Late game dramatics give Crestview win over Wynford
It was cold, and it was damp. It was finally football weather at Scott Bailey Field in Crestview home of the Cougars. It was a night of hard-nose defense against smashmouth rushing attack. The Cougars were able to make a few more big plays than their counterpart, the Wynford Royals.
The Royals were able to take their opening drive to the end zone on a three-yard run by senior half back Corey Brown for a quick 7-0 lead and followed it by intercepting Cougar quarterback Nick Wheeler on Crestview’s first drive of the game.
The Royals seemed to be on the verge of a quick two score lead; but the Cougar defense had other plans. Crestview was able to make a stop and cause a missed field goal. After forcing a Wynford punt, A screen pass from Wheeler to senior halfback Aaron King would end in 49 yard touchdown.
Cougars coach Chad Coffman said, “We haven’t been able to run screens for about two years now, and we were finally able to make a huge play.”
Crestview took over from there.
Crestview’s defense would pick off Royal quarterback Brock Williamson twice in the second quarter off of screen passes, one being returned 52 yards for a touchdown by do-it-all senior linebacker/half back Jay Hill for a 13-7.
“Wynford is a great program and we as a coaching staff were able to break their stuff down and as the week went on we got our kids enough reps and got them used to their plays which was pretty important” Coffman said of his defense’s success defending the screen pass.
A seven yard touchdown pass from Wheeler to sophomore wideout Grant Faulk would se Crestview take a comfortable lead into the locker room 20-7 at half.
Wynford would come out in the second half like a team on a mission. They were able to force punts on the first two Crestview drives of the second half while taking their first two drives to the end zone for touchdowns which regained the Royals the lead.
Brown was able to pound his way into the end zone for Wynford first touchdown from five yards out. A eleven yard run by junior half back Hayden Rhoades on the very next series would add to the score. Just like that, the Royals had a 21-20 lead with 1:31 left in the third quarter.
The Cougars would have the ball from 1:31 left in the third through 8:27 in the fourth. That drive would prove to key to a Crestview comeback. Coffman’s offense would ride his halfbacks, Hill and King, all the way to the 27-yard line converting third down after third down.
From there, Coffman put the ball in the hands of his quarterback. Wheeler found King in the back of the end zone on a 27-yard pass that would give the Cougars the 26-21 lead.
Wynford had one last chance to retake the lead, but the stingy Cougar defense would emerge to cause a turnover on downs. Crestview Cougars would run the clock out to seal a 26-21 victory.
“There is no one in division six that has played a tougher three games to start the season than us, and because of that our mistakes were magnified the first two weeks,” said Coffman, “But we had this chance to continue working and it always makes a difference to get on your home field, we had a great team coming in here to play, and we had a home opener with a lot of fans that has yet to see us play and we just challenged the kids to play and they did.”
The Cougars play host to New London next week.
