High school football: Lima Senior's win over Piqua looks familiar

Some of the names and faces are different but in a 35-20 win over Piqua at Spartan Stadium on Friday night in its season opener, Lima Senior appeared ready to follow up last year’s turnaround season with another good campaign.

“We’ve still got some things we have to clean up but our seniors did a great job and there were a lot of new guys stepping up and making plays,” Lima Senior coach Bill Lawrence said.

Lima Senior rolled up 489 yards of total offense. Quarterback Ja’niaus Hall was 29 of 49 for 294 yards and four touchdowns and the Spartans even lined up with the quarterback under center and handed the ball off to a running back several times.

Isaiah Wilson was Lima Senior’s leading receiver (7 catches, 120 yards, 2 touchdowns) and its leading rusher (12 carries, 81 yards and a touchdown). Kahliq Wash had 9 catches for 94 yards, Keyon Smith pulled in 6 catches for 61 yards, Vontae Watkins had five catches and Amari Addy had four catches, including a touchdown.

“Our receivers are pretty dangerous. We’ve got guys who can do things and make plays. With that being said, we’ve got to continue to get better,” Lawrence said.

Lima Senior scored first after taking the opening kickoff and never was behind. A 46-yard touchdown pass from Hall to Wilson, plus a two-point conversion pass to Smith, made it 8-0.

Piqua tied the game on an 18-yard touchdown run by Jericho Burns and a two-point conversion in the final minute of the first quarter.

The Spartans went up 16-8 on a 5-yard touchdown pass from Hall to Smith but Piqua answered with a 7-yard touchdown run by Burns, who rushed for 140 yards on 26 carries and scored three touchdowns in the game, to reduce the lead to 16-14.

Hall’s 30-yard touchdown throw to Wilson just 29 seconds after Burns’ touchdown gave Lima Senior a 22-14 halftime lead.

The Spartans’ final two scores came on a 5-yard touchdown run by Wilson and on a 27-yard touchdown catch by Addy, a junior who is playing football for the first time since he was in the eighth grade and has been a varsity basketball player since he was a freshman.

“You’ve got to take what the defense is giving you sometimes. We were trying to get the ball where they were giving it to us. Then we just decided to go old school and run the football and play a little wishbone. That’s a little different than five-wide, let it fly,” Lawrence said.

“I thought our defense played really well. They played lights out. They (Piqua) are a team that is going to ground and pound and with our style of play they’re going to get the ball a little bit and I thought our defense stood up and made a lot of plays.”

Lima Senior will play at Findlay next Friday night. The Trojans’ quarterback Ryan Montgomery left their game against Toledo Central Catholic on Friday night in the first quarter with what appeared to be a knee injury.