Knights hold on to defeat Raiders 21-20

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

HAVILAND — A missed extra point and a late defensive stand turned out to be the difference Friday night as Crestview rallied by Wayne Trace for a 21-20 victory, giving the Knights nine consecutive wins against the Raiders.

The Knights improved to 2-1 with the win, while Wayne Trace fell to 1-2.

“I thought it was a hard fought game,” Wayne Trace head coach Matt Holden said. “At the end of the day they beat us in the second half. They did a good job of taking the run away and their defensive line made it tough to get time to throw. It was every bit a 50-50 type of game and unfortunately we came up short this time.”

“Lots of kids made plays tonight,” Crestview head coach Cole Harting said. “It’s nice having gritted one out and I think it’s huge moving forward. It doesn’t always have to be pretty but we were able to take care of business and make some plays.”

In the first quarter, Kyle Stoller scored on a 16-yard run that gave Wayne Trace a 7-0 lead, a score that stood at the end of the period.

The Knights answered in the second quarter when Bryson Penix, who returned from an injury suffered on the first play of last week’s game vs. McComb, tossed the first of his two touchdown passes to Beau Eggleston, a 14-yarder. Hayden Perrott added the first of his three extra points to tie the game 7-7. Eggleston went on to finish with four receptions for 68 yards.

“He got the go-ahead on Wednesday and he worked his way back in,” Harting said of Penix. “I told him Jaret (Harting) is going to get the first two (series), you get the next two and we’ll go from there. I’m really excited about his future because he is just scratching the surface.”

Stoller connected with Hudson Myers for a 7-yard score in the second quarter and Wayne Trace went on to enjoy a 14-7 halftime lead.

In the third quarter, Penix teamed up with Eggleston again, this time from four yards out, to tie the game 14-14, but Tucker Antoine’s seven-yard touchdown run gave the Raiders a 20-14 lead after a missed PAT.

The winning touchdown came in the fourth quarter on a 3-yard touchdown run by Braxton Leeth, who tallied 52 yards on 19 carries.

Crestview’s defense came up big on Wayne Trace’s last drive with a sack and an interception in the final minute that sealed the victory.

Penix finished 5-of-13 for 118 yards and two touchdowns, while Stoller completed 17-of-27 passes for 141 yards and a touchdown. Dylan Hildebrand finished with five receptions for 24 yards, and Antoine led the Raider rushing attack with 15 carries for 61 yards. Jaret Harting led the Knights with 21 carries and 107 yards.

The Knights outgained the Raiders in total yards, 283-231.

Crestview will host Ada in the NWC opener on Friday, while Wayne Trace will begin GMC play at Edgerton.

“We need to work on our passing game and we need to clean up our penalties…we get a lot of holding penalties, especially on the perimeter and if we can get that taken care of we can be pretty dangerous,” Harting said.

Scoring summary

First quarter

WT – Kyle Stoller 16-yard run (Cooper Wenzlick kick)

Second quarter

CV – Bryson Penix 14-yard pass to Beau Eggleston (Hayden Perrott kick)
WT – Kyle Stoller 7-yard pass to Hudson Myers (Cooper Wenzlick kick)

Third quarter

CV – Bryson Penix 4-yard pass to Beau Eggleston (Hayden Perrott kick)
WT – Tucker Antoine 7-yard run (kick failed)

Fourth quarter

Braxton Leeth 3-yard run (Hayden Perrott kick)