CRESTLINE — On a night when the Crestline Exempted School District named the field at Hutson Stadium after former All-Ohio quarterback Paul Henry “Rocky” Alt, the current Bulldogs came back from a deficit to extend the game.

As it turned out, a four-hour game.

Crestline trailed by 22-7 in the second quarter and 22-9 at the break against East Cleveland Shaw but came storming back to tie the game at 28-28 on the final play of regulation, sending the game into overtime. Four overtimes, in fact.

Shaw, however, scored in the fourth overtime and bested the Bulldogs, 34-28.

The win snapped a 19-game losing streak for the Cardinals, something that was a relief for Shaw coach Randy Knight.

“It’s a great win because we had lost 19 straight,” Knight said. “So, today we broke it. We’re now on a one-game winning streak and we’re going for two in a row next week.”

Crestline, on the other hand, fell to 2-2 on the season. The Bulldogs officially got a forfeit from last week’s game with Cleveland Collinwood, and are 10th in Division VII, Region 25.

Bulldogs’ coach Hastings Robinette said that this is not the same, old Crestline football program.

“They fought” Robinette said. “I am so proud of our guys. We had too many self-inflicted wounds tonight, shooting ourselves in the foot. But you can only bend so many times before you break.”

The Bulldogs certainly shot themselves in the foot early, giving the Cardinals a pair of scores and having to play comeback football the rest of the way. Shaw scored on a 50-yard fumble return early in the first quarter and used a five-yard scoring drive in the second.

On Crestline’s first possession of the game, Shaw’s Eric Meredith returned a fumble 50 yards for the score and a 6-0 lead.

Crestline, however, responded on its next possession, as tailback Cian Glennon raced 33 yards for the score and a 7-6 Bulldogs’ lead.

Shaw took a 14-7 lead on a 35-yard Meredith run.

Most of the first half was played in Crestline territory, and that came back to bite the Bulldogs early in the second period when a short punt and a 45-yard return set the Cardinals up at the Crestline five.

From there, Tristin Kyle barreled over from eight yards out and the Cardinals led 22-7.

Crestline got a safety right before the end of the half when the snap on a Shaw punt sailed out of the end zone. Shaw led at the half, 22-9.

“As I said in week one, that’s the biggest difference,” Robinette said. “These guys, no matter if they are down or not, they still fight. They didn’t give up once.”

Shaw finished the game with a whopping 27 penalties for 240 yards and the Bulldogs took advantage in the second half.

Crestline got scoring runs of 33 and 52 yards from Glennon in the third quarter to tie the game at 22-22, entering the final frame.

The game stayed that way for most of the final quarter until 46 seconds left in the game when Meredith scored on a 35-yard run. The Cardinals led 28-22 and things looked bleak.

But Crestline came back again. On the final play of the game, with no time left on the clock, quarterback Kody Lawhorn hit Parker Bowman for the tying score in the right corner of the end zone from 34 yards out, tying the game at 28-28.

Both teams failed to score in the first three possessions of OT. In the fourth possession, the Cardinals broke through when Kyle grabbed a 15-yard scoring pass and a 34-28 lead.

The Bulldogs got the ball down to the Shaw 2 in their possession but couldn’t get the ball in the end zone.

“We just put the ball in our best player’s hands,” Knight said of the overtime. “Number one, Kyle, number 21 Eric as well. We put the ball in our best players’ hands. That’s what we have to do to win games.”

“We told the kids to keep our heads up,” Robinette said. “I’m hurt and I can’t imagine how the guys feel. They played for four hours and I can’t imagine how they feel. Don’t hang their heads; this is not the same Dogs as they have been.”

Box score

East Cleveland Shaw 34, Crestline 28 (4OT)

Score by quarters   

Shaw              6         16          6          0          0          0          0          6   — 34

Crestline        7           2         13         6          0          0          0          0   — 28

Scoring summary

First quarter

S — Eric Meredith 50 fumble return (run failed), 10:50.

C — Cian Glennon 33 run (Parker Bowman kick), 5:24.

Second quarter

C— Meredith 45 run (Jemerio Jones run), 11:49.

S — Tristin Kyle 8 run (Kyle run), 9:57.

C — Safety, ball snapped out of end zone, 1:09.

Third quarter

C — Glennon 32 run (run failed), 7:53.

C — Glennon 52 run (Bowman kick), :12.

Fourth quarter

S — Meredith 35 run (run failed), :46

C — Bowman 34 pass from Kody Lawhorn (kick failed), :00.

Fourth overtime

S — Kyle 15 pass from Tre Axson (pass failed).

Individual statistics

Passing

Shaw: Tre Axson 5-17-1 87, Xavior Harris 1-1-0 3; Crestline: Kody Lawhorn 10-31-3 174.

Rushing

Shaw: Eric Meredith 9-82, Tristin Kyle 11-57, Da’Jon Black 8-42, Jemerio Jones 7-35, Parks 1-4, Xavior Harris 2-(-2), Tre Axson 5-(-35); Crestline: Cian Glennon 15-115, Carter Giesege 1-2, Kody Lawhorn 9-(-18).

Receiving

Shaw: Tristin Kyle 5-41, Nicholas McCullough 1-35, Parks 1-14; Crestline: Parker Bowman 2-76, Jaydin Lozier 4-66, Derek McCunn 3-30, Carter Giesege 1-8, Kieran Barnett 1-3, Karter Koge 1-2.

Team statistics 

S               C

First downs                     15              9

Rushing                      44-184        25-105

Passes                         7-19-1         10-31-3

Yards passing                 90              174

Total yards                    274              279

Fumbles-lost                 6-3               3-2

Penalties                     27-240         11-120