Lima Central Catholic’s Carson Parker finds room to run during Saturday’s game against Fort Loramie at Spartan Stadium.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
LIMA — The final week of the high school football regular season concluded Saturday afternoon at Spartan Stadium.
Fort Loramie and Lima Central Catholic squared off in the final meeting for each as an independent before both join the Northwest Conference next fall. It was a battle back and forth before LCC was able to separate itself in the second half for a 45-21 victory.
Lima Central Catholic carried a 24-14 advantage entering the break and never trailed in the second half thanks to a stingy defensive effort.
Disaster struck the Thunderbirds on their very first play from scrimmage, senior quarterback Carson Parker fumbled at his team’s 34-yard line and Fort Loramie pounced. Two big plays led the visiting Redskins into the end zone, Will Hollands’ 24-yard run set up Gabe Harts’ 11-yard touchdown pass to Holland and Fort Loramie led 7-0.
“That was outstanding, we always talk about starting fast and we did that tonight,” Fort Loramie head coach Spencer Wells said. “But we couldn’t capitalize on way too many drives tonight, but if we can get off the field and then finish drives, we can be a dangerous team.”
Parker, who had 24 carries for 190 yards and three TD runs, put his early mistake behind him immediately and began to engineer the Thunderbird attack to four consecutive scoring drives to end the first half.
Lima Central Catholic head coach Scott Palte dialed up some trickery to provide a spark for the T-Birds offense. A 40-yard flea flicker hauled in by Billy Bourk put LCC inside the red zone, Matthew Quatman picked up five yards on fourth and 3 to keep the drive alive before Quatman reeled in Parker’s 7-yard touchdown pass to put the T-Birds in front.
“Our kids really bounced back well after not starting how we wanted too.” Palte said. “I think today was the best game we have played all year, all three aspects played well.”
Fort Loramie answered early in the second quarter when Gabe Hart found Maxwell Mauer for a 32-yard touchdown pass to even the score once again at 14 apiece, but the Redskin defense could not keep Lima Central Catholic off the board.
“That was Gabes’ first start,” Spencer Wells said. “I am really proud of him. We told him after the game we are so excited to attack next week with him and we are excited about his potential with our offense.”
The Parker and Bourk connection struck a chord for the second time just before the midway point of the quarter. Matthew Quatman connected on his 22-yard field goal attempt to give LCC the advantage at halftime 24-14.
“Carson (Parker) is a great leader,” Palte said. “He is an exceptional football player running and passing the ball. We will let that first play fumble go when he can have days like this.”
LCC began the second half just as strong as it finished the first half. The T-Bird defense stood tall and turned Fort Loramie over on downs at the Thunderbird 22-yard line, Carson Parker took care of the rest once the offense went back onto the field.
Parker sprinted down the Lima Central Catholic sideline 46 yards to the house with 5:15 left in the third before the defense made yet another big stand. Matthew Quatman read Gabe Harts’ pass attempt to perfection and returned his interception 65 yards to the end zone. LCC led 38-14.
“In these big games it’s not about how many yards or points you put up, it’s about how your defense plays,” Palte said. “Our guys did a really good job of making plays when we needed them, Matthews’ pick six really impacted us and gave us momentum.”
Fort Loramie found a rhythm before the end of the penultimate quarter when Gabe Hart connected with Maxwell Maurer for a 59-yard completion before Will Holland scampered into the end zone for a second time. Maurer’s 6-yard touchdown run brought Fort Loramie within 17.
Just as it looked as if Fort Loramie was going to strike again, it was the Thunderbird defense coming to the rescue.
Matthew Quatman intercepted Hart’s pass at the goal line to all but seal the deal for Lima Central Catholic. The T-Bird defense forced four turnovers on the day.
Fort Loramie (5-5) and LCC (6-3) have clinched a postseason berth and will await Sunday’s regional pairings to be released to learn their next opponent.
Game summary
Score by quarters:
Ft Loramie 7 7 14 0 – 21
LCC 14 10 14 0 –45
Scoring.
F – 11-yard pass Gabe Hart to Will Holland (Aden Bolin PAT Good)
L – 5-yard run Carson Parker (Matthew Quatman PAT Good)
L – 7-yard pass Carson Parker to Matthew Quatman (Quatman PAT Good)
F – 32-yard pass Gabe Hart to Maxwell Mauer (Bolin PAT Good)
L – 14-yard pass Carson Parker to Billy Bourk (Quatman PAT Good)
L – 22-yard Matthew Quatman Field Goal
L – 46-yard run Carson Parker (Quatman PAT Good)
L – 65-yard Michael Quatman interception return (Quatman PAT Good)
F – 6-yard run Will Holland
L – 1 yard run Carson Parker
Ft Loramie LCC
15 First downs 12
348 Total yardage 460
90 Rushing yardage 238
258 Passing yardage 222
21-32-3 Passing (Com-Att-Int) 10-14-0
0-0 Fumbles-Lost 1-0
2-35.5 Punts-Average 1-31.5
2-15 Penalties-Yards 4-35
Individual leaders:
Passing: Fort Loramie – Gabe Hart 21-32-258; LCC – Carson Parker 10-14-222
Rushing: Fort Loramie – Will Holland 11-73 ; LCC – Carson Parker 24-190
Receiving: Fort Loramie – Maxwell Maurer 9-160; LCC – Billy Bourk 6-172
Nate Stidham wrote this story for LimaScores.com. Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.
