SPENCERVILLE-The Spencerville Bearcats will take the field one last time at Memorial Field on Friday night against NWC leader LCC.
“LCC provides a lot of challenges,” said Spencerville head coach Kyle Koenig. “They have athletes all over the field and they are really good up front. They are undefeated for a reason, and we are going to have to match the physicality that is coming to us for us to be successful.”
The Lima Central Catholic Thunderbirds have lived up to the hype in 2026 as they come in a perfect 8-0 and will have a chance to clinch a share of the NWC crown against Spencerville on Friday.
“We have been able to focus on the week ahead of us week by week,” said LCC head coach Colin Stolly. “This has allowed us to focus on the week rather than the season as a whole. Our kids have shown a lot of maturity throughout the season and that has shown up in the big games. We have been down at halftime three times this year and have found a way to keep playing each snap. We are better because of this.”
The T-birds have averaged 37 points per game and feature the league’s best defense giving up just 12.8 points per game. The offense has been led by Senior Quarterback and Findlay commit Brady Parker. Parker has completed 73 of 106 pass attempts for 11 touchdowns and 2 interceptions to go along 1,227 passing yards. Parker has also rushed for 356 yards and 5 touchdowns on 61 carries on the season.
Parker didn’t play last week against Jefferson due to injury so it was a next man up mentality as the T-birds remained perfect.
“It’s football, guys are going to get hurt,” commented Stolly. “If you don’t have the next man up mentality you will struggle. You never know when someone is going to get hurt and that is why we need to prepare our guys all of the time to be ready to play.”
LCC has gotten many contributions from many different weapons on offense that will feature a couple of different weapons at running back and at receiver. Mike Quatman comes in as the league’s leading catch grabber with 28 receptions for 718 yards and 5 touchdowns. Lester is the lead man in the running back room with 79 carries for 569 yards and 13 touchdowns.
Defensively the T-birds give up the fewest total yards in the league at 232.9 per game and fewest rushing yards at 87.6 per game.
For Spencerville they turned a little bit of the tide against Allen East when they got their first lead of the season on a pick 6 from junior cornerback Drew Baumgartner for an early 6-0 before the Mustangs scored 49 of the last 55 points in the game for 49-12 defeat.
“The start of the game was last week was great,” commented Koenig. “I think Drew catches a lot of grief for being a corner and guard at the same time, but he is a smart kid and just knows what he can and can’t do and plays to his strengths. But it was awesome to see, and Drew works extremely hard, and I was just happy for him to have such a cool moment on Homecoming.”
The Bearcats found the end zone in the second half as well on a touchdown run from junior running back Keaton Jacobs.
“I think the second half gave our guys a bit of confidence that we needed,” said Koenig. “I was happy with how they finished things off last week.”
Friday night’s game will be the last home game for Seniors Kyle Bohyer, Chandler Bassitt, Landon Kahle, Braylon McNett, and Nathaniel Boyer.
“I just appreciate everything this group has done for us over the years,” commented Koenig. “Football is a tough game to play. These guys have put a lot of time and energy into it, and I’m just really proud of them for continuing to fight this year. Obviously, we would all like things to be a little different in the wins and losses column, but this group hasn’t let things affect them. They have continued to work and find a way through things, and I appreciate that as a coach.”
Both coaches gave their keys to the game on Friday.
“We want to establish a run game and attack all areas of the field offensively,” concluded Stolly. “Defensively we need to make sure to be gap sound and trust our rules and keys. This will put us in the best position to win this week.”
“Keys for the game are that we need to control the clock and control the line of scrimmage.” Concluded Koenig. “Keep their playmakers that they have off the field as much as we can. We need to match their physicality up front. Lastly, we need to finish plays with good tackling. Wrap up, drive our legs and get more than one guy to the ball.”
If you can’t make it to the game tune in to Zsports 3 as Nate Stidham and Shane Falke will have all the action with the Beantown Barbers pregame show at 6:30pm followed by kickoff at 7pm.
SERIES NOTES: Since 2005 The T-birds are 15-1 against the Bearcats. Spencerville last win against LCC came on October 3rd 2014 when the Bearcats picked up the 35-21 victory.
