OLIVESBURG — Kirtland was as good as advertised.
Its quarterback might be even better.
Jake LaVerde, the Hornets’ junior quarterback, rushed for 199 yards and two touchdowns on just five carries, averaging an incredible 40 yards a pop.
He also threw a pair of touchdown passes as the defending Division VI state champion cruised to a 42-6 win over Crestview on Thursday night at Scott Bailey Memorial Field.
In two games LaVerde has rushed for 540 yards and five TDs on just 21 carries. He is averaging a jaw-dropping 25.7 yards per carry.
“Our offensive line has been amazing,” said LaVerde, Kirtland coach Tiger LaVerde’s son. “We came down here and took care of business and I thought we executed very well.”
With LaVerde triggering the offense, the Hornets (2-0) scored on all six of their first-half possessions.
He ran 64 yards for a touchdown to open the scoring before hooking up with senior receiver Niko Samac on scoring strikes of 22 and 7 yards as Kirtland raced to a 21-0 first-quarter lead.
The onslaught continued on the first play of the second period as Casey Carkhuff returned a fumble 6 yards for a touchdown to make the score 28-0. LaVerde raced 89 yards for a touchdown on Kirtland’s next possession expand the bulge to 35-0 with 9:27 showing in the opening half. That prompted Tiger LaVerde to lift many of his regulars.
Kirtland’s final score of the period came with 1:58 to play when freshman Landon Oppenheim caught a 3-yard pass from fellow freshman Ben Loncar.
“We made mistakes and you can’t make mistakes against teams like this,” Crestview coach Steve Haverdill said. “You play a team like this and your mistakes will show. When you play a team that’s not very good, you can beat them with mistakes and then those kids will … continue to make those mistakes.
“We’re able to see our mistakes and see them for the rest of the year.”
Crestview (0-2) got on the board when Marcus Chacey scored on a 10-yard run late in the third quarter. The Cougars threatened again late in the fourth but came up short on fourth-and-goal as time expired.
Thursday’s game came about after Haverdill and Tiger LaVerde coached together in the 2023 Ohio all-star game. Haverdill is a Lake County native whose mother lives in Kirtland.
“It’s cool because we don’t see a lot of teams that really want to play us,” said Tiger LaVerde, who has guided the Hornets to seven state titles and five runner-up finishes since 2011. “It’s hard for us to find games with schools our size.”
The Cougars will visit Keystone next week.
“I’m very proud of our guys. They fought extremely hard,” Haverdill said. “We’re not going to face a team the rest of the year like that.
“No disrespect to our upcoming opponents, but they’re not Kirtland. We’ve played the best.”