MiddletownJournal.com

LIMA — The last time Jason Krause brought a team to Lima Stadium, it ended in a heartbreaking loss with Monroe in the Division III state semifinals last November.

On Friday night, Sept. 5, he left Lima with his first win as Middletown's head coach — a 69-21 thrashing of the host Spartans.

"It feels good," Krause said. "Any win is important, but to go 0-3 and have a long ride home heading into the Greater Miami Conference next week would not have been good. A win is a win, but as I always tell our kids, we can't be satisfied. We'll be happy tonight, but come (Saturday) morning, we start getting ready for Fairfield."

The one aspect of the Middies' offense that had been missing in the first two losses was the running game. Middletown's leading rusher in the first two games was Antonio Banks with 61 yards, but Banks came into this Lima battle running with a purpose. He totaled 179 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns to lead the Middies in the win.

"Coach had been on me all week in practice saying I hadn't proven anything yet," Banks said. "I had to come up here, work hard and stop tip-toeing around.

"I feel better after tonight, but I still have room for improvement," the junior added.

The game didn't start well for the Middies, however. A sloppy first series showed the Middies weren't quite ready after the 21/2-hour drive north. On their first possession, Middletown went for it on fourth-and-1 at its own 43-yard line and didn't make it.

But linebacker Aaron Lewis got the ball right back into the hands of the offense with an interception of Lima quarterback Jason Ward, and the Middies capitalized seven plays later with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Caleb Watkins to Allen Roberts, the first of their two touchdown connections in the game.

Lima battled back early on. Trailing 13-0 midway through the second quarter, Ward hit Danyel Walton on a 6-yard scoring pass to pull within six points.

But on the ensuing kickoff, Jerry Gates returned the ball 82 yards for a touchdown and the Middies went back up by 13 and were in control the rest of the way.

"It was a tough night," Lima Senior coach Darnell Collins said. "We had some opportunities, but we just didn't make the plays. But you can't take anything away from Middletown. They played aggressive, and we just never got on track."

The Middies held the Spartans to 139 yards rushing, 98 of them by Chaz Foster.

Watkins completed 13-of-16 passes for 307 yards and four touchdowns for Middletown. Nick McKnight had four receptions for 129 yards and a touchdown, and freshman Zach Edwards had two receptions for 74 yards and his first varsity touchdown.

"Once we settled down, the kids started competing and had fun and playing Middie football," Krause said.