FORT LORAMIE — Fort Loramie led through most of its season opener and beat rival Minster for the second consecutive year on Friday at Redskin Stadium.
The Wildcats took an 11-point lead by the end of the first quarter and fought off Minster the rest of the way to a 39-27 victory.
Caleb Maurer threw a 9-yard TD pass to Isaac Raterman with 9:35 left to give Fort Loramie a 6-0 lead after a failed two-point conversion run.
Brogan Stephey threw a 34-yard TD pass to Devan Wuebker about four minutes later and then kicked the extra point to put Minster ahead 7-6, but Fort Loramie took control before the end of the quarter.
Maurer scored on a 36-yard TD run with 4:42 left to give the Redskins a 12-7 lead after a failed two-point conversion attempt. After Minster fumbled the ensuing kickoff, Maurer scored on a 6-yard TD run with 3:03 left to give the Redskins an 18-7 lead after a failed two-point conversion attempt.
Stephey threw a 15-yard TD pass to Brady Wolf with 1:54 left in the second quarter to pull Minster within 18-13 after a missed extra point, but Maurer threw a 20-yard TD pass to Logan Eilerman just before the end of the quarter to give Fort Loramie a 25-13 halftime lead after an extra point by Aden Bolin.
The Redskins scored the first TD of the second half to take a 32-13 lead, but Stephey scored on two TD runs to pull the Wildcats within 32-27 early in the fourth. Will Holland broke open a 66-yard TD run for Fort Loramie with 6:11 left to secure the win.
The Redskins finished with 462 yards of offense while Minster finished with 320.
Maurer completed 13-of-16 passes for 195 yards with three TDs. Holland ran for 150 yards and one TD on 14 carries while Maurer ran for 129 yards and two TDs on 14 carries. Eilerman caught five passes for 81 yards and one TD.
Raterman led Fort Loramie with 10.5 tackles, three of which were for a loss. Nate Boerger had 1.5 sacks.
Stephey completed 23-of-30 passes for 250 yards with two TDs and ran for 83 yards on 21 carries with two TDs. James Niemeyer caught 10 passes for 89 yards. Connor Schmiesing led the Wildcats with 6.5 tackles.
Fort Loramie is scheduled to travel to Versailles this Friday while Minster is scheduled to host St. Paris Graham.
Anna 34, Indian Lake 19
The Rockets won their season opener on Friday in Lewistown.
Evan Manley scored on a 33-yard TD run to give Indian Lake a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter, but Zach Osborn scored on a 3-yard TD run to pull Anna within 7-6 after a missed extra point, then Alex Shappie threw a 78-yard TD pass to Noah Aufderhaar to give Anna a 13-7 lead by the end of the first quarter after an extra-point by Aaron Shappie.
Evan Manley scored on a 1-yard TD run for the Lakers to tie it 13-13 after a missed extra point, but Justin Richards scored on a 4-yard TD run and Alex Shappie threw a 5-yard TD pass to Trey Heitkamp before halftime to give Anna a 27-13 lead.
Lane Tucci threw a 5-yard TD pass to Caden Nicol to pull the Lakers within 27-19 early in the fourth, but Osborn scored on a 7-yard TD run for the Rockets to secure the win.
Anna had 395 yards of offense while Indian Lake had 276.
Shappie completed 8-of-17 passes for 162 yards with two TDs. Aufderhaar caught two passes for 83 yards and one TD. Landynn Fogt ran for 131 yards on 20 carries while Osborn gained 69 yards on nine carries and scored two TDs.
Anna is scheduled to host Brookville this Friday.
Lehman Catholic 26, Lima Perry 6
Lehman beat former Northwest Central Conference rival Perry in its season opener on Friday in Lima.
The Cavaliers are scheduled to host New Bremen this Saturday at Sidney Memorial Stadium.
No statistics or other information was reported.
Ansonia 36, Riverside 14
The Pirates lost their season opener on Friday in De Graff.
Ansonia scored on a 39-yard TD run in the first half to take a 6-0 lead after a missed extra point, but Myles Platfoot threw a 22-yard TD pass to Simon Godwin early in the second quarter, then Isaac Bender made an extra-point attempt to give Riverside a 7-6 lead.
But Keegen Weiss scored on a 38-yard pass from Ian Schmitmeyer to give the Tigers a 14-7 lead after a two-point conversion, then Schmitmeyer scored on a 3-yard run and ran in on the two-point conversion to boost the lead to 22-7 at halftime.
Ansonia scored the first two TDs of the second half to put the game away.
Riverside finished with 273 yards of offense while Ansonia had 363, 321 of which came on the ground.
Platfoot completed 11-of-21 passes for 181 yards with two TDs and two interceptions. Godwin caught seven passes for 125 yards and two TDs. Warren Shockey ran 15 times for 71 yards.
Walker Whitaker led Riverside with seven tackles.
The Pirates are scheduled to travel to Springfield Northeastern this Friday.
New Bremen 28, Lima Bath 0
The Cardinals scored one TD in each the first and second quarters and scored two in the third to pull away to a victory in their season opener on Friday in New Bremen.
David Homan completed 10-of-17 passes for 110 yards with two TDs for New Bremen. Hunter Schaefer caught 16 passes for 133 yards with one TD while Homan ran for 115 yards and one TD on 13 carries. Aaron Thieman caught six passes for 72 yards and one TD.
Homan led the squad with 7.5 tackles.
New Bremen had 384 yards of total offense and held Bath to 132.
The Cardinals are scheduled to travel to Sidney Memorial Stadium to face Lehman this Saturday.
Versailles 31, Celina 6
The Tigers cruised in their season opener on Friday in Celina.
Joel Gehret ran for 194 yards on 23 carries. Connor Stonebraker completed 4-of-8 passes for 57 yards and ran for one TD. Titus Gehret ran for two TDs.
Versailles had 328 yards of offense while Celina had 134.
The Tigers are scheduled to host Fort Loramie this Friday.
