LCC PUSHES PAST SHAWNEE IN OPENER

SHAWNEE TOWNSHIP — Sometimes you just need a little push from your friends. During a second-half comeback that led to the game-winning touchdown in Lima Central Catholic’s 22-19 win over Shawnee on Thursday night, there were at least two times where the Thunderbirds turned two or three-yard gains into 7 to 10-yard gains just by keeping their legs churning and moving the pile. Such group maneuvers aren’t orchestrated; they’re more spur of the moment. “You just have to be ready. Once you see your running back get stood up, you just have to go get behind him and start pushing him and just try to get as much as you can get,” LCC offensive lineman Brady Malcom said. LCC was in danger of getting stood up by Shawnee, which led 19-14 from the 2:50 mark of the first half until the Thunderbirds went ahead to stay with 8 ½ minutes left in the game. “A lot of stuff went on in that game. We made a lot of adjustments at halftime. That first half was a track meet up and down the field. The second half was a grind-it-out and let’s see who’s a little bit tougher and I think we ended up being a little tougher at the end,” said LCC coach Colin Stolly, who was in his first game as the Thunderbirds’ head coach. “We’ve got guys who have played up front for two or three years. Any big game we’ve been in, they want the ball run behind them. We’ve got the guys who can finesse around the field but at the end of the day, football is about can you dominate up front and in the third quarter and fourth quarter, we did that,” he said. Shawnee went up 7-0 the first time it had the ball on a 60-yard touchdown pass from JJ Spyker to Reese Davidson. LCC answered with a game-tying 14-play drive that ended with a 3-yard touchdown run by quarterback Brady Parker. Shawnee, which scored the first three times it had the ball, went up 13-7 on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Spyker to Chase DePalma. LCC responded with a 57-yard screen pass connection from Parker to Michael Quatman for a go-ahead touchdown. But Spyker’s 8-yard touchdown run on Shawnee’s third possession gave the Indians a 19-14 halftime lead. Shawnee threatened to expand that lead when Jarin Bagley returned a punt to LCC’s 26-yard line in the third quarter but Quatman intercepted a pass by Spyker at the goal line and returned it to LCC’s 27-yard line on the first play after the return. That pick eventually led to what turned out to be the game-winning score when Quatman scored again on a 25-yard screen pass on third down and 25 yards to go. “They both were screens; we have two variations. I found a seam and tried to score as best I could. Last year, I was more of a slot running back type. This year I moved to receiver because we had a little less in the position. It turned out good but we’ve got work to do,” Quatman said. Shawnee coach Shane Wireman said, “That one turnover was the biggest thing, honestly. We got a stop, got a good return, and we went with an aggressive play call on first down. We’ve just got to be smarter with the ball.” Shawnee, with sophomore Brogan Rayer playing quarterback after Spyker suffered what appeared to be a leg injury, got to LCC’s 7-yard line with just over two minutes to play but that threat ended with back-to-back incompletions on third and fourth down. “We’ve been working really hard and I feel like in that fourth quarter all that hard work paid off. Everything was clicking, we were in better shape and that’s where we had the advantage,” Malcom said.