ST. MARYS — The St. Marys Roughriders extended their winning streak to six with a dramatic 36-34 victory over Copley in the opening round of the Division 3 football playoffs at Grand Lake Health Field.

Quarterback Aiden Meinerding threw a pair of first-half touchdown passes to Luke Rammel, including strikes of 29 and 30 yards, as the Roughriders kept pace with the Copley offense.

A controversial moment in the third quarter saw a fake field goal touchdown called back due to an inadvertent whistle, forcing St. Marys to settle for a field goal instead.

Despite the setback, the Roughriders surged in the fourth quarter. Meinerding connected with Dyllan Fink for a 20-yard touchdown, and Caleb Schmidt delivered two late rushing scores — including the game-winner — to seal the comeback.

St. Marys advances to face Medina Buckeye in the regional quarterfinals next Friday night.

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