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Friday, Mar. 29, 2024

Wow! Crestview wins thriller 50-49

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

SPENCERVILLE — It was the most exciting game in Northwest Ohio and perhaps the entire state.

Crestview and Spencerville traded blows for 48 minutes, but Drew Kline’s 14 yard touchdown pass to Griffin Painter as time expired gave the Knights a 50-49 victory at Spencerville’s Memorial Field on Friday night.

Griffin Painter (82) celebrates with teammates after catching the game winning touchdown with no time left on the clock. Bob Barnes/Van Wert independent

The scoring strike capped off a 10 play, 49 yard drive that lasted 1:47. The drive, which was set up by Brody Brecht’s kickoff return to the Bearcat 49 yard line, included a key fourth down completion from Kline to Painter and a face mask penalty on Spencerville.

“It started by getting good field position after the kickoff,” Crestview head coach Jared Owens said. “Brody was able to pick it up and he broke a couple of tackles and gave us a chance where we didn’t have to be really rushed, because we had used two time outs already.”

“We were still able to try to work our way down so we could get within striking distance and with 11 seconds we ended up getting three plays, so I’m really happy with that.”

Things didn’t look good early on for Crestview.

Spencerville’s Joel Lotz scored from 28 yards out with 3:34 left in the opening quarter, then after partially blocking a Crestview punt, quarterback Dalty Pritchard fired a 28 yard touchdown pass to Lotz to give the Bearcats a 14-0 lead.

However, Crestview responded by scoring the next 36 points of the game.

After a bad snap, Kline scrambled to his left and found a wide open Kaden Short for a 14 yard touchdown with a minute left in the opening quarter.

The Knights (5-1, 2-1 NWC) took advantage of a mishandled Spencerville (4-2, 2-1) punt snap and moved 31 yards in four plays, and scored on a nine yard pass from Kline to Sheets. The same duo connected for the two point conversion to tie the game 14-14 at the 9:03 mark.

Spencerville had to punt on the next possession and Sheets returned it 80 yards for touchdown with 7:12 left in the quarter, followed by Brecht’s two point conversion run.

Crestview’s Drew Kline (10) leaps over the goal line to give the Knights a 44-43 lead with 4:44 left in the fourth quarter. Bob Barnes photo

After forcing the Bearcats into a three and out, the Knights took over at their own 22 and reeled off eight plays, ending with a 14 yard touchdown run by Brecht and a two point conversion by Caylib Pruett that gave Crestview a 30-14 lead. Brecht finished the game with 13 carries and 54 yards.

Spencerville put together an 11 play drive, but Crestview held on downs, including two stops from the Knight two yard line right before halftime.

Crestview’s lead ballooned to 36-14, when Sheets intercepted a Pritchard pass at the goal line and returned it 100 yards for a touchdown with 10:31 left in the third quarter.

However, Spencerville’s Cannan Johnson scored touchdowns on runs of 14 and 35 yards, and Kale Lee’s nine yard touchdown run tied the game 36-36 with 1:43 left in the third quarter. The Bearcats then took a 43-36 lead on Lotz’s 30 yard touchdown run with 10:24 left in the fourth quarter,
but Kline put the Knights up 44-43 with a one yard leap over the pile, and a two point conversion pass to Landin Burch.

Undeterred, Spencerville responded with a three yard touchdown run by Johnson with 1:54 left. The two point pass failed, setting the stage for Crestview’s dramatic finish.

“We knew they were going to make a run, but we didn’t panic,” Owens said. “We got behind the eight ball a little bit but we didn’t panic. The two point conversion (miss) was huge, because we didn’t have to kick an extra point or go for two after the final touchdown.”

“We’ve had a lot of great games and it seems like we’ve been coming up on the short end of the stick,” Owens said. “It’s nice to finally capitalize on one.”

“Hats off to Crestview,” Spencerville head coach Chris Sommers said. “They played a great game and Jared does such a great job with them. They just made a few more plays at the end, but I’m really proud of how our hard our players played.”

“It was a really good high school football game and both schools should be awfully proud of their teams,” Sommers added.

Kline finished the game 11 of 25 for 196 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Painter had four receptions for 84 yards and a touchdown, while Wade Sheets had four catches for 64 yards and a score, along with the punt return and interception return. As a team, the Knights finished with 305 yards of total offense with four turnovers.

Lee led Spencerville with 23 carries for 226 yards and a touchdown, while Johnson had 19 carries for 108 yards and three scores. Lotz finished with 13 carries, 94 yards, two touchdowns and three receptions for 37 yards and other score. As a team, the Bearcats rushed for 446 yards.

Pritchard, who had thrown just 15 passes entering the game, was 6 of 13 for 92 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

Spencerville will host Columbus Grove in another key NWC game on Friday, while the Knights will travel to Ada.

Scoring summary:

Spencerville 14   0 22 13 – 49
Crestview       6 22  6 14 – 50

3:34 1st qtr: Joel Lotz 18 yard run (PAT failed)
1:58 1st qtr: Dalty Pritchard 28 yard pass to Joel Lotz (Pritchard to Connor Holmes)
1:00 1st qtr: Drew Kline 14 yard pass to Kaden Short (PAT failed)
9:03 2nd qtr: Drew Kline 3 yard pass to Wade Sheets (Kline to Sheets pass)
7:12 2nd qtr: Wade Sheets 80 yard punt return (Brody Brecht run)
1:36 2nd qtr: Brody Brecht 14 yard run (Caylib Pruett run)
10:31 3rd qtr: Wade Sheets 100 yard interception return (run failed)
9:41 3rd qtr: Cannan Johnson 14 yard run (Cannan Johnson run)
4:48 3rd qtr: Cannan Johnson 35 yard run (Connor Holmes kick)
1:50 3rd qtr: Kale Lee 9 yard run (Connor Holmes kick)
10:24 4th qtr: Joel Lotz 30 yard run (Connor Holmes kick)
4:44 4th qtr: Drew Kline 1 yard run (Drew Kline to Landin Burch pass)
1:54 4th qtr: Cannan Johnson 3 yard run (pass failed)
0:00 4th qtr: Drew Kline 14 yard pass to Griffin Painter

POSTED: 09/29/18 at 6:56 am. FILED UNDER: Sports