“It’s a very special blessing to be 11-0 for the first time in school history,” Wildcats coach Brad Childers said. “It’s great, fantastic, but we’re looking at the next play. We don’t talk about history. We focus on the details.”
St. Marys is a tradition-rich program that’s making its first playoff appearance since 2008. The Roughriders won state championships in 1990, 1992 and 1993, but lost 21 straight games from 2011 to 2013.
Doug Frye coached St. Marys from 1998 to 2008, took a year off, then directed the Wapakoneta program for four seasons. He led Wapak to a 24-13 victory at Franklin in the 2011 Division II playoffs.
Frye has been back at St. Marys since 2014, and the Roughriders have gone (in order) 5-5, 6-4 and 10-1.
“All three of our children live here in town, so we decided to come back and try to get the program revived a little bit before I’m fully retired,” Frye said. “When I came back in ’14, I hired a completely new coaching staff with guys that either had played for me or coached with me.
“Like anything, a head coach gets way too much credit and way too much blame. Those guys were instrumental in helping us rebuild the program. We continued to get fundamentally better. We’re happy and pleased we’ve been able to make the progress that we have.”
St. Marys runs a Wing-T offense that has produced just 82 attempted passes all season.
The Roughriders are averaging 321.3 yards per game on the ground, led by seniors Eric Spicer (167 carries, 1,337 yards, 13 TDs) and Julius Fisher (167 carries, 968 yards, 11 TDs). Classmate Dustin Howell (48 of 76, 558 yards, seven TDs) is the quarterback.
All three play defense. Spicer (5-10, 175) is a cornerback, while Fisher (6-1, 190) and Howell (6-2, 170) are both safeties.
“Howell is a three-year starter. He’s kind of a self-made quarterback. He was a freshman DB when I came in,” Frye said. “Spicer’s more of a shifty type runner who’s third on our career rushing list. Julius is more of a bull in a china shop.”
St. Marys’ 4-3 defense is keyed by senior ends Matt Patten (6-2, 235) and William Bayham (6-3, 215), according to Frye.
“I wouldn’t say we’re overly big. I wouldn’t say we’re overly athletic,” Frye said. “There’s no Division I kids on our football team. We have intelligent, coachable kids that work hard.”
Childers said the Roughrider offense sprints out of the huddle and goes to work, so Franklin needs to be ready for that tempo. St. Marys has outscored its opponents 392-101 — the Wildcats have outscored their opponents 497-233.
“We need to get them in second-and-long and third-and-long situations and try to get them to throw the ball,” Childers said. “Once we get lined up, our pad level’s the key to the game.”
Frye said the Roughriders don’t have anybody as athletic as Franklin junior running back Ryan Montgomery, who’s carried the ball 164 times for 1,809 yards and 33 touchdowns.
“He’s better than anyone we’ve played against,” Frye said. “I thought last week in the Tipp game, he just kind of put the team on his back. There’s a lot of good football players on Franklin’s team, but he definitely is special.”
Frye noted that his program is barely in Division III. If the school had a couple less boys, it would be in D-IV this year.
The Franklin-St. Marys winner will meet either Trotwood-Madison or New Richmond for the regional championship next Saturday at a neutral site.
Saturday’s game
What: Division III, Region 12 semifinal, St. Marys Memorial (10-1) vs. Franklin (11-0) at Wayne, 7 p.m.
Where: Good Samaritan Field at Heidkamp Stadium, 5400 Chambersburg Road, Huber Heights
St. Marys Memorial playoff history: 21-12 record in 16 appearances (1977, 1978, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2016)
Franklin playoff history: 5-9 record in 10 appearances (1985, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1993, 2008, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016)
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