Preview: Hicksville (0-1) at Crestview (0-1)

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

CONVOY — Two teams in search of their first win will meet in Convoy on Friday night and if recent history is any indicator, it should be an entertaining matchup between Crestview and non-conference rival Hicksville.

After losing 33-20 to Parkway last Friday night, the Knights (0-1) will open the home portion of their schedule against the Aces (0-1), a team that suffered a 56-0 season opening loss to Archbold.

The Knights and Parkway were tied 20-20 entering the fourth quarter, while the Aces found themselves trailing 22-0 after the first quarter and 43-0 at halftime. Both teams had two turnovers in their respective games.

Despite the Week No. 1 losses, both head coaches – Crestview’s Jared Owens and Hicksville’s Lucas Smith found some positives.

“I thought we played physical and competed like crazy,” Owens said.

“A lot of what I saw on film is fixable,” Smith said. “The guys did a lot of things that were uncharacteristic of how we played the previous week in our Fort Recovery scrimmage. We just have to get back to doing things the way they are taught and we as coaches have to do a better job of coaching it.”

“It was a rough start and I expect us to compete harder and execute better than we did,” Smith added. “We just need to stick together and keep working hard to fix the mistakes we made.”

The Aces are led by senior quarterback Jacob Miller, who completed 6 of 15 passes for 77 yards and two interceptions against Archbold. Junior Mason Commisso had 12 carries for 31 yards and two receptions for 30 yards.

“Hicksville has a very smart, athletic quarterback,” Owens said. “They have a very nice running back and some good wide receivers. They are always a physical team defensively and coach Smith always does a great job of having his teams ready to play.”

Brody Brecht powered his way to 203 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns on 29 carries, and the junior running back also took snaps at quarterback and completed 4 of 6 passes for 27 yards. Caylib Pruett had 14 carries for 31 yards and four receptions for 43 yards and a touchdown against Parkway. Jayden Ward completed both of his passes for 24 yards and a touchdown.

“They are a run dominate team,” Smith said of the Knights. “They are extremely well coached and prepared, and they will play physical. We have had some really close games with them in recent times and we need to be prepared in all phases.”

Last year, the Knights held off the Aces to win 39-34 and in 2017, Crestview rallied from an early 18-point deficit to win 41-40.

With an eye on a possible victory, both coaches explained what needs to happen to win.

“We have to eliminate penalties, take care of the ball, tackle in space and establish the run,” Owens said. “We have to know our assignments on every play in all phases of the game.”

“Do the opposite of what we did against Archbold,” Smith said. “We have to be fundamentally sound in all aspects. We can’t just line up and expect things to automatically happen – we have to make them happen.”

Friday’s Crestview-Hicksville game will air live on WKSD 99.7FM.