NORTH ROBINSON — A sluggish start for Ottawa Hills ultimately resulted in a strong finish and a 28-21 win over Colonel Crawford in a Division VI Region 22 playoff quarterfinal game here Friday night.
The Green Bears received the opening kickoff and proceeded to implode, amassing 5 penalties for 50 yards on their initial drive. That, coupled with a dropped pass by an open receiver, forced Ottawa Hills to punt.
Colonel Crawford (10-2) made them pay.
Trevor Vogt hit Connor McMichael with a nifty 17-yard pass to put the ball at the OH 21-yard line. From there Vogt maneuvered around the left side and went in for a touchdown. The PAT from Braxton Morton put the hosts on top just six minutes into the game.
“We did everything we could to give the game away, but I just told the guys I’m proud of them. We dealt with adversity,” said Ottawa Hills head coach Brandon Carter.
“Cool heads win hot games and we know how to handle adverse situations. They’ll never quit. That’s the one thing about our team. You gotta knock us out and knock us out all the way cause we’re gonna keep coming at you.”
The Green Bears (11-1) play next Friday against Bluffton at a neutral site to be determined.
The Eagles didn’t knock them out. In fact, the visitors went ahead on a touchdown and two-point conversion on a 6-yard pass with under a minute to play in the first quarter.
From there it was a back-and-forth affair with lots of penalties (the two teams combined for 18 flags for 155 yards).
“I don’t fault the guys’ effort tonight. They played their hearts out and a lot of things didn’t go our way. We blew some executions there late in the game,” Eagles head coach Jake Bruner said. “A lot of momentum swings and a few things could have gone different it would have been a different night for us.”
Crawford was unable to run the ball effectively, gaining just 43 yards on 18 carries.
“We’re a running football team and give those guys credit. Their 52 (Luke Gnepper) and 5 (John Perozek) for them, they’re unbelievable. We knew coming in it was going to be tough blocking them consistently,” Bruner said.
“They did a good job. Turning over the ball and both teams had a lot of penalties. Both teams made penalties because sometimes you’re trying so hard. The pick in the endzone was tough for us. Our turnover for a touchdown was tough for them.”
Ottawa Hills took a 15-7 lead at halftime, thanks to the running attack of Rocco Pillarelli, a sophomore. He carried the ball 25 times for 98 yards and was tough to bring down.
Bruner credited the Green Bears with a solid game plan.
“They were patient and did a great job of running the football, getting 3 and 4 yards. At the end of the third quarter, I thought they were getting tired, and we were winning the physicality match for the first time from a defensive standpoint.”
Bruner pointed to penalties and turnovers keys to the outcome.
“Putting us behind the eight-ball in the down and distance was tough for us to overcome. We knew we’d have to throw the ball on first down. We missed some targets early and that’s a little bit of our youth and the atmosphere of a playoff game.”
The third quarter saw the Eagles rally, scoring twice. After a Micah Thomas 1-yard dive, Ottawa Hills appeared to be moving the ball.
However, a swing pass from Chase Miller to Nickolas Anderson was taken away by Vogt and he went 30 yards for the score. A two-point pass to Kaden Bruner made it 21-15 Eagles with 2:10 to play in the third quarter.
“That was the worst half we played all year, and we were still up at halftime,” Carter said. “We needed to come out and solidify ourselves on offense and take control of the game.”
It was Perozek’s 54-yard run, breaking tackles and running down the left sideline, which put Ottawa Hills ahead for good.
The fourth quarter was scoreless until Jackson Snyder got open on a 7-yard pass from a scrambling Miller. That came after a Vogt interception where the Eagles were then forced to punt it back to Ottawa Hills.
“I thought their quarterback did a really good job of throwing the ball and running the ball.”
Miller, a junior, threw for 128 yards and ran for another 87 on just 5 carries.
“I thought as the game wore on our running game started to come together a little bit. Unfortunately, we couldn’t punch it in to go up,” Bruner said.
Bruner loses 10 seniors, but he played many underclassmen.
“We graduated 17 guys last year and we always have high hopes for our program. But to have the year we had last year and come back and win 10 games this year, and close to winning 11 … that says a lot about our seniors and the leadership they gave our program.
“This group of seniors is the winningest team in four years since the history of program in 1960. That has nothing to do with me and a lot to do with them.”
Box score
Score by quarters
Ottawa Hills 8 7 7 6 — 28
Colonel Crawford 7 0 14 0 — 21
Scoring summary
First quarter
CC — Trevor Vogt 21 run (Braxton Morton kick), 6:18.
OH — Nickolas Anderson 6 pass from Chase Miller (Reece Hill pass from Miller), :48.
Second quarter
OH — Anderson 61 pass from Miller (Micah Walker kick), 6:42.
Third quarter
CC — Micah Thomas 1 run (pass failed), 3:56.
CC — Vogt 30 fumble recovery (Kaden Bruner pass from Vogt), 2:17.
OH — John Perozek 54 run (Walker kick), :00.
Fourth quarter
OH — Jackson Snyder 7 pass from Miller (run failed), 6:48.
Individual statistics
Passing
Ottawa Hills: Chase Miller 9-20-0 128; Colonel Crawford: Trevor Vogt 8-12 0 105, Peyton Baker 2-11-0 44.
Rushing
Ottawa Hills: Rocco Pillarelli 25-98, Chase Miller 5-87, Nickolas Anderson 6-26, John Perozek 1-54; Colonel Crawford: Micah Thomas 9-37, Trevor Vogt 3-16, Connor McMichael 4-6, Peyton Baker 2-(-16).
Receiving
Ottawa Hills: Nickolas Anderson 3-61, John Perozek 3-23, Jackson Snyder 2-23, Rocco Pillarelli 1-21; Colonel Crawford: Ryan McMichael 3-52, Trevor Vogt 2-44, Micah Thomas 2-25, Parker Weithman 1-17, Lucas Foy 1-8, Payne DeGray 1-3.
Team statistics
OH CC
First downs 10 9
Rushing 37-265 18-43
Passes 9-20-0 10-23-0
Yards passing 128 149
Total yards 393 192
Fumbles-lost 1-1 0-0
Penalties 9-80 9-75