David Trinko: Lasting memories, lifelong lessons from Spartans’ title

It was 30 years ago this month that Lima Senior proved it could compete and beat anyone and, just maybe, so could the city itself. The Spartans came back from an early deficit to beat football powerhouse Cleveland St. Ignatius, 38-30, in the Division I state championship in November 1996, capping off an unpredictable 13-1 season. Along the way, the Spartans had five wins by a touchdown or less. People involved with it had a chance to relive the glory during a roundtable with the Lima Rotary Club on Monday. “It was really a special moment for Lima and one that really lives on forever because it was really a David vs. Goliath story,” said Keith Horner, now the superintendent at Apollo Career Center and the quarterbacks coach on that 1996 team. “In terms of what people expected, no one really ever expected Lima Senior to win it all. You can think of it as maybe one of the bigger upsets in history.” If you think back to Lima 30 years ago, it was a city with a chip on its shoulder and some