Friday Flashback: Knights win shootout

Note: A wild win by Crestview during the 2014 high school football season is the focus of this week’s Friday Flashback. The Knights and Allen East took part in a Week No. 5 shootout that ended with a late Crestview touchdown and two-point conversion. Below is the story that appeared on the VW independent Sports page.

Van Wert independent sports

HARROD — The Crestview Knights had to score with 30 seconds left on the clock and then add a two-point conversion to edge Allen East 37-36 in a wild Northwest Conference football game played Friday at Allen East.

Although the Mustangs are in the cellar of the Northwest Conference, they certainly didn’t play like it, scoring five touchdowns against Crestview.

The Knights and Mustangs compiled more than 800 yards of total offense and scored 10 touchdowns in the offensive struggle.

Crestview scored first with 8:48 remaining on the first-quarter clock when Jordan Miller ran the ball in from the Allen East 4-yard-line. Jake Tatum split the uprights for the point-after and the Knights led 7-0.

The Mustangs scored the next two touchdowns, both on short runs by Logan Schick. Spencer Miller kicked the PAT after the first Allen East touchdown and ran the ball in for two points after the second TD to give the Mustangs a 15-7 lead.

Crestview returned the favor on its next possession, scoring on Preston Zaleski’s 1-yard run with 2:56 remaining in the second quarter. Zaleski also ran the ball for a two-point conversion to tie the game at 15-all.

Allen East wasn’t done yet, scoring once more in the first half on a 3-yard run by Schick, who had four touchdowns on the day. The PAT failed and the Mustangs took a 21-15 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Allen East added to that lead when it added a touchdown on a 9-yard pass from quarterback Tanner Stippich to Caleb Smelcer with 9:09 ticks left on the third-quarter clock. Bubba Butler kicked the PAT and the Mustangs were on top 28-15.

Crestview then added two scores of its own to get back in the game. Miller scored his second TD of the night from five yards out for the first score, while Jake Lippi ran 24 yards for a score with 7:17 remaining in the game. Tatum kicked both PATs and the Knights led 29-28.

The lead lasted just shy of three minutes, until Allen East’s Schick scored his final touchdown on a 53-yard scramble with 4:18 remaining on the clock. Miller passed to Smelcer for the two-point conversion to take a 36-29 lead over Crestview.

That set up Zaleski’s two-yard TD run with 30 seconds remaining to get the Knights within a point, 36-35, of Allen East. Zaleski then scampered into the end zone for a two-point conversion to finally put away the Mustangs, 37-36.

Both teams ran the ball well, with 688 yards of rushing offense between them, including 414 yards by the Knights. Four players had more than 100 yards rushing in the game. Crestview’s Miller was the top rusher, running for 158 yards on 16 carries (9.9 yards a carry) and two touchdowns. Zaleski added 123 yards and two TDs for the Knights, while Schick rushed 17 times for 118 yards and four touchdowns, and Smelcer had 110 yards on nine carries for Allen East.

Zaleski completed 5 of 11 passes for 85 yards and a touchdown, while Stippich was 6 of 15 for the Mustangs for 66 yards and one TD. Both quarterbacks also threw an interception in the game.

Crestview is now 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Northwest Conference. Allen East is 1-4 overall and 0-4 in league play.