Penix leads Knights by WT Raiders

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

CONVOY — Bryson Penix ran for three touchdowns and passed for two more to lead Crestview to a 37-16 win over Wayne Trace on Friday. It was the 10^th consecutive time the Knights topped their non-conference rivals.

Penix scored on a seven yard run with 9:38 left in the first quarter, giving Crestview a 7-0 lead. Less than four minutes later, Hayden Perrott increased the lead to 10-0 with a 34-yard field goal.

“We were feeling really good and our defense was playing really well,” Crestview head coach Cole Harting said. “We were running the ball well and throwing it well – Bryson was completing passes and that’s what we want to do.”

Wayne Trace (0-3) fought back with a pair of scores in the second quarter – a 20-yard touchdown pass from Jack Schoenauer to Tyler Head, then a safety that made it 10-8 with 3:54 left in the period. Schoenauer replaced starting quarterback Cole Morehead, who went down with an injury.

“A two-way starter went down during the week in practice, then our quarterback, another two-way starter went down early,” Wayne Trace head coach Matt Holden said. “That’s tough to overcome. We had a variety of injuries along the way but I’m not going to say that’s why we lost. They came out and were more physical from the start.”

Crestview (2-1) got a big score with 45 seconds left until halftime, when Penix connected with Isaiah Barton from 43 yards out, giving the Knights a 17-8 lead.

“That was huge,” Harting said. “If we don’t get points there it’s a completely different game. Bryson kind of improvised on that – we called something and it looked good but he didn’t like it as much. Sometimes you just have to let your playmakers play.”

The Knights increased the lead to 23-8 with 4:43 left in the third quarter, when Penix crossed the goal line from a yard out, but Wayne Trace answered with Schoenauer’s second touchdown pass of the night, a 15-yarder to Brady Millder, plus a two-point conversion run by Shoenauer that closed the gap to 23-16 with 1:10 left in the period.

However, Crestview put the game away with a pair of fourth quarter scores – a 16-yard run by Penix, then a 27-yard pass from Penix to Barton nearly halfway through the quarter. Penix finished 14-of-20 for 222 yards, two touchdowns and one interception, and led the Knights with 89 yards rushing and three scores on 10 carries. In the absence of Braxton Leeth, who’s out with an ankle injury, Ayden Martin rushed for 56 yards on eight carries and Zayden Martin added 26 yards on 10 carries. Perrott caught four passes for 103 yards and Barton finished with five receptions for 87 yards and two touchdowns.

“We had some mental errors to give up some big plays defensively and we didn’t adjust quickly enough to some of their quarterback read game,” Holden said. “Overall, I still think we took steps in the right direction and I’m looking forward to next week. We’ve gotten better every week and we need to continue doing that.”

The Knights will open NWC at Fort Loramie on Friday, while Wayne Trace will begin GMC play at rival Paulding the same night.

Scoring summary

First quarter

CK (9:38) Bryson Penix 7-yard run (Hayden Perrott kick)

CK (5:41) Hayden Perrott 34-yard field goal

Second quarter

WT (7:56) – Jack Schoenauer 20-yard pass to Tyler Head (kick failed)

WT (3:54) – Safety, Isaiah Barton tackled in end zone

CK  (0:45) – Bryson Penix 43-yard pass to Isaiah Barton (Hayden Perrott kick)

Third quarter

CK (4:43) – Bryson Penix 1-yard run (kick failed)

WT (1:10) – Jack Schoenauer 16-yard pass to Brady Miller (Schoenauer run)

Fourth quarter

CK (9:26) – Bryson Penix 16-yard run (Hayden Perrott kick_

CK (6:16) – Isaiah Barton 27-yard pass from Bryson Penix (Hayden Perrott kick)