ST. MARYS — The Miami Trace Panthers football team and faithful fans made the long trip to St. Marys Friday, Nov. 1 to take on the Memorial High School Roughriders in the opening round of the Division III, Region 12 playoffs.
The game was played on a chilly, clear night in west-central Ohio.
It was two teams that had never played each other before.
It will be a game remembered in the history of Miami Trace football as a very competitive game with a heartbreaking ending for the Panthers.
The Panthers were giving a gutsy performance and had battled the Roughriders back and forth all night.
Miami Trace was leading, 24-21 with 40 seconds to play in the game.
Everything came down to this: St. Marys faced a fourth down and 20 at the Miami Trace 41-yard line with 40 seconds to play.
Riders junior quarter Aiden Meinerding dropped back in the protective pocket.
He heaved a high pass down the field. In the direction of the ball were two Roughriders receivers and two Miami Trace defenders.
Some how or other, the ball was caught by St. Marys, in the end zone.
The extra-point kick gave the home team a 28-24 with 31 seconds to play.
Miami Trace was out of time outs and got the ball at their own 20-yard line.
Quarterback Trey Robinette passed to Gaige Stuckey for a first down.
There followed an incomplete pass that stopped the clock with 17 seconds left.
On the next play, Robinette could not find an open receiver, so he tucked the ball and ran in the direction of the St. Marys sideline.
He got the first down and managed to get out of bounds with just seven seconds to play.
The next play was a pass that was intercepted, ending this evenly-matched high school football playoff game in Regional 12, Division III, between the No. 9 seed Panthers and the No. 8 seed Memorial Roughiders.
That was the shocking end to the game in which the Panthers had traveled over 100 miles, three counties north of Dayton.
The players greeted each other in the traditional handshake line.
The Panthers then joined the Roughriders in a prayer circle in the middle of the field.
Once that had dispersed, family members of the Panther players and coaches began to find their way onto the field.
From there, it was many more minutes of shared tears, hugs and a sense of not only disbelief in how close they had come to the victory, but the onset of the realization that in fact, what had just happened had, in fact, actually happened.
And the beginning of the understanding that this was the end of the 2024 season for the Panthers.
Miami Trace finished the second with a record of 7-4.
Memorial improves to 9-2 and will play the No. 1 seed in Region 12, the Tippecanoe Red Devils, next Friday night.
Tippecanoe improved to 11-0 on the season with a 49-7 drubbing of the No. 16 seed Talawanda Braves, who end the season 3-8.
After a good bit of love and consolation shared between the players, coaches and family, Miami Trace head coach Jerry Williams spoke with the Record-Herald.
“I feel so bad for these kids,” Williams said. “As hard as they played and what they overcame to be in that game.
“They played their hearts out and it’s unfortunate it ends that way,” Williams said.
The game-deciding touchdown pass play by the Roughriders is a scenario the Panthers practice defending each and every week, according to Williams.
“They made a good throw, they made a good catch,” Williams said.
What made the whole thing a bit more difficult to process was the fact that the Roughriders are very much a predominately run-oriented team. The winning throw was possibly only the fourth or fifth pass attempt of the game for the Riders.
“A team that doesn’t even pass the ball, it’s unfortunate that it happened that way,” Williams said.
“It’s unfortunate that these guys lose today,” Williams said. “These seniors deserved to play another week.
“That’s how it rolls,” Williams said. “We just have to digest that and move on to next season.
“I’ve seen things happen like that,” Williams said. “We did everything right.”
The Panthers had at least three starters out for this game — Adam Guthrie, Tyler Stevens and Cooper Enochs.
Others were shaken up to various degrees in the game Friday night, including seniors Evan Mollett and Evan Colegrove (though there may have been others).
It was adversity, writ large, not to be able to go into the postseason with your full compliment of players.
The Panthers more than admirably raised their level of play in an effort to overcome and have the opportunity to play a 12th game.
“They truly overcame, they really did,” Williams said. “Even during the game, we lost a couple of guys during the game that just hurt us.
“We took chances the entire game,” Williams said. “We put the game in Trey’s hands and he just did a fantastic job.
“They played their hearts out,” Williams said.
The game began with St. Marys having the first possession near midfield.
The Riders went for it on a fourth down and six at the Miami Trace 23 and the Panthers stopped them.
After a three and out for the Panthers, St. Marys had the ball at their own 38-yard line.
Just a few plays later senior Colton Mabry scored on a 38-yard run.
Junior Brady Triplett converted the extra-point kick for a 7-0 lead with 5:28 to play in the first quarter.
Undaunted, the Panthers took the ball on the next series and Robinette passed to senior Skye Salyers who beat the defender to the goal line just inside the pylon. The play covered 16 yards.
Senior Levi Morrison’s kick tied the game, 7-7 with 1:56 to play in the first quarter.
The Panthers were successful in recovering an onside kick at the home team’s 40-yard line.
There was not much movement on this series and the Panthers soon punted away.
The game was tied at the end of the first quarter.
On its next series, the Roughriders ended up scoring on a 6-yard run by senior Dominik Osborne.
The kick was good with 8:06 remaining in the first half.
The Panthers had to punt after their next series.
After reeling off 12 running plays, the Roughriders had a fourth down and goal at the Miami Trace 15-yard line.
They lined up for a 32-yard field goal attempt, but the kick was blocked.
St. Marys would score before the end of the half to take a 14-7 lead.
Miami Trace had the ball first to start the third quarter.
This possession ended when the Panthers turned the ball over on downs at the St. Marys 38-yard line.
Miami Trace was able to keep the Roughriders at bay and the home team turned the ball back to the Panthers on downs at the Riders’ 44-yard line.
The Panthers took advantage of the relatively short field.
A pass to Austin Brown, another running play, then a 5-yard penalty on St. Marys, followed by an incomplete pass was then followed by a run by Robinette for a first down at the 18-yard line.
After a one-yard gain, sophomore Julian Baker ran the ball to the 2-yard line.
On the next play, it was a one-yard loss.
The Panthers gave the ball to Baker again and he drove it inside the 1-yard line.
With 3:30 to play in the third quarter, Baker scored and Morrison’s kick tied the game, 14-14.
The Panthers were playing very well defensively and forced a punt by St. Marys.
Miami Trace took over at its own 25-yard line.
The Panthers went for it on fourth and one at its own 34-yard line. When they need one yard, they very often hand to Baker and he forged ahead for the first down to the 37.
There followed a pass to Salyers and a play by Westin Dawes down to the Memorial 29-yard line.
There was another first down on a pass from Robinette to Brown. The next two running plays netted no gain.
On third and 10 at the 16, a pass from Robinette was just out of reach in the end zone.
Miami Trace sent Morrison on for a field goal attempt of 33 yards and the kick was good, giving the Panthers their first lead of the night, 17-14 with 7:45 to play in the game.
Very soon thereafter came a 46-yard run for a touchdown by the Roughriders. With the kick, it was 21-17 in favor of St. Marys with 7:30 to go in the game.
On the ensuing kickoff, Baker returned the ball for a touchdown. This fired up the Miami Trace team and its fans to a great degree on this cold night in west-central Ohio.
However, a holding penalty was called on Miami Trace and the Panthers began the next series at their own 25-yard line.
Miami Trace had the ball out to the 47-yard line. They were facing a fourth down and two with 5:30 to play and a deficit of four points.
The Panthers went for it and converted the first down.
A couple of plays later a pass to Gaige Stuckey moved the ball to the 11 of St. Marys.
A pass to Malachi Jones put the Panthers in prime shape at the 1-yard line.
From there, the handoff went to Baker who scored. With the kick, the Panthers were back into the lead, 24-21 with 3:02 remaining.
The Panthers continued to play outstanding defense, helped by back-to-back false start penalties on the Riders.
After a time out by the Riders, the play called was a reverse handoff.
This play was sussed out by Miami Trace and St. Marys was then looking at a fourth down and 20 situation.
The Roughriders dusted off the old hook-and-ladder play. There was a gain on the play, perhaps only half enough to retain possession for St. Marys.
Miami Trace had the ball at their own 48-yard line with a bit more than two minutes to play in the game.
The Panthers ran the ball for no gain and St. Marys called a time out.
The Panthers ran the ball again and the momentum carried the runner out of bounds, stopping the clock with 2:01 to play.
There were then back-to-back penalties called on Miami Trace.
First was a false start setting up a third and 16 at the MT 42.
Then the Panthers were flagged for a holding penalty, pushing the ball back 10 yards to the 32 and setting up a third down and 26.
On this play, Robinette exchanged the ball with another Miami Trace player, who threw the ball down field. Hit as he threw, the ball hung in the air and was intercepted at the 47 with 1:44 to play.
The next play was a 16-yard pass gain, followed by a one-yard run to the Miami Trace 30-yard line.
This time St. Marys was called for a holding penalty that moved the ball back to the 41-yard line, first down and 20 with 50 seconds to go.
The next play was a run, stuffed by the Panthers’ defense.
On a second down and 20 at the 41, an incomplete pass stopped the clock with 47 seconds left.
The Panthers were beginning to feel it. The victory seemed right there for the taking. Just two more stops short of gaining 20 yards and the ball would revert to Miami Trace.
The next throw was incomplete.
All the blood and sweat that had been poured into the season since back in the dog days of August now came down to this.
Anything short of a 20-yard gain would give the ball back to the Panthers.
Miami Trace called its last time out.
Meinerding dropped back in the pocket.
The Panthers brought the rush and the Roughriders line gave their quarterback time enough.
He rared back and threw a high, arcing pass into the home-side portion of the end zone where two receivers and two Miami Trace defenders were waiting.
As the crowd watched the ball sail through the air, a simple twist of fate would decide the outcome.
Somehow the St. Marys player came up off the ground with the ball in his hands.
To the dismay of the Panthers and the opposite reaction of an explosion of unbridled joy from the home side of the field, the Roughriders had taken a 28-24 lead with 31 seconds to play.
Miami Trace had no timeouts remaining and the ball at their own 20 yard line.
There was a gain of 10 yards on a pass to Stuckey and then an incomplete pass.
Robinette ran the ball, making it out of bounds on the St. Marys sidelines with seven seconds to play and the ball at the Miami Trace 47.
The final play was a pass that was intercepted.
