Vontae Watkins-Daniel of Lima Senior breaks away for a first-quarter touchdown against Marion Harding on Friday night at Spartan Stadium.
Chris Howell | The Lima News
LIMA – Lima Senior dazzled in front of its Senior Night crowd on Friday night.
Marion Harding visited the Spartans for the 31st time in school history and for the first time since 2016, and Lima Senior secured a 49-24 win behind a seven-touchdown performance from Junior quarterback Ja’Niaus Hall.
“We got the win tonight for our Seniors on Senior night. The guys played well even though we had some turnover issues and some things we need to clean up, but we’ll celebrate the win for sure,” Lima Senior coach Bill Lawrence said.
Lima Senior (3-0) spent less than a minute on the field before they etched the first mark on the scoreboard. Hall found an open Vontae Watkins-Daniel in stride for a 53-yard touchdown pass.
The fast start didn’t last long for Bill Lawrence’s squad.
Marion Harding (1-2) marched down the field on its opening possession before stalling out just inside the red zone. Jackson Shipley registered the first points for the Presidents after he knocked through a 29-yard field goal.
The Presidents carried that momentum over on defense by intercepting Hall on back-to-back possessions.
Marion Harding turned those turnovers into points with 4:35 to play in the first quarter when Connor Pennington maneuvered his offense down the field, capped off by a Raymond Scott-Harbolt touchdown. It was the first of three on the night for Scott-Harbolt.
At the end of the first, Marion Harding led 10-8.
On the first play of the second quarter, the Spartans erased that deficit and never looked back.
Senior Isaiah “Boog” Wilson entered the night with three touchdown receptions in his first two games, and he added three more to his season total on Friday night.
In the early moments of the second quarter, Hall swung a screen pass toward the Lima Senior sideline and Wilson took care of the rest as he bolted 74 yards to the end zone.
Disaster ensued for Marion Harding on the ensuing kickoff as Emmanuel Jokinen-Rutz laid the ball sideways on the tee before perfectly deflecting the ball off of a President, giving it back to the Spartans.
Three plays later, Hall found Senior Keyon Smith for a 40-yard touchdown pass.
Midway through the frame, Lima Senior’s defense turned Marion Harding over on downs before the Hall-Smith connection resulted in another Spartan touchdown, pushing the lead to 28-17 at the break.
“Ja’Niaus (Hall) does a good job leading our offense,” Lawrence said. “Marion came out in schemes that we didn’t see on film and that confused us a little bit but once we got rolling, all he had to do was facilitate and get the ball to our weapons, and they can take care of the rest.”
Lima Senior’s defense continued to haunt the Presidents. On three third-quarter possessions, the Spartans forced a punt and two turnovers on downs.
Hall and the Spartans continued to hit the gas pedal when they regained possession.
Smith appeared to have his third touchdown of the night after he reeled in Hall’s 46-yard pass, but offensive holding negated the play. Lawrence drew up the same play call moments later and this time, Hall connected with Smith for the 52-yard score.
Late in the third quarter, Hall nearly engaged the running clock format when he and Boog Wilson played pitch and catch for a 40-yard touchdown.
And for the second time in the game, the Spartans recovered an onside kick following a touchdown.
“When you can get an onside kick, your chance of winning the game is 50%, when you recover two, your chances go up to 75%.,” Lawrence said. “It paid off for us tonight. There were no kickoff returns. We want a chance to get the ball instead of just kicking it to them.”
Tonight’s win for the Spartans moves them to 3-0 for the first time under Bill Lawrence. They’ll start Toledo City League play in two weeks.
“It’s a good feeling to be 3-0, that’s for sure,” Lawrence said. “We have a lot of work to do and we’ll go back to work in the morning. Our next opponent is tough, and we need to stay focused on our goals.”
Lima Senior’s final non-conference tune-up is at Sylvania Northview on Friday. They’ll return to Spartan Stadium on September 20th for their TCAL opener against Toledo Bowsher.
Nate Stidham wrote this story for LimaScores.com
