BUCYRUS — Colonel Crawford’s team diversity was on full display Friday.

The Eagles scored on an interception return, a punt return, two pass plays, and five runs — from four different carriers — as they overwhelmed a game Bucyrus team, 63-12, in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

“I like our balance,” Colonel Crawford coach Jake Bruner said. “I like that we have multiple backs. They’re all kind of different.”

Bruner referred to Tanner Dyer, Micah Thomas, and Matt Clinard, along with Conner McMichael — each of whom scored touchdowns.

The Eagles are a load for any defense, as Bucyrus coach Tim Plumley can attest.

“Crawford’s depth is tremendous — the tight end type bodies they bring in,” Plumley said. “They’re coached very well. They make very few mistakes and they hit us hard.”

Colonel Crawford (4-0, 1-0 N10) left little doubt as to the outcome early on. The Eagles scored four first-quarter touchdowns — two on passes from Kamryn Lohr to Trevor Vogt of 39 and 24 yards, one an 11-yard Thomas run, and a 29-yard interception return by Gabe Thew.

Bucyrus (1-3, 0-1) managed to squeeze in a score in the opening frame when Malachi Bayless hit Joe Rager from 27 yards out. But it was 28-6 Eagles after one.

“They were patient. Malachi does a very good job of taking care of the ball,” Bruner said. “He gets rid of it so well and he throws it so quick. He put some balls on the money tonight. We were concerned all night with their ability to throw the ball deep.

“We have athletes too,” Bruner said. “But these guys do a great job of finding people in space, especially in the middle of the field.”

Bayless finished the night connecting on eight of 24 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown. Blayne Barto scored the other Redmen touchdown on a 39-yard run in the second quarter.

However, that was pretty much the total of the Bucyrus running game. Colonel Crawford held the hosts to a net 42 yards rushing.

“We made some big plays we were able to move the ball,” Plumley said. “They forced us into mistakes. I think I saw growth in our kids. It’s just hard to walk off the field after a score like that. The kids did play hard.”

Clinard had a four-yard jaunt, Dyer a one-yard run, and Vogt had a 47-yard punt return in the second quarter as the lead ballooned to 49-12 by halftime.

“Out special teams have been good this year,” Bruner said. “If we can continue to do that, man. Trevor Vogt’s a dangerous man back there. Chris Solis is doing a great job with our special teams and our kids are excited about special teams.”

Thomas scored his second touchdown on a two-yard run in the third quarter and McMichael ran in from 26 yards in fourth quarter to set the final score.

Lohr was an efficient four-of six passing for 103 yards and two scores. Vogt was the leading receiver with three catches for 70 yards.

Dyer had 75 yards on 12 carries, Thomas had seven tries for 70 yards, and Lohr had eight totes for 69.

Rager was Bayless’ top target, grabbing five passes for 91 yards. Randy Banks had one for 45, Mason Gebhardt one for 22, and Kam Lewis caught one for 14 yards. Barto had 55 yards on the ground on eight carries.

“We had opportunities to score twice more,” Plumley said. “We got in the red zone a couple of more times. Our skill guys are pretty good. We have some depth there. We have five or six guys who can catch the ball. It’s hard to defend all those.”

“Bucyrus is doing a good job,” Bruner said. “They’re a better football team. Tim is doing a good job here.”

“I talked to the kids about it. I told them our competition will make us,” Plumley said. “We want to play good teams. We want to play Crawford. We want to compete with them because that will make us better.”

Box score

Score by quarters

Colonel Crawford    28       21          7          7   — 63

Bucyrus                       6         6          0          0   — 12

Scoring summary

First quarter

CC — Micah Thomas 11 run (Braxton Morton kick), 8:32.

CC — Trevor Vogt 33 pass from Kamryn Lohr (Morton kick), 6:42.

CC — Gabe Thew 29 interception return (Morton kick), 5:56.

B — Joe Rager 27 pass from Malachi Bayless (kick failed), 3:16

CC — Vogt 24 pass from Lohr (Morton kick), 1:23.

Second quarter

CC — Vogt 47 punt return (Morton kick), 11:57.

B — Blayne Barto 39 run (pass failed), 9:58.

CC — Matt Clinard 4 run (Morton kick), 8:33.

CC — Tanner Dyer 1 run (Morton kick), 4:11.

Third quarter

CC — Thomas 2 run (Morton kick), 5:17.

Fourth quarter

CC — Conner McMichael 26 run (Joseph Zizzo kick), 1:42.

Individual statistics

Passing

Colonel Crawford: Kamryn Lohr 4-6-0 103; Bucyrus: Malachi Bayless 8-24-1 172.

Rushing

Colonel Crawford: Tanner Dyer 12-75, Micah Thomas 7-70, Kamryn Lohr 8-69, Conner McMichael 4-63, Matt Clinard 7-35, Tyler Smith 1-2; Bucyrus: Blayne Barto 8-55, Randy Banks 7-14, Malachi Bayless 5-(-24), Dylan Coppler 2-(-3).

Receiving

Colonel Crawford: Trevor Vogt 3-70, Ryan McMichael 1-33; Bucyrus: Joe Rager 5-91, Randy Banks 1-45, Mason Gebhardt 1-22, Kam Lewis 1-14.

Team statistics

CC                B

First downs               15                10

Rushing                   37-314         22-42

Passes                       4-6-0          5-16-1

Yards passing           103               129

Total yards                417               214

Fumbles-lost            2-0              4-0

Punts-Avg               1-34.0        4-36.8

Penalties                  10-95           9-85