10/24/2009 1:35:00 AM
Grove runs past Crestview
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By ED GEBERT
Times Bulletin news writer
egebert@timesbulletin.com
The Columbus Grove Bulldogs used their power running game to overwhelm Crestview Friday night 27-6 on a slick and muddy field in Convoy.
Grove rushed for an unofficial 243 yards on the ground, led by senior running back Rayce Risser and junior Jacob Miller. It was a Risser 34-yard run off left tackle in the first quarter that was the first big play of the evening. The rush set up the Bulldogs at the Crestview six, and two plays later Risser finished the job by running along the left sideline to put Columbus Grove on the board first, just five minutes into the contest.
"In conditions like tonight when you have the wind and the mud, we had to go to what got us here and run the ball," remarked Bulldogs Head Coach Scott Palte.
Crestview got its own ground game started on their second possession as an end-around to Joey Overmeyer went for 17 yards. The Knights were able to move in the Grove territory, converting one fourth down run, but a fourth down pass by senior signal-caller Steven Semer was batted down at the line to end the Crestview threat.
From that point, Grove went on a nine-play, 69-yard scoring drive, capped by a 16-yard Miller rush over the right side. The point-after kick failed, but Columbus Grove held a 13-0 lead early in the second quarter.
That was all the scoring in the first half, as the Knights had to punt twice and turned it over on fourth down on another possession. Crestview Head Coach Jason Cross noted, "I didn't think we did a bad job against them necessarily. We did move the ball in the first half, but they shut us down on fourth down a couple of crucial times."
Things did not get any easier for the Knights in the third quarter as Grove held the football for almost the entire stanza, being turned away on a fourth-and-goal by the Crestview defense only to get the ball back near the goal line four plays later. Risser dived over the line for the Bulldog's third touchdown of the evening near the end of the thrid quarter. With the kick, Columbus Grove took a commanding 20-0 lead.
After the ensuing kickoff, Semer's pass was picked off by Miller, putting the Bulldogs on the scoring track again. Ten plays later, Risser carried it in from a yard out. With the conversion, Grove went up 27-0.
Cross said, "They are very good up front, we knew that coming in. They are a good football team. They've moved the ball on everybody they've played this year. I thought we made good adjustments in the second half. Obviously we were in a bad position to try to switch things up in the second half. I think going into the fourth quarter, we had only ran four plays. They were on the field quite a bit offensively, but I thought defensively we made good adjustments and our linebackers stayed home which gave them a little bit of trouble."
The Knights did not give up. After an exchange of possessions, junior quarterback Cody Hagaman tossed a screen pass to sophomore tailback Matt Holden who dashed down the right sideline for 64 yards and the lone Crestview touchdown of the night.
Other than the scoring strike to Holden, the Knight passing game was mostly silent as Grove knocked down three passes and intercepted another. In all, Crestview quarterbacks were 4 for 14 for 70 yards - 64 of those on one play.
"Offensively, throwing the ball, we struggled," Cross admitted. "I thought it was there, but we'll see it on tape and see what happened."
"I'm pretty proud of our guys for coming out here and getting after it," said Palte after the game. "Coming over here has always been a tight one here and since Crestview joined the league it's been a trouble spot to come over here and play. It's been a tough game. Their kids are well-coached and they play hard and get after it. I thought we played a pretty solid football game. Things got a little sloppy at the end, but I thought we did a good job."
Crestview moves to 3-6 on the season and hopes to finish strong next week at home against Paulding.
"We've made a lot of strides this year. We have gotten a lot better since last year. With the kids that we had that were young last year, and most of these kids are still juniors," replied Cross. "We want to go out with a win next Friday night with Paulding at home. We need to get prepared. They're a good football team and we need to be ready to go."
Columbus Grove moves to 6-3 with only their second road win of the campaign. The Bulldogs will host conference rival Bluffton next Friday.
Palte said, "I thought we threw the ball well when we had to. We had some nice pass plays when we needed to. And we had some good third down plays and I thought Jordan Travis had a good week. Something to build on for next week. It was muddy and slippery tonight, and we kept dropping the football and looking sloppy out there. But all in all, I'm pretty happy with our performance and we'll go get ready for Bluffton.
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