Ja’Niaus Hall of Lima Senior throws a stiff-arm against Marion Harding earlier this season.
Chris Howell | The Lima News
This week, Lima Senior enters a portion of the season where it was extremely comfortable last year — conference play.
In 2023, the Spartans (4-0) ran the table in Toledo City Athletic League action. Over the course of six victories, they outscored opponents 289-94 including a 39-14 win over Bowsher in Week 5.
Lima Senior head coach Bill Lawrence expects a heightened level of intensity on Friday in the rematch after Bowsher was forced to play without starting quarterback Jordan Singer last year.
“They’re aggressive and they’re a team that wants to put some pressure on the quarterback,” Lawrence said of the BlueRacers.
“We’re approaching this Friday night as if it’s our most important game. This is a team that didn’t have their starting quarterback available against us when we played them last season. They’re going to be coming in here a little more ready for us than they were a year ago.”
Bowsher (1-3, 1-0 TCAL) won its first game last week, 29-6, over Woodward. That erased an 0-3 start against Oak Harbor, Genoa Area and Maumee, who outscored them 138-32.
Bowsher head coach Alvin Brown said his team feels some momentum building after a win in its conference opener.
“Coming off a league victory against Woodward, our team morale is pretty high and our confidence is growing every day,” he said. “Lima is very quick and they play at a fast pace, running a screen-style run and gun offense. We plan on getting some pressure up front and putting good athletes on the field who can run angles, keep leverage on the ball and tackle.”
In four games, Bowsher’s defense has allowed 36 points per game, while Lima Senior has averaged 44 points per game on offense.
Last week in a 57-14 win over Sylvania Northview, Lima Senior quarterback Ja’Niaus Hall passed for 532 yards, seven touchdowns and two interceptions. Despite the two turnovers, Lawrence believes his team is heading in the right direction protecting the ball.
“We were a little better last Friday but we still had two turnovers. Any coach wants to get that to zero but we did take care of it better and we have to continue to do that moving forward,” he said.
On the season, Hall is statistically one of the top quarterbacks in Ohio, completing 120 of 190 passes for 1,821 yards, 22 touchdowns and seven interceptions. His leading receiver, Isaiah “Boog” Wilson, has 34 receptions for 690 yards. Kahliq Walsh has added 32 grabs for 401 yards and Keyon Smith is close behind with 26 catches for 398 yards.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Spartans should see a number of different looks from the Bowsher offense.
“We expect them to use multiple formations on offense in an attempt to exploit some of the weaknesses on our defense,” Lawrence said. “We have to be ready to see them in multiple sets.”
Brown believes for his team to be successful, it’s not about how they’ll line up on offense, but if they’ll have a consistent approach on each possession.
“Offensively we have to control the line of scrimmage, run the ball and be consistent in our passing game,” he said. “If we minimize the mistakes, we’ll put ourselves in a good position to be able to win this game.”
Lima Senior enters Friday night as winners of 11 straight regular season games, a streak that began in Week 4 last season.
Lawrence said that regardless of who’s in front of them throughout this conference schedule, his team needs to approach every week the same way.
“We have to stay the course, be focused and be ready to go.”
Reach Chris Howell at 567-242-0468 or on Twitter/X at @Lima_Howell
