WARRIORS ADVANCE TO CHAMPIONSHIP

The Warriors overcame and great performance by Loften and the Jagz to win the Western Conference 32-21.

By Joel Renner

Lima Warriors Chief Staff Reporter

8/26/07 – LIMA, OH -- The monkey on Lima’s back can once again relocate to some other team’s locker room.  The Lima Warriors have made it back to a league championship game.

Justin Henderson led the Warriors to score 23 points in the second quarter, and the defense picked off Herby Loftin and returned the interception 12 yards for a TD early in the fourth, for a wildly entertaining 32-21 victory Saturday over the Akron Jagz in the WFC title game.

Each Warrior’ player took John Parkins along for the ride, helping their coach get back to the big game and earn his 11 playoff victory.  In two weeks, Parkins will face Beaver County‘s Mario Fattore in the United States Football Alliance championship, where the two head coaches will try to out-scheme one another to claim the right to play in the semi-pro national championship game in January.

“It’s going to be a big game here,” Parkins said.  “I’m expecting a huge crowd and the fans will get to see a great game in two weeks.  The Vipers are going to bring it and the best team is going to be the champion.”

Henderson wouldn’t concede that a huge weight was lifted with this win, one of the biggest in his seven-year Warrior career and thinks the championship game is theirs to lose.

“It’s really up to us,” he said.  “We’re the one in the drivers seat, the ball is in our court right now and we’ve got to make it happen this year.”

The Warriors are the early favorites to beat the EFC champion Vipers in the USFA championship, despite Beaver County’s past success and solid organization.  The Vipers will try to win back-to-back league championships and Lima will attempt to claim its first USFA title.

Saturday’s game was a show for the ages, and no player came up bigger than Kaene Runion.  Runion was the star as he caught five catches for 103 yards and one touchdown, which averaged to 20.6 yards per catch.  Runion’s touchdown came with 42 seconds left in the first half as Henderson scrambled out of the pocket and fired a 39-yard pass that literally fell into Runion’s lap with inches to spare in the end zone, as he completed the diving catch to give the Warriors a 23-6 halftime lead.

The Warriors played like there was no tomorrow and the Jagz (9-4) lost in the conference championship game after a tremendous regular season and saw their hopes of winning five Super Bowls in 12 years derailed by Henderson and company.

Jason Bott capped the Warriors scoring with the final big play, a 12-yard interception with 11:48 left to help the Warriors (12-0) complete the victory and give them their first birth to a championship game in three seasons.

After the final score, Parkins was on the sideline, still focused on the game, watching intently and soon received an ice bath from the smiling players in the celebration.  The Warriors powered the ball up the middle to keep the clock running and when it was apparent after the two-minute warning that the game was all but over, the Lima Stadium crowd went wild.  One kneel down later and Henderson and the rest of the Warriors ripped off their helmets to rejoice.

The Warriors’ offense played a tremendous first half and kept strategizing, despite a sub-par (for the Warriors) second half.

“When the defense is on the field, the offense gets together on the sideline and goes over the X’s and O’s to try and work out our mistakes,” Henderson said.  “We want to know how we can do things better or capitalize off of something that we missed.”

Not only was it a win for the Warriors -the No. 1-ranked semi-pro team in the nation according to the Minor League Football News- it was a riveting, back-and-forth showcase of two of the USFA’s best teams, best quarterbacks, and yet another example of why the Lima area is embracing the Warriors with open arms.

It was anything but a by-the-book game, and that started becoming obvious when pounding rain turned into blazing heat, Jagz punter, George Haji, kicked the ball out of the end zone midway through the second quarter after a bad snap, resulting in a safety, and an opponent s was out gaining the Warriors in offensive yards for the first time this season.   

At times, the Warriors looked complacent.  Henderson telegraphed a pair of throws late in the game and the Jagz capitalized shortly after.  Loftin found Alex Tiguy in the corner of the end zone and then fired a strike to Jon Moye for the two-point conversion to close the deficit to 11 points with 3:12 remaining.  The Warriors still led 32-21 and Jason Bott recovered the onside kick.

Then, the game plan changed because it had to, and the game morphed from a dual-team air attack into the Warriors melting the clock with their solid, power-running game.

In the second quarter, Henderson was at his best, dissecting an intelligent Jagz defense for a pair of long drives and scores.  Late in the third, he led the Warriors against an exhausted Jagz defense to a 52-yard drive for a field goal to make it 26-13.

The first score came on a 21-yard rush by Andrew Cleckley.  The second was capped by an 8-yard pass to Bobby Huttis, who made an over the shoulder catch in the corner of the end zone.  A circus catch by Runion for the closing score of the half sent the Warriors into the locker room with confidence.

“Our goal has been to win the league championship all season long,” said Aaron Mattews, who is ‘the voice of the Warriors’ in the weekly show, ‘Warriors Talk’ and the play-by-play commentator of the live webcast. “We are now one step closer and will be ready to keep the trophy in Lima.  All of the accolades and recognition are nice, but it’s all for naught if we don't win the rings.”

After halftime, the Jagz answered with a two-yard TD run by DeWayne Edwards.  Haji converted the extra point, but the Warriors were ahead 23-13.  This was the lone touchdown of the third quarter and both defenses looked impressive.

Big plays from the special teams and defense made up for the lack of second-half offense.  Eric Knapp had two fumble recoveries to go along with a sack and Pierre Jackson tallied up 8 ½ tackles with 1 ½ sacks despite leaving the game for a short stint with an injury.  Brandt Huttis added a key interception and the Warriors sacked Loftin seven times.

The week off before the USFA championship may just be what’s needed for the recently injury-plagued Warriors.  Even if the whole team isn’t completely healthy, that won’t stop these men from accomplishing their goal after seven months of preparation.

"The time off will give us the chance to nurse our injuries, get a little bit faster, stronger and work out all the kinks in practice,” Henderson said.

The Warriors special teams controlled field position and scored points, as kicker Ryan Elliot gave Lima more of a cushion on a 35-yarder right through up the middle that hit off the flagpole to give Lima a 26-13 advantage with 1:59 left in the third.

After three Warriors’ scores early on, it was Loftin’s turn to shine.  He found Vern Appleton (eight receptions, 101 yards) streaking up the visitor’s sideline for a 49-yard TD and Akron felt they exposed a weakness in Lima’s secondary.

A pair of running backs powered their way over Akron all game.  Chris Brooks, The 5-foot-10, 230-pound running back, shed tacklers in his usual ‘Jerome Bettis’ fashion and played like a man amongst boys as he piled up nearly 10 yards per carry.  Andrew Cleckley showed his love for the game with an intense shout of joy after he scored the 21-yard scamper in the first quarter and he averaged nearly six yards per carry.

Henderson said he likes to immulate great NFL quarterbacks and learned a great deal from watching them play.

“I think about John Elway, Roger Staubach and Joe Montana,” Henderson said.  “I like to watch old films and just like those guys, after a mistake is made, I forget about it and try to capitalize on the next play.”

The Warriors may not have been at their best Saturday as they gave up the most points this season and offensively didn’t score a touchdown in the second half, but much of the credit could go to Akron’s will to survive and talented roster that made big plays.

Lima was 3-1 in the month of August in the playoffs, and saw another great chance disappear last year in a road loss to Grand Rapids.  The storyline all week was what a sensational feeling it would be for the Warriors’ fans and team if they could make it to the league championship game and shake past memories.

The story had a happy ending for the Warriors, but Jagz coach Daren Williams fired his players up for the game and fell just short.  Williams announced his retirement from coaching after the game in a heart-riveting speech made to both teams before the Warriors were awarded the WFC trophy.

“I would to thank the entire Lima Staff and organization for a very hard fought game,” Williams said.

Williams also expressed his hope for the Warriors to represent Ohio and the WFC when as he told the Warriors to ‘bring the championship back to the western conference.’

The Warriors finished with 211 yards and scored on four of their first six drives.  The same squad that seemed so prevalent last week to some in a somewhat shocking win over Motor City seemed missing in Akron, and this looked like a tired, desperate, defeated team in the end.  Maybe it was due in part to the long trip to Lima or perhaps the afternoon game time due to Lima Central Catholic’s home opener in the evening, but both teams left everything they had on the field and walked away proud.

“People say that we’re one of the best teams in the nation and that says a lot for the Warriors,” Henderson said.  “We try to play every game like it’s our last and hopefully we can hoist that trophy in two weeks.”

The Warriors’ organization might be caught in the crossroads of greatness and obscurity.

The defining day will be Sept. 8 and the location to find out the result could not be any more fitting … home at Lima Stadium.