By Brandon Judeh

sports@vindy.com

WARREN

As Week 9 of the high school football season came to a conclusion, Warren Harding head coach Steve Arnold let out a sigh of relief.

His team had just won a hard-fought 15-0 slugfest against Bedford, clinching the Lake Erie League championship and a playoff berth.

“We have played at a high level all year, but we didn’t play as crisp as we have been, but we still won the football game and that’s a sign of a good football team,” Arnold said. “It’s not easy to win a championship.”

Harding continues to find ways to win, whether it’s through comebacks, pounding the football or the Raiders’ devastating defense.

“We weren’t playing too well early on, but coach Arnold is always talking about pushing and finding some heart and that’s what we had to go out there and do,” said senior running back LeShun Daniels.

It was only one year ago that the Raider faithful were discouraged by their team’s struggles and were looking ahead to basketball season.

Fast-forward to now, things have changed drastically.

“The coaches believe in us and us players believe in each other, we are one big family,” Daniels said.

Daniels finished the game with 205 yards on 27 carries.

The Raiders dressed in throwback uniforms, paying tribute to the former Harding Panthers at Mollenkopf Stadium.

Bedford controlled the tempo early, as the Bearcats pounded the ball up the middle and controlled the clock.

Deep into the second quarter the Raiders (8-1) finally got on the board when senior John Coleman scored on a 4-yard run. Harding botched the snap on the PAT, but Jimmy Rumple ran for a two-point conversion to give the Raiders an 8-0 halftime lead.

“At halftime I told my guys that we were a little lethargic and that they needed to stay free and play solid football,” Arnold said. “We made some mistakes, but a win is a win and the seniors got the win in their final home game.”

The second half played out much like the first, with long, clock-crunching drives that came up empty.

Bedford (4-5) drove down to the Raiders’ 12-yard line midway through the fourth quarter, but that’s when the Harding defense made perhaps the biggest play of the game.

Bearcats quarterback Deon Carter went back to pass on fourth-and-4, but a fierce Raiders blitz led to an overthrown pass and gave the ball back to Harding with 7 minutes remaining.

Daniels’ 50-yard run set up a 7-yard touchdown pass from Lamar Carmichael to Mik’Quan Dorsey to clinch the game and the LEL title..

“In my initial meeting with the players last November, I told them this was going to be a special season and it has been special so far,” Arnold said. “We just need to stay focused.”

Harding will look to clinch a home playoff game next week at Lorain.