Six Touchdowns, One Team

Lake - "My blockers, definitely my blockers. I was seeing holes." Marquis Williams after a historic performance for the Vikings was the first to give credit to others after a 56-31 Leipsic victory over Lake.

Williams' impact on the game would be felt by the flyers right from the opening kickoff as he would find those holes set by his blockers all the way to paydirt. The return went 76 yards through the heart of Lake Community Stadium and put the Vikings up 6-0.

The Flyer's high powered offense would respond with a quick drive of their own. On the second play of their first chance with the ball 5'6 junior Julian Rodriguez would take a handoff to the outside and would have a 42 yard house call. Rodriguez ended his day with 303 yards from scrimmage (194 rushing/109 receiving) and 4 touchdowns of his own. 

After two huge plays the game was 7-6 Flyers advantage and it was just 55 seconds into the third meeting all time between these schools. Leipsic won the first matchup 25-19, Lake responded with a victory last season by a score of 33-24.

The next kickoff was wisely sent away from Williams and gave sophomore quarterback Marc Kirkendall his first opportunity to air the ball out. The Vikings would march down the field with consecutive plays of 24 and 11 yards before the 5'10 junior Avery Paris caught a 5 yard touchdown to put Leipsic back on top. Paris had 4 receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown for the Vikings. The most impressive part of Avery's game is his route running ability, Paris was constantly shaking DBs and finding himself open.

The Rodriguez show for Lake wouldn't stop any time soon as it would be a perfect pass from junior KJ Magers that would cap off a 7 play drive with a 36 yard passing touchdown for the Flyers. Magers had a solid day for Lake going 15/29 with 209 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Lake's next kickoff would be sent right to Williams who found another seam to run down and would take the return 83 yards to the endzone. This return plus a successful put the Vikings up 20-14 with 4:47 to go in the first quarter. The game would take a turn after this point, both defenses had a chip on their shoulder to get the first stop of the game.

In the next four series (two for each team) there would be three turnover on downs. The one possession that didn't end that way was no better for the Leipsic offense as it was Jaxson Rymers who went up and got an interception off of Kirkendall. Halfway through the second quarter Leipsic would start on Lake's 42 and even after being pushed back by a holding call it would be capped off by a 1 yard Marquis Williams rushing touchdown putting Leipsic up 28-14.

With 3:46 to go in the first half the Flyers attempted to score before opening the second half with the ball but a quick 3 play drive ending in a punt would give the Vikings a chance to pour on some more scoring. A 14 yard play put Leipsic on the 26 and sophomore Grady Bryan would deliver with a perfect post route ending in the endzone. Bryan would end his day with 4 catches, 59 yards, and a touchdown.

Now down 36-14, Lake needed a response but Leipsic would deny it via a John Dewar interception before Leipsic would take their lead into halftime.

The Flyers would start with excellent field position at the Vikings 48, but would only be able to pick up 5 yards in four plays causing a turnover on downs. That series would spark offensive fireworks on the next three drives.

Within the next eight plays, spanning over three drives, there would be three touchdowns combining for 146 yards. The first one was Marquise Williams running 57 yards, followed by a huge pass to Julian Rodriguez going 47 yards, and then an immediate response from Williams going 42 yards on the ground for a touchdown. It was 50-21 with the Vikings holding on to a lead with 7:09 left in the third.

Momentum would swing back towards Lake as Gavin Kohlhofer and Julian Rodriguez would score the next two touchdowns and the Flyer's defense generated a pair of turnover on downs to keep the score at a now manageable 50-35 deficit with 4:18 to go in the game.

The Vikings needed to find a way to put away the hot Flyers and the gameplan seemed simple,  give the ball to your biggest playmaker. Marquis Williams would get three touches on the drive, the last of which was a 26 yard rushing touchdwon putting Leipsic up 56-35 and ending the game.

With his sixth and final score of the day Williams put his name in the Putnam County history books. Fittingly, Williams becomes the sixth ever Putnam County football player to have 6 or more touchdowns in a game. Leading the way with 7 is former Ottawa Glandorf Titan Ned Laubenthal who accomplished the feat in 1973 against Van Wert. Manyord Amstutz (Pandora vs Arlington 1944),              Cory Ricker (Pandora-Gilboa vs Vanlue 1993), Jacob Basinger (Pandora-Gilboa vs North Baltimore 2014), and Blaine Maag (Columbus Grove vs Troy Christian 2003) are the names who are tied with Williams.

The Vikings history book will need updating as well with their new single game touchdown leader. Previously Leipsic had a three way tie at first place with 5 touchdowns. The names on that list are Jeff Vance (vs. Arcadia in 1984), Trevor Schroeder (vs. Vanlue in 1992), and most recently Jay Beckman (vs. Patrick Henry in 2002).

In a postgame interview heard on Putnam Sports Radio, Marquis Williams never truly mentioned himself. He credited his blockers, new leaders, last year's seniors, and just about everyone in the program. Williams' name will be in the record book, but I'm sure if it were up to him it would say "2025 Vikings" instead of his name, he truly is a selfless player.

The Vikings look to keep their momentum going in the upcoming weeks against Van Buren and Elmwood before a huge week four matchup with the Rockets of Pandora-Gilboa.

Read more articles by Chase Dettrow