ASHLAND — Colonel Crawford’s season ended in week 12 at the hands of No. 2 seed Ashland Crestview. The Eagles fell to the Cougars 28-14 in the Division VI, Region 22 quarterfinals on Saturday night.
“I don’t think there was a lot of people outside of our locker room that expected us to be here at this point and win 10 games,” Colonel Crawford hed coach Ryan Teglovic said. “They have a lot to be proud of.”
Crestview (12-0) jumped out of the gate quickly, taking a 7-0 lead after defensive back Caden Cunningham took a fumble return back for a 25-yard touchdown with 7:40 to play in the opening quarter.
Colonel Crawford, seeded seventh in Region 22, tried to answer with a 25-yard field goal, but it was blocked. Shortly after Crestview running back Connor Morse broke off a 66-yard scamper to give the Cougars a 14-0 lead with 1:54 left in the first quarter.
“We got into the red zone three times and didn’t capitalize. Those things come back to get you against good teams,” Teglovic said.
There were three fumbles in the first half, two by the Eagles. Crestview scored again when quarterback Hayden Kuhn hit tight end Owen Barker on a 19-yard touchdown across the middle. The Kuhn-to-Barker connection came with 6:09 remaining before halftime and gave the Cougars a 21-0 advantage.
Kuhn finished the night 6-for-11 and had 48 yards passing.
Trevor Vogt’s kickoff return to the 21 yard line of Crestview set up the Eagles for their first score of the game. Running back Lincoln Mollenkopf scored from a yard out with 3:57 left in the second quarter to make it 21-7. That’s where the score stood at halftime.
On the night, Mollenkopf had 29 carries for 145 yards.
Crestview took advantage of another Eagles turnover to score its finals points of the game midway through the third period. The Eagles muffed a punt at their own 16 yard line that the Cougars recovered. Just a few plays later running back Wade Bolin pounded it in from five yards out to push the Cougars lead to 28-7 at the 6:10 mark of the third quarter.
The Eagles answered with their final touchdown of the night early in the fourth quarter to make it a two-score game again. Quarterback Kamryn Lohr and receiver Carter Valentine connected on a deep pass that set up Colonel Crawford deep in Cougars’ territory. Mollenkopf capped off the drive with a six-yard carry for his second touchdown of the game with 11:14 remaining in the final period.
Valentine had 97 yards receiving on the night. Lohr was 12-of-21 passing for 167 yards.
“Teams are going to stack the box on us. We were able to hit some throws tonight and hit some big plays in the passing game,” Teglovic said.
Colonel Crawford forced a three-and-out and then had a chance to make it a one-score game, but he Eagles failed to convert on fourth down in Cougars’ territory.
“They had a couple long runs, but besides that I thought we did a pretty good job of bottling up,” explained Teglovic.
On the night Crestview had 186 rushing yards.
In the end, the turnovers were the difference. The Eagles lost three fumbles and Crestview fumbled just once.
“Proud of our guys,” Teglovic said. “They continued to battle. We turned the ball over to many times.”
Crestview will face No. 3 seed Carey (11-1) in the Region 22 semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 13. The Blue Devils blanked Defiance Tinora 20-0 on Saturday night.
The other Region 22 semifinal features No. 1 seed Archbold (12-0) taking on No. 5 seed Liberty Center (10-2). Archbold blew out Collins Western Reserve 42-7 and Liberty Center upended No. 4 seed Columbus Grove 21-13 on Saturday.
