Columbus Crusaders 32 Osceola Grace Eagles 25


 

The third and final game at Indiana Wesleyan University was for first place in the Great Lakes Christian Athletic Conference. The participants were Osceola Grace Eagles and Columbus Crusaders. The Eagles came in 6-3, including five straight wins. Columbus came in 9-1, including a nine-game win streak. The Crusaders lost their opening game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis against #1 Christ Prep Academy (10-0). They are also the number one homeschool in the nation.

With 10:33 left in the opening quarter, Jonathon Cleveland was slugged to the ground by Justin Bauer for a short loss, bringing up fourth and nine for the Eagles. On the punt, Alex Fries blocked the kick by Liam Skeens.

Columbus would turn the ball over when Matthew Colaizzi was picked off by Leo Linville, with 9:14 left in the quarter.

Luke Cocanower found Linville for a gain of 22 yards. Cocanower was sacked by Elliah Gram on the next play. Cocanower shook the sack off by completing a 31-yard pass to Peter Kinney, with 7:50 showing on the clock.

The teams traded turnovers before the quarter ended. Ezekel Bowie mishandled the handoff from Colaizzi, and making the recovery for the Eagles was Josh Hamilton. Braden Miller picked off Cocanower.

At the 10:47 mark of the 2nd quarter, Bowie was stuffed for a loss of three by Skeens. Bowie seemed to have had enough of the negative plays when it came to himself, and he would go on to have his usual all-star type of game.

With 9:23 left in the half, Alex Fries picked off a Cocanower pass as the turnover fest continued. On the ensuing drive Bowie powered his way for 20 yards. He followed that up with a run for 16 yards. The drive ended when a high snap led to a Colaizzi fumble, with Nate Cocanower making the recovery.

The Eagles would punt the ball with 6:22 left, and Kam Vanhorn was back to return it for Columbus. Vanhorn fumbled the punt, and making the recovery for the Eagles was Hamilton, with 6:22 left in the half.

Cocanower hit Peter Kinney for 13 yards. He capped off the 7-play, 37-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Cleveland, putting the Eagles up 6-0 with 4:13 left in the half.

Bowie picked up 16 yards to get things going for Columbus. He followed that up with his own 6-yard touchdown run, tying this one up at six, with 2:09 left in the wild first half.

With 15.5 seconds left in the half, Bowie thrilled the loud Columbus crowd with a breathtaking 50-yard run. Colaizzi threw into tight coverage and was rewarded with a leaping catch from Miller, picking up 34 yards with 8.2 seconds left in the half. Bowie plowed in from a yard out to make this a 12-6 game. Carson Boenne knocked away the two-point conversion pass.

The second half started with Miller fumbling away the ball on the kickoff; making the recovery for the Eagles was Jordan Chupp. The quarter went by quickly with two highlights for Columbus. First, facing a fourth and eight, Colaizzi hit Miller for 9 yards. Bowie went 11 yards for another Columbus score. Grant Brumfield made this a 19-6 game with the PAT.

Columbus made this a 25-6 game when Colaizzi scored on a 13-yard run to cap off a long 12-play, 86-yard drive that ate up nearly 8:00 minutes.

Cocanower found Kent Kain for 27 yards with 10:12 left. Cocanower then found Linville for 13 yards, with 9:37 left. On the next play he found Kain for 20 yards. The drive came to a close when Weston Frey waltzed into the end zone from 4 yards out. After Luke Cocanower nailed the PAT, we had a 25-13 game, with 8:09 left.

Bowie went for 50 yards again, where he showed three tools: power, speed, and field vision. Elijah Gram took the handoff from Colizzi and plowed in for the 1-yard touchdown to make this a 32-13 game.

Kendall Smith picked up a sack on Cocanower for a loss of six with 6:39 left. Cocanower threw a nice pass to Linville, picking up 29 yards. Cocanower ended the drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Kinney to make this a 32-19 game with 4:17 remaining.

Hayden Casto recovered the onside kick to put his offense right back on the field. It took 7 plays to go the 48 yards needed for the next Eagles score, and that came on a Cocanower to Linville pass to make this a 32-25 game. Justin Bauer blocked the PAT.

Columbus would recover the kickoff and hold on for the 7-point win.

My unofficial stats

Eagles

57 plays

284 yards

Passing, 18-40, 2 TDs, 2 Ints

Columbus

58 plays

463 yards

Passing, 3-7, 1 1Int


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