CENTERBURG (Crawford County Now) — Unselfishness is a word frequently thrown around in team sports.
At Colonel Crawford, it’s not a cliché. It’s a reality, according to head football coach Jake Bruner, after the Eagles defeated Centerburg 42-13 in a Division VI Region 23 semifinal here Friday night.
“There are too many kids on our team that sacrificed everything about them for everyone else. I can start with our quarterback, Peyton Baker.
“He was playing a little bit as a sophomore. Brayden Holt comes in and has done a great job. Those guys love each other,” Bruner said.
A combination of Baker and Connor McMichael on the ground and Holt’s passing allowed the black and gold to advance.
“I can’t say enough about both kids. Our offensive and defensive lines just wore them down tonight. Payne DeGray is pretty freakin’ good. Dom Dean is pretty freakin’ good,” Bruner said.
“When you got sophomores (Avery Powers and Gabe Stratton) whacking people in there and Roen Thew in there blocking for people. It was all about the unselfishness of our kids. Parker Weithman is going to break every receiving record in our school’s history, and he’s yelling at our offensive coordinator to run the ball.”
Baker had 107 rushing yards on eight carries and scored two touchdowns. McMichael had his normal bruising and cruising night, gaining 201 yards on 23 carries.
Colonel Crawford (12-1) faces West Jefferson (11-1) on a neutral field next Friday. The Rough Riders defeated Fort Frye 34-32.
“I could go on for an hour about all the kids who have sacrificed for the team. It shows our team effort and I’m really proud of our kids,” Bruner said.
Baker’s touchdown runs of 6 and 8 yards put the Eagles on top 14-0 at halftime.
The third quarter belonged to McMichael.
Somehow the 210-pounder got wide open down the left sideline for a 58-yard scoring strike from Holt just a minute and a half into the second half.
That play seemed to take all the steam out of the Trojans, who end at 10-2.
But McMichael wasn’t done there, as he added runs of two and 21 yards later in the quarter to put Crawford ahead, 35-7.
“We were very physical tonight, and we knew we had to be,” Bruner said. “Carson Rader stepped up and played safety. We moved Parker Weithman to the corner because of their speed. We put two seniors, David Rike and Nate McCartney, on the bench. They took a role for the team.”
Weithman picked off a Ball pass in the endzone as the third quarter came to an end.
Dean added a two-yard touchdown blast to cap the Colonel Crawford scoring with six and a half minutes left in the game.
Centerburg head coach Andy Colella recognized his team had a challenge coming in.
“We knew they had an explosive offense. We game planned to take away 1 (Weithman) and they ran the football really well tonight. They had a little bit more juice to them in that regard,” he said.
“We had a great season and didn’t quit tonight amid all the frustration. They’ve done a great job and have a lot to be proud of this year … a lot of things very few teams have done here. It hurts now but when the dust settles, they’re going to look back at a heck of a run.”
Baker’s success running the ball has been due to getting stronger.
“It started with Peyton in the off-season. He’s put on 30 pounds on his bench press, 50 pounds on his squat. He’s taken two seconds off his 40-yard dash. That says a lot,” Bruner said.
“Brayden stepped in, played some defense tonight when we needed him to. It just says a lot about our team and our chemistry.”
The Trojans tried to beat the Eagles with underneath routes, as quarterback Blane Ball hit on 19-of-27 pass attempts for 184 yards. But the longest pass went for 28 yards to running back Miles Marshall.
“We kept telling our kids not to give up anything over the top. Stop the run, stop the run … and I thought we were physical throughout the game,” Bruner said. “I thought our kids were dialed in tonight.”
Centerburg is a unique venue with a hillside filled with lawn chairs and very tight sidelines.
“We talked about facing the adversity of the locker room (it was away from the field) and a small sideline. We got one sideline warning. I don’t know how the heck we’re supposed to fit 66 kids on the sideline over there. But it’s a really cool setting and a good football team.”
With West Jefferson up next, Bruner said the gauntlet started against Centerburg.
“That’s a heck of a football team. They’ve got athletes. It’s tough when you lose,” he said.
“We’ve been there too. The way our season ended last year, our seniors…there was some unfinished business for us. We’re living to fight another day for our seniors.”
Box score
Score by quarters
Colonel Crawford 7 7 21 7 — 42
Centerburg 0 0 7 6 — 13
Scoring summary
First quarter
CC — Peyton Baker 6 run (Joe Zizzo kick), 2:20.
Second quarter
CC — Baker 8 run (Zizzo kick), 3:40.
Third quarter
CC — Connor McMichael 58 pass from Brayden Holt (Zizzo kick), 10:38.
CB — Blane Ball 28 run (Bran Fravel kick), 7:54.
CC — McMichael 2 run (Zizzo kick), 4:32.
CC — McMichael 21 run (Zizzo kick), 2:42.
Fourth quarter
CC — Dom Dean 2 run (Zizzo kick), 6:25.
CB — Miles Marshall 3 pass from Ball (kick failed), :20.
Individual statistics
Passing
Colonel Crawford: Brayden Holt 4-5-0 148, Peyton Baker 2-2-0 42; Centerburg: Blane Ball 19-27-0 184.
Rushing
Colonel Crawford: Connor McMichael 23-201, Peyton Baker 8-107, Avery Powers 1-6, Roen Thew 3-4, Dom Dean 1-2; Centerburg: Blane Ball 16-58, Mike Marshall 11-48.
Receiving
Colonel Crawford: Connor McMichael 2-72, Jacob Cochran 1-58, John DeGray 2-42, Parker Weithman 1-18,; Centerburg: Mike Marshall 9-99, Jackson Ballinger 6-41, Eli Indiciani 3-39.
Team statistics
CC CB
First downs 17 12
Rushing 36-320 17-106
Passes 6-7-0 19-27-1
Yards passing 190 184
Total yards 510 290
Fumbles-lost 3-1 0-0
Penalties 7-54 3-25
Punts 0-0.00 4-40.0