QUATMAN SHINES IN LCC’S WIN OVER CAREY

LIMA — In football, great players often make plays that change a game. But it isn’t every day that a player dominates a single game from start to finish. That’s exactly what Matthew Quatman did for Lima Central Catholic in its 25-7 win over Carey at Spartan Stadium on Saturday night. The 5-10, 175-pound, two-way weapon racked up 196 all-purpose yards and accounted for all four of his team’s touchdowns on two runs, a reception and an interception return. Quatman caught a 20-yard touchdown from Brady Parker late in the first quarter, and on Carey’s first play from scrimmage in the second quarter, Quatman stepped in front of a screen pass and ran it back for a touchdown from 40 yards out. His pick-six was a result of recognizing a play that Carey ran earlier in the game. “They ran the same play on the first play of the game,” Quatman said. “I tried to jump it then, and our coaches got on me for gambling on it. The next time (they ran the same play), I saw the quarterback look over and I knew it was coming, so I pushed a guy into the ball, caught it and scored.” “Matthew said they got that play on him once and he wasn’t happy about it,” LCC coach Scott Palte said. “He told me if they ran that play again, he was picking it off. He didn’t lie to me. He was dead on and he made a heck of a play.” Just like they did last week against Delphos St. John’s, LCC leaned on its running game against Carey and it paid off. As a team, the T-Birds ran the ball 35 times for 217 yards and two touchdowns, both from Quatman, who finished the night with 176 yards on 24 carries. “Week after week we’ve been telling ourselves that we’re going to have a breakout game if someone just steps up and makes plays,” Quatman said. “I got the ball a lot tonight and our line blocked great. It was a team effort. We all did our job.” After the pick-six made it 13-0, LCC closed out the first half with a five-play drive that included a 22-yard pass from Parker to Michael Quatman, which set up a 40-yard run from Matthew Quatman with 50 seconds left. “He put it on his shoulders all week to make sure we practiced and we played hard,” Palte said of Matthew Quatman. “He came out tonight and was the best football player on the field and he did a great job on both sides of the ball. That’s what you expect your senior captain to do.” The T-Birds led 19-0 at the break. Carey opened the second half with an 11-play drive, all runs from quarterback Kyler Boes, Eli Steen and Dash Puckett, to end the shutout on Steen’s two-yard run. The drive took more than five minutes. After a 19-yard run from Quatman on LCC’s next possession, Carey forced a punt three plays later and appeared to be on the verge of scoring after using 12 plays to drive the ball inside the 10, including six straight run plays from Steen that went for 39 yards. The 13th play, however, resulted in disaster for the Blue Devils when Dash Puckett fumbled the ball and LCC recovered. Two plays later, Parker hit Michael Quatman with a 59-yard pass, then three straight runs to Matthew Quatman ended a five-play drive with a 7-yard rushing touchdown. “That’s a huge play, especially when we get the turnover and Brady hits a long pass to get the ball out from the shadow of our goal line,” Palte said. “We flipped the field so that even if we didn’t score, we’d make them have to go a long way if they got the ball back.” It was one of three turnovers for the T-Birds, along with Quatman’s interception and a fourth-quarter interception from Caden Falke. “When you win the turnover battle in a high school football game, I’m going to guess that you win 90% of the time or more,” Palte said. “We were able to create some plays and take care of the football, which is huge to give ourselves a chance. I’m really proud of our kids for the physicality they showed. That’s a big, physical team over there and I thought our guys did a pretty good job holding on up front.” Brady Parker finished the night 9 of 13 for 153 yards and a touchdown with 20 yards rushing. Michael Quatman had 5 receptions for 93 yards and Lausen Flores added 27 all-purpose yards. LCC recorded 370 yards of total offense compared to 261 from Carey. Kyler Boes went 4 of 7 for 101 yards with two interceptions for the Blue Devils. Steen ran the ball 21 times for 99 yards and a touchdown, and Tripp Phoenix made three grabs for 74 yards.