Spencerville Bearcats run over Crestview

Van Wert independent sports

CONVOY — Big plays — big running plays, in fact — were Crestview’s downfall as the Knights lost 61-25 to the Spencerville Bearcats in a Northwest Conference game played in Convoy on Friday.

The Bearcats had scoring runs of 47, 61, 81, 61 and 37 yards in a game they dominated on the ground. Spencerville compiled a whopping 607 yards of total offense, with 598 yards of that coming on the ground. The Knights were held to 329 yards, with 239 of that coming through the air.

The Bearcats scored the first five touchdowns of the game, with the first two coming in the opening quarter. Zach Goeke legged the first TD in from 47 yards out with 8:35 remaining in the first quarter, while Calvin Wilson had a 6-yard touchdown run with 4:06 remaining in the quarter.

Spencerville scored four times in the second quarter, starting with a 61-yard run by Chris Picker with 10:01 left on the clock. Goeke then broke away for an 81-yard run at the 7:06 mark, and Wilson then came back with a second 61-yard TD run with 5:18 remaining. Damon Blair kicked four of his first five extra point attempts through the uprights and the Bearcats led 34-0.

After struggling offensively, to that point, Crestview finally put a big play of its own together, as quarterback Dylan Grandstaff found Jordan Miller for a 45-yard touchdown that made it 34-6.

Spencerville scored once more in the first half when Goeke ran the ball in from the Knight 10-yard-line with just 9 seconds remaining on the clock, and the Bearcats took a 35-point lead, 41-6, into the locker room.

Spencerville continued its offensive juggernaut in the second half, and, while Crestview also found a better offensive strategy, the Bearcats still outscored the Knights 27-19 in the half.

Goeke had a 17-yard run to start off the third-quarter scoring at the 7:32 mark for Spencerville, and Crestview responded with a 51-yard scoring strike from Grandstaff to Chase Clark. That made it 47-12, Bearcats.

Wilson then broke loose for a 37-yard touchdown run with 2:17 remaining in the third quarter and a 54-12 lead with one quarter remaining.

Crestview’s Drew Kline took over at quarterback and hit Grant Schlagbaum for a 14-yard touchdown with 9:04 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Bearcats responded with a 15-yard run by Jacob Settlemire and Spencerville led 61-19 with 5:47 remaining in the game.

The Knights had one more score in them, though, and Kline again hit Schlagbaum for an 85-yard TD.

Crestview quarterbacks combined for 8 of 16 passing for 237 yards, four touchdowns and one interception.

Spencerville had three players break 100 yards rushing in the game, led by Goeke’s 261 yards on 17 carries (15.4 yard average) and four touchdowns. Wilson ran for 133 yards on 12 carries and three TDs, while Picker had 110 yards on 10 carries and one touchdown.

Miller was Crestview’s leading rusher with 53 yards on 10 carries, while Schlagbaum was the Knights’ leading receiver with three receptions for 130 yards and two TDs. Miller snagged three catches for one touchdown for the Knights, while Clark had 1 catch for 51 yards and a TD.