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Lakers claim share of league crown Indian Lake’s football team accomplished something it has not done in 15 seasons Friday night. The Lakers clinched a share of the Central Buckeye Conference Mad River division title by drilling visiting Northwestern 46-15 for the school’s first league title in 15 years. Indian Lake shares the Mad River crown with Urbana and Greenon. All three teams finished league play with 4-1 records. The Lakers finish the regular season at 6-4 overall. “Our seniors have been waiting four years for this,” said IL head coach Dave Coburn. “The community has been waiting 15 years for this and I’m proud that the kids could win it for them. “These players paid a tremendous price the past five or six years. We’ve went from winning no league games to maybe two games. It is great to see them come through that adversity and win a championship.” The Lakers’ season may not be over. They are still hopeful of a playoff berth. Sitting at ninth in Division III, Region 10, Indian Lake needed some help to get into the playoffs. They received a boost from Ottawa-Glandorf’s win over Lima Shawnee. But complicating matters for Indian Lake was Rossford’s win over Sylvania Northview. It looks like the eighth spot in the region will come down to the Lakers and Rossford, with the point totals for both schools being very close. “We are going to let things fall into place,” said Coburn. “If we get in, it could be by a fraction of a point. We are still proud of this group of young men regardless of what happens.” The Lakers put up 46 points in the first half and totaled 433 yards of offense against the Warriors. “The offense was clicking on all cylinders,” said Coburn. “Everyone had a great night. And our defense held them to less than 50 yards in the first half. It was just a stellar effort on both sides of the ball.” Indian Lake wasted little time in scoring in the first quarter. Senior quarterback Tyler Maddox had two TD runs, while Nate Harmon ran another score to put the Lakers up 21-0. In the second quarter, senior Dylon Sullivan punched in a 2-yard score. A missed extra-point attempt made it a 27-0 game. The Lakers’ next score had a unique spin on it. Maddox, who led the Lakers in receiving last season at wide receiver, became a receiver again as he hauled in an 81-yard touchdown pass from fullback Thomas Taylor. That gave the Lakers a 33-0 lead. The Lakers’ Chris Hoge and Kevin Christman capped the scoring with runs of six yards each. In the second half, Northwestern scored twice in the third quarter. Piori Payne and Jason Frederick each caught touchdown passes from quarterback Matt Roberts. Taylor led the Lakers’ offense with 81 yards rushing on five carries. Harmon added 73 yards on 11 carries. |