Lima Warriors Football

I’m certainly not here to compare the 2009 Warriors to the 2004 squad that would go on to build the initial momentum to a 2007 National Championship, but despite the confidence of Wolverines fans, the stats and the fact that the Warriors, thanks to the Detroit Ravens and some questionable play in other games, are out of the woods in regards to sleeping on any decent teams, makes this a game that I just don’t see Kentucky pulling out.

Maybe in another year where they aren’t facing a dominant offensive line, a speedy running back in David Phillips and a defense hungry to prove doubters wrong. Just not this Saturday.

There has been some debate about how the Wolverine’s early schedule compared to Lima's. Sure, the Warriors can claim to have played against Detroit, but also played a feisty Battle Creek squad. The Wolverines, meanwhile, have stormed out to a 2-1 record by thumping the Tri State Sharks 35-14. A week prior, they erupted to blow-out a Southern Ohio Wolfpack team on the road. But they showed their true colors when they were dominated 34-18 against the KY/OH Xtreme in week one. Juggernauts they are not.

Still, they are 2-1 like Lima, and solid number of Warriors players left over from five seasons ago will come into this game vastly improved with years of experience over the last meeting in 2004. The Wolverines were founded in 2003 and share a respected history with the Warriors in the semi-pro community. Kentucky is a first-year squad in the United States Football Alliance. They finished last season with a 6-2 record before losing in their first MCFL playoff game. The Warriors will travel 5 hours and 15 minutes from Lima to Glasgow, KY for the battle.

NOTES: The Wolverines are giving up just 16 points this year and 1-0 in the lone meeting in 2004.

With the anticipated start of a new receiver this weekend who played at the University of Findlay, Warrior fans are envisioning a powered backfield not getting attention and destroying just about any defense that they run into. The mere threat of another solid receiver on the field, with Huttis, opens up all sorts of problems for opposing defensive coordinators. David Phillips will probably get a majority of the carries this weekend with Jeremy Bott, Myron Gregory and Dion Pearson pounding the ball up the middle. Pearson powered in for a TD run last week and has looked tough. The combination of talented running backs in the same backfield will cause trouble for any defense and they'd be right to key heavily on each of Lima's backs, but at the same time exposing their corners to a lot of man coverage.

The line looked good after handling the Raiders defensive line last week. They played at full strength and up to their considerable hype heading into the season. It's exciting to watch the growth of Dale Shoemaker at center and you have to begin to wonder whether Mike Smith will tie the knot himself before the season is over, as he will miss his second game for another college buddies' wedding before returning for the rest of the season's games.

The Wolverines do appear to have a decent secondary, but with so much focus being placed on stopping Phillips and Bott from gnawing up huge chunks on the ground, the receivers are also poised to contribute in a big way. Huttis, especially, should be    hungry to build on his crucial touchdown strike that Runion gifted to him last Saturday. A quick strike to Porfirio Sutton this week wouldn’t hurt, either.
It was also nice to see Runion was checking down to his tight ends and fullbacks at times, often the third and fourth options on the play. If he continues doing that, the offense will continue to grow, making even a new playbook shine and the Warriors will be a very difficult team to stop.

On the defensive side of the ball, the key is for the D-line to continue to get to the quarterback. Hit him early and get to him as often as possible to disrupt him because the new teams in the league (such as Detroit) have QB's good enough to make the Warriors pay — especially down the middle of the field — if they are given time to operate. Expect a big performance out of Isaac Melton, who made two sacks last week, was in on the safety with Glenn White and desperately wants another championship. I’ll also be keeping a close eye on Jason Bott at linebacker to see how he plays against a solid team after missing the Detroit game.

The secondary will know where the receivers are on every play. If they take them out of the game, that will go a long way towards taking the QB out as well. This is also a good opportunity to put Mel Griffin on their top receiver in man coverage and turn up the blitz dial a little bit. This defense needs to get that swagger back and a heavy dose of blitzing may do just that. Brandt Huttis looks to be in top-form, as he made three interceptions last week.

Kick coverage is also huge in a game like this because nothing keeps a team in games they don’t deserve to be in like a couple of quick returns and the Wolverines have the horses to do just that.

Ultimately, the Wolverines are just catching the Warriors at the wrong time and I expect that to be fully reflected in the final score.

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