CRESTLINE — Crestline coach Jonny King stood on the home sideline near the 50-yard line. He was all alone, a solitary figure on a cold, crisp night.
In his hand was a cell phone. He was standing facing the Hutson Stadium scoreboard, taking a picture. What he saw: Crestline 48, Vanlue 28.
As he stood, he had a chance to reflect on a season of what-ifs.
Crestline finished the season 1-7, but in four games, King’s Bulldogs held a lead in the fourth period, losing twice by one point.
“This was a great way for the seniors to go out,” King said. “There’s a lot of sentimentality about this one.”
There was no way his Bulldogs were going to lose a fourth-quarter lead this time.
Senior Brock Noblit rushed for 223 yards on 14 carries and senior teammate Calvin Reed rushed for 110 yards on 12 carries, caught two passes for 60 yards, and threw an eight-yard touchdown pass in the 20-point Crestline win.
“This one meant a lot to these kids,” King said. “This was a game we felt we could be competitive. We were finally able to close this one out.”
Vanlue (1-8) stayed in the game by recovering two on-side kicks in the first quarter and turning both into touchdowns. But the Bulldogs picked off five passes and returned two for touchdowns, a 55-yard dash from Reed and a 31-yard run by Connor Lusk.
“I’ve been proud of my kids all season, but I was really proud of the kids tonight,” King added. “We played much more solid in the second half. We gave them some opportunities in the first half, but the kids really accepted the adjustments we made at halftime.”
On Crestline’s first play of the game, Noblit took a pitch around the right side and dashed 60 yards for the score and a 7-0 Crestline lead.
After Vanlue used a pair of Jaren Kloepfer touchdown passes to Joey Bonham from 25 and 24 yards for a 14-7 lead, Noblit took another pitch around the right side from 19 yards out and a 15-14 Crestline lead.
The two Crestline pick-sixes gave the Bulldogs a 29-22 lead after one frame.
Noblit scored his third touchdown of the game from 13 yards out midway through the second quarter and Crestline held a 35-28 lead at the half.
The Bulldogs scored twice more in the third period on a one-yard run from Reed and an eight-yard dash from Brandon Hiles.
“We took steps all year and we finally finished it off,” King added.
Kloepfer threw for 219 yards and four scores but he was harassed all night by a stout Crestline defense. The Bulldogs limited Vanlue to just 38 yards rushing on 24 carries.
Vanlue wideout Bonham grabbed 10 passes for 178 yards and three scores.
The Bulldogs rushed for 353 yards on 33 carries and finished with 434 total yards on the night.
Box score
Score by quarters
Crestline 29 6 13 0 — 48
Vanlue 22 6 0 0 — 28
Scoring summary
First quarter
C — Brock Noblit 60 run (Noblit kick), 10:25.
V — Joey Bonham 25 pass from Jaren Kloepfer (run good), 9:09.
V — Bonham 24 pass from Kloepfer (run failed failed), 8:56.
C — Noblit 19 run (Calvin Reed run), 6:42.
C — Reed 55 interception return (run failed), 5:46.
V — Chase Wellman 6 run (Kloepfer run), 2:22.
C — Connor Lusk 31 interception return (Reed run), :16.
Second quarter
C — Noblit 13 run (kick failed), 5:26.
V — Bonham 10 pass from Kloepfer (pass failed), 4:33.
Third quarter
C — Reed 1 run (kick failed), 4:35.
C — Brandon Hiles 8 pass from Reed (Noblit kick), 1:06.
Individual statistics
Passing
Crestline: Trevor Shade 5-9-0 69, Calvin Reed 1-1-0 8. Vanlue: Jaren Kloepfer 13-33-5 219.
Rushing
Crestline: Brock Noblit 14-223, Reed 12-110, Shade 1-16, Brandon Hiles 1-8, Ethan Clark 2-0. Vanlue: Chase Wellman 14-70, Kloepfer 9-(-32).
Receiving
Crestline: Reed 2-60, Noblit 2-10, Hiles 1-8, Connor Lusk 1-(-1). Vanlue: Joey Bonham 10-178, Jaxon Temple 2-36, Alec Dunbar 1-5.
Team statistics
C V
First downs 12 17
Rushing 33-357 24-38
Passes 6-10-0 13-33-5
Yards passing 77 219
Total yards 434 257
Punts 2-32.5 1-40.0
Penalties 9-55 7-53