The St. Marys sideline celebrates its playoff victory over Tipp City on Saturday night (Staff Photo/John Zwez)

(Complete coverage of the St. Marys playoff win over Tipp City Tippecanoe will be in Monday's Evening Leader, along with coaches' reactions, a summary look at the Riders' next opponent Sunbury Walnut.) 

By BRIAN SMITH
Sports Editor

TIPP CITY – The St. Marys football team gave the Tipp City Tippecanoe Red Devils a bad case of déjà vu on Saturday night. The Riders beat the Red Devils 21-14 in a first round playoff game for the second time in three years.

The Riders (9-2) will next face Sunbury Big Walnut on Saturday night – the same team it did in the second week of the playoffs in 2006, too.

St. Marys broke a 14-14 tie with a drive to win the game after getting the ball with 5:56 left in the game. The Riders went the distance exclusively on the ground, finishing off the drive with a Josh Zimmerman 3-yard touchdown plunge.

St. Marys watched as a 14-0 halftime lead disappeared in a matter of minutes in the third quarter. Tippecanoe drove for a touchdown to begin the second half to make it 14-6 on an Corey Johnson touchdown run and then still I the third quarter tied the game after a Roughrider muffed punt gave Tippecanoe the football at the Rider 26-yard line.

A Wes Marsh to Allen Comer 26-yard pass set up a Comer touchdown followed by a Comer two-point conversion run made it 14-14.

The Red Devils appeared to take the lead on a 90-yard punt return for a touchdown in the waning seconds of the third quarter, but a holding penalty brought the touchdown back and the Riders held the Red Devil offense.

The teams traded possessions in the fourth quarter, with Tippecanoe getting the ball at midfield on a Dylan Dietz fumble with a little over 7 minutes left in the game. An illegal block penalty forced a third and 30 for Tipp City, and a pass interference penalty on the Riders gave the Red Devils a first down inside St. Marys territory.

A Paul Lauth sack and a defensive stand by the Rider offense gave St. Marys’ offense the ball with 5:56 left in the game and set up the dramatic game-winning drive.

St. Marys looked like it would roll after building an early 14-0 lead and marching to inside the Tippecanoe ten yard line in the second quarter. But the drive stalled at the seven and a pass fell incomplete on fourth down to send the game to the half 14-0 in favor of the Roughriders.

Touchdowns by Jake Taylor and Josh Zimmerman polished off scoring drives for the Riders in the first half while the St. Marys defense stuffed the high-powered running game of Tippecanoe.

St. Marys racked up over 300 yards in rushing, including a 180-yard game from bullback Jeremy Frey.

Look for complete statistics and game story in Monday's Evening Leader.