Slow start dooms Crescent against Bearcats
Playing for the first time in 21 days, the Crescent Tigers will now have to wait about nine months to see the football field again.
Mooreland halted their season Friday in a 33-14 win at Crescent in the third round of the Class A playoffs.
Despite being almost a month into the playoffs, Crescenthadn’t taken the field since a Week 10 loss to Cashion as the Tigers’ first two playoff opponents forfeited.
Perhaps rust was a factor in Crescent falling by as many as 27 points.
“Playing our first game in three weeks didn’t help,” Crescent coach J.L. Fisher said. “And three turnovers didn’t help either.”
Crescent fumbled it four times and lost three of them, one of which came at the Bearcat 1. The Tigers also had another potential touchdown called back by a penalty.
That helped the Bearcats build a 20-0 halftime lead as Marty Mullins rushed for two scores and Thomas Goff another.
A Conner Scarborough 11-yard TD run at 10:30 of the third quarter pushed the advantage to 27-0.
“After that, I felt we played better and at least gave ourselves a chance,” Fisher said.
The Tigers’ ground game was effective as they managed 253 yards.
Hunter Wilmoth got the bulk of that as he totaled 194 yards on 18 carries.
He ended the scoring drought with a 29-yard scamper at 6:34 of the third quarter.
The senior added an 11-yard TD run in the fourth.
But the plays didn’t come in big enough chunks while Crescent struggled to slow down Mooreland’s ground attack.
The Bearcats had 286 yards on 49 attempts. Scarborough picked up 118 of those yards on 18 attempts.
Mullins added 74 yards and Goff 67. Goff also threw
Goff also threw for 69 yards.
Cannon Bowers led the Tigers with nine tackles while Wilmoth had eight.
Crescent’s passing attack garnered only 15 yards on 3 of 6 passing.
The Tigers’ season ended with an 8-3 record despite a limited number of upperclassmen.
“I was proud of their willingness to learn, adapt and fight for as young as we were,” Fisher said. “That will be good for us in building for the future.”