Paulding Senior Hunter Kesler is in position to catch the ball as Crestview’s senior Jack Corbin bats it away. More pictures at westbendnews.net
PAULDING – The Paulding Panthers saw the 2018 high school football season come to an end on Friday after a 50-8 loss to visiting Crestview.
The Knights scored 16 first quarter points before adding 20 more in the second quarter, taking a commanding 36-0 halftime lead.
Crestview then widened the advantage to 43-0 at the end of three quarters before settling on the 50-8 victory.
Drew Kline led the Knight attack with 91 rushing yards on eight carries while also completing 7 of 14 passes for 93 yards.
Brody Brecht added 53 rushing yards for Crestview and Logan Gerardot ran for 44 yards.
Wade Sheets topped the Knight receivers with three receptions for 60 yards.
Payton Beckman was 7 of 19 passing for Paulding, throwing for 97 yards and a score.
Hunter Kesler had three catches for 66 yards, including one for a score. Fernando Garcia added two receptions for 18 yards with Caleb Manz (11 yards) and Jacob Diesler (two yards) picking up one each.
Diesler added 34 yards rushing for the maroon and run on 13 carries.
Crestview posted 16 first downs in the contest compared to Paulding’s eight and recorded 316 yards of total offense compared to the Panthers’ 141.
Paulding also had four turnovers compared to none for the Knights.
Brecht topped the Knight defense with six tackles while Robbie Gonzalez had five. Kaden Short and Caylib Pruett both had four stops for Crestview.
The Panthers got nine tackles from Drew Lumpkins while Alex Riethman posted four. Manz and Juwan Skiffer both had three stops.
Paulding finishes the season with a record of 3-7 overall and 3-4 in the Northwest Conference. Crestview, which ended the regular season at 9-1 in all games and 6-1 in the league as conference co-champions, will open playoff action on Saturday when it hosts Cincinnati Miami Valley Christian Academy.
