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TOP RATED WARRIORS OPEN WITH 49-0 VICTORY OF DARK
KNIGHTS
Defense pitches
shutout and hold Dark Knights to four yards total
offense.
By Joel Renner
Lima Warriors Staff
Reporter
6/3/07
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ADA, Ohio
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The
combination of a wet, slick field, opening game
jitters and future bragging rights in the
Lima area may be the reason both teams were scoreless after
one quarter.
Then the sleeping giant that was the Lima Warriors awoke in
the second stanza as Justin Henderson threw for 212
yards and two touchdowns and Glenn White rushed four
attempts for 46 yards and two scores in leading the
Warriors to a 49-0 victory against the Delphos Dark
Knights in front of a large crowd Saturday at War
Memorial Stadium.
Henderson, a six-year veteran quarterback, completed 9-of-14
passes to an array of receivers and looked comfortable
in the pocket all game. White scooted in a five-yard
TD run in the first quarter and a three-yard TD rush
in the fourth quarter. He also averaged 11.5 yards
per carry, Andrew Cleckley carried the ball three
times for 17 yards and one touchdown, while Jeremy
Bott caught two passes for 48 yards and one TD.
Rookies Colt Browne and Zach Weber, in their Warriors
debut both made their presence on the field known.
Browne caught a 22-yard TD pass and Weber took a
screen pass from James Henderson 64 yards for a
touchdown.
The Warriors out gained the Dark Knights in total yardage,
402-4, and amassed 126 yards rushing while they posted
276 yards passing by quarterback duo and brothers
Justin and James Henderson.
The Warriors quick defense held the Dark Knights to four
yards rushing and zero yards passing on they’re way to
a shutout. The first-year team focused their offense
around running back Taman Ivory. Ivory is a talented
running back with quick speed, but the defensive line
of the Warriors seemed to be in the Delphos backfield
eating up plays as soon as the ball was snapped all
night.
Despite the great showing offensively and defensively, the
Warriors always feel there is room for improvement in
such areas as penalties, where
Lima was penalized eight times for 65 yards.
“It was a great game and Delphos did a great job out there,”
John Parkins,
Lima head coach, said. “They have a lot of athletes and
there was some hitting going on. We had 400 yards of
total offense, but we could have done better. We had
a lot of stalled drives in the red zone that we have
to work on. There were also a lot of mental mistakes
and costly penalties that shouldn’t have happened.”
The Warriors gave up a couple plays of short yardage to
Ivory, but different players from the Warriors defense
stepped up throughout the game and forced Delphos to
continuously punt.
Henderson handed the ball off to White for the initial
score to give the Warriors a 7-0 lead with 12:21 to
play in the second quarter. On the ensuing drive,
Delphos picked up a first down but were forced to punt
as the Warriors defense recovered and swarmed all over
Ivory. Ty Carpenter fielded a short punt with 10:06
to play in the second quarter and returned it 55-yards
to paydirt for a Warriors touchdown. The quick strike
gave Lima a 13-0 lead after the extra point was no
good.
Defensive Back Yansey Donald came up big when Delphos got the
ball back. With the Dark Knights facing 2nd-and-14,
Donald pounced all over Ivory for one of his eight
tackles for loss, after a fumbled ball. A high snap
over Dark Knights quarterback Rodney Stinson allowed
for Donald to get one of his four and a half sacks,
taking Stinson down for a 12-yard loss and the Darks
Knights were forced to punt. The punt went off the
side of the foot of Matt Coe and sailed only 17 yards,
giving the Warriors possession at their own 42-yard
line. After seven straight running plays,
Henderson
caught the Delphos secondary off gaurd and found Bott
wide-open as he dashed for a 38-yard touchdown.
Running back Myron Gregory virtually walked into the
end zone for a two-point conversion to give Lima a
21-0 cushion with 2:40 to play in the second frame.
Delphos failed to mount a threat as the first half was
winding down thanks to defensive end Adam Gill sacking
Stinson in the end zone for a safety that added two
more points for the Warriors and extended the lead to
23-0. The intensity of the rain began to increase as
Zack Weber returned the free kick to the
28-yard-line. Kaene Runion caught a quick strike from
Henderson to set the Warriors up in even better field
position and Warriors announcer Aaron Matthews
predicted the ball would go to the rookie receiver
Browne. Henderson threw the ball the rest of the way,
before capping off the drive with a short pass to
Browne who juked defenders for the Warriors fourth
touchdown of the game and Matthews was right on the
money. Ryan converted again to give Lima a 30-0 lead
heading into halftime.
The
Warriors 2006 season opener was a 35-0 victory over
the Southwest Michigan Punishers and heading into
halftime, the 2007 season opener looked to produce a
larger margin of victory.
Cleckley opened the second-half scoring for the
Warriors with a 4-yard touchdown run up the middle
with 10:24 on the clock in the third quarter giving
the Warriors a 36-0 lead.
The
shutout was pitched by a talented and experienced
Warriors defense that would not allow Delphos to ruin
a six-year streak of holding an opponent scoreless in
the opening game.
The
Warriors came up with another third-down stop on
Delphos’ opening drive, forcing the Dark Knights to
punt again. Stinson rolled out of the pocket and felt
the pressure of defensive end Bernard Austin, but
managed to fire a pass attempt that was nearly
intercepted by Carpenter.
The
touchdowns by Weber and White concluded the Warriors
scoring. Yansey Donald finished the game with eleven
and a half tackles, including eight tackles for loss,
four and a half sacks and a forced fumble, to lead
Lima. Carpenter and Wayne LeGrant added four
tackles. Many other new faces for the Warriors
contributed throughout the game, which is a great sign
for the future of the organization.
Lima
hosts Akron next Saturday in their home opener at Lima
Stadium to face another USFA powerhouse, a 29-0 winner
over the Mansfield Marauders Saturday and previous
four-time league champions. The game will kickoff at
7:05 p.m., EDT, and will be broadcasted live on the
Internet with host Aaron Matthews starting at 6:30
p.m.
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