Middletown flattens Lima Senior

LIMA - Lima Senior has lost plenty of games over the years.

But none like this.

In the end, it was historic. But none of the Spartans' faithful will want to remember it.

Middletown scored the most-ever points on a Lima Senior football team in a 69-21 victory over the Spartans Friday at Lima Stadium.

The 69 points broke the mark of 67 set by Massillon Washington in a 67-35 win over Lima Senior in 2000.

If that wasn't enough, there was more bad news for Lima Senior.

Lima Senior head coach Darnell Collins picked up a pair of unsportsmanlike conduct penalties in the second quarter and was ejected with 7:52 left in the first half with Lima Senior trailing 13-0. By Ohio High School Athletic Association rules, Collins must sit out next week's game at Dayton Meadowdale and won't be able to coach.

"I'm going to always fight for my kids," Collins said. "I'm not going to let referees not let my kids play football. We came out with the same intensity we showed last week down in Dublin and they wouldn't let us play football. That's sad. I usually don't complain about refs. It happened tonight.

"We were being physical. We weren't being dirty, by any stretch or means. And they (the refs) were talking to our kids and they weren't talking to any other Middletown kids and they were doing a lot of jawing themselves."

Middletown moved the ball on the ground and in the air nearly at will.

Consider these numbers:

Middletown racked up 676 yards of total offense, including 368 on the ground.

Middletown tailback Antonio Banks ran for 178 yards on 16 carries. He had touchdown runs of 3 and 50 yards.

In the air, 6-foot-3 junior quarterback Caleb Watkins completed 13 of 16 for 308 yards and four touchdowns. He had touchdown passes of 14, 29, 18 and 55 yards.

"When the line gives me time to throw, we can make some things happen," Watkins said. "Toward the end of the first quarter, we started running the ball and passing the ball with ease. They (the offensive line) just started dominating. They couldn't stop us."

Penalties also dominated the game. Lima Senior was flagged for 11 penalties and 124 yards. Middletown was hit by 13 penalties and 135 yards.

Lima Senior's Chaz Foster had 21 carries for 98 yards and a touchdown.

Collins received his first unsportsmanlike call for objecting to a Lima Senior personal foul with close 11 minutes left in the half and Middletown leading 6-0.

The next time Middletown had the ball, Watkins hit Nick McKnight on a slant pattern over the middle. Collins thought McKnight was down after he was tripped up after the catch. But McKnight recovered and it was ruled a 29-yard touchdown pass. That gave the Middies a 13-0 lead with 7:52 left in the first half.

Collins went out to question the call and received another unsportsmanlike call and was ejected.

"The kid was clearly down. Both knees were on the ground," Collins said. "He rolled and then he got up and they said he scored a touchdown. To me, that's just inexcusable.

"I wasn't that far out on the field. ... All I said was ‘Are you serious?' because that kid was down. ... I have to sit out next week and that's the state rule, but I'm always going to fight for my kids."

Lima Senior got within 13-7 on a 6-yard touchdown pass from Jason Ward to Danyel Walton.

But the Middies took control in the game when Middletown's Jerry Gates returned the following kickoff 82 yards for a touchdown. That gave Middletown a 20-7 lead with 5:17 left in the half.

"That was huge to get that," Middletown coach Jason Krause said of returning the kickoff. "It got our excited and enthusiasm back on the sideline."

The Middies led 27-7 at the half and 55-14 after three quarters.