LIMA – Lima Senior’s 24-17 win over Middletown was not the prettiest, but Spartan head coach Andre Griffin will cherish it for the rest of his life.
“At the end of the day we are 1-0,” said Griffin, who recorded his first win as the Spartan head coach despite watching his team beset with a plethora of penalties, mental miscues and two turnovers.
The Spartans were flagged for 17 penalties totaling 137 yards.
However, Middletown was also plagued by the yellow hankie for 105 yards but in addition to their penalties, the Middies had five turnovers and that proved to be the difference.
“I think both teams made a lot of mistakes,” said Middies head coach Lance Englecka. “We had missed assignments and missed tackles and that is what you get when you come out for the first time.”
Griffin said it was the defense that made the difference in the game especially in the fourth quarter when it counted.
Lima Senior twice turned back Middletown, who had driven deep into Spartan territory, late in the game hat quashed the Middies from tying and possibly grabbing the lead. Led by Rico Williams on the line, the Spartans continually applied pressure on the quarterback and penetrated the line to prevent their running backs from getting a full head of steam.
In the second half Lima Senior allowed just 81 total yards.
Spartan running back Jaden Walker was the the Lima Senior offense as the fleet-footed tailback tallied 215 yards on 27 carries and two touchdowns.
The biggest miscue for the Middles came late in the third quarter they were tagged with a substitution infraction on what would turn out to be the game-winning drive for Lima Senior. The Spartan drive, which began at their own 2-yard line, appeared to have stalled at the 20. However, the penalty of too many men on the field allowed the drive to continue.
Seizing advantage of this penalty, the Spartans continued their march downfield. The drive looked as though it were going to stall again at the Middies 22 yard line with the Spartans facing a crucial third and four.
However, Walker made a tremendous 19-yard run where he bulled and battered his way for 19 yards on to get the ball to the 3-yard line. He then finished off the drive when he dove into the end zone for the score from three yards out to give the Spartans its first lead since the first quarter. Mitchell ran in for the 2-point conversion to give Lima the 24-17 lead with 11:02 left in the game.
The Middies struck first on their first offensive series when Middle signal caller Zach Maloney connected with a wide open Shandon Morris for 58 yards to give Middletown the early 7-0 lead after the successful extra point at the 10:30 mark of the first quarterback
Lima Senior quickly responded on their next possession when Walker, on the third play of the series, picked up where he left off last year and raced 90-yards to pay dirt to collect the Spartans’ first touchdown of the season. After a successful extra point the score was tied 7-7 with 9:49 left in the first quarter.
The Spartan defense manufactured their own points when Dniyae Morris tackled Middletown running back Jaevan Wright in the end zone for the safety.
Middletown’s defense decided to get into the scoring act when the Middies returned a fumbled and raced in from 28 yards for the team’s second touchdown of the night with 4:q6 left in the first stanza. With the successful extra point, the Middies owned a 14-9 lead.
Lima Senior got to within two when Mitchell marched the Spartan 66 yards on 10 plays and capped off the sustained drive when he hit Xavier Nichols over the middle for a 14-yard strike with two minutes left in the half.
.neFileBlock {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.neFileBlock p {
margin: 0px 0px 0px 0px;
}
.neFileBlock .neFile {
border-bottom: 1px dotted #aaa;
padding-bottom: 5px;
padding-top: 10px;
}
.neFileBlock .neCaption {
font-size: 85%;
}
