Crestview to host perennial power

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

CONVOY — It’s safe to say Friday’s game may be the most challenging one in Crestview’s football history. After all, it’s a rare occurrence to host a four time defending state champion, one that has the longest current winning streak (65 games) in the entire country, but that’s exactly what the Knights are up against in Friday’s home opener.

Powerhouse Marion Local’s latest victory was a 56-0 decision over South Adams (IN). The Flyers are replacing McComb on Crestview’s schedule and it’s a one year contract.

“They are as advertised,” Crestview head coach Cole Harting said of the Flyers. “They play extremely sound, fundamental football. They don’t do anything super flashy but they execute the little things to perfection. We are looking forward to the opportunity to play them Friday night.”

“We just do our thing, we can’t control what other people think, do or say so we don’t worry about it nor pay attention,” Marion Local head coach Tim Goodwin said. “We have a method of how we go about our business and we are proceeding ahead the best we can, especially after graduating basically our whole starting lineup from a year ago.”

During the season opener, Marion Local quarterback Brennan Hess completed 9-of-11 passes for 203 yards, three touchdowns and an interception. Ben Meier had three receptions for 80 yards and a touchdown and added 12 carries for 47 yards and three more touchdowns.

“Offensively they like to establish the run while having a couple of very good receivers that can take the top off the defense,” Harting said.

While Marion Local has a potent offense, the calling card for the Flyers is defense. Against South Adams, the Flyers gave up just 80 yards, all through the air. Last year, Marion Local’s defense allowed a total of 22 points during the regular season and 49 total points in 16 regular season and playoff games combined. In fact, the last touchdown surrendered by Marion Local in a regular season game was in Week No. 5 last year during a 48-7 win over New Bremen.

“Defensively, they bring a lot of pressure from different spots, their secondary plays great coverage and everyone flies to the football,” Harting said.

It’ll be a big challenge for Crestview’s offense, which piled up 609 total yards, 29 first downs and 62 points against Parkway in the opener. Huxley Grose completed 9-of-14 passes for 149 yards and a touchdown, including three to Hayden Perrott for 94 yards and a score. Braxton Leeth set a school record with 419 yards rushing and seven touchdowns, which was made possible by the offensive line, consisting of left tackle Denver McDougall, left guard Jace Wehner, center Noah Woodruff, right guard Kale Lichtensteiger, and right tackle Will Sheets.

“I am very proud of this group, they continue to get better and better each day,” Harting said. “Their communication and execution has improved exponentially throughout our preseason. They are playing with an edge right now and it’s fun to watch.”

“I was very impressed with Noah Woodruff Friday night,” Harting continued. “Noah is coming back to us after not playing as a sophomore.  During preseason, we were trying to figure out where he could fit in and finally we landed at center. He’s only played the position for about three weeks and he has shown continued improvement every day. After struggling a little bit with his snap during our last scrimmage, he came out on a mission Friday and played tremendous for us.”

“Obviously the running back jumps out on film,” Goodwin said. “The o-line looks good also. It will be a great challenge to contain Crestview’s run game. New opponents are fun to learn and study. With this one being Week No. 2, there is not a whole lot to go off of, but we are doing our best.”

Harting added he’s looking for improvement on the defensive side. Parkway running back Luke Booher ran for a school record 279 yards on 22 carries, and the Panthers racked up 41 points and 470 total yards.

“Our defense took some lumps last week but the good news is that the mistakes that were made are correctable,” Harting stated. “We had too many missed assignments and missed tackles that hadn’t occurred all preseason. We will fix those things and be better this week.”

Friday’s Marion Local at Crestview game will air live on 99.7FM WKSD.