Richardson and Whitmer overtake Trojans

FINDLAY – Toledo Whitmer's Titus Richardson got cleared to play for the Panthers this week.Cleared for takeoff is more like it.A sophomore receiver with blazing speed, Richardson scored two touchdowns on end-around reverses, caught a 50-yard bomb from Whitmer quarterback Carter Born to set up another score and typified the kind of speed and big-play potential that the Panthers demonstrated all too well in beating Findlay 45-21 in a Northern Lakes League Buckeye Division game at Donnell Stadium."He was with us early in the season, but with the state it took a little time so he missed the last two games," Whitmer coach Justin Keller said of Richardson, who had to make sure all eligibility requirements were met after transferring to Whitmer.Jamon Holmes rushed for 183 yards and two touchdowns and Born completed 14-of-24 passes for 243 yards and two other scores as Whitmer positioned itself perfectly for a run at the NLL Buckeye Division title.Three teams – Whitmer (6-1, 2-0), Perrysburg (7-0, 2-0) and Oregon Clay (7-0, 2-0) – entered Friday's games tied for first in the NLL Buckeye. Whitmer's win kept the Panthers atop the standings. Perrysburg rallied from an early deficit to bet Clay 41-13, keeping Perrysburg in first and dropping Clay a game back.Whitmer hosts Oregon Clay next week, and is at Perrysburg for what will likely be a winner-take-all Week 10 showdown for the outright league championship."We've got our hands full the next two weeks,' Keller said."We're going to find out what we're made of."The Panthers seemed pretty well put together on Friday, churning out 332 yards on the ground, 243 through the air, and 575 yards total offense.Findlay stopped Whitmer's first drive to protect a 3-0 lead earned when Greyson Geiser, back in the lineup after being sidelined for two weeks, booted a 44-yard field goal to cap the Trojans' first possession.Whitmer would score touchdowns on its next six possessions, though, with three of the drives covering 80 yards and another 72.The Panthers were not shy about displaying their entire arsenal, either.Holmes had gains of 11, 6, 14 and finally 19 yards for the score on one drive. Richardson took a handoff on a jet sweep, got to the edge, turned up field and left everyone in his dust on a 68-yard TD run.Whitmer converted on three third down situations on another drive, Born fired 16-, 19- and 17-yard pass completions – the 17-yarder went for the touchdown – on a scoring drive that put the Panthers up 28-17 at the half, and, on its first drive of the second half, Whitmer marched 80 yards on nine running plays with Richardson covering the final 16 on another receiver reverse.Despite a bit of a slow start – a field goal and two punts on its first three possessions – Findlay did something few teams have been able to do against Whitmer this season, go to-to-toe with the Panther and match them almost TD for TD.Senior quarterback Riley Korkos hit Carter Imke with 25- and 10-yard passes, and scrambled twice – 19 yards for a first down and 16 yards for a touchdown – to trim Whitmer's lead to 14-10 midway through the second quarter.Holmes second TD run restored an 11-point lead, but Korkos fired 17- and 27-yard strikes to Geiser that set up an inside screen that Nash Montgomery took 10 yards for a score.That made it 21-17 Whitmer, but it was a pace Findlay could not keep up."You're not in a position you want to be in when you feel you've got to score every single time to keep up," Findlay High coach Stefan Adams said after the Trojans fell to 4-4 overall, 0-3 in the NLL Buckeye."That's a good team. We felt we were good enough to get stops. We have to figure out why we're not doing it."We can't hope for solutions, we've got to find solutions.Korkos completed 16-o-29 passes for 166 yards and two TDs while also rushing for 61 yards and a score. Ramier Williams had 131 yards on 19 carries for the Trojans, who wrap up the regular season with road games at Sylvania Northview next week and at Anthony Wayne on Oct. 23.Whitmer 7 21 14 3—45Findlay 3 14 0 7—24FIRST QUARTERFIN – Geiser FG, 44 yardsTW – Holmes 19 run Carmony kick)SECOND QUARTERTW – Richardson 64 run (Carmony kick)FIN – Korkos 16 run (Geiser kick)TW – Holmes 4 run Carmony kick)FIN – Montgomery 10 pass from Korkos (Geiser kick)TW – Maxim 17 pass from Born (Carmony kick)THIRD QUARTERTW – Richardson 19 run (Carmony kick)TW – O'Brien 8 pass from Born (Carmony kick)FOURTH QUARTERFIN – Korkos 5 run (Geiser kick)TW – Carmony FG, 23 yards FIN TWFirst Downs 23 25Rushes-yards 29-194 41-332Passing Yards 166 243Comp-Att-Int 16-30-2 14-24-0Punts-Avg. 3-46.0 2-28.0Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-0Penalties-Yards 8-68 9-60INDIVIDUAL STATISTICSRUSHING —Findlay, Williams 19-131, Lomeli 2-2, Korkos 8-61. Toledo Whitmer, Holmes 22-183, Richardson 3-86, Keeling 3-7, Greenleaf 7-33, Williams 4-22.PASSING —Findlay, Korkos 16-29-2, 166 yards; Richards 0-1-0, 0 yards. Toledo Whitmer, Born 14-24-0, 243 yards.RECEIVING – Findlay, Imke 6-64, Montgomery 5-43, Geiser 2-45, Williams 2-1, Emans 1-13. Toledo Whitmer, Johnson 4-47, Milamk 3-81, Bacon 3-42, Richardson 2-56, Keeling 1-9, O'Brien 1-8.Stats thanks to Jim Welch