Preview: Knights (4-5) at T-birds (6-3)

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

CONVOY — A familiar foe awaits Crestview in the regular season finale on Friday.

The Knights will head to Allen County to face Lima Central Catholic at Spartan Stadium. The two teams have met three times in four years, but not during the regular season. Those came in the OHSAA playoffs and all three games were played in Lima. Now, the two teams will finish the regular season, as Lima Central Catholic rejoined the NWC as full members.

Both teams are out of the conference title chase. However, Lima Central Catholic (6-3, 4-2 NWC) has already clinched a playoff spot in Division VII, Region 26. Crestview (4-5, 2-4 NWC) needs a win and help to qualify for the postseason in Division VI Region 22.

Regardless, the Knights are coming off an impressive 42-13 win over Spencerville, a game in which Braxton Leeth ran for 238 yards three touchdowns.

“It was great to see our offensive line get going, when you can run the ball, it opens up so much more,” head coach Cole Harting said. “That group was our most inexperienced group coming into the season and they have just kept getting after and the experience that they have gained is starting to pay off. This week specifically we had to shuffle things around due to an injury and sickness. The group that we rolled out played with great effort and they communicated extremely well.” 

“It was also very exciting because that lineup featured four underclassmen,” he added.

The Thunderbirds traded blows with Columbus Grove before falling 28-20 last Friday.

“I thought our kids played really hard on Friday,” Lima Central Catholic head coach Scott Palte said. “We were physical at times and did a decent job of holding our own at the line of scrimmage.  We have continued to get better each week. When we have been successful we have been able to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and stop the run on defense.”

Quarterback Brady Parker leads the LCC offense, having completed 62-of-120 passes for 1,001 yards, 10 touchdowns and four interceptions, while rushing for 575 yards and eight touchdowns on 85 carries. Matthew Quatman leads the Thunderbirds in rushing (122-689, seven touchdowns), while Mylon Cowens leads the team in receptions (18-365, two touchdowns).

“Of the teams that we have played this year, they are somewhat similar to Bluffton on offense and Columbus Grove on defense,” Harting said of the Thunderbirds. “Offensively they will use a lot of motions and they run behind a very good and experienced line. They have several playmakers at their skill positions and a quarterback who can run the ball and make a lot of throws. Defensively, they do a great job of stopping the run and flying to the football. They mix up coverages and get to the quarterback. We will need to be very disciplined on both sides of the ball and execute our assignments.”

Since taking over at quarterback for the Knights, Huxley Grose has completed 60-of-105 passes for 684 yards, eight touchdowns and four interceptions. The Knights have four reliable targets – Hayden Perrott (24-365, three touchdowns), Isaiah Barton (32-348, three touchdowns), Wren Sheets (19-322, five touchdowns), and Liam Putman (31-303, four touchdowns).

“Hayden Perrott is our Swiss Army Knife, the kid can do it all,” Harting said. “He plays offense, defense, and special teams, he never leaves the field for us. Throughout the season, he has made some tremendous plays in all phases of the games. This past game, he kicked off, ran down, and stripped the ball from the returner. In addition, he accounted for five catches which featured several good runs after the catch. We pride ourselves in taking advantage of what the defense gives us and we really liked the match up that featured him last week.”

Despite missing several games due to an injury, Braxton Leeth leads the Knights on the ground with 82 carries for 575 yards and 10 touchdown.

“Crestview has quite a few long, athletic guys on the field,” Palte said. “They have some really good athletes that can present a problem in the open field.  We are going to have to tackle well and get to the football.  Controlling the line of scrimmage will be key for us if we are going to be successful on offense and defense.”

Should the Knights win, they’ll have to wait until Sunday to officially find out if they qualified for the postseason and if so, who the opponent will be.