UPPER SANDUSKY — On a night where Upper Sandusky celebrated its homecoming, Colonel Crawford played spoiler.
The Eagles rushed for 276 yards en route to a 41-6 victory in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference matchup Friday.
“I felt we came out a little flat,” Upper Sandusky coach Russell Hall said. “We didn’t have much energy and you can’t do that and expect to
win. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, and it gets compounded when you’re playing against a good team.”
The Rams (3-4, 2-2 N10) did not stop Colonel Crawford’s first team offense all night, allowing touchdowns on six consecutive possessions. Colonel Crawford passed the ball just three times while running it 33 times.
“Upper’s offense is dynamic, and we knew we had to keep the ball away from them.,” Colonel Crawford coach Jake Bruner said. “We had to try to limit their possessions. You never feel like you’re out of the woods with them.”
After forcing a three-and-out on defense, Colonel Crawford (6-1, 3-1 N10) took advantage of a short field and marched 35 yards to the end zone on four plays with Connor McMichael scoring on a 4-yard run off the left edge of the line.
Upper Sandusky again went three-and-out and Colonel Crawford leaned on its running game with a drive that featured eight rushes and one incomplete pass. McMichael scored again, this time on a 3-yard carry to put the Eagles on top 14-0.
The Rams responded with a hurry-up offense that kept Colonel Crawford off balance.
Beginning on its own 20-yard line, the Rams marched 80 yards on 16 plays, eventually culminating with Holman finding Kaleb Francis in the corner of the end zone for a 6-yard passing score on fourth-and-goal.
“Kaden Holman is one of the best quarterbacks the N10 has had in the last decade,” Bruner said. “They have some amazing receivers too.”
Upper was held scoreless the remainder of the night, but Francis had a good night, catching the ball nine times for 60 yards and a touchdown. Holman completed 20 of 41 passes for 166 yards but was limited to mostly checkdowns.
“They had a very good gameplan with their coverage and their alignment and they executed very well,” Hall said. “Their defensive gameplan and execution up front was excellent with their linebackers and the secondary.”
Upper Sandusky also struggled to run the ball, finishing the game with a total of 62 yards on 22 carries spread between four players.
“I thought our defense played really well tonight,” Bruner said. “Our secondary did a great job. You’ve got to keep them off balance because they’re really good at what they do. I thought our kids played poised and really followed the gameplan, which was keeping Holman off balance.”
With the game still close at 14-6, the Eagles began pulling away on their next drive. Running back Micah Thomas took off for 33 yards to start
the drive, then quarterback Trevor Vogt ran for a 10-yard score, his first of four touchdowns in the game.
The Eagles added one more score before halftime, this time another rushing score from Vogt as he found the end zone from 12 yards out and Colonel Crawford took a 28-6 lead into halftime.
The Eagles got the ball back to begin the second half and Vogt went to the house for the third time, dashing 50 yards for pay dirt to put Colonel Crawford on top 34-6.
Vogt finished the game with eight rushes for 135 yards and three rushing touchdowns. Thomas had 14 rushes for 111 yards.
“It’s definitely a little frustrating,” Hall said. “They’re a good team. Good teams tell you they’re gonna run the ball and you’ve got to make the decision of, ‘I’m gonna step in front of the train,’ and ‘I’m gonna get off my block and I’m not gonna let you run right there,’ and unfortunately they dominated at the point of attack which led to a scoring drive every time when their ones were in.”
The final score of the game came on Colonel Crawford’s next possession. Thomas ran the ball for nine yards on first down. Then, from a near goal line formation, back-up quarterback Peyton Baker found a wide-open Vogt for a 62-yard scoring strike to make it 41-6.
“When Vogt isn’t at quarterback, when they move him, they move him to get the ball,” Hall said. “They said, ‘We’re gonna put our best athlete in space and give him a chance to make a play’ and they were able to execute and do that.”
With the running clock in effect, neither team was able to threaten a score the rest of the way.
Bruner said he was happy with the way his team responded after getting beat for the first time last week at Carey.
“I’m proud of our seniors and our kids and how they regrouped after a tough loss to Carey last week,” he said. “Our offensive line had to play better than they played last week, and I was really proud of them. Credit to our kids and our community for fighting hard and playing as hard as they did tonight. I love to see our kids bounce back after a tough week.”
Upper Sandusky returns to action Friday, traveling to Buckeye Central.
Box score
Colonel Crawford 14 14 13 0 — 41
Upper Sandusky 0 6 0 0 — 6
First quarter
CC — Connor McMichael 5 run (Braxton Morton kick), 9:22.
CC — McMichael 3 run (Morton kick), 3:39.
Second quarter
US — Francis 6 pass from Kaden Holman (kick failed), 8:24.
CC — Vogt 10 run (Morton kick), 4:56.
CC — Vogt 12 run (Morton kick), 0:34.
Third quarter
CC — Vogt 50 run (pass failed), 11:21.
CC — Vogt 62 pass from Peyton Baker (Morton kick), 4:52.
Individual statistics
Passing
Colonel Crawford: Peyton Baker 1-1-0 62, Trevor Vogt 0-2-0 0.
Upper Sandusky: Kaden Holman 20-41-1 166.
Rushing
Colonel Crawford: Trevor Vogt 8-135, Micah Thomas 14-111,
Connor McMichael 8-30, Ryan McMichael 1-(-2),
Parker Weithman 1-(-3); Peyton Baker 1-(-3).
Upper Sandusky: Kaden Holman 9-24; Noah Hale 4-18; Damon Ward 5-16,
Ethan Lewis 4-4.
Receiving
Colonel Crawford: Trevor Vogt 1-62.
Upper Sandusky: Kaleb Francis 9-60, Ethan Hill 3-14; Josh Heilman
2-29, Max Martinez 2-22; Ethan Lewis 2-20; Damon Ward 1-17; Gavin Frey 1-4.
Team statistics
CC US
First downs 9 19
Yards rushing 33-276 22-62
Yards passing 62 166
Passes 1-3-0 20-41-1
Fumbles lost 0-0 0-0
Punts 1-42.0 3-27.3
Penalties 6-40 3-20