Shawnee’s Michael Garlock is upended by Lima Central Catholic’s Dakota Gerdemann during Thursday’s game at Spartan Stadium.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
It was 671 days between Shawnee’s 33-19 win over Lima Central Catholic on the opening night of high school football Thursday and the last time the Indians celebrated a victory on the final night of the 2022 regular season.
But it was a mere 56 seconds that played a huge role in Thursday night’s victory, which Shawnee hopes means a brighter future after an 0-10 season last year.
With slightly more than three minutes left in the first half and LCC leading 7-6, Shawnee scored two touchdowns in 56 seconds to take a 20-7 lead at halftime and never lost the lead after that.
The first came on an 88-yard touchdown run by quarterback J.J. Spyker. The second, on LCC’s second offensive play after Spyker’s TD, arrived via an interception for a touchdown by Cole Sunderland.
“That was the biggest game changer in the game,” Spyker said about Sunderland’s interception. “Right after my touchdown a pick-six just helped carry the momentum the whole game.
“We worked all summer for this and we were hungry. We knew it was coming,” he said.
Shawnee got off to a shaky start with turnovers on its first two possessions, including a fumble, which set up Matthew Quatman’s 4-yard touchdown that gave LCC, a team that had returning starters at 18 positions, a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter.
“I think there were definitely some pre-game jitters. I saw how we warmed up tight. I thought we settled in during the second quarter. But that first quarter we did about everything as wrong as we could offensively. We turned the ball over, bad snaps, silly penalties,” said first-year Shawnee coach Shane Wireman.
“We’ve been harping on mental toughness a lot. We dug ourselves a hole but we found a way to stay in there and make a few plays and swing the momentum back before halftime.
“I think this was important for our football team and our community to get that confidence. Even though we didn’t play our best we still had enough to get the job done. I think that was huge to get off to a good start this year,” he said.
Columbus Grove repays Pandora-Gilboa
COLUMBUS GROVE — For anyone on the home side of Clymer Stadium, it was no secret that Columbus Grove had some extra motivation for Thursday night’s season opener against Pandora-Gilboa.
It was about repaying the Rockets for a 25-22 last-second loss in 2023 that’s lingered over the program for almost 53 weeks.
And by the middle of the first half, the Bulldogs had done exactly that.
Columbus Grove held a 28-0 lead at halftime and coasted through a running clock in the second half to hand Pandora-Gilboa a 35-7 loss.
“That loss last season meant everything for us,” said Lineman Kylan Mayes, who had a sack in the win. “We knew we needed to get off to a better start this year if we want to go deeper in the season. Our coaches hyped us up for this one and that’s something that makes us confident every time. We were locked in from the start.”
Locked in might have been an understatement.
On the third play of the game, Columbus Grove quarterback Landon Best hit Trevon Baxter for a 38-yard touchdown.
After forcing Pandora-Gilboa to a three-and-out on its first drive, the Bulldogs used four minutes to go 61 yards. Best ran for 20 yards on the drive, including a two-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0 with just under five minutes left in the first quarter.
“It was about the attitude we came in here with tonight,” Columbus Grove coach Andy Schafer said. That’s something we preached all week. We wanted to come in here with a killer attitude no matter what the situation was.
“We wanted to start the 100th season in our program off with a win. That was important to us. We talked about things like the crowd, and it being on a Thursday. I think we made our fans proud and our coaches proud with this one.”
Best finished the night 6-of-7 through the air for 138 yards and a touchdown, with 32 yards on seven carries and two touchdowns on the ground.
Trenton Barazza rushed for 100 yards on 13 carries in the first half. He spent the rest of the night on the sideline after a 55-yard pick-six by Levi Schroeder enforced the running clock.
Wilson wipes out Piqua
Some of the names and faces are different but in a 35-20 win over Piqua at Spartan Stadium on Friday night in its season opener, Lima Senior appeared ready to follow up last year’s turnaround season with another good campaign.
“We’ve still got some things we have to clean up but our seniors did a great job and there were a lot of new guys stepping up and making plays,” Lima Senior coach Bill Lawrence said.
Lima Senior rolled up 489 yards of total offense. Quarterback Ja’Niaus Hall was 29 of 49 for 294 yards and four touchdowns and the Spartans even lined up with the quarterback under center and handed the ball off to a running back several times.
Isaiah Wilson was Lima Senior’s leading receiver (7 catches, 120 yards, 2 touchdowns) and its leading rusher (12 carries, 81 yards and a touchdown). Kahliq Wash had 9 catches for 94 yards, Keyon Smith pulled in 6 catches for 61 yards, Vontae Watkins had five catches and Amari Addy had four catches, including a touchdown.
“Our receivers are pretty dangerous. We’ve got guys who can do things and make plays. With that being said, we’ve got to continue to get better,” Lawrence said.
Wing-T for the win
ST. MARYS — St. Marys played St. Marys football to a “T” on Friday night in a 33-14 win over St. Henry.
They were physical on both sides of the ball, run-dominant and did more than enough to demoralize their opponent.
Twice, St. Henry made it a one-score game, but both times, the Roughriders answered with a long, back-breaking drive that ended with a touchdown.
They also dominated time of possession, 33:59-13:40.
What didn’t work for St. Marys during a winless first four weeks of last season certainly clicked in Week 1 against the Redskins.
“There’s been a goal in our program to never go back to that 0-4 start,” said St. Marys coach Bo Frye. “That was miserable for coaches, players and everyone in between. We’re not going back to it.”
“We’ve worked since December for this,” running back Dominik Osborne said after rushing for 193 yards and three touchdowns. “We have 21 seniors and we’ve lifted at 5:45 a.m. three days a week since then to make sure we didn’t get off to another start like that.”
Osborne and Colton Mabry, his backfield mate, accounted for all five of the Roughriders’ touchdowns. The two combined for 308 yards on the ground.
Green guides Ada’s comeback
MCGUFFEY – The outcome of a football game not only comes down to which team makes the most plays but also when they make them.
In Friday’s season-opener for both Ada and Upper Scioto Valley, Ada made its plays late in the second half, en route to a hard-fought 15-14 victory over Upper Scioto Valley.
Ada did not record its first lead of the night until a little more than a minute left in the game.
Ada senior quarterback Levi Green found a seam in the USV secondary and rambled 50 yards for a touchdown to knot the contest, 14-14. Andrew Allen’s extra point gave Ada the lead. Green also had a 64-yard TD run on the first play of the second half.
“We’re proud of our kids. … We’re proud of the things they accomplished,” Ada coach Toby Smith said. “We wanted to make sure they (Smith’s players) kept fighting. There were numerous times throughout that last part of the second half when we handled ourselves and made enough plays to win the game.”
Green rushed for 98 yards on 18 carries and had both TDs for the Bulldogs. He also was 8 of 16 passing for 50 yards and threw an interception.
Top performers
• Karder Agner of Delphos Jefferson tossed two touchdown passes to Luke Rode to lead the Wildcats to a season-opening victory. It was one of three scores for Agner on the night.
• Kaden Page of Wapakoneta caught six passes for 107 yards and a score in a 35-21 win over St. John’s Jesuit.
• Hunter Niese of Cory-Rawson caught, threw and ran for a touchdown in a 29-22 win over Arcadia.
• Elida quarterback Ryan McGue found Amari Wash twice for touchdowns and ran for a score in a 40-0 win over Rogers.
• Ethan Hershberger of Allen East scored on a 70-yard interception return and a 55-yard kickoff return in a 46-12 win over Scott.
• Isaiah McFadden had 212 yards rushing and four touchdowns for Perry in a 33-3 win over Dixie.
• Jayce Brecht of Leipsic caught seven balls for 122 yards and a touchdown in a 34-22 loss to Lake.
• Braxton Leeth rushed for 128 yards and five touchdowns on 20 carries in Crestview’s 49-7 win over Parkway.
• Briston Wise accounted for six touchdowns, four on the ground and two through the air in Van Wert’s 48-8 victory over Bryan.
• Spencerville’s Grady Smith ran for 131 yards and two touchdowns in a 29-19 win over Ridgemont.
FOOTBALL RESULTS AND SCHEDULE
Thursday, Aug. 22
Columbus Grove 35, Pandora-Gilboa 7
Shawnee 33, LCC 19
Delphos Jefferson 33, North College Hill 0
Friday, Aug. 23
Ada 15, Upper Scioto Valley 14
Allen East 46, Tol. Scott 12
Arlington 53, Hardin Northern 33
Bluffton 50, Benjamin Logan 3
Celina 55, Columbus South 13
Coldwater 38, Germantown Valley View 0
Crestview 49, Parkway 7
Cory-Rawson 29, Arcadia 22
Delphos St John’s 54, Sidney Lehman 27
Elida 40, Tol. Rogers 0
Liberty-Benton 34, Ottawa-Glandorf 6
Fort Recovery 20, Wayne Trace 6
Lake 34, Leipsic 22
Lima Senior 35, Piqua 20
Perry 33, Dixie 3
Marion Local 45, Linton, Ind. 6
Minster 49, Fort Loramie 21
North Baltimore 56, Vanlue 14
Napoleon 35, Defiance 34, OT
New Bremen 17, Bath 14
Eastwood 38, Kenton 35
Ridgedale 14, Hilltop 13
Riverdale 13, Bucyrus 6
Spencerville 29, Ridgemont 19
St Marys 33, St. Henry 14
Tol. Cent. Cath. 54, Findlay 21
Van Buren 38, Fostoria 0
Van Wert 48, Bryan 8
Versailles 33, Milton-Union 0
Wapakoneta 35, Toledo St John’s Jesuit 21
Waynesfield-Goshen 36, Mississinawa Valley 12
Friday, Aug. 30
Lima Senior at Findlay, 7 p.m.
Coldwater at Clinton-Massie, 7 p.m.
Delphos St. John’s at LCC, 7 p.m.
Fort Recovery at Urbana, 7 p.m.
Marion Local at Franklin, 7 p.m.
Minster at Africentric, 7 p.m.
New Bremen at Norton, 7 p.m.
Delphos Jefferson at Parkway, 7 p.m.
Archbold at St. Henry, 7 p.m.
Fort Loramie at Versailles, 7 p.m.
Brookville at Anna, 7 p.m.
Allen East at Newark Catholic, 7 p.m.
Bluffton at Pandora-Gilboa, 7 p.m.
McComb at Crestview, 7 p.m.
Spencerville at Wayne Trace, 7 p.m.
Buckeye Central at Ada, 7 p.m.
Arlington at Riverdale, 7 p.m.
Leipsic at Van Buren, 7 p.m.
Van Wert at Bath, 7 p.m.
Celina at St. Marys, 7 p.m.
Defiance at Wapakoneta, 7 p.m.
Shawnee at Elida, 7 p.m.
Kenton at Ottawa-Glandorf, 7 p.m.
Cory-Rawson at Upper Scioto Valley, 7 p.m.
Hardin Northern at North Baltimore, 7 p.m.
Perry at Ridgemont, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Aug. 31
Waynesfield-Goshen at Crestline, 7 p.m.
