WARRIORS REMAIN UNDEFEATED

Lima traveled to Redford, Michigan and came away with a 32-6 win over the undefeated Motor City Soldiers.

By Joel Renner

Lima Warriors Chief Staff Reporter

7/1/07 – REDFORD, Michigan -- Head coach John Parkins believes to be the best you have to believe you’re the best.

The way Lima has manhandled the competition so far, there’s every reason for the Warriors to think they’re unbeatable.

Justin Henderson threw for 63 yards and two touchdowns ran for one touchdown as No. 1 Lima made another June statement, thumping division rival Motor City 32-6 Saturday evening and extending their fantastic record of winning 26 games and only four losses in the past three years and defeated by only one team in that time.

“The veterans on our team especially on defense stepped up today,” Alphonso “Biggie” Townsend said.  “They were trying to intimidate us, but a lot of our veteran players kept our younger players in check.”

Of course, having a defense like the Warriors do doesn’t hurt.  Once again, the squad kept their cool against the toughest of teams – remember Cleveland – and led the Warriors (5-0, 4-0 USFA) to a surprisingly easy win.

Lima faced three highly ranked teams in June – Akron, Cleveland and the Soldiers – and beat them all with teamwork.

Saturday’s showdown was thus far the biggest game in Motor City’s short history, and the home fans did their best to help the Soldiers (5-1, 3-1) pick up their first win over an undefeated opponent with the caliber of the Warriors.

The defense along with Henderson didn’t let that happen.

Both of Henderson’s TD passes gave Lima breathing room.  His counterparts, all five of Motor City’s quarterbacks used in the game, were bombarded by the Warriors’ defense, which had five sacks in the first half alone and 10 total.

Biggie Townsend, Yansey Donald and Derrick Santos had great games again as they combined for 14 tackles – six for loss- and five sacks.

It could be smooth sailing for the next five weeks for Lima until possibly the first round of the playoffs.  None of its upcoming regular-season opponents have proven themselves worthy in previous games to have the same amount of talent as the Warriors.  The brutal June schedule is something that the Warriors talked about and passed with flying colors as they played against some tough teams unable to bring them down.

Despite a couple of Warriors’ turnovers, the coaches were pleased with the victory.

“I’m not going to complain because it’s hard to go on the road and beat a team that’s undefeated 32-6,” assistant coach Ashley Brownlow said. 

Motor City kept the game close in the first half, but couldn’t put up much of a fight in the second half in the most anticipated home game of their season.

The entire buzz, and the home crowd support, wasn’t enough to stop the Warriors.  At times, Lima may have played they’re best all season, but at other times in the game the worst.  The inconsistency proved to not play much of a factor overall in the large victory.  The Warriors’ kicking game was not one of the bright spots, including three missed extra points, but the team is confident that Saturday’s game is in the past and poor results won’t happen again.

“We’re going to practice a little more and we just need to get our timing down,” kicker Randy Ryan said.  “We’ll get it together, be ready for next week and we’ll be fine.”

Lima broke open a 14-6 game with scoring drives on its first two possessions of the second half.  Glenn White, who ran for 40 yards, took the air out of the Detroit crowd with a spectacular six-yard TD run that put the Warriors ahead 20-6 early in the second half.

Henderson handed the ball off to White, who juked out several defenders and fought through numerous tackles to reach the end zone.

Lima’s next scoring drive started at terrific field position after a Soldiers’ fumble.  The possession ate up precious time off the clock and was culminated with Henderson sneaking up the middle for a one-yard touchdown and gave the Warriors a 20-point lead early in the fourth quarter.

The Soldiers could not get any closer due to the 10 sacks by the defense, including others by Isaac Melton and Eric Siefker.  But Lima capped off the scoring when Henderson threw a 24-yard pass to Joe Butcher for a touchdown.

The Warriors rushed for 187 yards in the game – 66 yards more than their game average heading into Saturday – and picked up 250 yards against an Motor City defense considered one of the United States Football Alliance’s strongest.  The Warriors killed the Soldiers with the run and ran the ball down their throats all game, while Lima’s defense shut down Motor City’s running game for –21 yards.

“Our team is on a mission and it’s hard for any team to beat us right now,” Brownlow said.

Motor City got as close as 14-6 on a sweep by the tailback to the pylon late in the first half, followed by a failed extra point attempt.

The Warriors moved ahead 14-0 early on in the game by capitalizing off short field position.  Henderson hit Kaene Runion for a five-yard TD pass.

Lima scored on the game’s opening possession, marching down the field with precision.  Chris Brooks barrled his way over many defenders for a two-yard TD run to give the Warriors a 7-0 lead.

Jeremy Bott also had a solid game and led the Warriors with 54 rushing yards.