Cougars and Knights meet in scrimmage

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

In the final tune-up before their respective season openers, inter-county rivals Van Wert and Crestview met at Eggerss Stadium for their annual scrimmage on Friday night and the results were somewhat mixed.

Both teams used the scrimmage to find replacements from last year’s teams. Among other things, the Knights are breaking in five new offensive linemen, while Van Wert is replacing 21 of 22 starters.

“We’ll get there and our guys are doing a good job,” Van Wert head coach Keith Recker said. “Their attitudes have been really good all during our preseason camps, it’s just going to take some time. We’re starting to figure out everybody’s role and who goes where personnel-wise and how they fit into our whole scheme.”

Crestview raced out to a 28-7 first quarter lead in the varsity portion of the scrimmage and went on to lead 28-14 after two full quarters. The remainder of the scrimmage featured all junior varsity players and the Cougars outscored the Knights 20-0.

“The biggest thing is our guys competed really well,” Crestview head coach Cole Harting said. “We gave up some stuff on defense, we didn’t tackle real well early on but then we got some turnovers that I thought were huge.”

It didn’t take long for Crestview to dent the scoreboard. On the fourth play from scrimmage, running back Braxton Leeth sprinted 67 yards to the end zone and the first of four Hayden Perrott PATs gave the Knights a 7-0 lead.

Van Wert answered with a five-play, 80-yard drive that included a 21-yard pass from Briston Wise to Micah Cowan and a 46-yard touchdown pass to Keaten Welch, plus the PAT by Griff McCracken.

From there, Crestview quarterback Bryson Penix tossed a pair of first quarter touchdown passes, both to Wren Sheets. One was a 77-yard bomb along the sideline, and the other was a 9-yard strike. The latter was set up by a Briston Wise interception by Isaiah Barton.

Late the first quarter, after a Van Wert fumble, a 39-yard scoring run by Leeth put the Knights ahead 28-7.

“Offensively I thought we executed but that’s where we really have to keep improving – our offensive line play,” Harting said. “We hit a couple of runs where it wasn’t supposed to hit but I think we’ll get there eventually.”

“The nice thing for us is all the issues we had tonight are fixable things,” Recker said. “We had the turnovers but we have to fix them and that’s what we told the guys. We can’t be back here next week talking about the same stuff.”

After Leeth’s scoring run, the Cougars put together a drive that featured a 36-yard run by Geary Hillary and on the next play, a 26-yard touchdown run by Wise on the second play of the second period. Crestview later missed a field goal attempt as did the Cougars, after a 17-play drive came up short with 20 seconds left in the second quarter.

Unofficially, Penix completed 8-of-13 passes for 147 yards and two touchdowns, including three completions to Sheets for 101 yards. On the ground, Leeth gained 147 yards and scored twice on just eight carries, as the Knights rolled to more than 300 yards in two quarters behind an offensive line that has five new starters.

“Bryson can make a lot of throws and he showed good escape ability tonight as well,” Harting said. “We have Wren Sheets on the outside who’s a difficult matchup for anyone and then obviously Braxton Leeth can score from anywhere on the field and he’s very hard to bring down. It was good to see him get loose a few times.”

“We need to do a better job with open field tackling, we definitely have to shore that up,” Harting added. “We also have to execute our assignments up front – I want to execute every single play. It can be four guys blocking it right and one guy blocks it wrong, it has to be perfect every single time. We’ve been rotating some guys in there and hopefully we can get a nice group of five (offensive linemen) and roll with them next week.”

Wise also completed 8-of-13 passes for 133 yards, one touchdown and one interception. His favorite target was Welch, who snared five receptions for 94 yards and a score. Hillary rushed for 68 yards on seven carries, while Wise had 10 carries for 54 yards, as the Cougars finished with 223 yards in two quarters.

“Briston does a good job,” Recker said. He gets outside the pocket quickly and our sprint out stuff is good with him and we have to get him some lanes running the ball. I don’t think we blocked very well up front. Crestview did a good job of destroying blocks and pursuing to the ball and we just have to be more persistent staying with our blocks.”

In the second half, freshman quarterback Zac Crummey scored on a five yard run, running back Roman Martin ripped off an 83-yard touchdown run and Kalven Welch threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Finley Dickinson. The Knights were held off the scoreboard during the JV portion of the scrimmage.

“We feel good about our depth, we just have to keep improving and that will be a big key for us, especially early in the year,” Recker said. “We’re not a finished product by any means but our young guys did a good job coming in and what I really appreciated was they were really into it and then the guys on the sideline were helping them, supporting them and cheering them on and that’s what I think we’ve got going for us right now – a real positive team attitude.”

The Cougars will open their season at home Friday night against Bryan, while Crestview will be home to Parkway.

Scoring summary (varsity)

QTR 1

10:35 – Braxton Leeth 67-yard run (Hayden Perrott kick) CK 7-0

8:56 – Briston Wise 46-yard pass to Keaten Welch (Griff McCracken kick)

8:11 – Bryson Penix 77-yard pass to Wren Sheets (Hayden Perrott kick)

4:04 – Bryson Penix 9-yard pass to Wren Sheets (Hayden Perrott kick)

2:05 – Braxton Leeth 39-yard run (Hayden Perrott kick)

QTR 2

11:41 – Briston Wise 26-yard run (Griff McCracken kick)

Second half (junior varsity)

Zac Crummey 5-yard run

Roman Martin 83-yard run

Kalven Welch 24-yard pass to Finley Dickinson