MARION — Crestview’s perfect season was turned upside down in the blink of an eye Saturday night.
Third-seeded Carey scored two touchdowns in 15 seconds late in the first half and rumbled to a 42-14 win over the second-seeded Cougars in the Division VI, Region 22 semifinals at Harding Stadium.
The Blue Devils (12-1) will play No. 5 Liberty Center (11-2) for the Region 22 championship at 7 p.m. Nov. 20 at a site to be determined. Liberty Center upset top-seeded Archbold 38-35 in Saturday’s other regional semifinal.
Crestview (12-1) trailed 7-0 with less than a minute remaining in the second quarter when lightning struck — twice.
First, Carey quarterback Derek Lonsway capped a 10-play, 87 yard drive with a scrambling 25-yard touchdown run with 36 seconds left in the half to make it 14-0.
On the first play of Crestview’s ensuing drive, Carey cornerback Bryce Conti stepped in front of a Hayden Kuhn pass intended for Gabe Smedley and raced 33 yards for a touchdown to make it 21-0 with 21 ticks remaining on the second-quarter clock.
“We were right there for a long period of time,” Crestview coach Steve Haverdill said. “At the end (of the half) I was trying to be a little aggressive. I’m not a guy to take a knee at the end. I think it signals that you’re kind of laying down.
“The kid made a great read and break on it.”
The momentum carried into the second half for the Blue Devils. Carey took the kickoff and marched 60 yards to take a 28-0 lead. Jordan Vallejo, Carey’s 6-foot-1, 265 pound senior running back, capped the drive with a 31-yard touchdown run one play after Lonsway used a good second effort to pick up 5 yards on fourth-and-four from the Crestview 36.
Vallejo added a 2-yard TD run later in the third quarter after an Anthony Bell interception to make it 35-0.
“We were just trying to get the gritty yards and show them what Carey football is all about,” said Vallejo, who finished with more than 100 yards on the ground.
The Blue Devils pushed the lead to 42-0 on Isaac Carman’s 7-yard run with 5:27 remaining, but the Cougars refused to go quietly.
Crestview got on the board on Kuhn’s 1=yard keeper with 1:47 remaining. The Cougars recovered the ensuing onside kick and scored with one second left on Kuhn’s 33-yard scoring strike to Adison Reymer to make it 42-14.
“These kids didn’t quit. I probably didn’t prepare them as well as I thought I did, but that’s a good football team over there,” Haverdill said. “They are big and strong, but our guys were right there battling.
“They won the trenches tonight. That was the difference in the game. We have been winning the trenches all year and they won them tonight.”
The Cougars will lose just six seniors to graduation, but replacing them won’t be easy, Haverdill said.
“I’ve had these guys now for three years as a head coach. They’ve bought into the program and worked extremely hard,” Haverdill said. “They led by example and everyone else has bought in behind these guys.
“They were a small group, but there’s a whole bunch of guys behind them and they paved the way.”
