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LIMA WARRIORS LAY
GROUNDWORK FOR SUCCESS IN 2006
By
TIMOTHY R.
WOLFRUM
The
Lima News
6/2/06
– LIMA
- Football teams on every level are charged with two
fundamental tasks: run the ball effectively and stop
opponents from doing the same.
By those measures, it’s no wonder the Lima
Warriors went 11-2 last season and advanced to the
title game of the Eastern Conference of the Minor
League Football Association’s Ohio Valley Division.
The semi-pro Warriors averaged 6.2 yards per carry
and limited their opponents to just two yards per
rush. As a result, they racked up 571 total points to
their foes’ 112.
As Lima prepares to open a new season Saturday,
the running game is still center stage.
The Warriors visit the first year Southwest
Michigan Punishers at 7 p.m. Saturday in Kalamazoo,
Mich. The first home game is June 10 at Ada War
Memorial Stadium against the West Ohio Wranglers.
“We’ve got four running backs that could play for
any team in the league,” Warriors fourth-year head
coach John Parkins said. “That’s something different
for our team compared to a lot of teams.”
Andrew Cleckley, a 5-foot-9, 205-pound fireplug
from Fremont, led the Warriors with 741 yards on 93
carries (7.97 average) last season. He will be joined
in the backfield by Toledo Mitchell, who returns after
a season playing in Fort Wayne; Chris Brooks; and
Elida’s Jeremy Bott.
The run-stopping defense will be anchored in the
middle by Alphonso “Biggie” Townsend, the 6-5,
315-pound tackle who starred at Lima Senior, and
leading tackler Davey Settlemire, a linebacker from
Leipsic.
The Warriors are entering their sixth year of
existence, their second as a member of the MLFA. Their
roster consists of former high school and college
players from Lima and the surrounding area.
Tickets are $6 with kids 12 and under admitted
free. The team will donate $1 per ticket to a rotating
group of charities that includes Big Brothers/Big
Sisters, Grampy’s House, West Ohio Food Bank, The
Salvation Army and Safe Harbor.
Parkins said the Warriors have upgraded the sound
system at the stadium and hope to make the games a
family event.
“It’s a great atmosphere,” Parkins said. “We have
a lot of activities this year, more than ever before.
We think we’ve got the football show, but we’re trying
to make it more fun.”
Lima Senior product Justin Henderson returns at
quarterback for the Warriors. He completed 98 of 176
passes for 1,550 yards last season. He threw for 27
touchdowns and was picked off just four times.
Henderson’s top target is Joe Butcher, a Defiance
graduate who hauled in 31 passes for 422 yards last
season. St. Marys’ Bobby Huttis caught 16 passes for
393 yards.
“We’re going to make the defense stop the run, but
we’ll be able to go four-wide and spread the field,
too,” Parkins said. “We’re going to be versatile.”
The passing defense is also a scoring threat for
Lima. Brandt Huttis, of St. Marys, intercepted 13
passes last season and returned four of them for
touchdowns.
There was only one team Lima couldn’t solve last
season. The Grand Rapids Thunder handed the Warriors
both losses and eliminated them from the playoffs.
The Warriors can’t wait for a July 15 game at
Grand Rapids.
“This is unique,” Parkins said of semi-pro
football. “It gives these players a place to do the
thing they love to do, compete on a football field. We
try to go above and beyond for them. They view us as a
great team that’s organized and treats their players
right. We play as a team and have fun.”
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