CAREY — A roller coaster of a season came down to a roller coaster of a game for Carey, but the ride is not over yet.
The Blue Devils held off Colonel Crawford 28-20 on Friday night at C.D. Wentling Field to bounce back from a 1-4 start to the season to earn a spot in the playoffs.
Carey (5-5, 5-2 Northern 10 Athletic Conference) ran out to a 28-0 lead but needed a late defensive stand to take the win. Then it had to wait for other results to roll in to find out if it was going to be enough to reach the postseason.
“The defense played well at the end and stepped it up when we needed them to just to get our fifth win, and that’s where we’re at right now,” Carey coach Jonathon Mershman said. “We’re standing around. They wanted to stick around until we find out if we make it. If we don’t, we don’t. If we do, that’s great.”
Unofficially, the No. 8 seed Blue Devils will hit the road to face No. 1 seed Western Reserve (9-1) at 7:30 p.m. Friday.
Cade Crawford, who caught a touchdown pass and returned a punt for a touchdown for the second week in a row, broke up Brock Ritzhaupt’s fourth-down pass from the Carey 28-yard line with just over a minute remaining to clinch it.
Early on, it seemed like Carey would have no problem doing its part. It held a 28-0 lead late in the first half, and after recovering an onside kick, it had a chance to add to that advantage.
But Ritzhaupt came off the end to hit Carey quarterback Ethan Beringer and force a fumble near midfield with a little more than a minute remaining before halftime. The Eagles recovered, and that was the beginning of a major shift in momentum.
“We thought we were close offensively in the first half a few times, and we finally broke through, and then the second half, we got a couple more, and then we’re driving at the end with an opportunity to tie it up,” Colonel Crawford coach Ryan Teglovic said. “What more can you ask for from your guys?”
Ethan Suter got the Eagles (4-6, 2-5 N10) on the board with a 4-yard touchdown run with 36 seconds left in the half, making it 28-6.
Then after taking over with good field position on its second drive of the second half, Colonel Crawford got a 37-yard touchdown pass from Ritzhaupt to Dylan Cook with 6:02 left in the third quarter. Tristan Cross ran in a two-point conversion to make it 28-14.
Before the end of the quarter, the Eagles struck again. They converted a third down with a 19-yard pass to tight end Carson Feichtner and then got a Ritzhaupt 15-yard touchdown run to cut Carey’s lead to 28-20.
“We came out fired up and ready to go,” Mershman said. “We just didn’t come out with the same fire right away in the second half. We kind of tip-toed around, and we’re not a tip-toe team. When we tip-toe, we get our butts kicked. We are a team that has to come out on fire and give people four quarters. That’s something we’ve got to clean up.”
Carey had a chance to put the game away in the fourth quarter, but after moving to Colonel Crawford’s 15-yard line, penalties caused it to go backward, and it ended up punting.
The Eagles went three-and-out and punted, but they got one more stop on defense to get yet another shot on offense at the game-tying touchdown, taking over at its own 20-yard line with 3:11 remaining.
Ritzhaupt converted a fourth down with an 8-yard pass to Jordan Fenner, and a pair of pass interference calls moved the ball into Carey territory. Cross picked up a first down with a run to the Blue Devils’ 27-yard line.
Two plays later, though, Cross was hit in the backfield for a big loss, giving the Eagles a third-and-11. They were incomplete on two straight passing attempts, and Carey was able to run out the final minute.
“I’m proud of the seniors, last game on their home field, to get a win, that’s something they can carry with them, knowing that they got their picture on the wall with five victories,” Mershman said. “It’s a big thing for them. They got all four years up there. I’m pretty proud of them.”
The Blue Devils came out inspired, getting a 38-yard reception from Bryce Conti on their first play, which eventually led to a Reece Billock 5-yard touchdown run.
Beringer threw a 45-yard touchdown pass to Crawford with 11:18 to go in the first half, and Crawford returned a punt 60 yards for a touchdown to make it 22-0. The lead was stretched to a 28-0 on a Landen Kemmerly 3-yard run, capping off a drive that included a 28-yard completion to Brady Curlis and an 18-yard catch by Ian Yeater.
“The first half we gave up too many doggone big plays,” Teglovic said. “We had a couple blown coverages. We had guys getting by us. Once we settled down in the back end a little bit, we started keeping receivers in front of us and making them work for it.”
After throwing for 149 yards in the first half, Beringer completed just one pass for 3 yards in the second half. The Blue Devils never established their running game, which was led by Kemmerly’s 25 yards on nine carries.
Cross had 22 attempts for 98 yards for the Eagles, and Fenner caught seven passes for 71 yards.
Score by quarters
Colonel Crawford 0 6 14 0 — 20
Carey 8 20 0 0 — 28
First quarter
C — Billock 5-yard run (Billock run) 8:34.
Second quarter
C — Beringer 45-yard pass to Crawford (Bell kick) 11:18.
C — Crawford 60-yard punt return (Bell kick) 8:48.
C — Kemerley 3-yard run (kick failed) 2:03.
CC — Suter 4-yard run (Kick failed) 0:36.
Third quarter
CC – Ritzhaupt 37-yard pass to Cooke (Cross run) 6:02.
CC – Ritzhaupt 15-yard run (Pass failed) 1:08.
Individual statistics
Passing
Colonel Crawford: Ritzhaupt 9-23, 130 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT.
Carey: Beringer 7-16, 152 yards, 1 TD; Lonsway 0-1.
Rushing
Colonel Crawford: Cross 22-98; Ritzhaupt 10-36, 1 TD; Suter 5-11, 1 TD.
Carey: Kemerley 9-25, 1 TD; Beringer 9-23; Williams 8-22; Billock 4-14, 1 TD; Lonsway 2-4; Curlis 1-0; Team 2-(minus 1).
Receiving
Colonel Crawford: Fenner 7-71; Cooke 1-37, 1 TD; Feichtner 1-19.
Carey: Crawford 3-61, 1 TD; Curlis 2-35; Conti 1-38; Yeater 1-18.
Team statistics
CC C
First downs 14 12
Rushing 37-145 35-91
Yards passing 130 152
Passes 9-23 7-17
Passes intercepted 1 0
Fumbles-lost 1-1 3-1
Punts 5-32.0 4-25.8
Penalties 7-55 8-88