LCC’s Gabe Cira fights for yardage against Antwerp’s Camden Fuller during Saturday night’s Division VII regional championshiop at Findlay’s Donnell Field.
Jackelyn Johnson | The Lima News
FINDLAY — The snow was swirling and blowing in numerous random bursts.
And through the snow came a plow in the form of the Lima Central Catholic running game.
LCC ran over Antwerp to post a 43-7 victory in a Division VII, regional championship game Saturday at Donnell Stadium.
LCC (10-4) advances to the state semifinals against New Bremen at 7 p.m. next Saturday at Wapakoneta.
Antwerp ends the year 13-1.
It was LCC’s Carson Parker and Gabe Cira who divided the carries as the T-Birds continually marched down the field.
For the night, quarterback Parker had 18 carries for 158 yards. Parker had TD runs of 10, 20 and 20 yards.
In the air, he completed 3 of 5 for 50 yards.
Cira plowed straight ahead for 19 carries for 135 yards. He had TD runs of 5 and 11 yards.
“It was like being a kid,” Cira said of running in the snow. “I used to play football in my backyard. It was great. I was just playing with my friends. I had so much fun today.
“They couldn’t throw the ball and we just ran the ball down their throat.’’
With the temperature hovering at 28 and the swirling wind and snow, the T-Birds came out running the ball.
“That was our game plan going in,” LCC coach Scott Palte said. “We wanted to control the line of scrimmage and run the football. Our kids did a really good job of getting off the ball. They have a very explosive offense and we wanted to control the tempo, try to control the time of possession and limit their possessions.
“We would have liked to mix in some play action, but we came in wanting to run the football, but there were points in the game where you had no chance of running the football. You had a hurricane type of snow. One time we tried to throw, the wind picked up and blew it over to that building.’’
LCC ran it right down the field on its first drive for a score.
It was Cira who spun off a tackle and went 5 yards for a TD.
That capped a six-play, 60-yard drive.
Parker started the drive with an 18-yard run and Cira had a 17-yard run.
The TD came with 9:59 left in the first quarter.
On the next time the T-Birds touched the ball, they went 65 yards on nine plays.
Again, all the plays came via the ground or snow.
Cira went off right tackle for an 11-yard TD to give LCC a 14-0 lead.
That came with 4:39 left in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, LCC ran through a snow squall en route to a TD.
Parker ran through the blizzard-like conditions for a 10-yard TD.
That capped a 12-play, 85-yard drive.
That gave LCC a 20-0 lead with 3:43 left in the second quarter.
With 1:45 left before halftime, LCC took over at its own 35.
On the second play of the drive, Parker hit Sal Guagenti for 25 to take the ball to the Archers’ 20.
Parker then scrambled out of the pocket and rolled down the left side for a 20-yard TD.
That gave LCC a 27-0 lead with 1:05 left before halftime.
At the half, Cira had 93 rushing yards, while Parker had 129 and two TDs.
“The first half of the year he (Cira) only had a couple of hundred yards and now he’s over 1,200 yards,” Palte said. “He’s done a great job.’’
Parker’s third TD, a 20-yard run, gave LCC a 36-0 lead.
LCC made it 43-0 with a 5-yard TD run by Payne Cutlip with 10:47 to go.
Tom Usher wrote this story for LimaScores.com. Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.
