FINDLAY — One controversial call certainly amplified the outcome of the Colonel Crawford-Columbus Grove football game, but there were several moments that could have decided the game.

In the first possession of overtime, Columbus Grove had the football and, on second and ten from the 20-yard line, quarterback Brenton Renner tried to throw a swing pass to halfback Trenton Barraza. The pass was clearly backward and went past Barraza, who jumped on the football at the 32.

The officials huddled after the play and ruled that, since there was an inadvertent whistle during the play, the ball was dead, and the play was to be run again.

Instead of having the ball at the 32 facing a third and 22 play, the Bulldogs were back to second and 10 at the 20.

A.J Schafer barreled 17 yards to the three on the next play then scored from three yards away, giving the Bulldogs a 14-7 lead and that’s the way the game ended.

The Bulldogs (11-2) advanced to the regional final of the Division VI, Region 22 and will play Columbia Station Columbia (13-0) next Saturday. Columbia advanced with a 12-6 win over Ashland Crestview (12-1).

The Eagles finished its season with a fine 10-3 record.

“What a great season for our kids. Our seniors, they played really hard and, we lost a lot of guys last year, and we came here, and we knew we had some young guys, and they came along this year,” Colonel Crawford coach Jake Bruner said. “I can’t say enough about how hard they worked and how hard they played.”

This was a game of two halves. The Eagles didn’t move the ball well in the first two periods but still held a 7-0 lead at the half.

The second half, however, was Columbus Grove. The Bulldogs outgained the Eagles, 140-76, and shut down the Crawford offense.

“We just finally got in our groove in the second half,” Columbus Grove coach Andy Schafer said. “It just took us a while offensively to get things figured out. They play a little different defense than we’ve seen this year, we just couldn’t get in our groove.”

Crawford got on the board first when the Eagles blocked a Bulldogs punt and recovered the ball on the Columbus Grove 5. On the next play, quarterback Kam Lohr scored, and the Eagles held a 7-0 lead.

But earlier in the first quarter, Crawford had driven to the Columbus Grove 39 and faced a fourth-and-1 play. But a bobbled snap blew up the play and the Eagles’ drive ended.

“Tonight, there were inches,” Bruner said. “When you look at that fourth down stop early in the game, those games of inches really matter in the key moments, especially at this level where you’re playing really good football teams and really good coaches.”

The game stayed that way until late in the third quarter, when a breakdown in the Crawford secondary gave the Bulldogs their only score of regulation.

Renner found a wide-open Zach Reynolds all by himself running down the left side of the field for a 34-yard score, tying the game at 7-7.

“Other than that, one big pass play that was a blown coverage for us, I thought we did a nice job, and they did a nice job in dealing with our passing game as well,” Bruner said.

Neither coach felt that the heavy snow that began to fall in the third quarter, was a huge factor in the game.

“We played here, and they played, too,” Bruner said. “In that third quarter, you could hardly see who was on the field the way the snow was coming down. I think it affected both teams in the throwing game but both teams wanted to run the football.”

“I love physical football, Columbus Grove likes physical football,” Schafer said. “We’ve had a really good, hard-hitting defense in the last few years, and it was a perfect night. We like the cold weather; we like the snow which added to the atmosphere, and it was a perfect game.”

The Bulldogs outgained the Eagles, 214-159, on the night, but both defenses took over most of the game.

“We knew that they were a really good football team and (Schafer) and (Kylan Mayes) were really good linebackers,” Bruner said. “We struggled to consistently block them. We did at times, but consistently we struggled.”

“Both teams are very good,” Schafer said. “It’s sad when one team has to lose this one, but I’m glad we’re on this end, that’s for sure.

“Defensively, we played well all night,” he added. “That blocked punt hurt us, but, other than that, we held true on that side. We just couldn’t get the offense rolling.”

Box score

Score by quarters

Colonel Crawford        7         0         0         0         0   — 7

Columbus Grove         0         0         7         0         7   — 14

Scoring summary

First quarter

CC — Kamryn Lohr 4 run (Braxton Morton kick), 1:26.

Third quarter

CG — Zach Reynolds 33 pass from Brenton Renner (Shep Halker kick), :36.

Overtime

CG — A.J. Schafer 3 run (Halker kick).

Individual statistics

Passing

Colonel Crawford: Kamryn Lohr 8-15-0 47; Columbus Grove Brenton Renner 10-23-0 98, Landon Best 1-2-0 26.

Rushing

Colonel Crawford: Kamryn Lohr 17-83, Matt Clinard 15-26, Trevor Vogt 1-6, Tanner Dyer 2-6, Micah Thomas 3-4; Columbus Grove: A.J. Schafer 12-65, Trenton Barraza 15-51, Landon Best 7-19, Zach Reynolds 1-1, Brenton Renner 5-(-5).

Receiving

Colonel Crawford: Matt Clinard 3-15, Ryan McMichael 1-13, Kaden Bruner 1-7, Trevor Vogt 2-7, Micah Thomas 1-5; Columbus Grove: Zach Reynolds 2-59, Shep Halker 4-27, Trenton Barraza 4-25, A.J Schafer 1-13.

Team statistics

CC               CG

First downs                  8                 14

Rushing                    38-125         40-131

Passes                        8-15-0         11-25-0

Yards passing             47                124

Total yards                 172               255

Fumbles-lost              0-0               1-0

Punts-Avg                 7-38.3        7-32.4

Penalties                     1-5              4-26