Friday Flashback: Knights rally by ‘Cats

Note: With Crestview and Spencerville set for a rematch on the gridiron, this week’s Friday Flashback takes us back to October of 2018 and Week No. 8 of the high school football season. The Knights used a strong second half to power past the Bearcats 50-34. Below is the game story as it appeared on the Sports page of the VW independent.

Van Wert independent sports

SPENCERVILLE — The Crestview Knights outslugged Spencerville, scoring 35 points in the second half to take a 50-34 Northwest Conference win back home to Convoy.

For at least one quarter, it appeared that the Bearcats (4-4 overall, 3-3 in the NWC) had upset hopes as they took a 28-15 lead into the locker room at halftime. Crestview came out strong in the second half, though, while the Knight defense held Spencerville to just six points in the final two periods of play.

The Bearcats struck first on a 40-ard run by Anthony Schuh with 9:26 remaining on the first-quarter clock. Schuh was Spencerville’s primary offensive weapon, with 120 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries. Logan Vandermark kicked the extra point and it was 7-0, Bearcats.

Less than two minutes later, Spencerville added a second score on a 5-yard run by Schuh, while Vandermark again kicked the point-after for a 14-0 Bearcat lead.

Crestview got in the scoring column two minutes later when Preston Zaleski ran 53 yards for a touchdown, and then passed to Jordan Miller for the two-point conversion as the Knights trailed 14-8 with 5:38 remaining in the first quarter.

Spencerville was the first to score in the second stanza on a 1-yard run by Colton Miller. Vandermark again kicked the PAT to give the Bearcats a 21-8 lead.

Crestview came back two minutes later with a 4-yard TD run by Zaleski. Kameron Grubaugh kicked the extra point and it was 21-15, Bearcats.

Spencerville scored once more in the quarter when quarterback Mason Nourse lofted a five-yard scoring strike to Miller. Vandermark kicked the PAT and the Bearcats had a 28-15 lead with 2:05 remaining in the first half.

The Knights must have gotten a good halftime talk from Coach Jared Owens because they came out roaring in the third quarter. Crestview scored the first three touchdowns of the third quarter, with the first coming on a 59-yard run by Malcolm Oliver with 11:36 remaining in the quarter. Oliver led the Knights in rushing with 147 yards and two touchdowns on 19 carries. Grubaugh kicked the PAT and Crestview trailed the Bearcats 28-22.

The next Knight score came three minutes later when Zaleski ran the ball in from the Spencerville 1-yard line with 8:17 remaining in the third quarter. Grubaugh kicked the point-after and Crestview had its first lead of the game, 29-28.

The Knights again scored with 4:43 showing on the clock when Oliver broke away for a 13-yard scamper to paydirt. Grubaugh, who was perfect on the night on PATs, again split the uprights and it was 36-28, Crestview.

The Bearcats got their final score of the night with 2:25 remaining in the third quarter when Schuh ran 8 yards to make it 36-34. The point-after failed.

The Knights scored the final two touchdowns of the game, with the first score coming from the defense, as Isaiah Simerman picked off a Nourse pass and ran it 22 yards for a touchdown. Grubaugh kicked the PAT and Crestview led 43-34 with 6:58 remaining in the game.

Zaleski scored the final touchdown of the game on a 25-yard run, while Grubaugh kicked his sixth point-after of the game for the final 50-34 score.

The Knights had 418 yards of offense, with 343 of those coming on the ground. Spencerville generated 316 yards of offense, with 203 of those yards coming from the rushing game. In addition to Oliver’s 147 yards rushing, Zaleski also rushed for 96 yards and four touchdowns on 16 carries. Zaleski completed 5 of 10 passes for 75 yards, no touchdowns and no interceptions, while Nourse completed 8 of 14 passes for 113 yards and a TD, but also had two passes picked off, one for a touchdown.

With the win, Crestview is now 6-2 overall and 4-1 in league play.