NORTH ROBINSON (Crawford County Now) — It took a little while for the Colonel Crawford offense to get going, but once it did, there was little Reedsville Eastern could do to stop it.

In a battle of Eagles, the northern Eagles built a 14-0 lead midway through the second quarter then expanded it to 28-0 by halftime.

The defense did its part throughout to give Colonel Crawford a 35-7 win over the visiting Eagles in the opening round of the Division VI, Region 23 playoffs.

“We knew if we could survive the storm at the beginning — they’re very big. They have two kids over 300 pounds,” Colonel Crawford coach Jake Bruner said. “They’re physical and run the ball really well. Once we got a little bit of a lead, we knew they would start throwing the ball.”

The southern Eagles were able to move modestly on the opening possession, advancing to their own 45 before punting. Then, the Eastern defense made a stand and forced a Colonel Crawford punt — its only one of the night.

“We have moved the ball well all year,” Eastern coach Jason Jackson said. “We moved the ball a little bit there (early), and then their offense kind of took it to our defense, and before we knew it, it was 14-0.”

True enough, Colonel Crawford (10-1) scored on its next possession on a 37-yard scoring strike from Brayden Holt to John DeGray with 2:20 left in the first period. The offensive snowball rolled downhill for the rest of the first half.

All the scoring in the second quarter came from Connor McMichael. He scored on runs of 19, 12, and 1 over an eight-minute stretch to halftime.

“Our defense started the way they needed to,” Bruner said. “We had a penalty that gave them a first down, so we had to rally and we did.

“Overall, I thought it was a great team effort. Both sides of the ball, we did some good things. Obviously, there are some things we need to clean up, but there are a lot of emotions in a first playoff game, a lot of excitement.”

McMichael finished with 95 yards on 12 carries on his way to his three touchdowns.

“No. 21 (McMichael), he’s the best back we’ve faced this year, and we’ve faced some really tough backs,” Jackson said. “He’s the real deal. He should be proud of what he’s accomplished.”

But the Colonel Crawford offense showed its balance as Holt and Peyton Baker combined to throw for 233 yards and two scores. Parker Weithman had a monster night receiving with 131 yards on eight catches.

It was Weithman who put the final seven CC points on the board with a 13-yard pass from Holt with 8:02 to go in the third quarter.

Eastern (7-4) got its only score with 5:35 left in the game when Ethan Edwards grabbed a 9-yard toss from Braxton Yonker, stopping the running clock.

Edwards led Eastern with six receptions for 80 yards. Yonkers passed for 138 yards, completing 13 of 23 passes, with one interception. Yonkers also ran for 45 yards on 12 carries.

“I was very impressed with them offensively, about how physical they are, especially early in the game,” Bruner said. “They remind me of Crestline in the 90s — 37-38 kids, play really, really hard, run the ball, eat the clock, play very physical. We were concerned coming in.”

Jackson credited the CC program as the difference.

“Coach Bruner — what a great program,” Jackson said. “That’s one of the more respectful coaches I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. Over 60 kids in their program. They’re doing things right here.

“You play a great program like Colonel Crawford, you just can’t make mistakes,” he continued. “We had some mistakes. We had some small stuff that did not go well. And those small things turned into big things later.”

Jackson noted that Eastern was traditionally a Division VII team but are currently two boys over the cut line.

“We’ve got 36 kids on our team, and they fought to the end,” Jackson said. “I’m very proud of our guys.”

Bruner can now turn his attention to the second playoff game. His No. 5 Eagles will travel to No. 4 Mount Gilead (9-1), which had a first-week bye.

“Mount Gilead — what a year they’re having,” Bruner said. “Coach (Mike) Reid’s having a great year. Their kids — you can tell on film they’re so excited and they’re so locked in. It’s going to be a challenge.”

Box score

Score by quarters

Reedsville Eastern      0            0           0         7 — 7

Colonel Crawford        7           21          7         0 — 35

Scoring summary

First quarter

CC — John DeGray 37 pass from Brayden Holt (Joe Zizzo kick), 2:20.

Second quarter

CC — Connor McMichael 19 run (Zizzo kick), 8:31.

CC — McMichael 12 run (Zizzo kick), 5:36.

CC — McMichael 1 run (Zizzo kick), :36.

Third quarter

CC — Parker Weithman 13 pass from Holt (Zizzo kick), 8:02.

Fourth quarter

RE — Ethan Edwards 9 pass from Braxton Yonker (Hayden Wilcoxen kick), 5:35.

Individual statistics

Passing

Reedsville Eastern: Braxton Yonker 13-23-1 138; Colonel Crawford: Brayden Holt 12-15-0 192, Peyton Baker 5-10-0 41.

Rushing

Reedsville Eastern: Braxton Yonker 12-45, Parker Durst 10-28, Ethan Edwards 6-17, Blaise Gilmore 1-1, Kyler Basham 1-(-3); Colonel Crawford: Connor McMichael 12-95, Avery Powers 3-69, Roen thew 5-35, Madden Tesso 4-15, Brayden Holt 3-(-5), Peyton Baker 1-(-7).

Receiving

Reedsville Eastern: Ethan Edwards 6-80, Ronnie Golden 3-27, Parker Durst 2-23, Kyler Basham 1-8; Colonel Crawford: Parker Weithman 8-131, John DeGray 2-41, Connor McMichael 3-34, Roen Thew 2-15, Tyler Lash 2-12.

Team statistics

RE              CC

First downs                  11                17

Rushing                     30-88         28-202

Passes                       13-23-1         17-25-0

Yards passing             138              233

Total yards                  226             435

Fumbles-lost              3-2               3-2

Penalties                     5-45             7-51