.”
Mullen finished the night with 100 yards on 14 carries, but most importantly, he ran the ball efficiently against a team that also likes to run the ball.
With Wapak in front 21-14 late in the third quarter, Mullen ran the ball five times in a row for a total of 43 yards, setting up a 32-yard touchdown from Moyer to tight end Grant Houser on the next play.
“Obviously we needed to run the ball in that situation and we did it effectively,” Moyer said. “Really credit all 11 of those guys for putting that drive together there.
“He (Jarrett) can do it in a variety of ways for us. He was special tonight. Just getting the ball in his hands is a good thing and I thought our guys up front did a nice job creating holes for him.”
After Mullen’s five straight runs, Moyer evaded what appeared to be a handful of defenders and dropped a perfectly placed ball into the hands of Houser in the endzone.
“For him to stay calm and scramble around to find the open target, that’s kudos to him, but it’s something we practice so it almost comes as second nature to us now,” Houser said.
“I was supposed to run a stop, so I ran five yards and stopped, then looked for the ball. When I saw Caleb was under pressure, it was my first instinct to go toward the endzone. I lost some defenders and Caleb put it in the right place. It was a great ball that went right where it needed to go.”
Houser’s touchdown put the Redksins up 28-14 with 11 minutes left and 10 plays later, the Roughriders turned the ball over on downs, effectively ending the game.
Following the loss, St. Marys coach Bo Frye cited Wapak’s long kickoff return to open the second half as a back-breaker.
“You can’t come out of halftime and give up a kickoff return like we did,” he said. “That’s deflating. I can’t fault our kids’ efforts though. As coaches, we have to coach them better. We definitely have some areas we need to sure up.”
Wapakoneta never trailed in the win.
After Stauffer (2 receptions, 97 yards, TD) scored in the first quarter, Dominik Osborne tied things up at 7-7 with 3:40 to go.
Osborne, who led the St. Marys backfield with 104 yards on 28 carries, played without his running mate Colton Mabry who sustained a concussion last week against Defiance.
With 15 seconds left on the first-half clock, Moyer (6/11, 176 yards, 3TDs) connected with Kaden Page (2 receptions, 42 yards, TD) for a 33-yard touchdown.
Mullen and Jacob Kessler (16 carries, 77 yards, TD) traded scores in the third quarter before Houser’s long reception sealed the deal.
As a team, Wapakoneta out-gained St. Marys 312-298. Neither side committed a turnover.
Score by quarters
Wapakoneta 7 7 7 7 – 28
St. Marys 0 7 7 0 – 14
Scoring Summary
WPK — Grant Stauffer 80-yard reception from Caleb Moyer (Ethan Eisert kick) — 5:34, 1st
STM — Dominik Osborne 2-yard run (Bradey Triplett kick) — 3:40, 2nd
WPK — Kaden Page 33-yard reception from Caleb Moyer (Ethan Eisert kick) — 0:15, 2nd
WPK — Jarrett Mullen 5-yard run (Ethan Eisert kick) — 11:39, 3rd
STM — Jacob Kessler 1-yard run (Bradey Triplett kick) — 1:59, 3rd
WPK — Grant Houser 32-yard reception from Caleb Moyer (Ethan Eisert kick) — 11:06, 4th
Passing
STM — Aiden Meinerding 2/3, 17 yards
WPK — Caleb Moyer 6/11, 176 yards, 3TDs
Rushing
STM — Jarrett Mullen 14 carries, 100 yards, TD
WPK — Dominik Osborne 28 carries, 104 yards, TD
Receiving
STM — Jacob Kessler 1 reception, 11 yards
WPK — Grant Stauffer 2 receptions, 97 yards, TD
Total yards
STM — 298
WPK — 312
Reach Chris Howell at 567-242-0468 or on Twitter/X at @Lima_Howell
