2nd Cougar QB hurt in loss to Lima Bath

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

LIMA — A crucial injury in the second quarter, and a score shortly before halftime were key factors in Lima Bath’s 32-13 victory over the Van Wert Cougars on Friday.

Van Wert quarterback Storm Pierce, who was subbing for injured starter Lawson Blackmore, fired two first quarter touchdown passes but was forced to leave the game in the second quarter with an ankle injury.

Pierce’s first touchdown toss was a 16-yarder to Nate Place with 7:13 left in the first quarter. Jordan Danylchuk’s extra point was good, and the Cougars led 7-0.

Bath’s Zac States kicked a 30-yard field goal at the 4:27 mark, but on fourth and long, Pierce struck again with a 16-yard scoring strike to Jacoby Kelly. The extra point was blocked, but Van Wert enjoyed a 13-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Those were the final points scored by the Cougars.

Pierce went down in the second quarter and had to be helped off the field.

Prior to the injury, Pierce was 10 of 11 passing for 90 yards and two scores.

“Before the injury, you could tell Storm was starting to get more comfortable and was doing a good job,” Van Wert head coach Keith Recker said.

Bath (2-5, 1-5 WBL) scored twice in the second quarter. Bo Gross bulled in from six yards out with 7:15 left in the second quarter, and States kicked the extra point to trim Van Wert’s lead to 13-10.

The Wildcats struck again with 1:13 left until halftime, on a 44-yard touchdown pass from Kaden Sullivan to Harrison Gough. Bath then lined up for the extra point, but used a bit of trickery to score on a two-point conversion toss from States to Jordan Berens, to go up 18-13.

“Giving up that touchdown pass before halftime was tough,” Recker said. “It really changed momentum.”

Kaden Sullivan scored on a three-yard run at the 7:47 mark in the third quarter to put the Wildcats up 25-13, and Gross used a 15-yard touchdown run to ice the game with 2:14 left in the final quarter.

The trio of Sullivan, Gross and Tre’ Terry combined for nearly 300 yards rushing, while Sullivan threw for 91 yards a score.

“Bath was big and physical, and continued to pound it at us,” Recker said.

Before moving to quarterback, Place caught three passes for 35 yards and one touchdown.  After the switch, he completed 5 of 14 passes for 35 yards and one interception, and carried the ball 12 times for 63 yards.

“Nate is very athletic, and played quarterback as a freshman,” Recker said. “He took some reps for us as the No. 2 quarterback over the summer,” the coach added.

The Cougars (0-7, 0-6 WBL) will play at Celina next Friday night. The game will air live on WERT 1220 AM and streaming on thevwindependent.com.