Nate Reynolds | The Lima News
After making progress in the form of its first win of the season Lima Central Catholic’s football team and coach talked about still being a work in progress.
LCC evened its record at 1-1 with a 14-13 victory over rival Delphos St. John’s at Spartan Stadium on Friday night which combined scoring on its first and last drives of the night with a little luck.
More than half of LCC’s 257 yards of total offense came on those two drives, but the Thunderbirds delivered under pressure when they went 80 yards in 12 plays late in the fourth quarter for what proved to be the decisive points.
“We got it going when we needed it,” LCC coach Scott Palte said.
Quarterback Brady Parker, who threw for the Thunderbirds’ first touchdown and ran for their second, said, “It definitely is a work in progress. We’re doing good now but we definitely could improve on a lot more.”
LCC’s first score came on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Parker to Michael Quatman, followed by an extra point kick by Matthew Quatman.
St. John’s responded less than a minute later with a 70-yard scoring run and extra point kick by quarterback Drew Boggs, an eerie flashback for LCC to Shawnee quarterback J.J. Spyker’s 88-yard touchdown run in the Indians’ 33-19 win over the Thunderbirds in week one of the season.
The game remained tied at 7-7 until LCC’s fourth-quarter drive, which actually began with a defensive stop when St. John’s came up short on fourth-and-six at the Thunderbirds’ 21-yard line.
Eleven of the 12 plays on the 80-yard LCC drive that followed that defensive stop were running plays – six of them by Matthew Quatman and five by Parker.
Running Parker that often was by design, Palte said. “We thought with an extra blocker we could use him and he could make some plays. I thought he did a really good job.”
For the running game to dominate LCC’s play calling, the offensive line had to become more consistent than it was in the middle of the game.
“Our line – that right side of the line – was doing its thing. We were just running behind them and trusting them,” Matthew Quatman said.
Offensive tackle Gianni McKee said, “Once it started working we kept running the ball and we got into the end zone and that’s all we wanted.”
Parker scored on a two-yard run with 4:26 to play and Matthew Quatman kicked his second extra point of the night for a 14-7 lead.
St. John’s marched 60 yards for a touchdown, on a 1-yard run by T.J. Werts with 1:59 to play but Boggs’ extra point kick was wide left.
It was the second moment of disappointment for St. John’s at the north end of Spartan Stadium on Friday night. In the first minute of the second quarter, it lost a fumble at LCC’s 2-yard line when it appeared ready to take the lead.
“You’ve got to hope some things go your way and I think tonight they did. But we’ve got to get to practice and get better and keep working,” Matthew Quatman said.
“I think we’re still figuring out our identity as a team. We’ve got a new offense that we didn’t run last year. Running the ball is what I think is going to be best for us going forward. We have a really good coaching staff. They’re going to figure it out.”
Michael Quatman rushed for 66 yards on 8 carries and Matthew Quatman gained 53 yards on 16 carries for LCC. Parker completed 8 of 13 passes for 90 yards and rushed for 41 yards on 7 carries.
St. John’s (1-1) had 295 yards total offense. Boggs was 11 of 16 passing for 88 yards and rushed for 100 yards on 10 carries. Werts had 57 yards on 17 carries.
