Crestview Knights prepare for Arlington

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports

CONVOY — For just the second time in school history, the Crestview Knights are preparing for Week 12 of the high school football season.

The first time was in 2013, when the Knights opened the playoffs with a 48-35 victory over Lima Central Catholic.

Last Saturday, Crestview (8-3) raced past Tiffin Calvert 54-20 to advance to the Division VII, Region 26, semifinals against the Arlington Red Devils.

The game will be played at Lima Spartan Stadium, and the winner will advance to next Saturday’s regional championship game, and will face McComb or Hicksville.

By halftime against Calvert, quarterback Drew Kline had touchdown runs of 71, 14, 66 and 17 yards, along with a 78-yard touchdown pass to Chase Clark. Kline finished the game with 214 yards rushing, and 198 passing.

“He has had the ability to slow the game down for himself,” Crestview Head Coach Jared Owens said. “I think this can be attributed to the confidence he has in his teammates, experience and preparation, and film study.”

Owens also said Crestview’s offensive line communication was very good.

“Calvert was switching back and forth between an odd and an even front and we adjusted to this very well on the fly,” Owens said. “Our pass protection was excellent as well.

“Defensively we were solid up front, tackled well, and were very solid in coverage in the secondary,” he added.

Arlington (8-3) advanced to the regional semifinals by holding off Lucas 21-19.  Red Devils quarterback Matt Crawford accounted for 258 of the team’s 283 yards of total offense. Crawford threw for 200 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 58 yards and a score.

Arlington runs a spread-based offense, with a run-first mentality.

During the regular season, Gage Beck led the Red Devils with 729 yards rushing and 11 touchdowns, while Devin Plunkett ran for 529 yards and eight touchdowns. Crawford rushed for 449 yards, and passed for 845 yards, nine touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Defensively, Arlington allowed just 761 rushing yards during the regular season, although Lucas ran for 256 yards in last week’s playoff game.

“We know Arlington is physical and plays extremely hard,” Owens said. “We expect a four-quarter battle, with each possession being extremely valuable.”

Saturday’s Crestview-Arlington game will kick off at 7 p.m. WSKD 99.7 FM will broadcast the game live, immediately after coverage of the Ohio State-Maryland game.

In addition, the game will stream live on www.wert1220.com, and on The Van Wert Independent (www.thevwindependent.com).