Bearcats beat Knights on 2nd half scores

Van Wert independent sports

SPENCERVILLE – It was close through three quarters, but the Spencerville Bearcats scored twice in the final stanza to beat the Crestview Knights 36-12 in a Northwest Conference contest at Spencerville.

The Knights started off the game scoring with a 5-yard run by Trevor Roop with just 1:13 off the first-quarter clock. The PAT kick failed, though, and Crestview had the early lead, 6-0.

Spencerville scored approximately five minutes later when John Smith — who scored all five of the Bearcats’ TDs — ran one in from the Knight 2. Jacob Lowry split the uprights on the PAT kick and it was 7-6, Spencerville, with 5:50 remaining in the first quarter.

The Bearcats scored the remaining two touchdowns of the first half on runs of 8 and 7 yards by Smith — both in the second quarter. The PAT kick failed on the first score, but quarterback Derek Goecke hit Dominick Corso on a PAT pass after the second score to make it 21-6 at the half.

The Knights scored the only touchdown of the third quarter when Jacob Harmon ran one into the end zone from 4 yards out to make it 21-12, Spencerville.

It was essentially anyone’s game at that point, but the Bearcats got a couple of big TD runs from Smith, who scampered for 44 and 30 yards, respectively, to put the game away.

On paper, it was a fairly even matchup. Crestview had 226 yards of total offense, 202 of those yards on the ground, while the Bearcats compiled 251 yards of offense, 233 of those on the ground. The Knights had 24 yards passing, while Spencerville had 18, each team fumbled once and lost it, while the Bearcats ran 52 plays to 46 for Crestview.

Time of possession was narrowly won by Spencerville, 24:08 to 23:52.

The loss drops the Knights to 3-3 in the NWC and 4-4 overall, while Spencerville is now 5-2 in league play and 6-2 overall.

Crestview will close out the season with two home games. Next week, the Knights host Columbus Grove (3-3, 5-3) for homecoming and will end the season against winless Paulding (0-6, 0-8).