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Anna scores late to edge St. Henry

Saturday, 27 September 2008

By Tim Langevin

Sports Writer

ST. HENRY — What a rugger. Ohio’s version of “Friday Night Lights.”

Anna battled St. Henry with both fighting for valuable computer points.

And it was a thrill-joy for Anna and a kill-joy for St. Henry as the Rockets edged the Redskins 14-10 at the Wally Post Athletic Complex in Midwest Athletic Conference football action.

“The kids battled. This was a big win against a team like St. Henry,” said Anna coach Bryan Rioch. “We accomplished something tonight. We made some nice plays and we hung in there.”

This was a bounce-back game, both teams coming off first losses of the season last week. Coldwater beat Anna 23-0 and Marion Local defeated St. Henry 17-10.

Coach Rioch didn’t want last week’s loss to affect his team’s performance this week. It didn’t. After trailing 10-7 with 8:26 left in the game, his Rockets responded with a clutch, fourth quarter drive that covered 80 yards on 14 plays.

The key play of the drive was a 20-yard completion from Wes Hunsucker to Derek Billing on a third-and-17 play. On the next three plays, Kameron Knight rambled 18 yards.

Then like all veteran quarterbacks, Hunsucker, who showed no signs of a hangover from last week’s performance, calmly delivered an eight-yard strike to Zach Clark on another third and long to keep the drive alive with 3:01 left in the contest.

Two plays later, Chance Guisinger scored up the middle from three yards out to give Anna the lead for good.

After both teams stalled on their respective opening possessions, Anna punched first on a three-play, 51-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead with :25 left in the quarter. Knight scored on a 42-yard scamper down the left sideline.

St. Henry counter-punched with a lengthy, time-consuming drive of their own, covering 68 yards on 14 plays. QB Brad Stahl, making his second career start, engineered the drive with 58 all-purpose yards, including his 12-yard TD run to tie the game 7-7 with 1:42 left until half.

Jon Speck added a 21-yard field goal in the third quarter to give the Redskins a precarious 10-7 lead.

Anna’s first two possessions of the second half ended with two interceptions by Nick Rindler, both times in the endzone to thwart touchdowns.

“Games like tonight is why Anna plays in the MAC,” Rioch said. “It was a lot of fun. Every game in this league has a playoff atmosphere.”

The Anna defense held St. Henry to 182 total yards and eight first downs.

The Anna offense was balanced with 131 passing yards and 173 rushing yards. Knight ran for 63 yards, Dan Stewart and Guisinger each added 58 yards, and Eddie Saunders rushed for 17 yards on three carries.