Shaw needs four overtime's to end losing streak beating Crestline 34-28

 

Last night I drove to Crestline High School to watch the Bulldogs host East Cleveland Shaw in what turned into my 2nd four overtime game, but in this one I was able to see a team break a long losing streak of 19 games. The game had to have or seem to have at least 25 pentalties called, with five or six coming on play. There were player enjections called, but the refs never said which players were rejected, so who knows if they really were thrown out or not? Later in the game, another player looked to have been threw out, and he did not return. There were statements made by some players that a coach during the halftime made racist comments. Shaw had six fans setting on their side, but by the time the game was over, only two remained. There was also a very nice job done twice by the Cardinals coaches; first, they kept their bench players from entering the playing field when it appeared a big fight was going to break out. Second, the Cardinals coaches were able to settle one of their players down and stop him from going off another person on their sideline.

Leland Short got the defensive opening quarter going when he got to Chan Glennon of the Crestline Bulldogs for a loss of 5 yards. Then, a little over one minute later, the Cardinals went up 6-0 when Eric Meredith scooped up a Bulldogs fumble and took it to the house from 48 yards out with 10:50 left in the quarter. Xyion Harris would pick off a Kody Lawhorn pass to put the Cardinals offense on the field at the 9:56 mark.

The Bulldogs defense would get a sack on Kamauri Hall with Gage Trent and Justin Horn doing the deed. The Cardinals defense got back into the act a short time later with a sack of their own, when Lawhorn was knocked to the ground by Conrad Bartley and Meredith. The Bulldogs shook off the sack a short time later when Lawhorn found Parker Bownman for a 42-yard gain. The Bulldogs would take the lead 7-6 on a 33-yard run by Cian Glennon, who outran the entire defense for the score. Bowman hit the point after kick, with Lawhoen doing the holding with 5:25 left. The quarter would provide the final big play that came when Glennon hit Tre'Ron Axon, causing a fumble with #24. Justin Horn pouncing on it for the Bulldogs.

Early in the 2nd quarter, thanks to a 35-yard touchdown run by Meredith, the Cardinals went back on top 12-7, and with a successful two-point conversion, the lead increased to 14-7.

A sack on Lawhorn by James Orr, the Bulldogs would punt to close out their drive.

Orr would take the punt 47 yards to the Bulldogs 3-yard line. Tristin Kyle, listed at 6-7,250 pounds on the Hudl roster, muscled his way on for the 8-yard score, followed by a two-point conversion run by Kyle to make this a 22-8 game with 9:37 left in the half.

A tipped Lawhorn pass was picked off by Jamariyion Parks to put the Cardinals offense back on the field with 9:21 left in the half. The next big play came almost four minutes later, with Lawhorn finding Jayden Lozier for 24 yards. The quarter would bring a sack on Axon by Glennon, then for the last points of the half, a bad snap cost the Cardinals two points when the ball roled out of the endzone to give a safety to the Bulldogs to make this a 22-9 game.

The Cardinals came out fired up after halftime, and you could tell things were going to get very interesting, if not messy. Gage Trents would hit Jermere Jones, causing a fumble where the Bulldogs Carter Giesige made the recovery. The Cardinals defense got the ball right back when the Bulldogs muffed the ball and Leland Short pounced on it. Neither team was able to turn the turnover into points as the defense refused to yield.

With 8:16 left in the quarter, Lawhorn found Lozier for a first down. Glennon would cap off the drive with a 32-yard touchdown to make this a 22-15 game.

Late in the quarter, things got very interesting or messy, depending on how one looks at it. After a hotly contested play, there were at least five personal fouls called and three players ejected. After what seemed like a 15-minute talk by the refs and both coaching staff, the game continued only to have four or five more penalties called before a play could be run that actually counted. During all of this, another player looked to have been ejected, and he did not come back into play. With no P.A. announcement, no one knew if the other three players were actually ejected, including the two coaches in the pressbox that were a few feet away from where I was standing. The longest quarrel of the night would bring one final score with Gannon out running the Cardinals defense for a 52-yard score to lock things up at 22 a piece.

Shaw would get a 35-yard pass from Axson to Nicholas McCullough with 8:44 left in the game. Defense would stand tall from there until the final 0:46 seconds. At the 0:46 mark, the Cardinals took the lead on a 35-yard run by Meredith. The two-point conversion run failed when Bowman stopped Meredith short of the goal line. With 0:32 seconds left, Mereidth delivered the hit of the game when he crushed Lawhorn for a loss of seven. On the final play of regulation, Lawhorn threw up a deep pass that tipped and nearly picked off the ball, seeming to fall right in the hands of Bowman for the game-tying touchdown. The Bulldogs point after kick came up short due to the snap not being handled cleanly.

The first three overtimes brought zero points, two picks, one from each team, and a total of zero yards. Getting the picks were Conrad Bartley for the Cardianls; he also had a big sack. For the Bulldogs, Lawhorn had the pick.

In the fourth and final overtime, Axon connected with Meredith for what turned out to be the winning points.

My unofficial stats

Cardinals 62 plays

202 yards

Passing, 8-19 1 TD 1 INT

Bulldogs

56 plays

361 yards

Passing, 13-29 1 TD 3 Int's

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