Knights rally falls short against Bluffton

Van Wert independent sports

BLUFFTON — The Crestview Knights stayed even for a quarter, but four unanswered touchdowns, coupled with a Knight fourth-quarter rally that was too little, too late, led to a 41-28 win for the Pirates in a Northwest Conference game played Friday at Bluffton.

Statistically, the game was pretty much even, with the Knights generating 422 yards of total offense, versus 441 for Bluffton. Crestview had 272 yards of rushing offense, while the Pirates ran for 221 yards. The Knights passed for 150 yards, versus 220 yards for Bluffton.

Crestview’s Jordan Miller was the top rusher of the game, with 134 yards and a touchdown on 22 carries. The Pirates’ Dustin Falk wasn’t far behind, rushing 12 times for 125 yards and a TD, while Kaleb Jefferson had 77 yards and two touchdowns on six carries. Crestview’s Dylan Grandstaff rushed nine times for 50 yards and a TD, while Drew Kline had 37 yards and a touchdown on five carries.

The Knights opened the scoring with a 10-yard run by Miller with 8:37 remaining in the first quarter. Miller also kicked the point-after for an 8-0 Crestview lead. Bluffton scored next on a 7-yard run by Jefferson with 7:25 remaining in the first quarter. Carrick Lancaster kicked the PAT and the Knights had a 1-point lead, 8-7.

The Pirates also scored the third TD of the game when Falk ran 24 yards for the score. The point-after attempt failed, though, and it was 13-8, Bluffton.

It was Crestview’s turn this time and the Knights took advantage, with Grandstaff scoring on a 2-yard run with 25 seconds left on the first-quarter scoreboard. Grandstaff also completed a two-point conversion pass to Braden Van Cleave and Crestview led 16-13 when the first quarter expired.

Bluffton’s offense — and defense — then began to assert itself. The Pirates scored 28 unanswered points, including a 31-yard pass from Mitchell Ault to Dakota Bricker to take the lead heading into the locker room at halftime. Ault also completed a two-point conversion pass to Falk and it was 21-16, Pirates, at the half.

Bluffton continued to dominate in the second half, with a 22-yard touchdown pass from Ault to Joel Siefker with 4:41 remaining in the third quarter. Lancaster kicked the point-after and it was 28-16, Pirates.

Bluffton’s next score came on a 60-yard run by Jefferson. The point-after attempt failed and the Pirates led by 18 points, 34-16, with 60 seconds left in the third stanza.

The Pirates scored their final touchdown on their first possession of the fourth quarter when Ault connected with Brady Basinger on a 15-yard scoring strike with 9:44 remaining in the game. Lancaster kicked the point-after and the Pirates were up by 25 points, 41-16.

The Knights rallied for two fourth-quarter scores, the first on a 26-yard pass from Kline to Grant Schlagbaum and the second a 3-yard run by Kline. Neither point-after was successful to end the game at 41-28.