Lima Senior’s Kaden Hampton looks to avoid Northview’s Carter Vrooman during Friday night’s game at Spartan Stadium.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
LIMA — Lima Senior’s offensive unit wants to spread it out and move the ball down the field as quickly as possible.
In Friday’s nonleague football game against Sylvania Northview, Lima Senior did just that as it scored early and often, en route to a convincing 45-14 victory at Spartan Stadium.
With the win, Lima Senior improves to 2-2 overall on the season. Northview slips to 1-3.
Lima Senior competes in the Toledo City League. Northview is a member of the Northern Lakes League.
Lima Senior jumped out on Northview, scoring 23-unanswered points in the first quarter on seven offensive plays.
That first-quarter explosion by Lima Senior set the tone for the rest of the game.
On the night, Lima Senior sophomore quarterback Ja’niaus Hall was 24 of 40 passing for 398 yards, threw five touchdown passes, and was intercepted twice.
Hall spread it around Friday, connecting with six different receivers. Zaveon Garner led the way for Lima Senior with six catches for 117 yards and had two TD receptions, including a 70-yard scoring strike in the first quarter.
“He (Hall) is doing a great job,” Lima Senior head coach Bill Lawrence said about his quarterback. “He’s learning. It’s a whole new system for him. He’s got a good group of receivers, and he has a great offensive line. So, when you have a great offensive line – and they’re older, like they are – they take care of the sophomore (quarterback).”
Lima Senior wasted little time getting on the scoreboard.
On the very first offensive play of the contest, Hall found Boog Wilson (1 catch, 80 yards) on a swing pass, and Wilson broke loose down the sideline and went 80 yards for the touchdown. With the extra point by Emmanuel Jokinen-Rutz the Spartans had the early 7-0 lead.
About seven minutes later, the Spartans struck again.
Hall connected with a wide-open Garner for a 70-yard scoring strike. With the 2-point conversion, Lima Senior led 15-0 with 4:49 left in the opening stanza.
Lima Senior would get on the scoreboard one more time before the end of the first quarter.
This time, the Spartans’ special teams got in on the act.
Boog Wilson fielded a Northview punt and raced 71 yards to the end zone. With the 2-point conversion, the Spartans led 23-0, which held up to the halftime break.
“Boog Wilson came out and did a great job,” Lawrence said. “He had that big first play of the game for us, on offense. He did a great job. He took it to the house. Then, he gets the punt (return for a touchdown) later. He’s electric with the ball in his hands. We’re trying to get him the ball a lot more.”
Northview finally got on the scoreboard, midway through the third quarter, on a 2-yard TD run by Jackson Clausius. With the PAT, Lima Senior’s lead was 23-7.
The Spartans scored twice before the end of the third.
Hall threw a 6-yard TD pass to Kaden Hampton (5 catches, 57 yards), which capped off a 5-play, 61-yard scoring drive for the Spartans.
Then, with 10 seconds left in the third, Hall found Chance Sanders (3 catches, 47 yards) open from 2 yards out to push the Lima Senior lead to 37-7.
The Spartans rounded out their scoring in the fourth quarter, on a 15-yard scoring strike from Hall to Garner.
Northview’s special teams came through with less than six minutes left to play in the game. Andrew Fineske ran a kickoff back 70 yards for a TD.
For the game, Northview’s offense recorded 125 yards in the air and 86 more on the ground.
To go along with Hall’s 398 passing yards, the Spartans rushed for 5 yards.
It wasn’t just his offense that Lawrence was pleased with. He also praised his defense for its solid performance.
“They’ve been playing well. We’re talking all the time, that to win a championship, we’re going to need a strong defense. Those guys play physical, and they’re doing a lot of great things. So, I’m very proud of our defense,” Lawrence said.
Game summary
Score by quarters:
Northview 0 0 7 7 – 14
Lima Senior 23 0 14 08 – 45
Scoring:
Lima Senior–Boog Wilson 80 pass from Ja’niaus Hall (Emmanuel Jokinen-Rutz kick)
Lima Senior – Zaveon Garner 70 pass from Ja’niaus Hall (kick failed)
Lima Senior–Boog Wilson 71 punt return (pass good)
Northview – Jackson Clausius 2 run (Keegan McClain kick)
Lima Senior – Kaden Hampton 6 pass from Ja’niaus Hall (run good)
Lima Senior – Chance Sanders 2 pass from Ja’niaus Hall (run failed)
Lima Senior – Zaveon Garner 15 pass from Ja’niaus Hall (pass good)
Northview –Andrew Fineske 70 kick-off return (McClain kick)
Northview Lima Senior
13 First downs 13
211 Total yardage 403
86 Rushing yardage 5
125 Passing yardage 398
12-22-x1 Passing (Com-Att-Int) 23-41-2
2-1 Fumbles-Lost 3-1
3-31.7 Punts-Average 2-35.5
3-17 Penalties-Yards 6-60
Individual leaders:
Passing: Northview-Boston Vargas 12-22-104; Lima Senior- Ja’niaus Hall-24-40-398.
Rushing: Northview-Quinton Wilson 15-56; Lima Senior-Kaden Hampton 1-13.
Receiving: Northview-Brayden Schade 4-56; Lima Senior- Zaveon Garner 6-117.
