Crestview falls to Ada in NWC thriller

Van Wert independent sports

ADA — A 59-yard punt return was the difference in the game as Crestview lost its first game of the year, a 22-15 loss to Ada on Friday.

The Knights were trying to hold on to a 15-14 lead when Jordan Bailey grabbed a blocked punt on his own 41-yard line and rambled all the way to the end zone with 5:21 left to play. Bulldog kicker Trent Jolliff then completed a pass to Blake Ansley for a two-point conversion and a 22-15 lead.

It was a lead that Crestview could not surmount, as the Knights were frustrated twice in the final five minutes, both times by Jolliff, who was also the hero on defense as he intercepted two passes, including one with less than half a minute remaining on the clock to protect Ada’s seven-point lead.

Crestview scored first in the game on a 4-yard run by Jake Lippi. Quarterback Preston Zaleski ran the ball in for a two-point conversion and the Knights led 8-0 with 9:33 left in the first quarter.

Ada scored the next two touchdowns, with the first coming at 8:29 of the second quarter when quarterback Seth Conley found Ansley for a 20-yard touchdown. Jolliff kicked the PAT and the Bulldogs trailed 8-7.

Ada’s second score of the quarter came with just 30 seconds left in the first half. Conley found Jolliff this time on the Crestview 6-yard-line and Jolliff ran the ball in from there. He also kicked the point-after and the Bulldogs led for the first time in the game, 14-8.

The Knights got the next score when Malcolm Oliver ran 22 yards for a TD with 4:20 remaining in the third quarter. Jake Tatum kicked the PAT and Crestview had its last lead, 15-14.

Then came Bailey’s game-winning punt return.

Statistically, the game was pretty even, with the Knights getting 13 first downs to Ada’s 15. Crestview had 287 total yards in the game, 200 of those on the ground, while the Bulldogs reversed that, getting 311 yards on the ground, with 263 of those through the air.

Oliver just missed a 100-yard game, running for 94 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, while Zaleski ran for 69 yards on 22 carries. Conley was 25 of 41 for the game with two TDs and one interception. Zaleski completed 6 of 17 passes for 87 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions.