Preview: Crestview (1-0) vs. McComb (1-0)
SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports
CONVOY — Fans attending Friday night’s Crestview vs. McComb game in Convoy will see two teams very capable of running the football, but two teams that use a different approach to get the job done.
During last Friday’s season opening 49-7 win over Parkway, Crestview’s spread offense piled up 307 yards on the ground and 484 total yards. McComb, under 27th year head coach Kris Alge, is more old school, going with the old “T” formation, sometimes with two tight ends and no one split out wide.
“The last five or six years we’ve gone back to running the ball,” Alge said. “In the early days when I was coaching we were an all spread team, 5-wide throwing it all over but based on our personnel, this style fits our kids.”
McComb’s style will be decidedly different than Parkway’s wide-open passing game, meaning the Crestview defense has just a few days to adjust.
“It can be challenging preparing for different styles of play week in and week out, but that’s also the beauty of high school football,” Crestview head coach Cole Harting said.
The Panthers, who lost some notable players to graduation, opened their season with a 20-13 win over KIPP Columbus. Among the graduation losses: running back Braxton Althauser, who ran for more than 2,500 yards and accounted for 48 touchdowns in 14 games last year, and quarterback Blake Wittenmeyer, who total over 1,000 yards and accounted for 12 scores. The Panthers also lost their leading receiver and a pair of two-way linemen, but Harting said McComb will still present some challenges.
“McComb is a very well coached team that has very good size across the board,” Harting said. “They do a great job controlling both lines of scrimmage. They play a very physical style of football where you have to make sure you have your mouthpiece in and chin strap buckled because they are going to bring it.”
Grady Schroeder, a 5-10, 170-pound junior, is the starting quarterback, with senior Brayden Shoop (6-1, 175) and junior Brayden Heller (5-8, 165) also in the backfield. The offensive line averages about 230 pounds. Several starters are back to anchor a traditionally stingy defense.
During Crestview’s win over Parkway, Braxton Leeth rushed for 168 yards and five touchdowns on 20 carries, while Bryson Penix completed 13-of-18 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown.
“Leeth is really good – he can run, he’s fast, he’s strong, he spins and he’s got really good balance,” Alge said. “We didn’t see Penix last year because he got hurt early in the game but he can throw it and run it and they have a few guys on their offensive line that are pretty darn good. Their defense impresses me and I think they have pretty good speed all over.”
Penalties plagued the Knights in the opener and Harting said that’s an area that has to be addressed.
“It’s very difficult to play a penalty free game, but we have to reduce the number of penalties we commit,” he said. “We had 16 penalties for about 100 yards. That number has to go down. We were fortunate that it didn’t hurt us last week but moving forward we can’t have self-inflicted penalties.”
When Crestview and McComb met last year, the Panthers posted a 55-13 victory.
“In last year’s game, we had about the worst start you could imagine – turnovers, injuries, penalties, we just struggled getting started,” Harting said. “Yet we were only down one score at the end of the first quarter. Our kids fought like crazy to climb back into the game, but we just ran out of gas. Looking back at the end of the year, we felt that was one we would love to have had back.”
“Our kids are excited to have the opportunity to get a chance to play them again,” he added.
Friday’s game will air live on 99.7 WKSD.
POSTED: 08/27/24 at 10:38 pm. FILED UNDER: Sports