{"id":81803,"date":"2016-11-14T08:15:58","date_gmt":"2016-11-14T13:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=81803"},"modified":"2016-11-14T08:16:52","modified_gmt":"2016-11-14T13:16:52","slug":"knights-down-arlington-for-playoff-win","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2016\/11\/14\/knights-down-arlington-for-playoff-win\/","title":{"rendered":"Knights down Arlington for playoff win"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

LIMA — Most football coaches say to be successful, a team must run the football and play good defense. That\u2019s exactly what Crestview did during Saturday\u2019s regional semifinal game in Lima.<\/p>\n

The Knights used a multi-pronged rushing attack and big defensive plays, to defeat the Arlington Red Devils 28-7.<\/p>\n

\"Crestview
Crestview quarterback Drew Kline (10) finds running room against Arlington in Saturday’s Division VII playoff game at Lima (click here<\/a> for more photos)<\/em>.<\/strong> Bob Barnes\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The victory means Crestview will return to Spartan Stadium Saturday, and will face top-seeded McComb in the Division VII Region 26 championship game, with the winner advancing to the state semifinals. It\u2019s the first time in school history the Knights (9-3) will compete for a football regional title.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m very excited for our kids, and I\u2019m very happy for them,\u201d Crestview Head Coach Jared Owens said.<\/p>\n

As a team, Crestview ran for 412 yards and four touchdowns. Quarterback Drew Kline accounted for three of those scores, and 164 yards on 15 carries.\u00a0 Luke Gerardot accounted for the other touchdown, and finished with 147 yards on 15 carries. Trevor Gibson had 52 yards on just seven carries, and Payton Knittle had 12 carries and 49 yards.<\/p>\n

Through the air, Kline was 5 of 10 for 64 yards and one interception.<\/p>\n

Defensively, the Knights held Arlington (8-4) to 224 yards, including just 19 on the ground. Under constant pressure, quarterback Matt Crawford finished 11-of-28 for 205 yards and two interceptions.<\/p>\n

The game was tied 7-7 after one quarter. After forcing Arlington into a three-and-out to open the game, the Knights used just three plays to find the end zone. Quarterback Drew Kline scored on a 36-yard keeper, and Dylan Hicks booted the first of four extra points to make it 7-0.<\/p>\n

The two teams traded punts, then Crestview\u2019s Derick Dealey halted an Arlington drive with the first of his two interceptions on the night.<\/p>\n

\"Knight
Knight running back Payton Knittle (35) runs for positive yardage against Arlington.<\/strong> Bob Barnes\/Van Wert independent<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Red Devils returned the favor, as Crawford picked off Kline and raced 45 yards to the end zone to end the first quarter.<\/p>\n

Crestview responded one play later, when Gerardot took a handoff and sprinted 87 yards to make it 14-7, a score that stood until the third quarter.<\/p>\n

The Knights opened the second half by marching 80 yards in nine plays. Kline capped off the drive with a 53-yard touchdown run, to extend the Crestview lead to 21-7.<\/p>\n

The two teams traded fumbles later in the quarter, but the Knights were able to seal the game early in the fourth quarter.\u00a0Kline scored from five yards out, then Dealey intercepted Crawford for the second time.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe (Dealey) has broken the same thumb twice this year, and continues to play with a cast on his hand,\u201d Owens said. \u201cHe hasn\u2019t missed a practice, even when he was getting a pin put in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d take 100 of him,\u201d Owens added.<\/p>\n

Crestview and McComb will meet in the playoffs for the second consecutive year. Last year, the Panthers edged the Knights 27-26.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know they are a physical, big, and well-coached football team,\u201d Owens said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to have to have really good execution to play well in that game.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

SCOTT TRUXELL\/independent sports LIMA — Most football coaches say to be successful, a team must run the football and play good defense. That\u2019s exactly what Crestview did during Saturday\u2019s regional semifinal game in Lima. The Knights used a multi-pronged rushing attack and big defensive plays, to defeat the Arlington Red Devils 28-7. The victory means […]<\/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-81803","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-22 02:06:56","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\/81803","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=81803"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81803\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81803"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81803"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81803"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}