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WARRIORS CLINCH
DIVISION
Warriors defeat
Warthogs 16 to 15 and Clinch Division for Third
Straight Season
By
JOEL RENNER, University Independent
Lima Warriors Staff Reporter
7/30/06
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ADA
- The Lima Warriors clinched the division title with
their seventh victory in a 16-15 win over the Motor
City Warthogs.
The Warriors
won the Ohio Valley Division in the Eastern Conference
of the Minor League Football Association for the
second straight season in an exciting nail biting
game. The Warriors’ win plus the 12-13 loss by
division rival Fort Wayne Flyers verses Macomb County
Strength sealed the deal.
The Warthogs
had victory in their sight on Saturday night but
Yansey Donald intercepted a pass on the last drive by
the Warthogs to help Lima escape victorious.
“I saw trips
set and decided to go man,” said Donald. “When their
receiver jumped and missed it, the ball fell in my
hands and I took off with it.”
The win
improves the Warriors to 7-1 and atop the division.
Motor City falls to 8-3 with the loss.
The Warriors
got possession and pounded the ball for almost three
minutes on the ground to wear down the Warthogs
defense to end the game.
The Warthogs
struck early in the first quarter on a 50 yard pass
from Donald Adams to James Scott with 11:12 on the
clock. The extra point attempt was blocked by the
Warriors.
Quarterback
Kaene Runion started his first game of the season and
had a solid performance. The Warriors answered at
7:04 in the first quarter when Runion was chased out
of the pocket and made an accurate pass while on the
run, to Joe Butcher who used his speed to find the end
zone 45-yards away.
“Kaene
dropped back, saw me out there and the rest is
history,” said Butcher.
Kicker Randy
Ryan converted the extra point giving the Warriors a
7-6 lead.
Saturday’s
game at home was the first time Ryan started this
season. Kicker Fred Hallett recently moved to Florida
to pursue a job opportunity.
“It’s nice
to be back in,” said Ryan. “Losing Fred is a big blow
to the team. I’m glad I did well at home.”
Runion threw
a strike to Jeremy Bott on a 54-yard pass down the
sidelines over the Warthogs defense, where Bott used
his speed to pull away for a touchdown with 2:43 left
in the first quarter.
“He (Runion)
lined the ball to me instead of lofting it for the
perfect play,” said Bott. “I was lucky that when I
caught it I got away from the defense.”
The second
quarter started when Warthogs’ kicker, Eric
Williamson, hit a 35-yard field goal.
Lima, which
was 4-0 at home this season entering the game, led
13-9 by halftime.
The second
half was a wild back- and-forth affair. Turnovers and
penalties killed drives by both teams.
Lima
extended their lead to 16-9 on a 25-yard field goal by
Ryan with 2:10 in the third quarter.
“As soon as
the ball left my foot, I knew it was in,” said Ryan.
“I felt like we really needed to make it at that point
in the game.”
Motor City
answered when Adams threw a 10-yard out pass to
Dominic McCollom and he turned it into a 50-yard
touchdown by weaving in and out of the Warriors
secondary with 14:36 left in the fourth quarter.
The
two-point conversion failed when the Warthogs carrier
was stuffed by defensive back Josh Huddleston and
company short of the end zone and the Warriors led
16-15.
Runion
completed 6 of 14 passes for 141 yards and two
touchdowns. He also rushed for 41 yards, threw one
interception and was named the offensive player of the
week.
Butcher
caught three passes for 69 yards and one touchdown.
Bott caught two passes for 61 yards and a touchdown.
The Warriors
ran for 158 yards and were led by Andrew Cleckley with
three carries for 58 yards and Chris Brooks with seven
carries for 35 yards.
The Warriors
defense was able to stop the Warthogs for the rest of
the fourth quarter and linebacker Davey Settlemire led
the defense with five and a half tackles, five
assisted tackles and one sack. Settlemire was named
the defensive player of the game. Donald and Jason
Bott each had an interception in the game. Adam Gill
also had a fumble recovery.
The Warriors
play their last regular season home game of the
regular season at War Memorial Stadium this Saturday,
July 29, when they face the (3-5) Fort Wayne Flyers.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:05.
The
Warriors have also clinched a home game for round one
in the playoffs.
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