{"id":81459,"date":"2016-11-02T07:41:40","date_gmt":"2016-11-02T12:41:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=81459"},"modified":"2016-11-02T07:41:40","modified_gmt":"2016-11-02T12:41:40","slug":"crestview-ready-for-playoff-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2016\/11\/02\/crestview-ready-for-playoff-challenge\/","title":{"rendered":"Crestview ready for playoff challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

After wrapping up a 7-3 (4-3 NWC) regular season, the Crestview Knights are playoff bound for the fourth consecutive season.<\/p>\n

The No. 6-seeded Knights will take on the No. 3 seed Tiffin Calvert Senecas in Division VII, Region 26, quarterfinal action Saturday night at Frost-Kalnow Stadium in Tiffin.<\/p>\n

\"Crestview
Crestview quarterback Drew Kline (10)\u00a0will likely be a big factor in the outcome of the Knights’ football playoff game against Tiffin Calvert on Friday.<\/strong> (VW independent file photo)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The winner will advance to the regional semifinals, and will play Arlington or Lucas.<\/p>\n

Crestview is one of four Northwest Conference teams to qualify for the OHSAA postseason (Delphos Jefferson, Spencerville, and Ada are the others), and Head Coach Jared Owens believes tough conference play has prepared the Knights for playoff action.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel like we played against some really good offenses and defenses, and we had to prepare for many different styles of offense and defense,\u201d Owens said. \u201cI think these are two factors that help us feel more prepared going into Week 11.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crestview quarterback Drew Kline had an impressive regular season, going 74-of-147 passing for 1,261 yards, 15 touchdowns, and just five interceptions. His favorite target has been wide receiver Chase Clark (24 catches for 374 yards and four TDs).<\/p>\n

Along with nearly 1,300 yards passing, Kline rushed 144 times for 1,171 yards and 21 touchdowns, while running backs Luke Gerardot and Trevor Gibson chipped in with 496 and 465 yards, respectively.\u00a0 Before suffering a foot injury early in the season, Payton Knittle rushed for 344 yards. Knittle may play Saturday night.<\/p>\n

Owens said the key to the team\u2019s success has been the offensive line, made up of tackles Nick Henry and Braden Brecht, guards Joel Germann and Emilio DeLeon, center Braden Sellers, and tight ends Braden Van Cleave and Tyler Riggenbach, along with Dylan Hicks, who has played multiple positions up front.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese guys have been so consistent with their effort and execution each game this year,\u201d Owens said. \u201cThey have learned to communicate really well with each other and play physical football.\u201d<\/p>\n

Much like the Crestview Knights, the Calvert Senecas (6-3, 4-0 SBC River Division) will come into Saturday\u2019s playoff game battle-tested.<\/p>\n

Calvert\u2019s three losses came to teams with a combined 27-3 record — Swanton, Norwalk St. Paul, and Seneca East.\u00a0The Senecas also played an eight-man game against Fostoria St. Wendelin and won 77-14, but the game isn\u2019t reflected in the final OHSAA standings.<\/p>\n

\u201cCalvert runs a three and four wide receiver spread offense and their quarterback (Park Hemminger, 1,500 yards passing, 19 touchdowns, five interceptions) throws the ball on time and is an accurate passer,\u201d Owens said. \u201cThey also have some size on their offensive line, and defensively they play hard and get to the football well.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the sixth consecutive season the Senecas have qualified for the playoffs.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s playoff game kicks off at 7 p.m., and can be heard live on WKSD 99.7 FM, www.wert1220.com<\/a> and streaming live on The Van Wert independent<\/em> (www.thevwindependent.com<\/a>).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports After wrapping up a 7-3 (4-3 NWC) regular season, the Crestview Knights are playoff bound for the fourth consecutive season. The No. 6-seeded Knights will take on the No. 3 seed Tiffin Calvert Senecas in Division VII, Region 26, quarterfinal action Saturday night at Frost-Kalnow Stadium in Tiffin. The winner will advance […]<\/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-81459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 03:15:28","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\/81459","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=81459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81459\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}