7/15/07 - KENOVA, WV -- A fast, an unforeseen interruption, and a long bus ride added up to the same result for the Lima Warriors.
 

Set against the backdrop of the Ohio River, and a 4 hours bus trip to reach Kenova, WV, the Warriors used a high powered offensive attack to defeat the West Va. Crash 49-20.

 

The Warrior defense set the tone early as just two minutes into the contest Jason Bott intercepted a pass deep in Crash territory and put the Warrior offense in prime position to score.

 

Wasting little time, Drew Cleckley went in from 2 yards out and with Ryan Elliot adding the extra point; the Warriors were up 7-0. The first quarter went rather quickly, but almost too slow for the Crash.

 

After a bad snap on a punt, which Derrick Santos jumped on for a score, and a fumble which Brandt Huttis jumped on, the Warriors were rolling.

 

Chris Brooks rambled 32 yards for another touchdown, and after one quarter the Warriors were up 20-0.

 

In the second quarter, the whole tide of the game turned upside down. Bobby Huttis couldn’t handle a pass from Justin Henderson and the Crash recovered the fumble. While not getting anything on that drive, the Crash remained optimistic that they could make something happen.

 

Meanwhile, Henderson found a wide open Kaene Runion for a 58 yard score at the 9:38 mark of the quarter, and Elliot adding another point after, the Warriors surged ahead 27-0.

 

Shortly afterwards, Eric Knapp recovered a fumble, only to have it stripped right back. The Crash, playing of some newfound momentum, turned that into a short touchdown pass from Damieon Mills to Kenny Davis. Although the extra point was blocked, this game had now become a bit more interesting.

 

After a blocked field goal late in the quarter, things got very ugly. An altercation erupted with one of the Crash players, attacking Jeremy Bott. Bott, showing great restraint, merely put his hands down to his side as the Crash player pulled on his facemask and ripped his helmet off. Bott also took several punches as well. After cooler heads prevailed the first half ended. The Lima Warriors went into halftime up 27-6.

 

The third quarter shaped up to be a shootout. The Warriors received the opening kickoff of the half and got the ball to near midfield. Then in the blink of an eye, Joe Butcher got behind the Crash secondary. A perfectly lobbed pass from the arm of Justin Henderson and an Elliot extra point now made the score 34-6, Lima.

 

But not to be outdone, on the first play of their opening drive, the Crash came right back with a 70 yard touchdown pass from Mills to Jerome Smith. The Crash tacked on a two point conversion and was trying to make a ball game of it.

 

Lima’s defense, although down on the day, was certainly not out of it. With Dustin Hunt and Derrick Santos adding sacks in the quarter, and Glenn White Jr. adding an interception, the “Ballhawks” even on a bad day, are better than anyone else in the league.

 

Giving the ball back to the offense paid off in a big way as offensive coordinator, Sean Liles dug into his bag of tricks at the 6:52 mark in the quarter. What looked to be a simple reverse to Bobby Huttis, ended up being a calculated strike. Huttis hooked up with Joe Butcher for a 20 yard touchdown pass. Ryan Elliot added yet another extra point, and the Lima Warriors were ahead 41-14.

 

On the very next Crash possession, they had gone with a play that had given the Warrior problems on the day, the bubble screen. The Warriors had fumbled two of these earlier in the game, and true to form, so did the Crash. But instead of just a change of possession, Jason Bott scooped up the loose ball and rambled 30 yards to paydirt. Although Elliot missed the extra point, the Warriors were still ahead 47-14.

 

The fourth quarter moved along quite rapidly, and although the Crash added a short run from Jerome Smith, they were still far behind. The Lima Warriors closed out the scoring on the day with a safety from Eric Siefker, showing the Warrior defense still had the first, and the last word on the day.

 

With the 49-20 win, Lima moves to 7-0 on the season. The Warriors face another stern test next week as the travel to the 5-1 Southern Ohio Patriots in Cincinnati.