Caleb Moyer of Wapakoneta runs the ball up the middle against St. Marys on Friday night.
Chris Howell | The Lima News
We learned a lot in Week 4.
For starters, Wapakoneta is exactly who we thought they were, the team to beat in the WBL.
And Columbus Grove is still Columbus Grove, despite the loss of its starting quarterback Landon Best.
Here’s a look at some of the numbers from Week 4 that proved these statements to be true.
9:09 — During Wapakoneta’s 28-14 win over rival St. Marys, the Redskins had the ball for just over 9 minutes. That means St. Marys dominated time of possession, as it normally does, by having the ball for 33:20, or almost four times as long as Wapakoneta did. In my opinion, the difference in the game was both team’s first offensive drive. St. Marys came up empty on a missed field goal after using more than six minutes to travel 58 yards. Wapakoneta’s first possession lasted 12 seconds when Caleb Moyer hit Grant Stauffer with an 80-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage.
213 — It’s not hard to find an eye-popping statistic every week from Lima Senior, especially from Isaiah “Boog” Wilson, who’s must-see TV with the ball in his hands. The Spartans are 4-0 for the first time since 2014 and they’ve racked up 2,186 total yards this season. Wilson has 852 of them, averaging out to 213 per game. That’s about 39% of the team’s total offense, including 49% of its rushing total (162 of 326). Last week, Wilson made 9 catches for 225 yards and three touchdowns. He’s accounted for 68 of Lima Senior’s 176 points in 2024.
23 — Columbus Grove quarterback Landon Best’s ankle injury was definitely disappointing news, but it’s unfortunately just part of the game. Andy Schafer’s emphasis this week was to make sure to let everyone know that they’re still the same team and they responded with a 45-7 win over Spencerville. Riley Sautter made his first start under center for the Bulldogs and he went 8 of 12 for 186 yards, with three touchdowns and one interception. That’s 23 yards per completion for a team that’s heavily focused on not being one-dimensional. No matter who’s under center, Columbus Grove is still the team to beat in the Northwest Conference.
123-7 — This weekend was nothing short of rough for the home teams at Stadium Park. Delphos St. John’s suffered a 71-0 loss to Marion Local on Friday and Delphos Jefferson dropped its NWC opener to Bluffton 52-7 on Saturday afternoon. That means the two visiting teams outscored both Delphos teams 123-7. It’s nothing new for both Marion Local and Bluffton to do this to opposing teams. Over the season’s first four weeks, the Flyers have out-scored their opponent 206-15, while the Pirates have done the same, 207-17.
185, 4 — Kenton suffered a last-second, 42-35 loss to Bath in Week 4, but over the past two games, the Wildcats might have discovered something about their offense. After an injury forced running back Alex Rogel out of the lineup against Elida, Kenton coach Zach Turner made the decision to put Grady Kleman-Beazley, a senior wide receiver, in the backfield with quarterback Korbin Johnston. Kleman-Beazley has responded with 185 yards and four touchdowns on the ground against Elida and Bath. That balance has helped the Wildcats score at least 35 points in two straight games.
2-2 — Not all starts are created equally. Defiance opened the season with a 35-34 overtime loss to Napoleon without starting quarterback Brez Zipfel and a resounding 34-9 loss to Wapakoneta in his first game back. Since then, they’ve knocked off St. Marys 14-10 and handled Van Wert 41-14. The way the Bulldogs have played in the last two weeks is definitely closer to what I expected to see from them this year. Over the next three weeks, they’ll take on Shawnee (2-2), Kenton (1-3) and Elida (1-3). Defiance’s Week 8 and 9 matchups against Bath (3-1) and Celina (3-1) should be important in determining the top half of the WBL standings.
28 — Ever since a Week 1 loss to Shawnee, LCC has been on a tear, especially on defense where they’ve limited Delphos St. John’s, Carey and Allen East to a combined 9 points per game. In Week 4, Allen East, a team that averaged 43 points per game heading into the matchup, was limited to 160 yards. Quarterback Jackson Thompson ran for just 14 yards on 10 carries, accounting for exactly half of the Mustangs’ 28 rushing yards. LCC’s defense faces Fort Loramie (2-2) in Week 5, a team that scores 21 points per game.
Reach Chris Howell at 567-242-0468 or on Twitter/X at @Lima_Howell
