NORTH ROBINSON — Survive and advance. That mantra is often heard in playoff scenarios, and it certainly applied to Colonel Crawford here on Friday night.

The host Eagles (10-1) had a dominant first half, took a 17-0 lead into halftime and were in complete control of Seneca East. But the Tigers showed absolutely no quit, rallying for two fourth-quarter touchdowns, before falling 24-16 in a Division VI Region 22 first round playoff game.

“When you have to play an opponent twice with a player like Blake Foos, who was an all-Ohio kid last year, and putting up 2,800 yards, we knew we were going to be in for a dogfight. Their offense is very potent,” Crawford head coach Jake Bruner said.

Foos hit on 13-of-24 passes for 193 yards and rallied his team to two scores in the final 4:21 of the game. The fact that the game was close should come as little surprise given the Eagles won 29-14 in a week five Northern 10 Athletic Conference matchup.

“We wanted to run the ball and run the clock and I thought we did a really good job in the first half,” Bruner said. “We turned it over (3 fumbles with 1 lost) in that first series. That’s something we haven’t done very much this year.”

The Eagles host Ottawa Hills on Friday night after its 42-7 win over Margaretta.

It appeared Crawford had scored a third time when Thomas found the endzone again from 11 yards out. But the officials called what appeared to be a blindside block against the Eagles, so Bruner had to settle for the long field goal, 44 yards, by Braxton Morton.

“I’m not really sure what happened there. We never got a signal from the officials. There really wasn’t much explanation to it. They took 21 from us at half. But the first half we played really good football other than the fumble and whatever that penalty was,” he said.

Indeed, Colonel Crawford did just that, rushing for 298 yards, buoyed by its backfield tandem of Micah Thomas (32 for 168) and Connor McMichael (12-102).

Thomas opened the scoring with an 11-yard run in the first quarter, with McMichael going in from a yard out in the second quarter. His 33-yard run on the previous play set up the score.

Morton nailed his 44-yard field goal with 30 seconds remaining in the half to make it a 17-0 margin.

The third quarter was scoreless as the two teams traded punts several times.

Seneca East (5-6) head coach Ed Phillips said his team had chances in the first half.

“We had a lot of moments where we moved the ball. The plays we needed to make to keep drives going, we didn’t. Then we had a chance to get some stops on them. They had that fourth and eight and made a play,” he said referring to McMichael’s long run to set up the second touchdown.

“We made more plays in the second half, and I really thought we were going to get one more bounce on that onside kick. The fire was burning right there,” Phillips said.

Thomas recovered the onside kick to preserve the Colonel Crawford win.

Foos worked some magic, driving his team to the one where he scored. He then hit Jackson Gayheart with a two-point conversion pass, with 4:21 remaining. The first score came on a 41-yard drive in which Foos ran for 7 yards and hit Nicholas Parks for 11 yards to set up the touchdown.

After holding Crawford, Seneca East got the ball back. Foos went to work again, this time finding Bryler Beamer on a 26-yard slant route with 50 seconds to play. Justin Reiter caught the pass on the PAT to cut it to an eight-point lead.

Parks, a 155-pound sophomore, had 6 catches for 83 yards and made numerous tackles from his cornerback position for Seneca East. Lucas Foy had one catch for 34 yards for the Eagles.

“We told our kids we were worried about winning by one point. We don’t worry about how much we win by. We’ve got things to work on, but we’re playing here in Week 11,” Bruner said.

“Give credit to Ed and his staff. A leader like Blake Foos — he never quits. This isn’t an easy first-round matchup. They have lost to some good football teams and have done a lot of good things. This is a storied football program that’s been around and been very successful.”

Phillips said Foos is a reflection of his teammates.

“He’s just like the team. They were all heart in the second half and he’s all heart. That’s what we expect from our kids, and it showed,” he said.

Falling behind three scores entering the fourth quarter, the Tigers didn’t quit.

“It would have been easy to pack up and go home and we didn’t. We don’t do that, and they don’t expect that of themselves. We’ve been over here twice now and scored 30 on them in the second half,” Phillips said. “We needed to be a touchdown better in the first half.”

The N10 provided a strong challenge for Seneca East.

“We had some pretty good moments, and this is a really good league. I think it was tough and really deep. I am proud that we finished in the top half of the league.”

Reiter, Beamer, Luke Hicks, and Gayheart had solid defensive showings for the Tigers. Brady Hill, Foy, Payne DeGray, Logan Goddard and Connor and Ryan McMichael led the Eagles stop troops.

Box score

Score by quarters

Seneca East                   0            0           0       16   — 16

Colonel Crawford       7          10           0         7   — 24

Scoring summary

First quarter

CC — Micah Thomas 11 run (Braxton Morton kick), 1:32.

Second quarter

CC — Connor McMichael 1 run (Morton kick), 9:06.

CC — Morton 44 field goal, :30.

Fourth quarter

CC — Thomas 7 run (Morton kick), 10:28.

SE — Blake Foos 1 run (Jackson Gayheart pass from Foos), 4:21

SE — Bryler Beamer 26 pass from Foos (Justin Reiter pass from Foos), :50.

Individual statistics

Passing

Seneca East: Blake Foos 13-24-1 193, 1-2-0 11; Colonel Crawford: Trevor Vogt 2-5 0 44, Peyton Baker 1-3-0 (-1).

Rushing

Seneca East: Blake Foos 12-46, Taylor Young 2-45, Jackson Gayheart 3-14, Nathan Parks 2-(-7); Colonel Crawford: Micah Thomas 32-168, Connor McMichael 12-102, Trevor Vogt 12-28.

Receiving

Seneca East: Nathan Parks 6-83, Taylor Young 5-55, Bryler Beamer 1-26, Braydon Robinson 1-21, Caden Fritz 1-9; Colonel Crawford: Lucas Foy 1-34, Connor McMichael 1-10, Trevor Vogt 1-(-1).

Team statistics

SE              CC

First downs                  12                19

Rushing                     19-98         56-298

Passes                       14-26-1         3-8-0

Yards passing             204               43

Total yards                  302               341

Fumbles-lost              2-0               3-1

Penalties                     6-55             7-75