It was a hot, muggy, September afternoon, in the small town of Convoy, Ohio. Home of the Crestview Knights.
The humidity hug over the town, like a wet blanket. The Local Slice was selling their delicious pizza. You could smell the popcorn as you entered the gate. There was even a small trailer selling fruits.
It was Military Appreciation Night. Before the game, the packed crowd, applauded and paid tribute to those who served our country in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and Space Force.
It was also a rivalry game, as they took on their neighbors to the north, the Wayne Trace Raiders.
The Knights won the kickoff and elected to receive. They would fumble it and start at the 19 yard line. That would be a foreshadowing of the game. Knights QB Cooper Miller would pick up for 13 yards, and complete a 16 yard pass. Those would be the highlights before punting away.
Wayne Trace would go three and out on their first possession. Crestview would return the punt for a TD, however, it was called back for an illegal blindside block penalty (that I did not see), and they’d start at the 41 yard line.
The Knights would get a holding penalty on the next play, negating a 9 yard gain, making it 1 and 20 from the 49. Wayne Trace #0 would get called for holding on back-to-back plays, giving Crestview a first down. They’d do nothing on the drive, and end up turning it over on downs.
Wayne Trace would take over at the 6 yard line. They’d use a timeout with 2:06 left in the first quarter. They’d fumble the snap on first down, run for 2 yards on second down, and throw an incomplete pass on 3rd down. Raiders P Reece Morehead inadvertently stepped out of the back of the endzone, giving the Knights a 2-0 lead. That would basically be it for the first quarter.
Crestview would open the 2nd quarter with a 41 yard pass, giving them 1st and Goal at the 5. Runs of 2, 1, and 1, quickly made it 4th and Goal. The Raiders defense would step up and get the stop, causing another turnover on downs.
Wayne Trace would get runs of 5, 3, and 5, before a Raiders pass was tipped at the line, but was still caught and for 7 yards. Runs of 9 and 5 yards, then Crestview would get a boneheaded 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty, which had Knights Assistant Coach Jake Harmon, absolutely livid on the sideline (understandably so). They now had a 1st and 10 at the 48. Incomplete pass, 1 yard run, and a 6 yard run, had them at 4th and 3. They’d pop off a 16 yard run, use their 2nd timeout with 4:15 left in the first half.
The Knights would get a 4 yard TFL (tackle for loss), then get called for a 15 yard personal foul facemask penalty. Raiders QB Reece Morehead would throw 12 yard TD pass to WR Easton Jay. The would fake the extra point, and convert the 2 point try, giving them an 8-2 lead with 2:40 left in the 1st half.
Wayne Trace would use their final timeout before the 1st down snap. The Knights would hit a 13 yard pass on 2nd down, to the 41. A 9 yard pass on first, then back-to-back incompletions had it 4th and 1. The Raiders would get called for DPI (defensive pass interference), and the Knights had another 1st down on the 35. 2 straight completions quickly had them down to the 6 yard line.
Crestview QB Cooper Miller would hit WR Beau Lichtensteiger for a 6 yard TD. PAT was good, and the Knights had 9-8 lead with 1:08 left in the half.
The Raiders would hit a 42 yard pass on 2nd down. That momentum would be quickly shut down, as Knights DB Hayden Waltmire would intercept the pass and return it 60 yards for a Crestview touchdown. PAT was no good. The Knights would take a 15-8 lead into the half.
The Raiders would get the 2nd half kickoff, and would quickly get to 4th and 3. They would attempt a fake punt, but would come up short, giving the Knights the ball at the 37 yard line. A 17 yard pass on first down. 3 straight incompletions, including a drop on 4th down, and Crestview had yet another, turnover on downs.
Wayne Trace would get a run of 6, pass of 5, run of 3, run of 2 yards. A high snap, would lead to an athletic QB scramble for 9 yards. Knights DL Kale Litchensteiger and LB Evin Brincefield, would combine to get a sack on 1st down. On the very next play, DL Denver McDougall would get in on the sack party, for a 9 yard loss. Raiders QB would run out of bounds at the 18 yard line. Wayne Trace would punt to the 42.
Crestview would start with a false start penalty. They’d get a holding penalty on the next play, but it’d be declined, giving them 2nd and 15. A 7 yard pass, then incompletion, and they’d punt it away to the 42.
The Raiders would start marching with runs of 6 yards, 5 yards, 7 yards, 5 yards, 2 yards, and 14 yards. 2 plays later, they’d run for an 8 yard TD. PAT was good, and it was now a 15-15 game with :20 seconds left in the 3rd quarter.
CV QB Cooper Miller would be sacked by #50 for an 11 yard loss on the last play of the 3rd quarter.
The Knights would start the 4th quarter with a 12 yard pass, to make it 3rd and 9. The Raiders would call a timeout. It worked, as Crestview QB Cooper Miller would throw an INT to #14.
The Raiders would throw for 13 yards on 1st down, but then run for 0 yards, 6 yards, 1 yard, to make it 4th and 1. Knights LB Conner Hammons would block the pass attempt, and it’d be a turnover on downs.
Crestview, however, could not do anything with the ball, and quickly went three and out.
The first snap of the drive, the Raiders Carter Baumle would run a Bucks Sweep, for a 62 yard TD. The PAT was blocked. Wayne Trace now had a 21-15 lead with 7:41 left in the game.
The Knights would get the ball at the 35 yard line. The Raiders would get a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on first down. Crestview would score on a long TD pass the next play, however, the WR ran out of bounds on the route, which is a 15 yard penalty. It was now 1st and 25 from the 46.
They’d hit a 10 yard pass, but another 15 yard personal foul penalty by Wayne Trace, gave Crestview a 1st down at the 21 yard line. Incomplete pass, pass batted down, and incomplete pass, made it 4th and 10. They’d covert on a 12 yard pass. The Knights would score 2 plays later, on an HB Evin Brincefield 2 yard TD run. The PAT was fumbled, and no good. It was now a 21-21 game with 5:55 left in the game.
Wayne Trace would return the ensuing kickoff to the 39 yard line. They’d get a QB scramble for 12 yard to the 50. Then, they’d pop off a big 49 yard run to the 1 yard line. Carter Baumle would run it in for a TD on the next play. The PAT was good, and the Raiders now had a 28-21 lead with 4:54 left in the game.
The Knights start at the 32 yard line. Unfortunately, 4 straight incompletions and it was yet another, turnover on downs Crestview.
The Raiders would go right back to the well. On the first play of the drive, they’d run the Buck Sweep, and score Carter Baumle would score 3rd TD of the game, on a 35 yard run. The PAT was good, and it was now a 35-21 game with 3:55 left in the game.
That would be the final score, as the Knights couldn’t get anything going on the next drive, and the Raiders would kneel to end the game.
This is the 1st time the Wayne Trace Raiders have defeated Crestview in football, since 2013, and 1st time AT Crestview since 2008.
After the game, I asked Crestview Knights Head Coach Harting, about what positives he can takeaway from a tough loss to a rival.
“You know, I thought we did a nice job in the first half defensively. Especially ending the half on a positive note. Offense had a nice little 2 minute drill for the score, and our defense got a Pick 6, was a really great way to end the half. But we came out in the second half and didn’t execute very well. We gotta do better there.”
I asked him about the 2 TDs on the Bucks Sweep play, and the struggle to defend it.
“The Bucks Sweep is one of their best plays, and we knew that coming into the game. They did a nice job getting down blocks, and we kinda got over the top of it, and they cut it back on us, and that really killed us. We got to be better up front, and not allow those nice easy runs.”
I asked Coach about how it seems QB Cooper Miller gets in a better rhythm, when running the offense at a fast pace. Is that something they’re going to consider doing more often, as the season goes on.
“Yeah, we see. Right now we gotta really evaluate everything. He’ll go out and throw a nice ball, then throw 3 or 4 straight incompletions. He has to string more of those completions together if we wanna have a chance.”
The Knights are now 0-3 on the season. They take on the Spencerville Bearcats 0-3 to open up NWC play, next Friday night, September 11th.
– by Sean McKenzie
