Friday Flashback: Knights top Bearcats

Note: With Crestview and Spencerville ready to lock horns again on Friday night, this week’s Friday Flashback takes us back to Week No. 8 of the 2014 high school football season, when the Knights used a big fourth quarter to rally by the Bearcats. The two teams would meet again three weeks later in the playoffs, and Spencerville won that game.

Van Wert independent sports

CONVOY — The Crestview Knights took on unbeaten and league-leading Spencerville at home on Friday and found themselves on the ropes for the first three quarters. A couple of fourth-quarter scores, coupled with a two-point conversion on the final score, allowed Crestview to edge the Bearcats 22-21.

Spencerville was up 14-7 at halftime and led 21-7 heading into the fourth quarter, thanks to a good rushing offense and some untimely mistakes on the Knights’ part.

The Bearcats scored first on a 12-yard run by Trevor McMichael with 7:05 left in the first quarter. Logan Vandemark kicked the point-after to give Spencerville a 7-0 lead.

The Bearcats made it 14-0 when Zach Goecke took it in from the Crestview 4-yard line on the first play of the second quarter. Vandemark again kicked the PAT to give Spencerville a two-touchdown advantage.

After sputtering on several possessions, the Knights scored with just 37 seconds left in the half on a 6-yard run by Jake Lippi. Jake Tatum kicked the point-after to cut Spencerville’s lead to a TD, 14-7.

The Bearcats had one more truck up their sleeve, though, as quarterback Mason Nourse hit Calvin Wilson for an 18-yard scoring strike with just 6 seconds left on the clock to give Spencerville a two-touchdown lead, 21-7, at the half.

Neither team could get their offenses rolling in the third quarter, and the fourth quarter belonged to the Knights, who scored first on a 5-yard run by Lippi. Tatum kicked the PAT and Crestview trailed 21-14 with 6:36 showing on the game clock.

A sack and a couple of missed passes for the Bearcats and Crestview had the ball back again with less than six minutes left to play. Knight quarterback Preston Zaleski then called his own number on the run, and rambled 68 yards for a touchdown with 5:17 remaining in the game.

Crestview then went for the win as Zaleski found Alex Cunningham in the end zone for the two-point conversion and a 22-21 lead for the Knights.

A defensive stop for Crestview was all that remained as the Knights handed Spencerville its first loss of the season. The Bearcats still lead the NWC at 5-1, 7-1 overall, with Crestview and Delphos Jefferson a game behind at 4-1.