NORTH ROBINSON — Not even the weather can slow down the Colonel Crawford Eagles.
Rain fell throughout the Division IV, Division 22 regional tournament game against Oregon Cardinal Stritch Saturday night, forcing the Eagles to stay on the ground most of the night.
In fact, Crawford threw the football just three times in the game.
Still, the Eagles flourished.
Crawford ran 42 times for 302 yards and running back Lincoln Mollenkopf rushed for 199 yards on 21 carries as the Eagles blanked the Cardinals, 50-0.
With the win, the Eagles (10-1) will travel to Ashland next Saturday and to face unbeaten Crestview. The Cougars (11-0) drilled Northwood (4-6), 42-7, in their first playoff game.
Colonel Crawford coach Ryan Teglovic felt that the conditions dictated what the Eagles did offensively.
“It was a wet night again. On a wet night like this, if you can run the ball, it’s best to do that,” Teglovic said. “In the three or four times we threw, we were pretty effective.”
Crawford quarterback Kamryn Lohr completed all three passes he threw for 90 yards, including a 62-yard touchdown to wideout Carter Valentine early in the second quarter.
But keeping the ball on the ground was Crawford’s priority.
“I think the rain dictated that,” Teglovic said of his play-calling. “We always like to run the ball, there’s no doubt about that, but on these rainy nights, it’s always helpful to go under center, not to have to shotgun snap as much, just ball security is big. When we did pass, we were pretty effective in it.”
Mollenkopf rushed for four touchdowns and Matt Clinard added 72 yards on six carries. And it was Clinard’s eight-yard run that gave the Eagles a 7-0 lead.
Mollenkopf scored from three yards out and the Eagles led, 14-0, after one.
After the Eagles opened the second quarter with a safety when the Stritch punter was tackled in the end zone, Valentine caught his score, and Mollenkopf scored on runs of 12 and 23 yards, giving Crawford a 36-0 lead at the half.
With a running clock in the second half, Crawford got a 34-yard Mollenkopf score in the third and a one-yard Tanner Dyer score in the fourth.
Despite the conditions, Teglovic said that his team played a pretty clean game.
“We had a couple of fumbled snaps, you can take a couple on a wet night, we had a couple of fumbles, in general, we didn’t lose, and the jayvee guys lost a fumble down here, but, yea, it was a pretty clean game offensively and defensively,” Teglovic said. “I’m very happy with how we played, sets up a big one for us this week.”
Cardinal Stritch came into the game without their talented quarterback, Thomas Foust, and had to move wideout Clarence Brown to quarterback.
And the Eagles shut down the Cardinals’ rushing attack, holding them to minus-12 yards in 27 carries. Brown did complete nine of 15 passes for 65 yards.
Teglovic said that the change in quarterbacks did not alter his defensive game plan at all.
“The kid that played Q for them tonight is a very similar athlete,” Teglovic said. “Now he doesn’t throw it as well, but he made a couple of throws, especially in their screen game, but he is similar, as far as running and that sort of things. But it didn’t change what we did defensively at all, it made them a little more one-dimensional, no question about that because he’s a real good player.”
Teglovic added that his team is riding into Crestview as a pretty confident team.
“We’ve strung some pretty good performances together, so I think our guys are pretty confident right now,” Teglovic said. “Each week, it’s just about preparing and getting a little bit better and making sure we get ready for our opponent.”
Despite the running clock, which limits the number of plays a team can run, the Eagles still finished with 392 total yards.
“Offensively, we’ve put up some pretty good numbers all year long,” Teglovic said. “On wet nights, sometimes you have to take your yardage in little, smaller chunks, it’s footing and that kind of thing, 20 and 30-yard runs, you don’t have as many of those, it’s more of eight and 10-yard runs in conditions like this, but we’ll take the eight and 10-yard runs, too.”