Lima Senior’s Kahliq Wash breaks a Bowsher tackle Friday night at Spartan Stadium.
Nate Reynolds | The Lima News
LIMA – It was a slow start for Lima Senior in Friday’s Toledo City Athletic League football matchup with visiting Toledo Bowsher.
However, once Lima Senior’s offense got into sync, the game was pretty much over by the second half.
Lima Senior’s high-powered spread offense proved to be too much for Bowsher to handle as the Spartans rolled to a convincing 51-14 victory over the Blue Racers on Friday night at Spartan Stadium.
Lima Senior junior quarterback Ja’Niaus Hall was 20 of 37 passing for 515 yards with six touchdown passes. Hall also rushed for a TD.
Lima Senior improved to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in the TCAL. Bowsher slipped to 1-4 overall and 1-1 in league play. This marks the sixth time in school history that Lima Senior has started the season 5-0.
One of the reasons Lima Senior took a while to get the offense going on Friday was because of penalties. For the game, Lima Senior was whistled 13 times for 152 yards.
“It gets you out of rhythm. (We had) penalties early. We weren’t in rhythm,” Lima Senior coach Bill Lawrence said. “They (Bowsher) came out and showed a defense they haven’t played all season long. We just took a little bit to get it going. But once we got it going, we got it revved up and were dropping from everywhere.”
Hall connected with six different receivers on Friday.
Kahliq Wash caught four passes for 173 yards and had two touchdowns. Boog Wilson hauled in seven passes for 165 yards and a TD. Keyon Smith had five receptions for 94 yards and a score. Vontae Watkins-Daniel had two catches for 70 yards and a TD. Amontrae Davis had a 15-yard TD pass for the Spartans.
“That’s what we try to do. … We have to spread it around,” Lawrence said. “We have a lot of guys that can do great things. We spread the ball around and get it to all our athletes. It starts up front. Our offensive line did a good job.”
The Spartans led 16-0 by the end of the first quarter. By halftime, Lima Senior led 37-14.
The Spartans started the second half on a strong note as they scored on the second play of the third quarter. Hall connected with Watkins-Daniel for a 54-yard scoring strike. With the extra point by Emmanuel Jokinen-Rutz, Lima Senior led 44-14.
With the 30-point lead, the second half was played with a running game clock.
Lawrence was especially pleased with the way his defensive unit took control of the game in the second half.
“They got us a little bit on the read. Their quarterback got loose a few times. So, we’ll go to the film and see what is going on there. But outside of that, our defense played lights out,” he said.
For the game, Bowsher recorded 171 total offensive yards. Quarterback Jordan Singer was 6 of 19 passing for 90 yards with one interception. Singer rushed for 61 yards on 10 carries and had two rushing TDs.
“You always start the year off with the goal of a winning season,” Lawrence said. “So, if we win next week, we will hit one of our goals. We must be ready to go (next week). We go on the road and play a Woodward team, who we must be ready for.”
Lawrence said his team is focused on getting better.
“What I do is continue to put it on our seniors for their leadership. We need their leadership. This is their senior year. … It’s their season. So, we need them to do the things to make sure there is no let-down. We had a senior leader, our middle-linebacker Tavion James, who stepped up at the end of practice the other day and said, ‘We have to continue to give more effort at practice, so we’re more prepared and we’re ready to go in weeks 10, 11, 12, 13’,” Lawrence said.
Score by quarters
Toledo Bowsher 0 14 0 0 – 14
Lima Senior 16 21 7 7 – 51
Team stats
Bowsher Lima Senior
81 Rushing Yards -4
90 Passing Yards 515
171 Total Yards 511
5/13/1 Comp./Att./Int. 20/37/0
9 First Downs 16
6/3 Fumbles/Lost 1/1
1/-14 Punt/Average 1/30
11/93 Pen. /Yards 13/152
Individual stats
Rushing – Bowsher: Jordan Singer – 10 carries, 61 yards, 2 TDs; Lima Senior: N/A
Passing – Bowsher: Jordan Singer – 5 of 13 for 90 yards, 1 INT; Lima Senior: Ja’Niaus Hall -20 of 37 for 515 yards, 6 TDs.
Receiving – Bowsher: Nah’Sohn Triplett – 1 for 40 yards; Lima Senior: Kahliq Wash – 4 for 173 yards and 2 TDs.
