The Van Wert County Courthouse

Thursday, Mar. 28, 2024

Knights down Panthers in final NWC game

Van Wert independent sports

CONVOY – The Crestview Knights ended the regular season with a convincing 48-20 victory over the Paulding Panthers in a Northwest Conference game played at Crestview.

The Knights finished in fifth place in the league with a 4-4 NWC record and a 5-5 record overall. Paulding ends the season winless at 0-8 in the league and 0-10 overall. Lima Central Catholic won the league title with a 56-14 victory over Ada, which finished tied for second place with Spencerville, each with a record of 6-2 in league play and 8-2 overall. LCC was 8-0 and 10-0 overall.

The Knights drew first blood on a 14-yard run by Matt Holden on the first play from scrimmage. The PAT kick was off and it was 6-0, Crestview, with 12 minutes remaining.

Paulding evened the score up two minutes later when Julian Salinas connected with Lance Foor on a 51-yard scoring pass at the 10:03 mark. Paulding’s PAT kick also failed and it was 6-all.

The Knights returned the favor on a 56-yard run by Holden to make it 12-6. The PAT again failed and that was the score with 6:59 remaining in the first quarter.

Crestview added another first-quarter score when Preston Zaleski hit Holden on a 20-yard scoring pass with 2:49 remaining in the quarter. The first-quarter scoring was not over, though, as the Panthers also scored one more time in the quarter when Salinas hit Javier Gonzales on a 20-yard scoring strike for a 20-12 score with 1:27 remaining in the period.

The Knights scored once more in the half when Holden intercepted a pass and returned it 25 yards for a TD and a halftime score of 26-12.

Crestview added to its lead in the third quarter when Zaleski hit Holden for 16 yards and a score with 10:45 remaining in the third quarter. The score was then 32-12.

The Panthers again scored at 6:27 of the period when Drey Gamble ran it in from 13 yards out with 6:27 left in the third period and a 32-18 ballgame. Salinas passed to Steve Heilman for the two-point conversion and a 32-20 lead for the Knights.

Crestview scored twice after the Panthers’ TD, with Malcolm Oliver running the first one in at 1:42 in the third for a 40-20 lead, while Noah Gebert scored on a 15-yard run with 5:40 remaining in the game for the final score of the night.

The Knights had two runners in double figures on the night. Matt Holden rushed for 153 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries, while Jacob Harmon added 116 yards on 13 rushes.

POSTED: 10/29/11 at 5:04 am. FILED UNDER: Sports