Wapakoneta’s Kaden Page runs ahead of Defiance’s Abel Rubio during Friday’s game at Mercy Health Wapak Ford Field in Wapakoneta.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
WAPAKONETA — Turnovers are often the difference-maker in a game, especially when they’re timely.
In the second quarter of Friday night’s WBL showdown between Wapakoneta and Defiance, Wapak’s Noah Bishop made one of those timely turnovers when he forced a fumble from Defiance’s Noah Gomez.
That giveaway halted Defiance’s drive at the Redksins’ 31-yard line.
On the next play, quarterback Caleb Moyer found wide receiver Kaden Page with a short pass and Page took the ball 69 yards to the endzone. Wapakoneta went on to score the first 34 points of the game en route to a 34-9 victory over Defiance in its WBL opener.
“Both teams kind of punched back and forth there early on with some missed field goals but it was big in terms of the swing. Kaden made a phenomenal play,” said Wapakoneta coach Travis Moyer. “Big-time players make big-time plays and that’s what we expect from our guys every game.”
“When I caught the ball, I saw defenders taking the inside angle, so I reversed and went outside, then I used my speed to get to the endzone,” Page said. “I’m feeling great out there. For us, it’s all about stacking games and getting better.”
Both Wapakoneta and Defiance ended their first drive with a missed field goal. The game remained scoreless until Moyer capped a nine-play drive with a 1-yard rushing touchdown four minutes into the second quarter.
Bishop’s forced fumble came on the ensuing Defiance drive, setting up Page’s touchdown. It was one of four turnovers Wapak forced on the night, including a 28-yard pick-six from Ryan Walter in the third quarter.
“Anytime you can switch the momentum and score off it, it helps you tremendously,” Moyer said. “We had to grind for 48 minutes tonight. It wasn’t easy contrary to what the scoreboard says. It’s a good start but we have to continue to focus and continue to get better every day.”
The Redskins capped off a dominant second quarter with a 13-yard touchdown from Moyer to Grant Houser. Houser, a tight end committed to the University of Louisville, finished the game with six catches for 47 yards.
Moyer ended the night going 16 of 22 through the air for 181 yards and a pair of touchdowns. He carried the ball eight times for 12 yards and a score. Moyer completed 10 of his first 12 passes in the first half.
LCC bounces back
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.
Shawnee surprises Elida
ELIDA – First-year Shawnee head coach Shane Wireman wants to change the mindset of his new team.
After leading Waynesfield-Goshen to back-to-back Northwest Central Conference championships, Wireman took over a Shawnee program that went 0-10 in 2023.
On Friday night, Shawnee held off Elida for a hard-fought 21-14 victory at Kraft Stadium to move to 2-0 on the season and 1-0 in the Western Buckeye League. Elida slipped to 1-1 overall and 0-1 in league play.
Shawnee scored the go-ahead touchdown with 5:06 left in the game on a 1-yard run by quarterback JJ Spyker.
Then, the Indians held off Elida down the stretch for the WBL victory.
“It’s always about getting your feet wet,” Wireman said about coaching a new team. “We knew Elida was going to come after us. It’s been a rivalry that my guys let me know about, first-hand. … Man, this feels good to come out on the good side of it.
“You grow so much in games like this when you have to go through adversity and you’re playing literally until the final seconds on the clock. That was a great performance. I give Elida a lot of credit. They were well-prepared. They hit some big plays on us, and it was a back-and-forth game. We came away with maybe one more play tonight than they did. And I’m happy we did.”
Shawnee’s offense rolled up 366 total yards on Friday.
Spyker did damage with both his arm and his legs. The junior quarterback was 13 of 26 passing for 193 yards and had two touchdowns. He also rushed for 115 yards on 15 carries and had a TD run.
Schriner wins No. 199
OTTAWA — Ottawa-Glandorf can stop thinking like a team that only won one game last year. The Titans can start thinking of themselves as one that already won one after a 34-18 win against Kenton in Friday’s Western Buckeye League opener.
O-G watched a 14-point lead in the second quarter shrink to just two points by halftime. Rather than folding, the Titans opened up the third quarter with a series of impressive plays to hold off Kenton’s comeback hopes.
“Those two scores we got right away after halftime are big,” O-G coach Ken Schriner said. “You know, our guys up front did a great job. We’ll see it on film, and I’m sure I’ll still find some mistakes, but I’m glad to see we’re improving.”
The Titans (1-1, 1-0 Western Buckeye League) opened up the second half with momentum. Grant Evers scored a 40-yard touchdown run the hard way. A defender hit him about five yards downfield, but he popped off that hit and cruised up the left sideline for a touchdown.
Kenton faltered on the ensuing kickoff, mishandling the ball. O-G’s Riley Trombley recovered the loose ball, setting the Titans up at Kenton’s 25. Three plays later, Evers cashed in on an 8-yard touchdown run, weaving through the defenders to give the Titans a 16-point edge with 7:23 left in the third quarter.
Evers finished the game with 199 yards on 29 carries with two touchdowns. He credited his offensive line, but he was also patient as he ran sweeps to wait for the seams to open.
“This is the most confidence we’ve had in a long time,” Evers said. “A lot of us don’t really know what it’s like to win because we haven’t had a good season since 2021. This win, this early on, is huge. I think we’ve got a lot of wins coming up ahead.”
Top performers
• Lima Senior’s Amari Addy caught the game-winning touchdown and finished with 4 catches for 55 yards against Findlay. Isaiah Wilson caught seven balls for 141 yards and one touchdown.
• Trenton Barraza rushed for 148 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries for Columbus Grove in a 42-14 win over Liberty-Benton.
• Zach Looser of Spencerville scored the game-winning touchdown with 53 seconds left against Wayne Trace. He ran the ball 27 times for 89 yards in the game. Kolten Grisby added a 14-yard pick-six for the Bearcats.
• Mikey Hale scored the game-winning touchdown for Bath with 1:11 left against Van Wert. He ran for two touchdowns and passed for another two on the evening.
• Dominik Osborne ran for 108 yards and a touchdown in St. Marys’ 35-6 win over Celina. Colton Mabry added 101 yards and two touchdowns and Caleb Schmidt ended the night with 86 yards and a touchdown.
• Xander Wilson of Hardin Northern threw for 101 yards and a touchdown and ran for 184 yards and a touchdown in a 30-13 win over North Baltimore.
• Quinn Westhoven of Leipsic ran the ball 17 times for 142 yards and three touchdowns in an 18-6 win over Van Buren.
• Carson Barnes of Waynesfield-Goshen scored four touchdowns in a 49-12 win over Crestline on Saturday.
FOOTBALL RESULTS AND SCHEDULE
Friday, Aug. 30
Ada 42, Buckeye Central 0
Allen East 62, Newark Cath. 28
Bath 43, Van Wert 37
Bluffton 42, Pandora-Gilboa 0
Coldwater 31, Clarksville Clinton-Massie 15
Columbus Grove 42, Liberty-Benton 14
Hardin Northern 30, N. Baltimore 13
Leipsic 18, Van Buren 6
LCC 14, Delphos St John’s 13
Marion Local 49, Franklin 0
McComb 31, Crestview 14
Minster 41, Cols. Africentric 14
New Bremen 10, Norton 0
Ottawa-Glandorf 34, Kenton 18
Ridgemont 34, Perry 0
Shawnee 21, Elida 14
Spencerville 28, Wayne Trace 27
St Marys 35, Celina 6
St. Henry 42, Archbold 14
Upper Scioto Valley 48, Cory-Rawson 6
Urbana 43, Ft. Recovery 6
Versailles 41, Ft. Loramie 0
Wapakoneta 34, Defiance 9
Saturday, Aug. 31
Waynesfield-Goshen 49, Crestline 12
Friday, Sept. 6
Marion Harding at Lima Senior, 7 p.m.
Indian Lake at Allen East, 7 p.m.
Ayersville at Bluffton, 7 p.m.
Patrick Henry at Columbus Grove, 7 p.m.
Wayne Trace at Crestview, 7 p.m.
Delphos Jefferson at Paulding, 7 p.m.
Fort Loramie at Covington, 7 p.m.
Spencerville at Riverside, 7 p.m.
North Central at Perry, 7 p.m.
Bath at Shawnee, 7 p.m.
Van Wert at Celina, 7 p.m.
St. Marys at Defiance, 7 p.m.
Elida at Kenton, 7 p.m.
Ottawa-Glandorf at Wapakoneta, 7 p.m.
Coldwater at Fort Recovery, 7 p.m.
Delphos St. John’s at Versailles, 7 p.m.
St. Henry at Marion Local, 7 p.m.
New Bremen at Parkway, 7 p.m.
Arlington at Ada, 7 p.m.
Elmwood at Leipsic, 7 p.m.
Pandora-Gilboa at Van Buren, 7 p.m.
Cory-Rawson at Hardin Northern, 7 p.m.
Upper Scioto Valley at Waynesfield-Goshen, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 7
Carey at LCC, 4 p.m.
