Columbus Grove’s Shep Halker looks to get around Colonel Crawford’s Trevor Vogt during Saturday night’s Division VI regional semifinal in Findlay.
Richard Parrish | The Lima News
FINDLAY — Defense stepped to the forefront in Saturday’s Division VI regional semifinal football matchup between Columbus Grove and Colonel Crawford at Donnell Stadium.
When the clock ran out in regulation, the game was knotted at 7 apiece.
In the overtime session, thanks to its stingy defense, Columbus Grove came away with a hard-fought 14-7 victory over Colonel Crawford.
With the win, Columbus Grove (11-2) will face Columbia Station Columbia (13-0) in a Division VI regional final next Saturday at a site to be determined.
“That was a challenging team,” Columbus Grove head coach Andy Schafer said. “I thought they had lots of different weapons all over the place. It just took us forever to get the offense rolling. It just didn’t seem like we were in sync, but our defense held strong.”
A key special teams play was the difference in the first half.
A blocked punt by Colonel Crawford set the table for the only touchdown
of the first 24 minutes of action.
Colonel Crawford capitalized on the great field position after the blocked punt. The Eagles got the ball on Columbus Grove’s 4-yard line.
On its first play, Colonel Crawford quarterback Kamryn Lohr ran it in for the touchdown. With the extra point by Braxton Morton, the Eagles led 7-0 with 1:26 left to play in the first quarter.
Both defensive units held strong the rest of the first half.
In the first half, Columbus Grove rushed for 44 yards. Quarterback Brenton Renner was 7 of 15 passing for 47 yards.
Colonel Crawford ran the football for 67 yards. Quarterback Kamryn Lohr was 6 of 7 passing for 27 yards in the first half.
The Eagles recorded five first downs in the first half. The Bulldogs moved the first-down chains six times in the first 24 minutes of action.
For the game, Colonel Crawford rushed for 125 yards. Lohr ended the night 8 of 15 passing for 47 yards.
For the game, the Bulldogs recorded 131 yards on the ground. Renner ended the game 10 of 23 passing for 98 yards. Freshman Landon Best, who also played some at quarterback, was 1 of 2 passing for 26 yards. Running back A.J. Schafer, the head coach’s son, led Columbus Grove with 65 yards on 12 carries. Trenton Barraza rushed for 51 yards on 15 carries for the Bulldogs.
In the second half, Columbus Grove finally got on the scoreboard.
With 36 seconds left to play in the third quarter, Renner threw a 33-yard TD pass to Zach Reynolds. With the extra point by Shep Halker, the game was knotted at 7.
Both defenses did not fold the rest of the way in regulation.
In the overtime session, Columbus Grove got the football first, starting on Colonel Crawford’s 20-yard line.
Schafer eventually ran it in from three yards out to give Columbus Grove the lead. With the extra point by Shep Halker, the Bulldogs took the lead.
Colonel Crawford had its opportunity.
The Eagles had the ball with fourth down and 17 yards to go in its overtime possession.
That’s when Columbus Grove’s defense really stepped up.
Quarterback Kamryn Lohr scrambled and could not connect with his receiver on that crucial fourth-down play for the Eagles.
“I left it up to my defensive staff,” Schafer said. “We put more of a prevent type defense in. … That’s a hard situation. You know what you have to defend. You’re going to give up some on the short stuff, but we took away the deep (threat). The nice thing was, is that we got a little bit of pressure and made him (Lohr) scramble; and it put him in an uncomfortable situation. And our defense won the game.”
On the night, Columbus Grove recorded 14 first downs. Colonel Crawford moved the first-down chains eight times.
Mark Altstaetter wrote this story for LimaScores.com. Reach The Lima News sports department at 567-242-0451.
