No. 7 Crestwood football team rallies to nip North Fayette Valley

CRESCO - Crestwood senior quarterback Alex Loden reached the end zone on a 16-yard run with 2:04 left in the fourth quarter to help the No. 7 Cadets earn a thrilling 26-20 win over North Fayette Valley at home on Friday, Oct 2.

    The win improved Crestwood's overall mark to 6-0 and 3-0 in Class 2A District 3. NFV dropped to 2-4 overall. The Cadets will travel to Osage (5-1, 2-1) to take on the Green Devils on Friday, Oct. 9 at 7:30 p.m.

     Although the game was nip-and-tuck for all four quarters, Crestwood Head Coach Justin Denner was excited to see his squad rally late for the win.

      "We did a great job up front (on the offensive and defensive lines)," Denner said. "Alex did a great job running the football. Caleb Holzer had an injury right before halftime, but Ethan Bergan stepped up and did a great job. Our line did a great job for the most part. Nothing stopped us for the most part except for penalties and fumbles, but we did a great job of staying calm.

     "Our seniors did a great job of leading us. NFV is a great team, and we knew that coming into the game. They took advantage of some things that we didn't do well. I'm just happy we were able to get the win.

     "This game gives us momentum (going into the final two regular season games). We knew the game against NFV would be close, and we know the games against Osage (on Oct. 9) and Waukon (on Oct. 16) will be close games. We were able to execute against NFV, but we still need to continue to grow and get better," Denner said.

 

NFV strikes first

     Crestwood took possession of the ball first, but the Tigerhawks recovered a Cadet fumble at the Cadets' 33 with 10:06 left in the opening quarter. NFV capped an 11-play drive with a three-yard touchdown run by Mason Heins at the 5:09 mark. Kendrick White kicked the extra point to give NFV a 7-0 lead.

    The Cadets answered quickly with an 80-yard drive in six plays as Loden scored on a one-yard touchdown run with 3:15 left to cut the lead to 7-6. The extra point kick was no good.

    With 11:50 left in the second quarter, Loden found some running room and raced 58 yards to paydirt to give Crestwood a 12-7 lead. The two-point pass failed.

     After forcing an NFV punt, the Cadets drove the ball 61 yards in seven plays. Loden completed a four-yard touchdown pass to Nate Mahr with 7:16 left. Mitchell Williams kicked the extra point to give the Cadets a 19-7 lead.

    NFV cut Crestwood's lead to 19-14 with 2:34 left before halftime on a three-yard run by Brooxton Lundgren and the extra point kick by White.

    After a scoreless third quarter, Lundgren scored on a three-yard touchdown run for NFV with 4:33 left in the fourth to give the Tigerhawks a 20-19 lead. The two-point run was no good.