High school football: Late drive secures win for Delphos St. John's against LCC

Aug. 26—DELPHOS — Delphos St. John's quarterback Grant Ulm called the Blue Jays' 42-40 win over Lima Central Catholic on Saturday afternoon at Stadium Park something he will always remember.

St. John's coach Todd Schulte said he'd never seen anything quite like the game-winning 99-yard drive that began with 3:02 left on the clock happen for the Blue Jays in his 25 years as their head coach.

If you like drama, excitement, lots of points and, most of all, late in the game heroics, this game had it all. If you were looking for dominating defense, this probably wasn't your cup of tea.

After St. John's led 21-13 at halftime, LCC scored touchdowns on its first four second-half possessions to take a 40-28 lead with 8:37 to play.

But St. John's (2-0) got two touchdowns from running back T.J. Werts at the end of long drives on its last two possessions of the game to get a win to remember.

First, Werts ended a 10-play, 66-yard drive with a 1-yard run that, combined with Braylon Metzger's extra-point kick, cut LCC's lead to 40-35 with 5:40 to play. Then he completed the game-clinching drive with an 11-yard burst for a touchdown with 17 seconds to play.

St. John's quarterback Grant Ulm said, "We just kept fighting and fought through the adversity. When times were tough we just kept pushing. We took the momentum back and just kept going.

"This game I'll never forget for sure. It's the top game I've ever played in," he said.

Ulm was 14 of 24 for 192 yards passing and rushed for two touchdowns. He was 5 of 6 passing for 57 yards on the final drive.

Werts said he had been bothered by leg cramps during the game. "But Coach Schulte had a lot of trust in me and I was ready to go," he said.

"There was a lot of pressure. I was getting a little nervous, to be honest. I knew I had to do what I had to do. I saw the hole, got great blocks from my line and I hit it as hard as I could. Coach Schulte kept telling us we've got it, we could do it, and dang it, we did."

St. John's 99-yard drive began after LCC downed a punt at the 1-yard line following a defensive stop by the Blue Jays on a third-down play.

That drive contained 11 plays and a personal foul call that was costly for LCC.

"That's a first," Schulte said when asked if he'd ever had another of his team's win a game with a 99-yard drive.

"We just had some kids make some plays at times we needed played. I'm very proud of our resilience. I have seen a 98-yard drive go against us and we lost a state championship (against Norwalk St. Paul) because of it. It's nice to be on the other end of it," he said.

LCC coach Scott Palte said, "I thought the second quarter was about as bad as we could play. Give St. John's credit, they took it to us in that second quarter. We went over a couple things at half. Our kids came out well. But you're not a good football team if you give up 99 yards to win a game," he said.

"Plain and simple, defensively we were terrible for four quarters. We've got to get better, but luckily for us there is a lot of football left and we've got time. Offensively we had a really nice second half. St. John's is a good football team and we'll get better."

Quarterback Carson Parker was 12 of 17 for 210 yards for LCC (1-1). He threw a 42-yard touchdown pass to Mylen Cowens for the Thunderbirds' first score and ran for 116 yards on 15 carries and rushed for two touchdowns.

Matthew Quatman had 101 yards on 16 carries and rushed for three of LCC's touchdowns.

Game summary

LCC — Mylen Cowens 42 yard pass from Carson Parker (Matthew Quatman kick)

DSJ — Grant Ulm 5 yard run (Braylon Metzger kick)

LCC — Carson Parker 2 yard run (kick missed)

DSJ — Collin Feathers 2 yard run (Braylon Metzger kick)

LCC — Matthew Quatman 2 yard run (Quatman kick)

LCC — Matthew Quatman 3 yard run (Quatman kick)

DSJ — Connor Gaynier 19 yard run (Braylon Metzger kick)

LCC — Carson Parker 3 yard run (pass missed)

LCC — Matthew Quatman 1 yard run (Quatman kick)

DSJ — T.J. Werts 1 yard run (Braylon Metzger kick)

DSJ — T.J. Werts 11 yard run (Braylon Metzger kick)

Total Offense

Lima Central Catholic 465 yards

Delphos St. John's 398 yards

Passing Leaders

Carson Parker (LCC) 210 yards

Grant Ulm (DSJ) 192 yards

Rushing Leaders

Carson Parker (LCC) 116 yards

Grant Ulm (DSJ) 83 yards

Receiving Leaders

Mylen Cowens (LCC) 4 for 88 yards

Drew Boggs (DSJ) 4 for 40 yards

Reach Jim Naveau at 567-242-0414.