Columbus Crusaders 33 Noblesville Lions 3

 

*Using rosters from Maxpreps*

Saturday night took me to Worthnigton Christian, the host school for the Great Lakes Christian Athletic Conference playoff game between the Noblesville Lions and the Columbus Crusaders. This would be my second time seeing this matchup and my first visit to Worthington Christian.

Columbus would set the tone early as to how this playoff game was going to go when Ezekiel Bowie broke a tackle while staying inbounds to rush for a 42-yard touchdown. A high snap played a part in the P.A.T. by Lucas Stoner being missed, keeping this a 6-0 game with 10:19 left on the clock. Bowie, who goes 5-7, 170 has spped to burn, though the most impressive thing about him is his power. I set beside his parents and said to his dad, Does he know he should run like Barry Sanders, not John Riggins? This brought a deep laugh from his father.

Lance Hoffeditz is listed as a tight end on the Noblesville roster, but he was the starting quarterback tonight, and his first pass was picked out of the air by Patrick Green, who leaped high to get the pick.

On the very next play, Crusaders quarterback Reggie Harris was picked off by Caleb Taylor with 9:58 left in the opening quarter. The turnoverfest continued when Zachary Mcmenamin recovered a Lions fumble and Ben Adkinson recovered a Crusaders fumble.

With 4:48 left in the odd quarter, Harris had his pass swatted down by Hoffeditz. Harris would shake off the swatt when he found Green for a 24-yard touchdown to make this a 12-0 game, with 3:34 showing on the clock.

The Lions Sevie Stadler sacked Harris for a loss of four with 10:24 left in the half. For the Crusaders, Micah Ronyak picked off a Hoffeditz with 7:44 left. Both defenses were making good plays to force the turnovers, as opposed to this being a bad offensive outing up to this point.

On the ensuing Columbus drive, which lasted for 4 plays and 32 yards, Bowie would make this an 18-0 game with an 8-yard run, where he again showed his power by easily breaking another tackle.

A 17-yard run from Sully Stadler helped set up a 22-yard field goal by Jason Rikkers, making this an 18-3 game with 3:39 left in the half. The drive totaled 5 plays and totaled 69 yards.

Bowie would go 53 yards for another score, followed by a Harris to Braden Miller two-point conversion to make this a 26-3 game, with 2:41 showing on the clock. Bowie, as I found out from his father, is in just his second year of organized football.

A pick by Braylon Walker on a Hoffeditz would be the last big play of the half. As the teams left for halftime, one could since the game was all but over and the running clock would soon be in effect.

With 9:23 left in the third, Columbus ran a beautiful option play with Harris waiting until just the right time to pitch the ball to Patrick Green, who easily took it to the house from 13 yards out. Lucas Stoner was true on his P.A.T., making this a 33-3 game. From there, the clock ran, and the game would end with the Crusaders winning 33-3.

The Win sets up the rematch with Landmark Christian next Saturday night at 7:30 at Hamilton Ross High School. In the first meeting between the two, the Eagels got past the Crusaders 19-18.

My stats

Lions

29 plays

77 yards

Passing, 4-21 3 Int's

Crusaders

47 plays

350 yards

Passing, 6-12 1 TD 1 Int

 For all of the photos copy and past the link below

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10230843996357889&type=3

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