NORTH ROBINSON — Football is a game of inches and that was as evident Friday night in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference showdown between Colonel Crawford and visiting Wynford.Trailing by four late, Colonel Crawford’s Connor McMichael caught a pass from quarterback Peyton Baker, dodged a tackle, stayed upright after getting hit. He then tiptoed along the sideline before racing 58 yards for the game-winning touchdown in a thrilling 37-34 Eagles’ win. “I was expecting to look for it,” McMichael said. “They were using the linebacker to guard me all night and he’s not as fast as me. I caught the ball, I looked up field and I just saw open grass, so I took it and ran. I knew I had to put it out for my brothers at the end of the game.”McMichael finished with over 150 yards from scrimmage, scoring both a rushing and receiving touchdown. “Connor has kind of been the third guy behind Trevor (Vogt) and Micah (Thomas),” Colonel Crawford coach Jake Bruner said. “He’s a dynamic kid. He blocks well, plays defense well and he has a burst to him. That burst is what got him in the end zone tonight. I don’t know how he stayed in, but he did.”Wynford got the ball back with three minutes to try to retake the lead, but after converting one fourth down play on a 7-yard Ashton Warren run, the Royals could not convert the next time on a fourth-and-17 play as Warren’s pass fell incomplete. “I thought our kids played hard and they got after it,” Wynford coach Cyle Skidmore said. “We just didn’t come out right. We’ve got to finish games stronger than that.” “That was such a crazy game,” Bruner said. “Both teams played tremendously hard. Both communities should be very proud of their kids. It was a very physical game, a very tough game back and forth and I can’t say enough about our team and also about Wynford.”Colonel Crawford came out swinging on its opening drive, capping it off with a 30-yard run from McMichael. The Eagles attempted the two-point conversion after a Wynford penalty, but Vogt’s run was stopped short, giving Colonel Crawford a 6-0 lead.Near the end of the first quarter, Wynford responded with an impressive drive that included a 30-yard pass from Warren to James Rindfuss and then a 26-yard scoring run by Kaiden Blair to take a 7-6 lead. The lead extended to 13-6 on a 14-yard touchdown run by Blair one drive later.But the lead didn’t last long. On its first play of the next drive, Vogt took it 65-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 13.Wynford responded when Anthony Evans returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown to put the Royals on top 19-13. A total of three touchdowns were scored in just 27 seconds of game time. “Our kids have got a lot of heart — 100% they’ve got a lot of heart,” Skidmore said. “I thought our kids battled and I’m really proud of them. I’m super proud of our kids.”Colonel Crawford finished the first half strong, driving deep into Wynford territory before Vogt found Ryan McMichael in the corner of the end zone for a 16-yard scoring strike to take a 20-19 lead.

Colonel Crawford again drove to the Wynford 20-yard line before kicker Braxton Morton drilled a 37-yard field goal to give the Eagles a 23-19 lead at the half. Neither team could sustain a drive early in the second half, but Vogt again found pay dirt late in the third quarter, going untouched for a 69-yard score to put the Eagles on top 30-19.Wynford came back with a three-play scoring drive capped off by a 65-yard pass from Warren to Rindfuss to cut Colonel Crawford’s lead to 30-27.“I think James Rindfuss, he’s a tremendous kid,” Skidmore said. “He’s something special. He’s a great human being and obviously a great athlete too.”Rindfuss finished the game with four catches for 126 yards and a touchdown. “Rindfuss had a night tonight,” Bruner said.After forcing another Colonel Crawford punt, Wynford marched down the field with the drive capped on a 2-yard run by Blair, his third of the game, which gave the Royals a 34-30.
“We were fortunate to come out on the winning side,” Bruner said. “Sometimes you take winning for granted. I told my kids this week that we were going to get their very, very best effort. Their coaches should be very proud of the turnaround they’ve made in a year.”Both teams had success running the ball with Wynford rushing for 201 yards on 40 carries while Colonel Crawford ran for 285 yards on 29 tries. Each struggled with penalties as the game got heated at times. Wynford had nine penalties for 76 yards and Colonel Crawford had six infractions for 48 yards. “Penalties have been a problem all year,” Skidmore said. “We try to focus on that each and every day.”Despite the loss, Skidmore believes his team will be better in the end for having gone through the experience of such a physical and difficult game. “It’s a loss, but I think it’s gonna help us be prepared for next week and the week after that and get something special done this year,” Skidmore said.Wynford hosts Seneca East on Friday.

Box score

Score by quarters

Wynford                       7          12           0       15   — 34

Colonel Crawford       6          17           7         7   — 37

Scoring summary

First quarter

CC — Connor McMichael 30 run (run failed), 10:03.

W — Kaiden Blair 26 run (Collin Hulsmeyer kick), :36.

Second quarter

W — Blair 14 run (kick failed), 6:58.

CC — Trevor Vogt 65 run (Braxton Morton kick), 6:44.

W — Anthony Evans 90 kickoff return (Hulsmeyer kick), 6:31.

CC — Ryan McMichael 16 pass from Vogt (Morton kick), 2:39.

CC — Morton 37 field goal, :01.

Third quarter

CC —Vogt 69 run (Morton kick), :19.

Fourth quarter

W — James Rindfuss 65 pass from Ashton Warren (Jake stover pass from Warren), 10:36.

W — Blair 2 run (Hulsmeyer kick), 5:13.

CC — C. McMichael 58 pass from Peyton Baker (Morton kick), 3:05.

Individual statistics

Passing

Wynford: Ashton Warren 5-11-1 143; Colonel Crawford: Peyton Baker 4-5-0 72; Trevor Vogt 2-5-0 31.

Rushing

Wynford: Kaiden Blair 20-114, Anthony Evans 15-80, Ashton Warren 5-7; Colonel Crawford: Trevor Vogt 11-146, Connor McMichael 5-78, Micah Thomas 13-61.

Receiving

Wynford: James Rindfuss 4-126, Anthony Evans 1-17; Colonel Crawford: Connor McMichael 2-83, Ryan McMichael 1-16, Trevor Vogt 2-8, Roen Thew 1-6.

Team statistics

W              CC

First downs                 11                  9

Rushing                    40-201        29-285

Passes                        5-11-1        6-10-0

Yards passing            143              103

Total yards                 244             388

Fumbles-lost              2-0               0-0

Punts                         3-36.0         3-44.0

Penalties                     9-76           6-48