Preview: Raiders (1-1) at Knights (2-0)

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

CONVOY — Simply put — It’s Crestview-Wayne Trace week.

While some coaches say rivalry games are like any other contest on the schedule, Crestview head coach James Lautzenheiser said there is something definitely different about this one.

“Our communities have plenty of overlapping geographical, business, and family connections, and our fan bases enjoy the opportunity to have bragging rights following key athletic contests and this year will be no different,” Lautzenheiser explained. “During the week you want to mentally and emotionally prepare your players for a loud environment that is filled with adrenaline and passion but at the end of the day, it’s about slowing down the presnap reads on offense and defense, and working like crazy to communicate on the field. It should be a lot of fun.”

Crestview (2-0) has rolled past Parkway 51-14 and Hicksville 42-12, with the offense and defensive contributing equally in those victories. As a team, the Knights are averaging 396 yards per game (183 rushing, 213 passing).

Carson Hunter has completed 21-of-32 passes for 403 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions, while rushing for 55 yards and a pair of scores on 11 carries. His favorite targets so far have been Kellin Putnam (five receptions, 185 yards and three touchdowns) and Beau Eggleston (seven catches, 69 yards).

Isaac Kline is the team’s leading rusher (30 carries, 183 yards, two touchdowns), while Braxton Leeth has five carries for 74 yards and two touchdowns.

“Crestview is a well-coached and tough-nosed football team,” Wayne Trace head coach Matt Holden said. “They’re pretty balanced, offensively, and they do a good job of putting their players in a position to be successful on both offense and defense. Probably the biggest concern of mine is Carson Hunter.”

“They certainly have talented players all over the field, but Carson is playing with a lot of confidence and has been making the offense operate like a well-oiled machine this year. He can throw the ball anywhere on the field and can also hurt you with his legs, which makes it very difficult to gameplan for him.”

Defensively, Crestview is allowing just 80 yards rushing per game and 143.5 yards passing per game, while recovering five fumbles. Penix and Wesyn Ludwig are the team’s leading tacklers with 13 and 12.

“We have put up some points on offense this year through the first two games but I’ve been most excited about the continual development of our defense,” Lautzenheiser said. “Coach (Jake) Harmon and his staff have been able to engrain key defensive principles into our base defensive concepts and can now be a bit more flexible week-to-week with our starters and key rotators on that side of the ball. They are hungry for turnovers and have set the table for our offense so far this season.”

The Raiders (1-1), who beat Fort Recovery 18-14 in the opener and were shutout 12-0 by Patrick Henry last week, are currently averaging 265 yards per game (99 rushing, 166 passing). Kyle Slade is the leading ground gainer with 34 carries for 112 yards. Quarterback Kyle Stoller has rushed 60 yards and two touchdowns on 23 carries and has completed 39-of-73 passes for 331 yards, one touchdown and six interceptions.

“The most encouraging thing to me is that all of our issues that we’ve faced so far are things that can be fixed,” Holden said. “We went from 400+ yards of offense in Week No. 1 to 125 yards of offense in Week No. 2, and what that told me right away was that we simply weren’t running our schemes correctly. When we watched the film, we identified the issues and I’m confident that we’ll be able to get back on track this week.”

“If our issues were things like just not having the athleticism to run our schemes or just not having the guys who are able to play football well, I would be much more worried than what I am right now,” he added.

Holden added that he’s pleased with his defense, which has allowed just one rushing touchdown and is giving up only 73 yards per game on the ground and 135 through the air.

“Our defense is playing really well right now,” Holden stated. “We gave Patrick Henry a short field because of a special teams blunder on Friday which led to one of their scores and we gave them a short field on an interception, otherwise, they also were unable to move the ball. The same can be said of our Week No. 1 game – our defense, other than three plays or so, played really well and kept us in the game. I really feel that our defense is playing at a level that will give us a chance on any given Friday.”

In addition to the rivalry, the fact that the two head coaches were assistant coaches at Crestview just two years ago adds even more spice to the game.

“Coach Holden and I are good friends,” Lautzenheiser said. “We have spent a lot of time together coaching football over the years. It’s exciting to see him continue to develop and grow as a head coach, but I plan on working with our staff to implement a game plan that shuts down his Raiders this week.”

“I know they were close to the playoffs last season and have definitely improved this season already. We cannot sleep on any aspect of their game and have to be disciplined when we possess the football in order to win on Friday night. If we do that, we’ll pick up a win in front of our home crowd and get one step closer to being ready for NWC action in Week No. 4.”

Friday’s Crestview-Wayne Trace game will air live on 99.7 WKSD.