Running past the Riders

CELINA - After both teams were shut outlast week, one thing was for certain in the 105th edition of the Battle of Grand Lake: somebody was going to have to score.

Both Celina and St. Marys scored points, but it was the Bulldogs who came up big on defense.

The Bulldogs shut down the Roughrider running game and dominated on defense in winning the Battle 37-15 in front of a packed crowd at Celina Stadium in the Western Buckeye League opener. It's Celina's first win over its rival since 2015.

"(At Versailles) you have to go down there and play flawless football," said Celina coach Brennen Bader. "We had way too many mistakes. Our point of emphasis this week was to clean that stuff up and have control. I thought our kids, even with school starting and having restrictions on practicing outside (due to the heat index), responded well."

"Celina's a very good football team," said Roughriders coach Bo Frye. "They had a lot of talent coming into the season. We're young, but that's no excuse. We had a lot of opportunities to take that game. It was more than just one run, two runs, seven runs. More than a third-and-15 and couldn't get off the field. It's a lot of little things."

The Bulldogs held the Roughriders to just six yards on their first possession and took over at the Celina 39. The Bulldogs kept it on the ground for all but one play, using Jon Lutz and Parker Bertke on runs, Braylon Gabes on wildcat draws and a 24-yard jet sweep by Zander Jones to get down to the Rider 4, where Braylon Gabes chugged in to give Celina its first score of the season at 7-0 after the Zach Greber PAT.

St. Marys wasted no time responding. Colton Mabry took the first handoff at the Rider 20 and weaved his way through the scrum en route to pay dirt to tie the game at 7 with 5:51 remaining in the first quarter.

Celina controlled the clock on its next possession, taking over eight minutes off on a 14-play, 77-yard drive. The Bulldogs got their second score when Braylon Gabes took the snap, ran toward the line and threw a jump-pass to Nick Newell from four yards out to make it 14-7 Celina with 9:05 remaining in the half.

The Bulldog defense stopped the Riders again and forced a punt. The Bulldogs got to the Rider 20, but a fourth-down pass was batted down to give St. Marys a chance to score before the half. The Roughriders got up to their 42, but a fumble on the last play of the half put them back at their 35 as the whistle sounded.

Celina opened the second half on offense with another sustained drive, culminating in a Greber 29-yard field goal to put the Bulldog lead to 10. The Bulldogs then stopped St. Marys' first drive of the half on downs and marched 75 yards in eight plays, as Braylon Gabes scored his second rushing touchdown of the night from two yards out to make the score 24-7 with 35 seconds remaining in the third.

St. Marys came back when Mabry punched in from five yards out and then ran in the two-point conversion to cut the Celina lead to 24-15. The Roughriders tried an onside kick, but touched it before the ball went 10 yards, setting up Celina at the St. Marys 44. Four plays later, Gabes ran in from 11 yards out to make it 31-15.

The Bulldogs added the coup de grâce as quarterback Bobby Morris hit Jones for a 12-yard score in the final minutes, then picked off a Cody Wallace pass to set up the victory formation.

Braylon Gabes ended with 140 yards rushing and three scores.

"We've had that in our back pocket," Bader said of Gabes running the wildcat. "We felt it was the right time to use. It's another way to get one of your best athletes the ball. Bobby was efficient. We preached that all week."

Lutz added 93 yards on 11 carries as Celina outrushed the Roughriders 313-278. Morris competed 9-of-10 passes for 80 yards.

"We had a slew of guys make plays," said Bader. "They ran hard and with a lot of passion."

Mabry had 113 yards to lead the Roughriders.

"I love these guys," said Frye. "I'm passionate for our guys, but we're not playing good football. We've got to grow up faster or we'll be in a mix we don't want to be in."

Celina makes the trek to the renovated Eggerss Stadium in Van Wert to face the Cougars next Friday. St. Marys celebrates its home opener at Grand Lake Health System Field as Defiance comes to town.

There are more pictures in the photo album.