SPARTA – Colonel Crawford coach Jake Bruner was asked by his wife Sarah what he wants for Christmas this year.
“I wanted to practice on Thanksgiving,” he said.
Christmas came early in the Bruner household as the No. 5 Eagles beat No. 3 West Jefferson 35-7 in a Division VI regional championship at Highland’s Covrette Stadium.
“This is a different type of opponent than we’ve faced this year,” Bruner said. “Their quarterback has a tremendous arm, and he’s going to be a good collegiate player. Their type of offense is one where you just never feel comfortable.”
The Rough Riders came in averaging 37 points and more than 315 yards passing per game. To put that into perspective with regards to Colonel Crawford’s opponents this season, Seneca East was the most “potent” aerial attack the Eagles have faced averaging 172.3 yards per game, and they blanked the Tigers 31-0.
“It’s honestly been since the COVID year when we got beat in the last second by Fairview,” Bruner said. We talked about that a lot this week with our coaches and our players.”
And preparation wasn’t easy for a team like West Jefferson led by senior Austin Buescher who has thrown for nearly 12,000 yards in his career.
“It was a tough week of practice for us for a lot of different reasons,” Bruner said. “Just getting ready for this type of offense and having to emulate it … but Brayden Holt, Tyler Lash, and our backup receivers per se did a great job. Even though this quarterback’s different than Brayden Holt, Brayden stroked us a lot because he’s just really good with the spread offense. He did a great job preparing us … there were some times tonight we maybe lost a guy here and there, but I thought our guys played really well.”
Colonel Crawford’s defense set the tone from the start forcing a three-and-out and proceeding to march 62 yards down the field in 10 plays capped off by Connor McMichael’s first of four rushing scores on the night. Another hold by the defense on the next possession led to another impressive drive, this time 11 plays to go 92 yards and another McMichael touchdown. An interception led to his third score with nearly 10 minutes still to play in the first half, and he would make it 28-0 with 1:04 before the half.
“We knew they were really good up front on both sides of the ball,” West Jefferson coach Shawn Buescher said. “Not only are they big, but they move well. Their length was something that concerned us, but we’ve played against big teams before. Something they offer is that they’re both long and they can move … they do a lot of good things with the pass rush.
“Everyone talks about (Payne DeGray) — he’s a great player and we had to do a lot of things doubling him — but we knew when we did that, a lot of other people are singled up and they create problems. They’re a veteran football team. We’ve been in this position a lot, we’ve been fortunate enough to win it a few times and we know what it looks like.”
The Rough Riders were successful for most of the game in limiting DeGray’s ability to get into the backfield. But that just opened up gaps for his teammates to put pressure on Buescher and make quick tackles.
“They held us all night, but Payne, Dom (Dean) and Connor, Walker (Cramer), Luke Chrisman, they just kept coming after him and just enough to get him out of his comfort zone,” Bruner said. “That was our goal going into it, so the defensive staff of coach (Chris) Solis, Brevin Balliet, Brett DeGray, Sean McGuire, those guys did a great job.
“And I can’t tell you how many times Gabe (Stratton) made big tackles in open space. He missed a few, but he’s a sophomore. And at the same time, I think down there when they end up scoring, he got four or five big stops in a row. But it was a total team effort, Connor got a lot of yards, our quarterbacks run and throw, Parker Weithman catching it … and how about Jacob Cochran coming out as a senior and he’s putting on the biggest hits tonight. I was watching Dom Dean go up and down just cheering him on, it was pretty cool.”
Colonel Crawford rushed 42 times for 281 yards and threw the ball 19 times for 140 yards on 12 completions, despite the rainy conditions.
“They’re fairly balanced,” coach Buescher said. “They did (throw) a little bit, but at this level you gotta be able to do something unique and have to be balanced, or your run game has gotta be something unique in style. They just do a good job mixing things up with the play action, and they’re balanced with the quarterback run and their tailback, he’s a big kid who runs hard.
“It’s a very good football team, their community should be proud.”
McMichael finished with 214 yards on 27 carries, quarterback Peyton Baker rushed nine times for 53 yards and a touchdown, Roen Thew four times for 15 yards. Holt completed all 12 of the attempts, the most impressive one a 33-yard heave downfield to Parker Weithman who made a diving grab to set up he third touchdown.
“Brayden threw a great ball, so I knew how to go make a play on the ball,” Weithman said, he had eight catches for 94 yards.
The loss brought an end to the careers of nine seniors who have added a new chapter to the rich history at West Jefferson.
“They finished their career with two league championships and two regional runner-ups, they’ve added to the tradition of our football program,” coach Buescher said. “This group left their mark, and they should be very proud. I know tonight stings, it’s hard for us all. It’s tough to lose, and the deeper you go, the tougher it is … but as they get away from it a little bit, I’m sure they’ll look back and realize how much they accomplished.”
But the Rough Riders are looking forward to doing whatever it takes to get right back in the mix for regional championships next season.
“We’re a young group … throughout the course of the game we play six sophomores and one freshman on defense,” coach Buescher said. “So we’re really young on that side of the ball especially, and for those kids to play at that level, led by our older group, speaks volumes for who we are.
“They got a little bit more on the field experience than I would want them to being as young as they were to be honest with you. But I think it’ll pay dividends. We’ve been able to continue to build for the future each and every year in one way or another, and this year they had to play and they end up winning jobs so they had to get out there and be battle tested. I felt they fought all year long, so hopefully it serves us well moving forward.”
Colonel Crawford now shifts its focus to one of the most storied programs in Ohio — Kirtland.
“We knew we wanted to do whatever it took to get to the final four, but we’re still not satisfied,” Baker said. “We know Kirtland’s a really good team, but we know we can hang with them.”
“It’s just another stepping stone of where no other team has been,” Holt added. “Being able to come out here and be a part of this is just an absolute blast. Hopefully we just keep it going, one game at a time.”
For Bruner, he’s looking forward to squaring off with an old friend.
“I’m excited to get to see Tiger (LaVerde), we’ve coached the North/South game,” he said. “I know how good they are, and we’ll get ready to do what we do. I’m exciting for the challenge for our kids, it’s going to be a great atmosphere.”
And also, getting that early Christmas present.
“We’re gonna practice Thanksgiving morning — I can’t wait.”
zholden@gannett.com | 419-617-6018 | Twitter/X: @Zachary_Holden
This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Colonel Crawford runs rampant over West Jefferson in regional final
Reporting by Zachary Holden, Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum / Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
