CENTERBURG — The Colonel Crawford Eagles came into the Centerburg Trojans’ house and caused a scene on Friday night.
The fifth-seeded Eagles upset the No. 1-seed Trojans, flying by the home squad 42-13 in a Division VI, Region 23 semifinal.
Eagles senior quarterback Peyton Baker ran for two touchdowns, and senior running back Connor McMichael served as the bellcow in the backfield, passing the pylons twice on the ground and once through the air.
Eagles head coach Jake Bruner was beyond proud of his team and emotionally detailed how “there are too many kids on our team that sacrificed everything about them for everybody else.”
Bruner continued by rattling off successes for each of his seniors, specifically Baker, McMichael, Brayden Holt, Payne Degray, Dominic Dean and Nathan McCartney, not only in this game but throughout the season.
Star junior receiver Parker Weithman stuck out in Bruner’s mind as well, not necessarily for his performance in this game but for his character.
“Parker Weithman is going to break every record in receiving in our school’s history, and he’s yelling at our offensive coordinators, ‘Run the freaking ball, they can’t stop it,'” Bruner said.
“So that says a lot about our team with a guy that’s got 50 whatever catches this year, and I think he had one tonight … can’t say enough about our kids and how unselfish they are.”
Trojan head coach Andy Colella also reminisced about his senior group, noting how grateful he is for their leadership this season.
“Leadership is not an easy thing. We spent a lot of time trying to teach them how to be leaders and kind of what to do,” Colella said.
“But they believed in us and what we do from a program standpoint, made some sacrifices along the way, bought into what we asked them to do and as a result they’ve been able to have a lot of success.”
A tone setting first quarter
Centerburg got some nice opening runs from senior running back Shawn Carter and junior back Miles Marshall, followed by junior Jackson Ballinger’s catch, but was forced to punt on its first drive.
McMichael jump-started his 201-yard ground game early after the Eagles started on their own 13-yard line.
The 6-foot bruiser showed strength by racking up yards after contact on a 25-plus-yard run before defenders finally brought him down at the Centerburg 38-yard line.
Yet the Eagles weren’t able to capitalize as senior Tommy Hause made a nice pass deflection on 4th and 9.
However, C.C. quarterback Baker zipped downfield for a 63-yard run and two plays later crossed the plane on a 6-yard jaunt for a 7-0 lead.
Eagles keep up the offensive pace
While the Trojans still couldn’t get their high-powered offense online, the Eagles were soaring.
Combining a mobile signal caller in Holt and some good old-fashioned angry running from McMichael and the Eagles were back in Centerburg territory with under 5 minutes to play in the first half.
Baker’s second TD run, this one from 8 yards, pushed the margin to 14-0 at halftime.
Second half dominance
Whatever Bruner told his boys during halftime clearly worked because the Eagles came into the second half like they’d been shot out of a cannon.
Colonel Crawford was facing a 3rd and 10 situation, and somehow McMichael went completely undefended. Holt didn’t make very many reads before seeing his wide-open running back, connecting with him on a 58-yard touchdown pass.
The Trojans flashed some signs of life after Marshall got his team to the Eagle 28-yard line via some patient runs.
Ball followed Marshall’s lead with a 28-yard quarterback keeper touchdown for the Trojans’ first points with 7:53 showing in the third quarter.
Yet the mix of screen plays and more powerful running from McMichael proved too much to handle for the Trojans, as the back found the end zone again with a 2-yard blast.
With the ensuing extra point clearing the uprights, the Eagles began to really pull away, up 28-7.
A mere minute and 50 seconds after McMichael’s second touchdown, the running back hit a perfect hole in the middle of the line, scoring on a 21-yard touchdown bolt.
The Trojans tried to climb back into the game, yet a well-timed interception from Weithman in the end zone squashed those efforts to end the third quarter.
McMichael continued to wheel his way down the field and set up a 3-yard Dean touchdown to start the running clock in the fourth quarter.
The Trojans marched down the field and picked up their last points of the season on a 1-yard touchdown catch by Marshall, but missed the extra point, marking the 42-13 final.
Colonel Crawford (12-1) advances to play third-seeded West Jefferson (11-1) in next week’s regional championship game.
Centerburg finished the season 10-2.
