Playoffs Recap
Crestview Rebels 41
Blower once again showcased his speed and elusiveness as he rushed for 303 yards and scored two touchdowns while the Rebels defense came out of the locker room to start the second half of the contest and put a choke hold on the Knights offense.
Both teams would exchange possessions to start the game before the Rebels finnaly had a scoing opportunity late in the 1st quarter when Zack Moore would attempt a 23-yard field goal from the right hash. Unfortunately the boot would sail wide left and kept the game scoreless.
However the beginning of the second quarter saw an offensive explosion as both teams would score twice. The Rebels would draw first blood when quarterback Adam Coppock would plow into the end zone from 5-yards out at the 10:54 mark.
The Knights would answer right back with the tight end Joe Blevins on a end around would pull up and pass the ball 45-yards behind the Rebel defense to Colby Hart for a touchdown at the 8:49 mark.
The Rebels would recapture the lead again on their next possession. After a short kickoff, the Rebels would score after only five plays as Blower would score from 34-yards out to give the Rebs a 14-7 lead with 6:29 remaining in the half.
Once again the Knights came right back as they would score on a 33-yard run by their running back Bryan Wilkins. That score would knot the game back up at 14-14 with just 3:15 left in the first half.
But Crestview would take the advantage going into the lockroom as they would score once more, this time on a 4-yard run by Coppock again. The touchdown gave the Rebels a 21-14 halftime lead.
With the Knights getting the ball to start the second half the Rebels defense came up with a big stop, and then took the ball and added to their lead. Crestview would travel 88-yards on 12-plays, with Zack Moore booting a 35-yard field goal with 2:39 remaining in the third quarter.
Then on the Knights next possession they would drive to the Rebels 20-yard line where they would face a fourth-and-one situation. On the run over the left side the Rebels defesnive end C.J. Collins would stand Wilkins up and push him back for no gain and turning the ball back over to the Rebels offense.
The Rebels would seize the opportunity as they would give the ball to Blower who would race 79-yard down the field to the 1-foot line. From there craig Lower would plunge into the end zone for the score, and give the Rebels a commanding 31-14 lead with 11:35 remaining in the game.
The Rebels would add a 38-yard touchdown run by Blower with 9:24 remaining and they would tack on a 19-yard field goal by Moore with only 35 seconds left.
The Knights would score at the very end of the contest on a 40-yard hail mary pass from quarterback Tyler Moeglin to Hart with only 0:01 seconds remaining.
The Rebels will move to face Kirtland next Friday in the Region 17 Championship at a site to be named on Sunday.
Western Reserve Blue Devils 29
The Hornets came out on fire as they would take their opening drive deep into Devils territory to only fumble the ball. But then the Hornets would score on a 1-yard run by outstanding quarterback Shawn Ball in the first quarter to make it 7-0 with 2:43 remaining in the quarter.
Ball would then hit Tucci on a 15-yard touchdown pass to score again in the second quarter. The touchdown at the 10:58 mark of the quarter gave the Hornets a 14-0 lead and they would take that lead into the locker romms at halftime.
But in the second half a much more determined and physical team showed up for the Devils. Bolton would start to find big holes to run through as he would would score in the third quarter on a run of 14-yards at the 5:07 mark. Bolton would also run in a two point conversion to make it 14-8 Malvern. Then at the 2:49 mark of the quarter Bolton would run in from 17-yards out. The extra point was no good and the score was knotted at 14-14.
Then the Devils would take the lead for good as quarterback Jeff Clegg would get into the action with a 6-yard touchdown run with 8:29 left in the contest.
To the Hornets credit they would not give up as they would score what appeared to be the tying touchdown as Ball would run in from 5-yards out. But the extra point would sail wide and the Devils clung to a narrow 21-20 lead with just 2:28 remaining in the game.
The Devils would recover the on-side kick and from there they would put the bal game away. Bolton would close out the night with his third touchdown run with only 1:13 left in the game as he ran in from 12-yards out and also added a two-point conversion to give the Devils the final score of 29-20.
On the night Bolton would rush for 235 yards on 24 carries and score 3 TD's. He would also add 2 fumble recovers to his stat sheet. While Jeff Clegg would hit 5 of 13 passes for 59 yards, but he would also rush for 78 yards on 14 carries and 1 TD.
The Devils defense would cause the Hornets to turn the ball over on 4 fumbles on the night. Junior defensive back Tim Cooper would have an outstanding game as he broke up several passes to the Hornets big receivers and he also recovered one of the Hornets fumbles.
