Knights run past Delphos Jefferson 48-6

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

CONVOY — A 13-6 Crestview lead at halftime quickly turned into a rout in the Northwest Conference opener on Friday.

The Knights (2-2, 1-0 NWC) ran just nine plays in the third quarter, but four of them went for touchdowns in a 48-6 victory over Delphos Jefferson (1-3, 0-1 NWC).

After receiving the second half kickoff, Crestview turned to the option game, with Brody Brecht gaining 11 and 37 yards before Caylib Pruett took a pitch and covered 16 yards to the end zone. Kaden Kreischer connected on one of his six PATs to give the Knights a 20-6 lead just 1:10 into the quarter.

After Pruett intercepted Logan Hubert on the next drive, Kaden Short ran the option for a 45 yard touchdown, then after a Delphos Jefferson punt and a long Pruett return, Brecht plowed for four, then Short scampered 16 yards for a touchdown for a 34-6 lead.

The next Crestview possession was a four play drive – two runs by Brecht for 10 yards, a 49-yard run by Pruett and a 12-yard touchdown blast by Brecht at the 3:36 mark. That score sparked the continuous clock rule for the remainder of the game.

“It’s something (the option) we didn’t show a lot of in the first half but we went back to something that we’re really comfortable with, something we can execute and we were able to do that,” Crestview head coach Jared Owens said.

When the dust settled, the Knights rushed for 458 yards on just 38 attempts. Pruett led the way with five carries for 119 yards, Brecht finished with 14 carries for 110 yards and Short had five carries for 94 yards. Each of the three scored twice.

“You can throw Logan Gerardot (four carries, 28 yards) in that mix too,” Owens said. “When he has the ball in his hands he’s running as hard as anybody, and it gives us some versatility and I feel confident with the ball in any of those guys’ hands.”

“Our offensive line continued to move the line of scrimmage and that’s what we need,” Owens added.

The Knights tossed just three passes in the game, with Short completing two for 28 yards – one to Pruett for 16 yards and the other to Gerardot for 12.

Meanwhile, Crestview held the Wildcats to 48 yards rushing, with 42 coming on one play, and the defense recovered two fumbles, sacked Hubert three times and intercepted him twice, both by Pruett.

“We were able to get good penetration and our defensive line was able to control things for the most part,” Owens explained. “They took some shots at us but for the most part our secondary was in good position and got a couple of turnovers there.”

Isaiah LaTurner had a team high seven tackles and a sack, while Ayden Lichtensteiger and Carson Kreischer each had four tackles and a sack.

Crestview opened the scoring with a five yard Brecht run with 4:23 left in the first quarter, but the Wildcats scored on a three yard run by Colin Bailey with a minute left in the period, followed by an unsuccessful two point conversion attempt.

Pruett extended the lead to 13-6 by breaking a tackle and outracing defenders on a 46-yard touchdown run at the 3:05 mark of the second quarter.

“I thought we did a pretty good job of controlling the game in the first half, we just weren’t able to get points on the board because of turnovers and penalties,” Owens said.

Crestview’s final touchdown came with 7:20 left in the game on a 12-yard run by Carson Hunter, who took advantage of Rontae Jackson’s 58 yard rush three plays earlier.

The Knights will play at Bluffton on Friday. The Pirates outscored Ada 70-50.

“We need to clean up turnovers and penalties, because we can’t afford to do that in close games, but I think we’re continuing to improve,” Owens said.

Scoring

First quarter

CHS 4:23 – Brody Brecht 5 yard run (Kaden Kreischer kick)
DJ 1:00 – Colin Bailey 3 yard run (pass failed)

Second quarter

CHS – 3:05 Caylib Pruett 46 yard run (kick failed)

Third quarter

CHS – 10:50 Caylib Pruett 16 yard run (Kaden Kreischer kick)
CHS – 9:48 Kaden Short 45 yard run (Kaden Kreischer kick)
CHS – 7:16 Kaden Short 16 yard run (Kaden Kreischer kick)
CHS – 3:36 Brody Brecht 12 yard run (Kaden Kreischer kick)

Fourth quarter

CHS – 7:20 Carson Hunter 12 yard run (Kaden Kreischer kick)