{"id":211708,"date":"2026-10-27T21:36:39","date_gmt":"2026-10-28T02:36:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=211708"},"modified":"2026-10-27T21:37:24","modified_gmt":"2026-10-28T02:37:24","slug":"season-a-challenging-one-for-crestview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/10\/27\/season-a-challenging-one-for-crestview\/","title":{"rendered":"Season a challenging one for Crestview"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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

CONVOY — There\u2019s no getting around it \u2013 the 2026 high school football season was a rough one for Crestview.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Playing against one of the toughest schedules in all of Division VI, the Knights finished 2-8 (2-5 NWC). Just how tough was the schedule? According to fantastic50.net<\/a>, it was the sixth toughest in the state. Nine of Crestview\u2019s 10 regular season opponents qualified for the playoffs. The eight losses came to teams with a combined record of 64-20. Four of the opponents \u2013 Minster, Bluffton, Columbus Grove and Lima Central Catholic were all ranked in the top 10 in their respective divisions.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Freshman Calin Balliet was one of three players to take snaps at quarterback this season. Bob Barnes\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Not to be lost in all of that \u2013 the Northwest Conference was one of the stronger small school conferences in the state this season. In addition, the Knights had to replace more than 90 percent of their offensive output from the 2025 season.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe knew our schedule was going to be difficult coming into the season, especially with so many unknowns on the offensive side of the ball,\u201d head coach Cole Harting said. \u201cBut I can\u2019t say enough about the resiliency of our kids. They never stopped competing and continued to prepare each and every week with the expectation that we were going to win.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the offense tried to find its rhythm, three different players were called on to line up behind center \u2013 Cooper Miller, Calin Balliet and Cash Hammons. All three showed flashes. Balliet was the quarterback in Crestview\u2019s wins over Spencerville and Delphos Jefferson and because of injuries, Hammons closed out the season at quarterback, completing 38-of-64 passes for 391 yards, three touchdowns and three interceptions. Balliet completed 51-of-75 tosses for 376 yards, three touchdowns and six interceptions. Miller completed 39-of-109 attempts for 575 yards, two touchdowns and six interceptions. Miller and Hammons are juniors while Balliet is a freshman.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIdeally you don\u2019t want to have too much movement at such a vital position but that was the hand we were dealt this season,\u201d Harting said. \u201cDespite the struggles and injuries, we are in a better position moving forward than where we were coming into the season. All three quarterbacks gained a ton of experience and I hope they will continue to grow and push themselves as well as each other. There is so much potential and upside with those guys, it will be fun to see what they can do next fall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whichever quarterback takes snaps next season, they\u2019ll have reliable hands to throw to. The top two targets were a pair of freshman receivers \u2013 Beau Lichtensteiger (45 receptions, 500 yards, five touchdowns) and Harper Perrott (27-342). Lichtensteiger was named honorable mention All-NWC.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

One area that will see change is up front offensively and defensively, where the majority of players were seniors. Two of them \u2013 Will Sheets and Kale Lichtensteiger garnered all-conference honors. Sheets was named first team All-NWC defensive lineman and second team All-NWC offensive lineman, while Lichtensteiger was also named second team All-NWC along the offensive line. Harting noted at the line positions and across the board, the Knights will have to get stronger during the offseason.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a team, we have to get stronger, period,\u201d he said. \u201cFootball is a physical game and you have to have strength in order to compete with the teams we play week in and week out. The weight room must become a priority for our guys.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harting lauded the nine seniors on the team \u2013 Sheets, Lichtensteiger, WR\/DB Jacoby Gallimore, RB\/DB Hayden Waltmire, WR\/LB Kaden Gause, OL\/DL Sebastian Craig, OL\/DL Noah Woodruff, OL\/DL Denver McDougall, and OL\/DL Evan Myers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis group of seniors will be greatly missed,\u201d he said. \u201cAs a group, they played a ton of snaps for us over the years. They worked hard, provided great leadership and were a fun group to be around. I can\u2019t wait to see what they accomplish in their futures.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The coach also praised his staff \u2013 assistant coaches Jake Harmon, Dylan Hicks, Coty French, Kory Lichtensteiger, Josh Staten, Levi Orsbon, Nate Place, Colin Place and Conner Sheets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur assistant coaches worked their butts off this year helping to try a find solutions to ways we could modify what we do to put us in position to compete the best we could,\u201d Harting said. \u201cThese guys pour so much of their time and energy into our program, I can\u2019t thank them enough for what they do for our kids on a continuous basis.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports CONVOY — There\u2019s no getting around it \u2013 the 2026 high school football season was a rough one for Crestview. Playing against one of the toughest schedules in all of Division VI, the Knights finished 2-8 (2-5 NWC). Just how tough was the schedule? According to fantastic50.net, it was the sixth toughest […]<\/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-211708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-11-04 04:28:23","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\/211708","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=211708"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211708\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":211721,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/211708\/revisions\/211721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=211708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=211708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=211708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}