Knights, Bearcats seeking first win

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

CONVOY — A tough non-conference schedule is in the rear view mirror and now the Crestview Knights are turning their attention to Northwest Conference play.

The Knights (0-3) dropped games to Paulding, Minster and Wayne Trace and enter Friday’s game at Spencerville seeking their first win of the season. For head coach Cole Harting and the Knights, it’s kind of a fresh start.

“We are now entering the second part of our season,” Harting said. “We aren’t where we thought we would be at this point, but starting conference play allows us to sort of reset and refocus our goals.”

While the results aren’t what Harting wanted to see in terms of wins and losses, he did say the Knights learned a few things during the first three games.

“The biggest lessons we have learned so far is that we have to take advantage of opportunities we are given,” he explained. “We have to capitalize on field position and turnovers. We also have to execute our assignments, we cannot afford mental mistakes.”

Turnovers have plagued the Knights so far this season, and Crestview is currently last among NWC schools in rushing yards. The Knights are averaging 63 yards per game on the ground, with Evin Brincefield leading the way (27 carries, 84 yards, one touchdown). The passing game is averaging 178 yards per game, with Cooper Miller completing 35-of-91 passes for 534 yards, two touchdowns and four interceptions. Harper Perrott is the team’s leading receiver with 10 receptions for 176 yards, while Cash Hammons has seven grabs for 165 yards and a touchdown.

“The first thing you notice about Crestview is just the size and physicality that they show up front,” Spencerville head coach Kyle Koenig said. “They have a really good group of offensive and defensive linemen. We are going to have to match that physicality up front and work on our pad level if we want to be successful Friday night. You also have to worry about giving up the big play against them. They are not afraid to take some deep shots down field in this offense, and our guys in the back of our defense are going to have to stay disciplined to prevent those from happening.”

Just like for Crestview, there’s no denying it’s been a rough start for Spencerville. The Bearcats opened with a 60-0 loss to Anna, followed by a 55-0 loss to Wayne Trace and last week, a 35-0 loss to Riverside. All three teams are 2-1.

“The year obviously has not started the way we would have liked and it is disappointing,” Koenig said. “I think the one thing that I am proud of our guys the most is just how they come to work every day with a great attitude and want to get better. We have had to deal with some injuries early on that have really hurt us, but our guys have been adjustable and understand the situation and have gone about things in a positive way.” 

“I think last week in the Riverside game our defense took a big step in the first half with getting some stops early on, but we just couldn’t sustain it with some key guys going down during the second half of that game,” he continued. “We just have to keep focusing week by week on improving the things we need to improve at and hopefully we can get things rolling in the right direction.”

Maxwell Jurek leads the Bearcats in rushing with 44 carries for 109 yards, while Evan Dunnigan has 24 carries for 86 yards. Grant Layman has completed 4-of-14 passes for 19 yards and an interception. As a team, Spencerville is averaging 114 total yards per game, while allowing 307 yards per game.

“With us both being 0-3, we are both going to fight and give everything we have to get in the win column,” Harting said. “Their offense has struggled, but the Wing-T offense is difficult to prepare for. Statistically, we have not done a great job of stopping the run (allowing 262 yards rushing per game). We need to force them into third and long and get them off the field.” 

“Defensively, they have decent size up front and have shown the ability to create negative plays,” Harting continued. “We will have to do a great job executing our assignments and finishing plays. We must come out with great effort and energy. Everyone must be sound with their assignments -and play with physicality. If we can do those things, we will put ourselves in position to get into the win column.”

As far as the NWC championship race, Harting said he expects it to be a very competitive one.

“The NWC as a whole is very good this year,” he said. “It wouldn’t surprise me at all if the league champion ends up with at least one loss.”

Crestview won last year’s game 33-27 and the Knights have won four straight against the Bearcats. Spencerville’s last win in the series was in 2021, 29-28.