RECORD SETTING PERFORMANCE

Great defense and lots of scoring gave the Warriors their sixth win of the season.

By Joel Renner

Lima Warriors Chief Staff Reporter

7/8/07 – LIMA, OH -- For Alphonso “Biggie” Townsend, Justin Henderson, Glenn White and others, it was just like those autumn evenings in high school when they used to dominate teams at Lima Stadium.

Henderson ran for a touchdown, tossed one touchdown pass and handed the ball off for seven more touchdowns –including two touchdown runs by another former Lima Senior standout, Glenn White– to lead No. 1 Lima to a 75-0 route over Northwest Ohio on Saturday.

“Glenn White and the rest of the Lima Senior guys had great games tonight,” said Henderson, who helped lead the offense by completing 6-of-9 passes for 106 yards with no interceptions.  “Overall we had a great game on both the offensive and defensive units.”

The Warriors (6-0) toyed with the Raiders (1-5), tacking on eleven touchdowns to break the previous team record of 69 points in a game.  Lima stretched their home-winning streak to 13 in a row.

The game was the second meeting against the two teams in the United States Football Alliance WFC North Division and the first of five games against a weaker schedule, as the Warriors look to cruise throughout the second half of the season.  The Warriors, who face the West Virginia Crash next week, are definitely a favorite, even more so after the Crash’s recent 10-6 loss against Southern Ohio.

“This is the first time that I feel out of the six game we’ve played that we had fun,” said tight end Kaene Runion, talking about the teamwork displayed during the game at the packed Lima Stadium.

The other rushing touchdowns covered one-yard by Myron Gregory, 3 yards by Jason Bott, 2 yards by Chris Brooks, 9 yards by Adrew Cleckley, in addition to a 54-yard TD run by Jeremy who sprinted up the visiting sideline.  James Henderson also saw time at QB and controlled the offense with poise in the second half in handing the ball to many running backs.

Jeremy Bott led the Warriors in rushing for 77 yards, scoring on the 54-yard run.

Early in the third, Derrick Santos got a rare chance to return a punt -- Yansey Donald lined up 15 yards off the ball, but used his lightening speed to block the punt – and Santos snatched the ball and returned it five yards for a touchdown.  Later in the quarter, Ty Carpenter showed off his quickness as he intercepted a pass and streaked past tacklers the rest of the way untouched for a 45-yard TD return.

Lima coach John Parkins met with the team before the game where the Warriors set goals for the night and Parkins received the big win also as a nice birthday present from his players.

“It was a good win and I think we met all five of the goals set,” he said.  “They all played great. The offensive line did an outstanding job, all the backs did super and the defense, what can you say?”

Joe butcher led the team in receiving for 69 yards and one touchdown.  The 36-yard score was the fourth-year receivers’ fourth touchdown of the season and Butcher now averages 23 yards per catch.

It didn’t take long for Lima to show its superiority over its divisional rivals, scoring on nearly every possession in the first half.

A running clock was implemented in the second half as agreed upon at halftime by both organizations.

“I told coach Inbody and coach Liles (defensive and offensive coordinators) that the game is going to go quick and we have to get players in and get everyone reps,” Parkins said.

The Warriors racked up 284 yards on the ground and the defense held the Raiders to –30, which now changed the season total to an amazing 9 rushing yards allowed in six games.

The Raiders never could get going as they continuously started in poor field position due to the quality special teams play of the Warriors.  The Raiders managed only one first down and 32 yards passing.

“Thank God they didn’t put up 100 points against us; how bad we were playing,” said Raiders’ coach Jeff Brown.

The Warriors capitalized offensively all game from the great play from the Warriors’ defense.  Raiders’ quarterback Johnny Alridge was sacked 10 times, forcing the Raiders to punt nearly every drive.  This was the second straight week that the Warriors forced 10 sacks and numerous defensive players stepped up to play.  The Warriors made the most of all the forced turnovers by methodically slicing through the Raiders.  Henderson handed the ball to an array of running backs that helped pace the Warriors with 390 total yards to 2 yards of total offense by Northwest Ohio.

The crowd roared loudly late in the third quarter as it was announced that the Warriors just tied their record amount of points in a game at 69, which later was broken.  The team as a whole is having fun and winning is the most important goal.

“We are not greedy and nobody complains about getting the ball,” Runion said.  “It’s a ‘we’, it’s not an ‘I’ and that’s what I enjoy.”

The Warriors put together an impressive game with very few mistakes and have tremendous confidence heading into next week’s game against the Crash.  After a tough first month of the season, in which Lima beat three ranked foes, July started with a matter-of-fact win.

The coaching staff will continue to keep the players focused and take every game one at a time.

“My sole responsibility this week is to keep that knob turned to full blast,” Parkins said.