{"id":134820,"date":"2020-09-09T03:46:55","date_gmt":"2020-09-09T08:46:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=134820"},"modified":"2020-09-09T03:46:59","modified_gmt":"2020-09-09T08:46:59","slug":"preview-0-2-jefferson-at-1-1-crestview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2020\/09\/09\/preview-0-2-jefferson-at-1-1-crestview\/","title":{"rendered":"Preview: 0-2 Jefferson at 1-1 Crestview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SCOTT TRUXELL\/<\/strong>independent sports editor<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CONVOY — After two road games, the Crestview Knights will enjoy the friendly confines of home as Delphos Jefferson comes to town on Friday night.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After losing the season opener to Spencerville, the Knights raced out to a 28-8 halftime lead and went on to defeat Paulding 38-14 last Friday. Meanwhile, the Wildcats have had a tough start, losing a wild overtime opener to Paulding before falling 41-8 to Spencerville on Friday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite the losses, Delphos Jefferson head coach Ben Rahrig has found some bright spots.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Logan Gerardot is a dual threat for the Knights. Bob Barnes\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn week one we did move the ball well, and we do have some kids that can make plays for us,\u201d the second year mentor explained. \u201cColin Bailey (11-of-22, 230 yards, two touchdowns, one interception, 45 rushes, 341 yards, five touchdowns) at quarterback is always a threat to make a big play at any point in the game. We also have a lot of sophomores playing this year and they give everything that they have.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would like to see our defense improve,\u201d Rahrig continued. \u201cIn both of the first two games our opponents moved the ball all over us. We have to be more physical up front and even though we are playing a lot of young guys each player has to be disciplined to do the job that he has been coached to do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a team, the Wildcats are averaging 377 yards per game, including 262.5 yards rushing per outing but defensively, Delphos Jefferson is allowing 508 yards per game, incuding 320.5 on the ground.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the flip side, while fullback Brody Brecht is Crestview\u2019s leading rusher (31 carries, 223 yards, three touchdowns), senior running back Logan Gerardot has emerged as a dual threat for the Knights, rushing and receiving. In the win over Paulding, he had 12 carries for 73 yards and a touchdown and four receptions for 74 yards and a score.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

\u201cLogan is an extremely intelligent player,\u201d Crestview head coach Jared Owens said. There\u2019s not much he cannot do on the football field. He is critical to the success of our team.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his second start of the season, quarterback JJ Ward was efficient, completing 7-of-12 passes for 153 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for 41 yards, and Owens said he expected continued improvement from his sophomore signal caller.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe is hungry to learn to play the position,\u201d Owens explained. \u201cHe has been very receptive to coaching, and I think, will continue to get better with more and more reps.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At 311 yards per game, the Knights are seventh in the NWC in terms of total offense, but Crestview is allowing just 266 yards per game, third among conference teams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Friday will be Delphos Jefferson\u2019s first road game of the season and Rahrig noted his Wildcats will need to be ready for a rugged contest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCrestview is a physical run the ball first team,\u201d Rahring said. \u201cThey have some big guys up front and have a physical running back in Brecht. They also have the ability to catch you focusing on stopping the run and then hitting something long. They are well coached and know how to do the things that they are good at.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll need to find a way to make stops and get our defense off the field,\u201d he added. \u201cWe\u2019ll also need to be more physical than we have our first two weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Delphos Jefferson is 0-2, Owens said the Wildcats aren\u2019t to be taken lightly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJefferson has a mixture of experience and young players who play very hard,\u201d Owens stated. \u201cI have been very impressed with what I have seen from their quarterback. He is a dual threat that has big play potential.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to limit the big play, take care of the football, and win the battle up front.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hours after Friday night\u2019s game, the two teams will learn who they\u2019ll play in the first round of the Northwest Conference tournament. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports editor CONVOY — After two road games, the Crestview Knights will enjoy the friendly confines of home as Delphos Jefferson comes to town on Friday night. After losing the season opener to Spencerville, the Knights raced out to a 28-8 halftime lead and went on to defeat Paulding 38-14 last Friday. Meanwhile, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-134820","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-08-01 22:18:44","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134820","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134820"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134820\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134820"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134820"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134820"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}