'Kitty' gets loose in McComb's rout of LCC

LAFAYETTE – His nickname – Kitty – may not sound intimidating. But at Goodwin Field on Friday, the claws came out. "We cut the Kitty loose," said McComb coach Kris Alge. "And he had a heckuva game offensively and defensively." Brad Miehls – alias "the Kitty" – rushed for 70 yards and a touchdown and was a terror on defense on Friday when McComb avenged last year's playoff loss to Lima Central Catholic by beating the Thunderbirds 45-13 in a Division VII Region 16 semifinal at Allen East High School. Braxton Althauser rushed for 169 yards and three touchdowns and Chase Woodruff and Wilson Grubb scored as well. McComb improved to 11-2and will face 11-2 Patrick Henry, a 26-14 winner over Hopewell-Loudon in Friday's other Region 26 semifinal, for the regional championship and a trip to the Division VII state semifinals. That game will be played Friday, with the OHSAA announcing playoff sites on Sunday. Miehls isn't 100 percent sure how he got the nickname. "It started my freshman year," said Miehls, a senior running back/linebacker. "Coach (Chris) Myers just started making up names for everyone – Superman, Batman, Kitty … It just stuck, and it's been that way ever since." Miehls had three sacks in the game. His speed off the edge also applied the pressure that led to a 2-yard punt, another short drive by McComb and a 45-13 lead that forced a running clock the entire fourth quarter. "I knew I had to do my part," Miehls said. "That's all I can control, and I tried to do that to the best of my ability." "The last two years we got to this game and stumbled," Alge said. "We talked to the seniors and said. "Change it. You guys have the opportunity to change this and they did, they changed the outcome." With a little help from LCC. McComb recovered a game-opening squib kick that led to a 30-yard scoring drive, got an 11-yard scoring drive when Chase Woodruff intercepted a pass by LCC quarterback Carson Parker, and went up 21-0 when Braxton Althauser read a swing pass perfectly, jumped the route and returned the pick 39 yards for a score. "It didn't start the way we wanted. We needed a great start, but we lost the opening kickoff, then had a couple of interceptions and just like that it was 21-0" said LCC coach Scott Palte. "We knew we had to play well because that's a good team with a lot of veterans, a lot of experience who played against us last year. We did not make enough plays. That's a credtit to them, though, That's a really good team." McComb didn't throw a single pass, but generated 261 yards on the ground. Althuaser had 169 yards on 23 carries and Miehls 70 yards on 13 attempts. Parker, a 6-3, 215-pound senior who had over 350 all-purpose yards in LCC's 20-16 playoff win over McComb a year ago, did complete 18-of-35 passes for 179 yards and two scores. He was intercepted twice, though, and sacked five times. ""I was really happy for our defense," Alge said. "We talked about it. We challenged them after the Liberty-Benton game (a 44-22 loss) and tonight they really stepped up. That's a good offensive team over there. They've been on a roll, averaging over 40 points a game. (Parker) made some plays, so for us to hold him down like we did and get to him and tackle him, I thought was a great job by our defense." LCC 0 13 0 0 — 13 McComb 7 24 14 0 — 45 First Quarter McC – Woodruff 1 run (Woodruff kick) Second Quarter McC – Grubb 2 run (Woodruff kick) McC – Althauser 39 interception return LCC – Quatman 9 pass from Parker (Quatman kick) McC – Althauser 38 run (Woodruff kick) LCC – Cowans 3 pass from Parker (kick blocked) McC – Woodruff 27 FG Third Quarter McC – Althauser 3 run (Woodruff kick) Second Quarter McC – Miehls 1 run (Woodruff kick) LCC McC First Downs 16 17 Rushes-yards 17-70 45-261 Passing Yards 179 0 Comp-Att-Int 18-35-2 0-0-0 Punts-Avg. 1-2.0 1-35.0 Fumbles-Lost 0-0 0-0 Penalties-Yards 4-22 5-38 INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING — LCC, Mi. Quatman 1-30, Flores 2-14, Cowens 1-13, Ma. Quatman 4-9. McComb, Althauser 23-169, Miehls 13-70, Grubb 4-17, Shoop 2-3. PASSING —LCC, Parker 18-35-2, 179 yards. RECEIVING — LCC, Cowens 6-45, Bourk 5-67, Ma. Quatman 4-46, Mi. Quatman 3-21.