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Story provided by Rob Kiser, Piqua Daily Call
LIMA – In a scrimmage where keeping track of who the Piqua football team was playing was the most difficult task at times, the Indians fared well in their final scrimmage against three opponents.
The Indians were part of the first scrimmage on the new turf installed at 70-year old Lima Stadium and Piqua coach Bill Nees left the scrimmage feeling very good where his time is at after battling with Toledo Rogers, Lima Central Catholic and Lima Senior.
As in the first scrimmage with St. Marys, the defense did not allow a score, despite some challenging offenses presented by the three opponents, and the offense came through with several big plays.
"It was a little different format," Nees said. "Sometimes, it was hard to keep track of exactly what we were doing and I thought the kids did a good job adapting to that."
In the first three rotations, Piqua played each of the three teams in a series of situations. That included four plays from the other team's 32, four plays from the other team's 27, four plays from your own three and then a first and 10 series from the opponents‚ 20.
Starting against Toledo Rogers, the Piqua defense didn‚t allow a play longer than 11 yards.
The series ended on a third and goal from Piqua's six, when following a huge hit, Pete Rolf picked up a fumble after a huge hit and could have went the distance in a game situation.
With Jafe Pitcock and Pete Rolf leading the way, the Piqua defense created havoc for all three opponents.
"I thought our defense did a great job getting pressure all night," Nees said.
On Piqua's third play on offense, Brandon Saine appeared to be stopped for a five-yard gain. No less than five Toledo Rogers defenders had their hands on Saine, when he suddenly broke free, turning it into a 30-yard touchdown run as the crowd roared.
"Hopefully, you are going to see a lot of those unbelievable plays from Brandon (Saine) this year," Nees said.
Phil Collier added a 28-yard run to the two-yard line and quarterback Justin Hemm finished off the series with a 20-yard touchdown strike to Kyle Bauman, coming across the middle.
Piqua decided to air things out against LCC. After another shutout by the defense, Hemm hooked up with Saine for a 32-yard touchdown pass, the only score in the series.
Hemm also had a 22-yard run in the series and Collier dashed for 11 yards.
Against Lima Senior, Hemm had 26-yard run, Saine faked several defenders out of their shoes on a 22-yard run and scored the only touchdown in the series.
He caught 12-yard pass from Hemm to set up a one-yard run. Collier finished the series off by intercepting a Lima Senior pass.
Piqua then played Lima Senior in an eight-minute, continuous clock quarter. The Spartans drove near midfield from the 30, before Piqua forced a punt.
But, with the continuous clock, Piqua only had time for three plays, moving the ball 29 yards.
The Indians capped things with a 12-minute continuous clock quarter with Toledo Rogers.
Piqua drove near midfield, before an interception gave Rogers the ball on its own three.
Two plays later, David Rolf recovered a fumble at Rogers eight-yard line.
After a holding penalty and a loss on running play gave Piqua second and goal at the 19, Hemm found Bauman wide open in the end zone for his second touchdown of the night.
"That's what we were looking for," Nees said. "We want to make big plays."
After a three-and-out from Rogers, Piqua got the ball back and Saine ended the night with an eight-yard run.
On the night, Saine had 94 yards on 15 carries and Hemm had 90 yards on 11 carries, while completing six of 13 passes for 102 yards. Collier added 39 yards on two carries.
"I think this was good preparation (for the regular season)," Nees said. "We had some things we wanted to work on and we were able to do that. Any time you can get an extra day of preparation (instead of scrimmaging Friday) that has to help.
"We will go back and look at the films. Then, on Monday, we will be ready to roll for Grove City."
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