Landmark Christian Eagles fly high in 52-38 win over Columbus Crusaders

 

Last night I was at Hamilton Ross High School for the 7:30 kickoff between the Columbus Crusaders and the Landmark Christian Eagles. The winner would get the number one seed for the Great Lakes Christian Athletic Conference Championship next Saturday at Indiana Wesleyan University. There will be a triple harder pitting the number 1, 2, and 3 seeds from the South Division of the Great Lakes Christian Athletic Conference against the top three seeds from the North Division. Gmae times will be 12, 3, and 7, and as it should, one ticket gets you in for all three games.

The Eagles got things going with a 10-yard run from Noah Bryant. Later on the drive, Bryant picked up 20 yards when the Eagles were facing a fourth and one from their own 36-yard line. A 36-yard run from Jordan Jacobson kept things moving in the right direction. The combo of Bryant and Jacobson is as dangerous as it comes, especially when their offensive line fires off the ball. The drive would end on an incomplete pass when the Eagle went for it on fourth and ten at the Crusaders ten, with 6:23 left in the quarter.

Columbus got their drive started with Ezekiel Bowie picking up 54 yards on three carries. Bowie has speed, power, and field vision that he uses, as well as any back I have watched play this entire year. The 12-play, 90-yard drive ended when Reggie Harris found Braden Miller from 4 yards out on fourth and four. #75 Riley Abrusci nailed the P.A.T., making this a 7-0 game with 10:19 left in half.

The Eagles would respond with a five-play 58-yard drive to take an 8-7 lead. The score came when the Eagles would convert a fourth and six at the Crusaders 46-yard line with AJ Skoog throwing a strike to Stefon Harmeling. After a penalty on Columbus, the Eagles converted a two-point conversion, with Jacobson crossing the goal line with 7:24 left in the half.

Skoog would hit Israel Marcum for a 78-yard touchdown. After catching the rock, Marcum outran the Crusaders defense as he exploded downfield, making the score. Thanks to a nasty block from Ace Meckley that took care of three defenders, Harmeling converted another two-point run, making this a 16-7 game with 4:30 left in the half.

Truett Furniss would recover the onside kick, putting the Eagles offense right back on the field. A 19-yard run by Jacobson got things going. The offensive line was doing just what they had to do to make things very easy for the ground game to work, and with two dangerous backs, the Crusaders defense was hard-pressed to make stops. Skoogs would find Marcum for a 46-yard touchdown. A two-point conversion pass from Skoggs to Landon Skoog made this a 24-7 game, with 2:45 left in the half.

The last thirty-three seconds of the half brought an incomplete pass by the Crusaders on fourth down to give the ball back to the Eagles. That was followed by back-to-back interceptions. For the Crusaders, Patrick Green got the pick, and for the Eagles, Bradley Johnson.

Early in the third, Columbus faced a fourth, and Coach Garner would keep his offense on the field, and they answered with a Harris to Zach Biniker completion for 19 yards. The 8-play, 55-yard drive ended when Reggie Harris followed his blockers for a 10-yard touchdown, making this a 24-14 game with 9:01 left in the third.

Bryant would gallp for 15 yards, with 7:25 showing on the clock. Skoog hooked up with Harmeling for 10 yards to set up an 8-yard pinball-type run from Byrant. After #14 Daniel Hoke hit the P.A.T., the Eagles led 31-14. The Eagles drive went for 9 plays and 70 yards.

With 8:49 left in the game, Harris scored on an 8-yard run when the team faced a fourth and four. Harris also converted the two-point conversion, giving us a 31-22 game.

The Eagles needed would get a fine 51-yard run from Jacobson, who also ended the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run. Skogg to Skoog converted another two-point conversion to make this a 39-22 game with 6:03 left. The drive totaled 60 yards, taking just 5 plays.

The Crusaders would cap off a 6-play, 65-yard drive with a Harris to Miller 6-yard touchdown. Harris made this a 39-30 game with another two-point conversion with 3:33 left in the game.

The Eagles got a tackle-breaking 22-yard run from Jacobson to set up the game's next score, which came on a 1-yard run from Bryant, making this a 45-30 game with 1:40 left.

The DL BURNWORTH PLAY OF THE GAME came from the DL BURNWORTH player of the game, Stefon Harmeling. Harmling would pick off the pass and score on a 50-yard pick six. Harming has an early pick with a big return negated because of an Eagles penalty. The score now stood 52-30 with 0:51 lft on the clock.

Bowie would score on a breath-taking 54-yard run folowed by a two-point conversion run from, who else? Bowie to make the final score 52-38.

My stats

Columbus

51 plays

347 yards

Passing, 5-10 1 TD, 1 Int

Landmark Christian

44 plays

431 yards

Passing 6-13 3 TDs, 1 Int

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