Red Riders extend Generals’ woes as fourth-quarter outburst seals 35-7 victory
Any team knows that to win games it has to be prepared to compete. At the same time, big plays and a little luck have never hurt anyone, and in the end, that was exactly what Orrville had in its 35-7 win over Wooster.
Make no mistake – the final outcome Oct. 29 was hardly a reflection of how the 101st meeting between the two rivals played out. It was a 14-7 contest heading into the final 12 minutes before Orrville scored three touchdowns – including two in the final four minutes – to secure its seventh consecutive win over the Generals in what is the sixth-longest rivalry in Ohio.
The victory allowed the Riders (7-3 overall) to secure second place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference with a 5-2 record behind Ashland (6-1 OCC, 6-4) and propelled the Riders into the Division IV playoffs. Wooster ended the campaign with a 4-6 ledger and 2-5 in OCC action.
It wasn’t just the loss that stung Wooster coach Mike McCreary, but the final score as well in what has been a wild up-and-down campaign for the Generals.
“We finished up (the season) and we kept improving and played hard,” said McCreary. “We played well until about seven minutes left in game, but we had some breakdowns on special teams that gave them opportunities to get the lead. It’s why you’ve gotta play a whole game and in all aspects to beat good teams.
“The kids played so well and to have it end up like it did is a shame.”
Wooster struck an optimistic note on its opening series with a 65-yard march to pay dirt, ending on DeVonta Anderson’s 2-yard TD run. However, the Generals had a hand in their own undoing later in the quarter when Anderson mishandled a punt that bounced into the end zone, where Orrville’s Trevor White recovered the ball for the game-tying score (2:28).
Wooster, too, may have thought it caught a break well before that when Orrville’s starting quarterback Kyle Lichti was knocked out of the game early in the first quarter with a concussion. However, after a long punt return that gave Orrville excellent field position, replacement Drew Brenner had the right touch just before halftime when he connected with Alex Samson for a 25-yard touchdown with 1:06 left in the first half.
That gave the Riders a 14-7 lead, one they protected late in the third quarter when they blunted a 75-yard Wooster drive on their 5-yard line on one of the Generals’ three lost fumbles. Instead of having the game tied at 14-all entering the final 12 minutes of play, Wooster could only watch as Stewart Turner turned a short pass from Brenner into a 67-yard score and a 21-7 advantage with 8:49 to play. When Wooster quarterback Devin Daugherty (99 yards rushing) was then knocked out of the game with a concussion on Wooster’s next series, the outcome was all but sealed.
“At the end of the third quarter, we’re inside the 5 and fumble the ball,” said McCreary. “If it’s 14-14, everything is a little different now. That takes the wind out of Orrville and it’s a nice momentum swing. Eventually they get another score and when Devin got hurt, that affected us greatly.”
Orrville then added a pair of 9-yard touchdown runs in the final four minutes from Brenner (3:50) and Mason Monheim (2:42).
“Statistically, this was one of our better games defensively,” said McCreary. “We shut down Monheim (71 yards) like we needed to and Brenner had to go to quarterback. Stew had that big TD play, which was one of the things we wanted to shut down, which got the score to 21-7. We touched a punt return, which they picked up in the end zone – that’s just a mistake there – and then they returned a punt to our 20 and scored right before the half.
“You take just a couple things away, and at a minimum we go in 7-0 at half if you take away those mistakes. Still, it was 14-7 going into the fourth quarter and it’s a good defensive battle. We did enough to be in the game, but that is how Orrville has been successful all year. They have found a way to win close games and we’ve come up on the short end in close games.”
The Generals have suffered four close losses, which skews the season for McCreary.
“It ranks up there in 2000 when we were 10 points away from going 10-0 and winning the Federal League,” he said. “We lost three games by one point and one by a touchdown – otherwise we’d been 10-0 that year. All of these games were there for the taking as well, so this ranks right up there as far as tough losses.
“We’ll have a lot of guys (on defense) and basically all the front guys coming back with our wide receivers (in 2012),” he said. “The key positions are quarterback and running back and those are obviously huge roles to fill. The defense will have to step up. They’ve seen it, been there and done it … they have to step up and be leaders because we’ll have a sophomore- and junior-to-be at quarterback who have never stepped on a field yet, so that will be big for both of them. As they develop and get better, the defense will have to be there. Hopefully the kids will buy into that and be serious about being a dominating defense.
“The kids competed hard (against Orrville). Unfortunately, we had some mistakes and they capitalized. It’s been like that all year. There are things we’ve got to get better at and improve. The kids worked hard – they really did and they put it on the line like we asked them to.”
Make no mistake – the final outcome Oct. 29 was hardly a reflection of how the 101st meeting between the two rivals played out. It was a 14-7 contest heading into the final 12 minutes before Orrville scored three touchdowns – including two in the final four minutes – to secure its seventh consecutive win over the Generals in what is the sixth-longest rivalry in Ohio.
The victory allowed the Riders (7-3 overall) to secure second place in the Ohio Cardinal Conference with a 5-2 record behind Ashland (6-1 OCC, 6-4) and propelled the Riders into the Division IV playoffs. Wooster ended the campaign with a 4-6 ledger and 2-5 in OCC action.
It wasn’t just the loss that stung Wooster coach Mike McCreary, but the final score as well in what has been a wild up-and-down campaign for the Generals.
“We finished up (the season) and we kept improving and played hard,” said McCreary. “We played well until about seven minutes left in game, but we had some breakdowns on special teams that gave them opportunities to get the lead. It’s why you’ve gotta play a whole game and in all aspects to beat good teams.
“The kids played so well and to have it end up like it did is a shame.”
Wooster struck an optimistic note on its opening series with a 65-yard march to pay dirt, ending on DeVonta Anderson’s 2-yard TD run. However, the Generals had a hand in their own undoing later in the quarter when Anderson mishandled a punt that bounced into the end zone, where Orrville’s Trevor White recovered the ball for the game-tying score (2:28).
Wooster, too, may have thought it caught a break well before that when Orrville’s starting quarterback Kyle Lichti was knocked out of the game early in the first quarter with a concussion. However, after a long punt return that gave Orrville excellent field position, replacement Drew Brenner had the right touch just before halftime when he connected with Alex Samson for a 25-yard touchdown with 1:06 left in the first half.
That gave the Riders a 14-7 lead, one they protected late in the third quarter when they blunted a 75-yard Wooster drive on their 5-yard line on one of the Generals’ three lost fumbles. Instead of having the game tied at 14-all entering the final 12 minutes of play, Wooster could only watch as Stewart Turner turned a short pass from Brenner into a 67-yard score and a 21-7 advantage with 8:49 to play. When Wooster quarterback Devin Daugherty (99 yards rushing) was then knocked out of the game with a concussion on Wooster’s next series, the outcome was all but sealed.
“At the end of the third quarter, we’re inside the 5 and fumble the ball,” said McCreary. “If it’s 14-14, everything is a little different now. That takes the wind out of Orrville and it’s a nice momentum swing. Eventually they get another score and when Devin got hurt, that affected us greatly.”
Orrville then added a pair of 9-yard touchdown runs in the final four minutes from Brenner (3:50) and Mason Monheim (2:42).
“Statistically, this was one of our better games defensively,” said McCreary. “We shut down Monheim (71 yards) like we needed to and Brenner had to go to quarterback. Stew had that big TD play, which was one of the things we wanted to shut down, which got the score to 21-7. We touched a punt return, which they picked up in the end zone – that’s just a mistake there – and then they returned a punt to our 20 and scored right before the half.
“You take just a couple things away, and at a minimum we go in 7-0 at half if you take away those mistakes. Still, it was 14-7 going into the fourth quarter and it’s a good defensive battle. We did enough to be in the game, but that is how Orrville has been successful all year. They have found a way to win close games and we’ve come up on the short end in close games.”
The Generals have suffered four close losses, which skews the season for McCreary.
“It ranks up there in 2000 when we were 10 points away from going 10-0 and winning the Federal League,” he said. “We lost three games by one point and one by a touchdown – otherwise we’d been 10-0 that year. All of these games were there for the taking as well, so this ranks right up there as far as tough losses.
“We’ll have a lot of guys (on defense) and basically all the front guys coming back with our wide receivers (in 2012),” he said. “The key positions are quarterback and running back and those are obviously huge roles to fill. The defense will have to step up. They’ve seen it, been there and done it … they have to step up and be leaders because we’ll have a sophomore- and junior-to-be at quarterback who have never stepped on a field yet, so that will be big for both of them. As they develop and get better, the defense will have to be there. Hopefully the kids will buy into that and be serious about being a dominating defense.
“The kids competed hard (against Orrville). Unfortunately, we had some mistakes and they capitalized. It’s been like that all year. There are things we’ve got to get better at and improve. The kids worked hard – they really did and they put it on the line like we asked them to.”
Published: November 2, 2011
