Bath beats Cougars after rain delay

DAVE MOSIER/independent sports

LIMA – The Van Wert Cougar football team again showed improvements, but again lost to a Western Buckeye League opponent, falling 33-7 to the Lima Bath Wildcats in a game completed Saturday afternoon.

The Cougar offense again sputtered, generating only 168 yards of total offense, although the running game improved immeasurably over past weeks. Van Wert rushed for 127 yards on 29 carries, with Caleb Lloyd leading the charge with 136 yards and a touchdown on 22 rushes. Cougar quarterback Tyler Williams completed three passes for 41 yards and an interception.

Bath had 418 yards of total offense, with 233 yards of that through the air. Wildcat quarterback Doug Sanders generated most of the offensive yardage. He was 17 of 33 for two touchdowns and an interception, while also rushing for 127 yards on 23 carries and three TDs.

Taren Sullivan caught seven passes for 78 yards to lead Bath receivers, while Terrence Branson was the Cougars’ top receiver with two catches for 37 yards.

Van Wert scored its only touchdown early in the first quarter as Lloyd ran the ball in from 4 yards out at the 10:27 mark of the first quarter. Terrin Contreras kicked the extra point and it was 7-0, Cougars leading.

The rest of the game, unfortunately, belonged to Bath.

The Wildcats scored their first touchdown with 3:39 left in the first quarter when Sanders hit Cody Schuerman for a 33-yard scoring strike. Caleb Norton kicked the PAT and it was all tied up at 7-all.

The Cougars couldn’t convert on their next possession, but Bath came up with its second TD when Sanders broke free and ran 56 yards for the score with 10:09 remaining in the second stanza. Norton kicked the PAT and the Wildcats led 14-7.

Bath scored a half-minute later when Sanders ran 20 yards for a touchdown with 9:34 remaining on the scoreboard clock. The kick failed and the Wildcats led 20-7.

Neither team could score in the third quarter, but Bath added two more touchdowns in the final stanza. The first came on a 7-yard run by Sanders with 7:27 left in the game. A run for the point-after failed and it was 26-7, Wildcats. Sanders found Hayden Atkins for a 34-yard TD pass with 4:42 left in the game for the final score of the night. Norton kicked the point-after for the final 33-7 score.

The Cougars are now 0-5 overall and 0-4 in the WBL. Bath is 3-2 overall and 2-2 in league play.