OLIVESBURG — He’s not accustomed to seeing his defense surrender 25 points. But Crestview coach Steve Haverdill was not at all dissatisfied with his team’s effort after last week’s season-opening win at Loudonville.
On the contrary, Haverdill was pleased with a lot of the things he saw as the Cougars gave up 256 yards to the Redbirds.
“It was a new defensive scheme and I thought the kids came out and played really well. We gave up 25 points but one score came against our junior varsity team and one score came after we had a miscue on our kickoff unit that allowed Loudonville to start inside our 10 yard line,” Haverdill said.
“Fourteen of those points really aren’t on our defense. I thought our defense played well and communicated well for playing in a new scheme for the first time in a game situation.”
Crestview’s first score of the game came when Tanner Moore returned an interception for a touchdown. The rangy 6-foot-3, 175-pound senior defensive back also broke up two other passes.
Defensive back Connor Morse led the way with 13 tackles.
“I thought we played pretty well defensively,” Morse said. “We have some things we need to improve on, but we played with a lot of effort.”
Here is a look at games involving some other Ashland County teams in Week Two:
Crestview (1-0) at Bucyrus (1-0): The Cougars looked sharp in their opener at Loudonville, a 45-25 win. Crestview piled up 406 yards of total offense, rushing for 272 yards and throwing for 134 yards. Running back Connor Morse rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries, while quarterback Hayden Kuhn completed 6 of 9 passes for 134 yards and two TDs. Tight end Shawn Bailey hauled in a 62 yard scoring pass and Adison Reymer had a 27 yard TD reception. Crestview allowed 256 yards but got a defensive score when Tanner Moore returned an interception for a touchdown. Defensive end Owen Barker had three sacks among his eight tackles. Defensive lineman Mason Ringler had two sacks and eight tackles.
Bucyrus opened with an impressive 49-14 win at Mississinawa Valley, the program’s first season-opening victory since 2013. Quarterback Malachi Bayless completed 15 of 22 passes for 285 yards and four touchdowns, including a pair to Mike Wise. Bucyrus rushed for 183 yards. Eddie Dagher ran for 73 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries.
Lucas (1-0) at Hillsdale (0-1): The Cubs opened with a 34-20 win over Danville that was not as close as the final score indicated. Lucas led 34-0 after the opening drive of the second half before the Blue Devils scored three touchdowns in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter. Andrew Fanello led Lucas’ high-powered rushing attack with 95 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries and also caught a 56 yard scoring strike from Corbin Toms late in the first half. Grant Barrett added 84 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries, while Logan Toms carried five times for 61 yards and a score.
Hillsdale came unhinged in the second quarter of the season-opening 40-14 loss at Ravenna Southeast. The Falcons tied the game 7-7 early in the second quarter on quarterback Cole Sinnett’s 30 yard touchdown pass to Ethan Goodwin, but gave up 27 unanswered points to close out the half. Southeast returned an interception 62 yards for a touchdown during the maelstrom. Jake Hoverstock led the Falcons with eight carries for 56 yards, including a touchdown. Sinnett completed 5 of 13 passes for 110 yards and a score, while Justin Zeigler caught three passes for 78 yards. Goodwin and Max Vesper each had nine tackles while Jax Rogers and Lyle Carnegie had eight stops apiece.
Ashland (0-1) at Clyde (0-1): The Arrows hits the road after a disappointing home opener, a 35-28 loss to Dresden Tri-Valley. Ashland led 21-7 at the half before coming unglued in the third. The Scotties scored 21 unanswered points in the period to take a 28-21 lead to the fourth. The Arrows tied it at 28-28 midway through the fourth, but Tri-Valley scored the game-winner with 3:09 remaining. Ashland’s final drive ended with a lost fumble near midfield with 1:30 to play. Quarterback Landon McFrederick completed 20 of 35 passes for 165 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 57 yards on 16 carries. Cayden Spotts rushed for 72 yards on 14 carries and caught an 18 yard touchdown pass. Jonathan Metzger caught seven passes for 49 yards, while Colton Johnson have five grabs for 46 yards. The Arrows played without Navy recruit Kadin Schmitz and Braylen Hider.
Like Ashland, Clyde saw a 14-point lead slip away in a 21-14 loss to Toledo St. Francis at the Glass Bowl in Toledo. Running back Michael Daniels rushed for 87 yards and two touchdowns on 31 carries. Receiver Brady Wilson had four catches for 114 yards from quarterback Jaden Cook.
