Lima Central Catholic’s Carson Parker had 33 rushing touchdowns and 13 TD passes last season and was named first team all-district and second team all-state.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
LIMA — Lima Central Catholic head football coach Scott Palte will need to fill some voids from last year’s state semifinal team, which consisted of 14 seniors.
LCC returns eight letter winners from last year’s squad.
However, Palte does have three key skill players returning his fall. One athlete, in particular, will give the LCC coaching staff a very good starting point.
Senior Carson Parker (6-3, 210, QB/DB), who accounted for 46 touchdowns (33 rushing TDs, 13 TD passes) last season, returns at quarterback for the Thunderbirds.
In 2022, Parker was a first team all-district selection and a second team all-Ohio selection at quarterback in Division VII.
Parker helped lead LCC to a state semifinal appearance in 2022, finishing the season with a final record of 10-5.
Parker is a huge dual-threat quarterback.
In the 15 games (2022), Parker rushed for 1,865 yards on 284 carries (6.57 yards per carry) and had 33 touchdowns.
Parker was 126 of 254 passing (49.6 completion percentage) for 2,156 yards with 13 TDs and nine interceptions.
Also, returning with Parker are Billy Bourk (6-6, 193, Sr. SE/DB) and Matthew Quatman (5-11, 175, Jr., SB/DB).
Last season, Quatman hauled in 45 passes for 910 yards and had seven touchdowns from the slot-back position. Quatman also rushed for 127 yards on 30 carries with three rushing TDs. Bourk caught 25 passes for 433 yards with five TDs at split end.
“Carson (Parker), Billy (Bourk) and Matthew (Quatman) made a lot of plays for us, last year,” Palte said. “Carson had an outstanding season of running the ball and throwing the ball for us. Those guys were really good for us.
“We had a great senior group last year. We had 14 seniors. A majority of our linemen were seniors. We have only one returning starter back up front. Those three, we’re hoping will lead. We’re a young team. We have four seniors on our roster. We have a lot of young guys that will have to step up. They’ve worked hard. They are hungry. They watched us win, and they want to be a part of it. We’re lucky to be able to build around Carson, Billy and Matthew.”
The T-Birds lost several key players from last year’s squad. The biggest loss for LCC was from the backfield.
“Last year, Gabe Cira really came along,” Palte said. “He had like 1,300 yards rushing. We need to find a guy who can carry the ball. Carson (Parker) threw for nearly 2,200 (yards). … He (Parker) ran for 1,800 (yards). We rely on him quite a bit. We need some of the other guys to step up.
“We have a good receiving corps. We’re going to throw the ball a little more this year. We’ll use Matthew (Quatman) in many different ways. We feel like we have some nice weapons. We just have to find where they all fit.”
Palte said the biggest challenge for his staff will be filling open spots in the trenches.
“All of our linemen, who are going to start, are underclassmen. They’re all back next year. So, we have a really nice group to build on. They’re young. They’re good-size kids. They’re good athletes. They’re just very raw. With our schedule, you have to grow up fast. We have some good teams on the schedule. You had better be physical. The guys are working hard, and there is good competition out there,” Palte said.
The T-Birds will employ a Jet Spread offensive scheme this season.
“Billy (Bourk) is a good weapon, coming back,” Palte said. “We have Matthew (Quatman) and some other young guys, like Mylon Cowens (5-11, 165, Jr., SE/DB). We have some quick, young guys. We would like to get them in space and throw it around a little bit. We might not be such a power team, like last year. We had six physical linemen (last season). We ran unbalanced, a lot. We were able to push people around a little bit and got more physical as the year went along. So, we’ll be a little more balanced on offense, this season.”
Last season, the T-Birds scored 30.8 points per game. They held their opponents to 23.2 points per contest.
LCC will utilize a 4-3 defensive scheme.
The top returners on the defensive side of the football are Parker and Quatman, who both play in the secondary.
Last season, Parker made 34 solo tackles and had 22 assists. He also had four interceptions. Quatman had 39 solo tackles, 22 assists and three interceptions.
Since LCC is not in a league, filling out the schedule is a challenge for Palte.
“It (the schedule) is not easy. First of all, the local schools are in their league games in about Week 3 on,” Palte said. “So, you’re not going to find them (area schools) after that. From Week 3 on, you’re just looking for games. One of the curses of being successful for the last handful of years is that a lot of teams who are smaller in size, don’t want to play us. So, we’re playing teams like Bishop Ready and Bishop Hartley – schools who are a touch out of our weight class. But it sharpens us as the year goes on. Our kids learn great lessons when they play that level of competition. But our whole goal is to be a really good, hard-nosed, solid football team in Week 11 (start of the playoffs). I think our schedule has helped us do that.”
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TEAM PROFILE
Coach: Scott Palte (10th season)
Division: VII
Last year’s record: 10-5
Ticket information: flyhightbirds.com/HTtickets
Returning 2022 varsity letter winners include: Carson Parker (Sr., QB/DB), Billy Bourk (Sr., WR/DB), Chris Crnkovich (Jr., OL/DL), Matthew Quatman (Jr., WR/DB), Gianni McKee (Jr., OL/DL), Carson Heffner (RB/LB), Isaac Leppert (Jr., WR/LB), Mylon Cowens (Jr., WR/DB)
Promising newcomers include: Dakota Gerdeman (Soph., SB/DB), Caden Falke (Soph., TE/LB), Louis Knotts (Soph., OL/LB), Brady Malcom (Soph., OL/DL), Andrew Baldauf (Soph., OL/DL), Kadyn Johnson (Soph., OL/DL), Josh Young (Soph., OL/DL)
2023 schedule
(Kickoffs scheduled for 7 p.m. unless noted; subject to change)
Aug. 17 — at Shawnee
Aug. 26 — at Delphos St. John’s, 1:30 p.m.
Sept. 1 — at Carey
Sept. 9 — Bishop Ready, 1 p.m.
Sept. 15 — at Bishop Hartley
Sept. 23 — Elmwood, 6 p.m.
Sept. 29 — Lucas
Oct. 6 — Richmond Heights
Oct. 14 — Cardinal Stritch, 4 p.m.
Oct. 21 — Fort Loramie, 4 p.m.
