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Crawford Holds off Carey

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Colonel Crawford hung on Wednesday evening to beat Carey (7-6) in a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

Coach Jordan Oliver says there was some nervousness, but things came out all right. “We made it a little bit more interesting than we probably needed to in the top of the seventh. Made a couple errors that allowed them to score a couple runs, but I'll give our guys credit we hung in there. One of our seniors Micah Thomas came in and got the final out for us in relief as our starter his pitch count got kind of high. So, I was glad to see that Micah wanted the ball and he came and got us the final out. It's good for our young team to win a close game like that,” said Oliver.

Oliver says they went put and played at a pretty high level. “We told our guys that that we felt like us and Carey were pretty evenly matched. Especially playing at home we wanted to try our best to compete with Carey and if possible pull out a win. So, I was very proud of our guys that playing against a Carey team that's capable of beating anybody in our league. I'm so happy that we were able to come out with the close victory,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (5-8,4-5) has won three of its last five and Oliver says they are starting to turn it around. “We had to kind of refocus ourselves after a doubleheader against Upper Sandusky. Give credit to them they're really good team. They run ruled us two games in a row in a doubleheader and our guys were really down,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We talked about how our attitude needed to improve, our focus needs to get better, and I would say ever since then, we haven't won every game since then, but I feel like our attitude, our effort in the game and just controlling what we can control has gotten better from that time forward. That's our goal as a team right now is just to be playing our best baseball going into the tournament.”

Published 4/25/24

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Crawford With a Tremendous Challenge

Click here to listen to an interview with coach David Sheldon

There is going to be some big boy basketball played on Friday night as two outstanding teams battle in a division VI district final as Colonel Crawford plays Patrick Henry.

There aren’t going to be many open shots available and kids will have to make shots with contact.

Colonel Crawford sliced and diced Wynford (77-40) on Wednesday night and Patrick Henry demolished Toledo Christian (69-26) in semifinals.

Coach David Sheldon says the Patriots are an outstanding team that is sed to success. “It's a very good team that's been successful over the years. Last year, they were on the other side of the regional at Bowling Green with us and they played Lima Central Catholic. With the new pod system they just to make choose to come down to Willard for the opportunity to play us in the district final,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday morning, “It starts with Reid Creager and Mack Hieber. They are unbelievable good basketball players. Two very special, two of the best basketball players that we've seen all year. Then they have really good surrounding parts around them as well. It's a tradition of a successful program with Patrick Henry all the back to the Dave Krauss era. This is a community that loves high school athletics and they've had huge success in multiple athletics.”

Colonel Crawford (21-2) and Patrick Henry (20-4) won district titles last year and are used to these high pressure games.

Sheldon says really they haven’t played a team like this yet this season. “It's a different animal. The Hieber kid reminds me of Toombs, but taller from Fredericktown. The Creager kid is a really good guard that reminds you of Washington a little bit from Margaretta. So, it's a little bit of both, so when you look at the talent that they have on this basketball team,” he said.

Colonel Crawford has played eight tournament games in the last two years with Brayden Holt, Payne and John DeGray and Parker Weithman. Plus, many of the kids on the basketball roster played on a football team that went to the final four.

Sheldon says they are ready to play in games like this. “It’s definitely plus. Four of these guys that start played for us the whole time last year during the tournament run. We've played against exceptional teams this year with our non league schedule. So, we want to worry about Colonel Crawford, but also respect that we kind of a good basketball team coming down to Willard Friday night in Patrick Henry,” he said.

Published 3/06/26

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Crawford Cruises Again

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Just like Chuck Berry with a guitar or a cold drink in your hand on a warm summer night, the Colonel Crawford Eagles are where they are supposed to be, in the district final.

They cut up Wynford like you would a good steak (77-40) on Wednesday night at Willard High School in a semifinal game.

There have only been two times since 2011 they have not been playing for a regional berth. That’s unreal consistency. Something that only a few programs in Ohio can claim.

However, things are going to get much, much tougher on Friday night when talented Patrick Henry (20-4) will be at Willard Friday to provide a big challenge to the Eagles (21-2). The Patriots burned Toledo Christian (69-26) on Wednesday at Millbury Lake High School/

Wynford (7-17) actually scored first and the game was tied (5-5) with 5:25 to play in the first quarter, but Brayden Holt stroked a three, which ignited a (16-2) run an the onslaught was on.

Coach David Sheldon says they played some pretty good defense and then left Holt take control of the game. “We really talked about getting off to a good start. With the previous two games we thought they might try to come out and hold the ball. We had some defensive pressure that we wanted to do. We didn’t want to start trapping or anything crazy, but I thought we did a good job with that. Then that defense turns into offense,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “The first time they were box and one and (Wednesday) night they went zone and it allowed Brayden to go to work and that’s pretty good. The biggest thing was he had seven, eight assists. He’s a good player. We were able to pull away be halftime. That’s what you want to do because we have a big one on Friday.”

When watching the scoreboard on Wednesday night the most interesting thing was if Holt was going to outscore the entire Wynford team and it was a horserace. Holt had 37 points and handed out eight assists. When he sat down with 6;22 left and a running clock Wynford has one more point.

Sheldon says Holt not only is a super scorer, but he is a facilitator. “He deserves all the accolades he gets. He’s over 1700 points for his career and he’s just special. This thing people don’t understands is he creates for everybody else. We only had four turnovers and that's because of the quarterback, the facilitator on the floor and that makes a big difference when he's making decisions because he has such a high basketball IQ,” said Sheldon.

Wynford only made 14 field goals on the night. Sheldon says players know they have to play defense or they won’t get off the bench. “That’s the foundation the last 20 years I've been at Crawford. We talk pride in guarding every night. If we let them score the bald guy gets upset at times with guys. So, we take a lot of pride in that and our kids really do with the preparation and then going out and running it on game night,” he said.

If there was anything that set off an alarm when it comes to the Eagles it was the free throw line where they connected on just 7-18 attempts. “It's a mental thing. We’ve shoot enough and I don't talk about it. Our guys know about it. Payne goes 3-3 and Braden Holt, 85 percent, goes 2-5. If he makes some free throws he would have had 40. So, I gave him a hard time a little bit about that,” said Sheldon.

Yes, the Eagles tournament success is almost expected, but Sheldon you never take tournament wins for granted. “Last week we won our 15^th straight sectional and of those 15, 13 of them we have been in the district finals. Guys this is how it used to be back in the day when my father was coaching. The is the way I grew up. Don’t take it for granted and there's a bullseye on your back, so they know that. This is the game you want to get to. We’re going to have a heck of an opponent on Friday night, but you expect that in a district final,” said Sheldon.

Published 3/05/26

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Focus Again Key for Crawford

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Colonel Crawford meets old rival Wynford in a division VI district semifinal on Wednesday night at Willard High School.

The Eagles (20-2) are the defending district champions.

Coach David Sheldon says they have great tournament experience. “When you look at the four of the guys that our starters for us playing major minutes last year in our tournament run and just the success we've had at the sectional level over the years. I think it definitely helps because we're used to being in district tournaments and know the preparation and the attention to detail it takes this time of year,” said Sheldon.

Now, Crawford destroyed Wynford (6-16) twice during “N10” play this season, (77-27) on December 30 and (76-29) on January 17.

However, Sheldon believes his team will have the maturity to not look past the opponent. “I think they understand the importance of this is the next step in the district semi. This is the most important game come Wednesday night right now. That’s the way you've got to look at this. I thought we did that last week when playing Bucyrus. We've got to come out and get off to a good start and be prepared for whatever we can see come Wednesday night,” said Sheldon.

They smoked Bucyrus (76-33) in a sectional final last Friday.

Also, Crawford has enjoyed great success at Willard in tournament play in recent years and Sheldon says that helps too. “It's a great atmosphere in the “Haas Gym”. It's an old school gym. not these new gyms that we see. It's a great atmosphere with so much history and the environment is always good for kids to compete on at the district level,” he said.

Wynford comes in off a (65-56) overtime win over Mohawk in their sectional final.

Sheldon says this is a team that shoots the ball well and has become more competitive over the last month. “First of all, I think it's a team that's gotten better. It's a young team and they've won three of their last four. Throughout the year they were in a lot of close games and now they've been finishing those,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “They really shoot it well. You have to guard the three-point line. Thay have got five guys shoot over 30 percent. They're a very guard oriented and can really shoot the basketball. They’re shown different things, Zone, junk, man, they show man they show a lot of different defenses that you have got to prepare for. You can't take anybody easy this time of year when you get to a district tournament because they've already won a championship in the sectional level.”

Published 3/03/26

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Colonel Crawford Has Focus

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Colonel Crawford, the Northern 10 Athletic Conference champion, hosts Bucyrus in a sectional final in division VI on Friday night.

Last year, the Eagles advanced all of the way to the state semifinal and have all but one player from that team back.

Coach David Sheldon says his kids understand tournament basketball. “The good thing with this is tournaments are always special, but our guys have been through it. So, this isn't the first time for this group. They understand how important every possession is and the attention to detail when you get the tournament basketball. So, it's an exciting time for the kids, the community, but ultimately it's the next opponent who you're playing and right now it's Bucyrus for a sectional championship,” said Sheldon.

Crawford (19-2), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, beat Bucyrus (62-34) on December 27 in North Robinson and (69-18) on February 6 in Bucyrus.

Sheldon cautions this is a new season. “It's the old coaches cliché, everybody's 0-0 now. You look back to last Friday and Bucyrus goes to Upper Sandusky and plays a four point game. So, this is a team that's gotten better, they're healthy, and you have got to take everybody serious and first is Bucyrus Friday night,” he said.

Bucyrus (2-20) is seeking to do something they have never done before and Sheldon knows they will be fired up to play them. “They've got a senior that's very good all league player in Dlyan Coppler, who was out a few games and he played really well last weekend. So, you have got guys playing you know their senior year. We've got to make sure we come ready to go,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “You can't look back at the first two games. We're trying to win our 15^th sectional championship in a row and Bucyrus is trying to win number one. So, this is a huge game for these kids to make a statement for their school.”

Playing at home in the tournament is a reward and Sheldon says they look forward to it. “When the Northwest District went to this a few years ago and you get the high seed you get to play at home. It's always nice to play on your home floor and one last time the last time we'll get to play at Colonel Crawford for these seniors in front of your community. So, it's special when you have the body of work and have a good season you get rewarded is playing the home tournament game,” said Sheldon.

Published 2/27/26

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Crawford to Face Crestview Pressure

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Colonel Crawford, the Northern 10 Athletic Conference champion, plays Crestview, of the Firelands Conference, in a division VI district semifinal at Shelby High School on Wednesday night.

They hammered Bucyrus (49-17) on Saturday in a sectional final.

Coach Zac Bauer says it was a good way to get the tournament started for the Lady Eagles. “I heard something the other day after our sectional final game. The hardest tournament game sometimes to play in is the first one because it's so different than the regular season. There are a lot of similarities with your first tournament game and your regular season. You played at home and a 6 PM start. It is just the routine is a little bit different. It was nice to get a game in and to get that tournament feeling before we play on a neutral floor with a little bit more change. So, it was a good win against the well coached Bucyrus team. It was nice to get the experience and win a sectional for our young team and now we're ready to look forward to the game against Crestview (Wednesday) night,” said Bauer.

Colonel Crawford (21-2), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, faces Crestview (13-9) on Wednesday.

Bauer says the Lady Cougars will show them a lot of pressure. “Crestview is a really competitive group that is coached really well. They play really hard defensively and they're really disruptive and kind of chaotic on that end. I think that that kind of helps their offense flow downhill. Stymieing some of their opponents with their with their pressure on the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “I've been really impressed with how well they pressure the ball in the passing lanes. That's something I've kind of enjoyed watching them do and kind of studying how they do that. They play really, really hard. I've watched him play a few times and they compete for 32 minutes and that's a statement to the culture they've created there.”

Bauer says especially in the postseason, you have to take one possession at a time. “That just comes from living in the moment. Something we've kind of tried to shift our focus to as we get into tournament atmosphere is like be present in the moment because even if you do find yourself in a deficit you can't make up an eight point deficit in one possession. It comes with one at a time. A good start starts with winning the first possession and then winning the second possession, the third. That would be the same as kind of digging your way out of the deficit it starts with winning the next possession and then the one after that and the one after that,” he said.

Published 2/25/26

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Conference Champs to Clash

Colonel Crawford, the Northern 10 Athletic Conference champion, plays at Fredericktown, the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference winner, on Tuesday night in a very interesting non-conference matchup.

The Eagles (18-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, smoked Carey (77-51) Friday night to win the “N10” outright. Point guard Brayden Holt has 32 points in just three quarters.

“Carey made a couple threes and got some great offensive possessions. We called time out and really came out and guarded. We had our offense going. Holt and both DeGrays were very good. Holt goes for 32, Payne 20 and John 12 and they only played three quarters,” said Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon.

The Eagles have won four outright conference title in six years and shared in another.

Colonel Crawford got the number one seed in group C in the Northwest District in division VI. They will play Bucyrus for the third time. They beat the Redmen by 51 points (69-18) on February 6.

Sheldon says you kind of put you name on a line and wait to see what happens. “We were fortunate to get the one seed and that's a product through the body of work you did over the last two months of the season. We put ourselves on the line and you wait to see who comes your way. You don't have a lot of say as a one seed. We're familiar with this situation being in this over the years. We'll turn the page after Friday night and move on to a special time of the year with the tournament,” said Sheldon.

Fredericktown (19-0), #3 in our poll, handled East Knox (57-49) on Friday to secure the “KMAC” title.

Sheldon says the Freddies are very good. “They are just so explosive offensively. It's not just one guy. They've got multiple options. They can take it inside and they're good shooters. It's just a very good experienced basketball team. When I look back these are the same guys that we played against last year. They've been successful. You look they're undefeated and it's a very good basketball team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “It’s a good non league game for both of us a week before the tournament. The conferences are already decided and this is a great non league test for us. For us to go on the road into a tough environment and that's good because that's what the tournament is like as well for us. So, we're looking forward to the opportunity to play against a very good basketball team.”

Last season, with basically the same lineups, Crawford won (69-53) in North Robinson.

Sheldon says the Freddies are one of the very few teams they play that can match their size. “It's very cloned with their size and our size. It'll be two good basketball teams going at it and it will come down to kids making plays. That's what these type of games do. As I said before, it's a great opportunity for both teams to play good basketball teams prior to getting to the tournament the week from now,” he said.

Published 2/17/26

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Crawford Goes for Outright Title

Colonel Crawford has the opportunity to win an outright title in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference with a win Friday night over the visiting Carey Blue Devils.

A loss to Carey (10-7,9-1) would mean the Eagles would fall back into a share of the lead with the Blue Devils.

It would be the fourth undisputed title in five years for Crawford.

Coach David Sheldon says these are the games you live for. “It’s game 13 of an “N10” journey of 14 games for the conference. Carey is an athletic, junior, senior dominated team that has been successful. You look at their body of work they only have one conference loss and these kids are winners going back to football season. They're very similar to us football and basketball guys. It's a tough challenge come Friday night here in north Robinson,” said Shelby.

The two schools share the “N10” football title in the fall.

Sheldon says it has been great competition between these groups of kids. “Their kids know our kids. It's the same names who you have seen all fall and then all winter. It'll be a great battle and I know our guys will be up for the challenge because of the respect that we have for Carey as an athletic department and their basketball and their football teams,” he said.

Carey is the only other school to win an outright title in the “N10” in last five years. They did it three years ago.

In the first matchup on the basketball floor this season, Colonel Crawford (17-1,12-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, won (74-39) January 3. The closest game the Eagles have had this year in conference play was a (57-38) win over Upper Sandusky last week.

Of course, the Northern 10 is expanding to 14 teams next and Sheldon says that means, if his opinion, this title carries a little more weight. “You look at the last two years we've been league champs and four out of the last five years, so these guys have been to conference champs. So, we're used to playing in these kinds of games. These are the fun ones when you're playing for a championship in middle to late February,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “You look and this is the last of the true Northern 10 Conference with the change next year going to divisions. This is the last of the original “N10” conference with the changes, so it means a little bit more as we go divisions next year. We’ve seen how that works with the “NCC” and the “SBC”, so only time will tell as the changes occur next year with the Northern 10 Conference.”

Published 2/12/26

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Crawford Girls Don’t Want to Share

Colonel Crawford has already secured no less than a share of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title and with a win at Seneca East on Saturday afternoon they win it outright.

They play host to Ontario, of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, in a non-league game on Thursday night.

Last Saturday, they downed Carey (44-32) to take a one game lead on the Lady Blue Devils.

Coach Zac Bauer says they were resilient. “They're a really good team. You look at the balance scoring wise and the things they’re able to do. They're well coached, coach (Keith) O’Flaherty does a really good job. I thought that we were really resilient in the fact that we withstood some runs for them and maybe some stagnant offense out part at times. Our kids responded really well. I think we're really fortunate to get out with the home win in that game,” said Bauer.

Ontario (9-12) comes calling on Thursday night.

Bauer calls the Lady Warriors athletic and looks for a challenge with Ontario. “It’s an athletic team with good length. That's exciting to see to be tested with length and size inside and see if we can negate some interior presence with premier pressure,” he told Swankonsports.com Wednesday afternoon, “I expect them to come out play with a lot of confidence and play really hard (Thursday) night. We’ll see what we can do inside the painted area to negate their strengths.”

Colonel Crawford (18-2,12-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at Seneca East (15-6,8-5) on Saturday. The Lady Tigers beat Buckeye (42-22) on Saturday.

Crawford won the first meeting (41-37) January 6 in North Robinson.

Bauer says they play solid basketball and are led the leading scorer in the conference in senior guard Izzy Stockmaster. “They're really good and it seems like the kids we’re coaching against I've been playing for so long because we've seen them as freshmen play and play at high level. Izzy Stockmaster is a really special guard that they have there. So, it's always a hard place to go and play in a good environment with Seneca East,” he said.

Published 2/12/26

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Crawford Knows What They Have to do

Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader Colonel Crawford returns to league play on Tuesday night as they host Upper Sandusky.

They lost for the first time this season on Saturday when Canton Central Catholic beat them (62-55) in showcase game at Smithville.

Coach David Sheldon believes their defensive execution could have been better. “First of all, Canton Central Catholic is a very good basketball team. They've been to four straight regionals in division V and prior to that division II, III before we went seven. It was a game where offensively we were really good. We just defensively weren't as sharp as we needed to be. I think you play those games to learn from. You look there were sometimes we had some breakdowns defensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We were also without John DeGray, an all district and all league player last year. He did not play Saturday because of an injury. We held him out. He could have went, but in the big scheme of things we want to make sure he's healthy down the stretch for league and tournament. So, we had to have some other guys step up. There was learning lessons, but we were not sharp defensively enough because of how skilled and talented Canton Central Catholic is with four guards around 6’8” inside.”

Colonel Crawford (13-1,9-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, hosts Upper Sandusky (7-10,6-4) on Tuesday night. They just beat the Rams (62-41) last Thursday at Upper.

Sheldon says the Rams are going to come after them. “We had an interesting game. They came out and spread the floor on us and we handled that pretty well. They went hack a DeGray is what I would call it with fouling to send them to the foul line. We're going to see that kind of stuff when you look at our scores in our league throughout this first stretch, we've started to see different things. So, with our guys, we work on that their skill. They have got good guard play, they have got guys that can put it on the floor, guys that can shoot it. So, it's tough when you play back-to-back, but it's a situation with how the cards were dealt. This is our last make up game due to football we had to reschedule Tuesday night. What's nice that it's at the Mac Morrison gymnasium on Tuesday and back at home,” said Sheldon.

Crawford will also play Bucyrus on Friday and a pretty good Mt. Gilead on Saturday.

Sheldon says they have to make smart decisions when it comes to preparation. “It's a busy week. You have got to be very careful with practice with what you're doing with all these games that we have coming up. It's four games and eight days starting Tuesday. Kids want to be playing games this time of year, but we have got to keep rolling. We have got to keep getting better. We have got to learn from Saturday. That's the best thing about that game. That was a great event we played in against a very good basketball team and hopefully our guys I know we'll be ready to learn and move forward and continue the last month of the season before tournament,” he said.

Published 2/03/26

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Crawford Will be Tested

Colonel Crawford, the leader in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, plays at Upper Sandusky in a league game on Thursday night.

They play Canton Central Catholic in a showcase game in the “Battle of the Berkey” at Smithville High School on Saturday afternoon.

The Eagles crushed Crestview (75-43) in a non-conference game on Saturday evening.

Coach David Sheldon says their defense led to a fast start. “They have got a very solid senior group that's been playing really well. They had beaten a good Monroeville team the night before. As a team we had to guard the three-point line. All of them will shoot the three and they've got some guys that can put it on the floor. We really guarded well early, got off to a great start and got a nice lead after the first and maintained it throughout the whole game. I was happy with our guys,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Last week, was just a different week than I've ever had in coaching. First the Mohawk game up a day because they've shut down their whole campus for the weekend because it was cold out… I guess. Then Saturday we had water problems here. We were supposed to play at three and we moved it back because the winter storm wasn’t coming until midnight. So, our guys did a good job of adjusting and just going with the flow and once the ball was tipped, they stepped on the floor and competed.”

Colonel Crawford (12-0,8-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Upper Sandusky (6-9,5-3) on Thursday night. The Rams lost (52-44) to Carey in their last “N10” game.

Sheldon says the Rams will put up a lot of threes. “It's a team that's matured and they shoot a lot of threes. They've got some very skilled players and a lot of guys that can do a lot of things. Coach (Jeff) Winslow is playing a lot of guys. It's like a hockey lineup. Every dead ball there's different guys getting subbed in. So, you have got to know a lot of different personnel. It's a team so running his stuff that's very good running and jumping in the full court like Upper has done over the years. So, we've got to be able to guard the ball and guard the three-point line for sure on Thursday night,” he said.

Sheldon says Canton Central Catholic is the kind of team they want to play. “This is a very good basketball team. They've been to four straight regionals in division V and division II and III before we went to seven divisions. They have got a 6’8” kid inside. It's a very, very good basketball team that plays an exceptional schedule the likes of Canton McKinley, Massillon Washington and the list goes on, Akron St. Vincent/St. Mary. This is a great test for this basketball team come Saturday and a neat little thing with the “Battle of the Berkey”, sort of like a tournament. It’s varsity only. If basketball junkies want to see good basketball Saturday and Sunday in Smithville there's some very talented teams all the way around. So, we're looking forward to playing a very good non league team. We like to play good non league teams and this is going to be a great test to evaluate where this basketball team is at the end of January,” said Sheldon.

Published 1/28/26

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Colonel Crawford Must Rebound

Colonel Crawford, the Northern 10 Athletic Conference co-leader, is at home for Clear Fork, the “MOAC” champion, in an interesting non-conference game set or Tuesday night.

Hopefully, “Old Man Winter” and the powers to be allow this game to go forward.

Crawford (14-2), #5 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll, maintained their share of the lead in the “N10” with Carey by besting Buckeye Central (36-30) in a conference game on Saturday.

Coach Zac Bauer says Buckeye played them tough. “Buckeye Central is playing really well right now. They shot the ball well and made some timely threes. It's always good to go on the road in conference and get a win. Credit coach (Tyler) Shade and Buckeye Central girls for being prepared and ready to play and execute the game plan really well,” he said.

Clear Fork (15-2), #2 in our poll, is unbeaten in its league. Their only losses come to conference leaders in Ashland of the Ohio Cardinal Conference and Bellevue of he Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division.

Bauer says they push the tempo and execute well. “It's a really fun team to watch. They play with really good pace and they execute real sharply and run kids in and out and play super hard,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “Like we told our team (Monday) that this is a game where their identity is going to be tested a little bit as far as Clear Fork is going to come in and push us to see how long we can be sharp and execute and kind of stick to our own identity and our own standards. That's why we scheduled it because it's a well coached team and a really nice program.”

Clear Fork isn’t that big, but Bauer says they rebound well, especially their guards. “Any team that shoots a high volume of three point shots you have to do a really conscious job of finding somebody just beat them to the ball. Again, Clear Fork does a really good job of following their shots and their guards run to the rim really hard. So, that was a point of emphasis (Monday) in practice and preparation for the game (Tuesday) night,” said Bauer.

Published 1/27/26

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Crawford Working on Getting Better

Colonel Crawford, the Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader, plays at Mohawk on Friday night in a conference game.

They host Crestview of Firelands Conference on Saturday in non-conference play.

The Eagles (10-0,7-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, produced two more blow outs in “N10” play last week in rolling Mohawk (51-17) and Wynford (76-29) on Thursday and Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says their approach is what it has always been at Crawford. “Our philosophy has always been one possession at a time. We've really taken that into effect this year no matter what the scoreboard says we want to win the next possession at the offense and defensive end. That's how we are sort of attacking it right now. I tell our guys I'm going to go coach them hard and it doesn't matter what the score is. You talk about the last couple of games. That's the attention to detail that we have to do to help benefit us down the road as we go throughout this season. We have got a veteran group that's really bought into that and understand what we're trying to do and trying to accomplish every night out no matter who we're playing,” said Sheldon.

Playing Mohawk (4-7,1-5) for the second time in 10 days is not normal. The first game was rescheduled due to football. They beat Ridgemont (44-38) in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

Sheldon says the Warriors will be physical. “Mohawk, I’ll tell you what they did. They showed some physicalness. They have some bigs inside with the (Andon) Clouse and Chevalier. They really gave us and attacked us because a lot of these guys are football guys like us. So, we've got to make sure our most important thing when we go to Mohawk that is first possession and then as it moves throughout the game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “You look at what's going to happen. They've shown zone, they showed man, Paul (Dunn) will do different things to throw at you and we have to adjust. We try to work in practice on every different scenario that we could see with adjustments that coaches will make, especially with the quick turn around playing week later because of a football late start, that's how that started. So, that's the way we were attacking come Friday night against Mohawk.”

Crestview (5-7) played the Eagles in a district championship game last year and Sheldon says they have some players. “I think this is a basketball team that it's really gotten better as the year goes on. They have some good players when you look at last year. The (Andrew) Spoerr kid, the (Daniel) Wells kid and (Karter) Goon all played against us in the district championship. They are a dynamic team, they can go five out, they shoot the three, all of them, they can put it on the floor. So, this is a team that's really grown and gotten better with the change from John Kurtz to now the new coach. That's the things that you've seen and they bought into his system. So, this would be a good non league for Saturday night when they come over to North Robinson,” he said.

Published 1/21/26

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Colonel Crawford Responding

Colonel Crawford, the Northern 10 Athletic Conference co-leader, plays at Upper Sandusky in a conference game on Friday night.

After a loss to Carey (52-46) on January 3, the Lady Eagles have responded to win their last three games, including a (57-33) thrashing of a very good Wynford team on Saturday.

Coach Zac Bauer says they responded in the right way. “Sometimes a setback kind of refocuses you in the right direction and I think that both of our losses this season have kind of recentered some focuses for us and helped us to point attention to where things need to be fixed and respond to that. I think we did that after the loss of Carey on January 3. Kind of sharpened some things up that needed sharpening and that really called those things to attention,” said Bauer.

On Tuesday night, they beat what Bauer says is an improved Mohawk (57-28) in conference action. “Defensively, they play at a faster pace. Katie Woodland, their point guard, plays really fast, plays downhill well, and then they've got a nice freshman in Mara Haines that is comfortable at the varsity level. They play really hard. They're chemistry is good and when that's the case basketball seems easier,” he said.

Crawford (12-2,8-1) plays at Upper Sandusky (2-10,2-7) on Friday night. The Lady Rams lost (38-20) to Carey on Tuesday. The Lady Eagles beat them just (40-38) on December 12.

Bauer says they stay in some many games because they play the right way. “The thing about Upper is they take such good shots. They take care of the ball and they do all the right things and sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way you know and I think that may be the difference in s few of the games they played,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “When you watch them they play like they're in every game. They don't rely on the scoreboard to tell them success. They're doing things the right way and you can see them celebrate success when they get stops and when they make a shot regardless of the score. When a team plays to a standard like that. It’s the sign of a well coached team. Coach Vent does a great job. It's also a sign of good culture amongst your kids and that's why they are in so many games.”

Published 1/15/26

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Crawford to Play Improved Mohawk

Unbeaten Colonel Crawford will be at home with Mohawk on Wednesday in play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

They play at Wynford in an “N10” game on Saturday.

The Eagles led (27-9) after the first quarter and went on to punish a good Seneca East team (67-34) in conference play last Friday.

Coach David Sheldon says they were able establish control early in the game. “They came in here 9-1 playing very good basketball, off to a great start. I thought we set the tone defensively. We did an outstanding job limiting them to tough shots and limiting Luke Mason's touches. He's a really good player and we did a great job overall on him. Offensively, we did share the ball so well. They played their token 1-3-1 zone and tried to double Payne (DeGray) early and we hit shots with our other wing players. Then the second half got great paint touches from Brayden (Holt) and the two DeGrays. So, it was a very well balanced overall game. That was a tough one with the success and they had coming in Friday night,” said Sheldon.

Holt had 17 points and 10 assists.

Colonel Crawford (8-0,5-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, hosts Mohawk (3-5,1-3) on Wednesday. They play the Warriors again in just ten days. Mohawk rallied from 25 down at halftime to beat Wynford (59-58) in an “N10” game last Friday.

Sheldon says the Warriors have gotten better as the season has gone on. “They had dominant senior class. One of the most talented senior classes I've seen come through our league over the years. They were trying to find an identity early on,” he told Swankosports.com on Monday afternoon, “This is a team that's really grown and got better through the eight games that they've played. You're seeing progress, which I expected that with the great coach that coach (Paul) Duun is over there. They're getting better and they're playing their zone that Paul's played over the years. They're also trapping out of it trying to get easy baskets creating some of the most turnovers in our league on the defensive end.”

Sheldon says traditionally Mohawk gives them a battle. “This is a team that's gotten better and you know it's always a challenge with Mohawk. It has been a good rivalry over the years with Mohawk and Crawford and we're looking forward to the opportunity Wednesday night with them,” he said.

Published 1/13/26

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Colonel Crawford Has to be Consistent

Colonel Crawford plays host to Wynford in a game between co-leaders in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Saturday afternoon.

Crawford maintained its part of the lead by holding off Seneca East (41-37) on Tuesday night.

Coach Zach Bauer says they played a solid, four quarter game. “That's a really solid Seneca East team. That's an experienced group. We've seen a lot of those kids for four years and that's a well coached team, a lot like a lot of other teams that are in our conference. With coach (George) Parks they're doing a solid job. A game against an experienced, quality opponent, you're going to go through some lulls and you're going to go through some high points you play well and they play well. It comes down to who can kind of stay in the moment for the longest amount of time. I thought we did that on Tuesday. I hope we can continue to do that,” said Bauer.

Colonel Crawford (10-2,6-1) has Wynford (11-2,6-1) on Saturday. The Lady Royals are coming off a (58-55) win over Mohawk on Tuesday in the “N10”.

Bauer says Wynford does everything well. “It’s really what's not good about them? Again, an experienced group with kids that have played for three years now and play a lot of basketball. They have two good guards that shoot the ball well, handle it well, pass, it's an unselfish team that that focuses for a long time,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “They don't have lulls where they're unfocused or they get sloppy. They're very sharp and precise and again a well coached team by a legendary coach and a program that's had a lot of success for a long time.”

Crawford won the first game (39-36) in overtime back on December 2 and this game promises to be close too.

Bauer says consistency is the key. “Not only make the plays at the end you have to make the plays at the beginning too. It’s one possession and deal with what's in front of you and no matter the situation you have got to kind of deal with what's happening in the next play. I think the team that you can have the what’s in front of us and the next play mentality for the longest amount of time is going to be successful in that aspect of it. You do have to play make plays at the end, but it's throughout the course of the game as well,” he said.

Published 1/09/26

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Crawford Expects Test from Seneca East

Colonel Crawford, the Northern 10 Athletic Conference co-leader, plays host to second place Seneca East in a big conference game on Friday night.

Last week, the Eagles handed Margaretta their only loss (51-45) on Monday and then beat Wynford (77-27) and Carey (74-49) in league games.

Coach David Sheldon says they had very good focus. “We played a lot of games. If you look, we played seven games in 17 days and that stretch four games and eight days. I think our guys focus and attention to detail one game at a time was really good during that stretch. Starting last week Margaretta is a great basketball team that's going to do damage throughout the season and the tournament. It was a great atmosphere for high school basketball. Standing room only for the JV game. It reminds me of old school back in the day of the type of crowd and atmosphere and two great teams going at it. Then finishing up with Wynford and then Carey in the league. It's a tough stretch, especially with Christmas and New Year's in there as well, but our guys remained with great focus and happy to move on from that stretch of games,” said Sheldon.

Now they have been playing for three weeks, Sheldon says they are settling in on offense. “We're sharing the ball so well. With having two post players inside and then a great lead guard in Brayden Holt. Then we put shooters around them where we've got great balance. These guys play together so well. So, our defense has been the staple of this program for the past 20 years, but our offense has been really clicking. Getting out in transition, as well as the half court, when we're setting up in the half court depending on what we see on defense. We've seen a lot of different defenses with different zones and some man to man. So, these guys have done a great job of recognizing and playing together to start off the season,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (7-0,4-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at home against Seneca East (9-1,5-1) on Friday. The Tigers are coming off a (52-37) win over Buckeye Central in “N10” play on Saturday.

Sheldon says the Tigers are outstanding, led by Luke Mason (19.4 ppg), the leading scorer in the “N10”. “This is good basketball team. It starts with Luke Mason, he's 1000 points scorer and he is a motor like no other. I enjoy watching him at both ends of the floor. He just leaves it all out there and he's so good. They've really put some kids around him. They've got some good shooters and the (Jaron) Depinet kid is a very good athlete,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “It's a good basketball team that is well coached by coach (Anthony) Langhurst. They're going to show you different zones. They can show you junk. They really change it up defensively and play to their strengths. So, this would be a great test. A 9-1 team that comes to North Robinson Friday night. It's been nice to have a whole week to prepare and we're looking forward to the opportunity Friday night.”

Sheldon it will be nice to have four days of practice. “We've been able to go back to the drawing board and work on some things instead of just prepping. We do unbelievable prep and that's because of my assistant coaches, we're blessed to have great assistants to help with the preparation. Now we've been able to focus on some of the details that we have to look at as a basketball team moving forward because we've had a few more practices this week,” he said.

Published 1/08/26

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Crawford Has to Slow Down Margaretta

Colonel Crawford plays at home against the Margaretta Polar Bears in non-conference play on Monday night in what might be the best match-up between quality teams this season.

Only time will tell, but both are unbeaten now.

The Eagles (4-0) blasted Bucyrus (62-34) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Saturday night.

Coach David Sheldon says again they defended very well. “It was a good one. I mean we got off to a good start defensively. We were good causing some turnovers. Basically, our starters played two and half quarters and we got to rest them, which was good with playing Saturday and now Monday and then another game Tuesday, so it was good. We came out with a business like attitude and did what we need to do Saturday night,” he said.

Crawford has not allowed more than 45 points in a game this year and has won each by 18 points or more.

They host Wynford in an “N10” game on Tuesday night.

Margaretta (8-0) walloped Edison (82-38) in a Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division game last Tuesday. Senior guard Julian Washington broke the school record with 51 points. He averages almost 26 points a game for the season.

Sheldon says the need to contain him and they must slow the tempo of the game down. “Well, it starts with the Julian Washington. He's an outstanding player. He's going to be the best player that we will see all year long. He's going to the University of Dayton and had multiple division one offers. Then Judah Keller is a great floor general,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “Those two and then the guys around them both Baileys and Morris, but I think the number one thing is their transition offense is so good. They push the ball, make or miss, there's no dribbling it's on the pass. The way that they get out and run the floor we have got to somehow slow them down with their transition offense.”

Sheldon says they look forward to matchups like this because they make the better. “Over my 20 years we have never backed down with the Colonel Crawford boys basketball program playing great teams because we feel like these prepare us come tournament time. No matter win or lose, you're going to learn something on Monday night against an exceptional division V team in Margaretta. So, our guys look forward to these opportunities because they know we love playing great teams in non league to help prepare down the road. It's going to be a great atmosphere in North Robinson Monday night,” said Sheldon.

Published 12/29/25

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Colonel Crawford Has to Maintain Focus

Colonel Crawford, the Northern 10 co-leader, plays at home against Bucyrus on Saturday.

On Monday, they downed Lexington (54-23) in a non-conference game.

Coach Zac Bauer says there was some fluidity in their game on Monday. “It’s kind of strange playing on Monday starting the week off. You are a day ahead of where you should be, but with the way Christmas feel it just kind of worked out that way. I thought (Monday) night and even then going back to Saturday our team played really freely and things kind of just fluidly ran together from defense to offense and the other way around. I like the pacing that we played with and I thought our team showed a lot of unselfishness making the extra pass. Robin Ehmann was very fortunate to kind of be the result of those extra passes. I think she was 9-11 from twos. We kind of found her after she got into a groove and she capitalized on opportunities she had. I'm so glad to see that for her because she played really hard and has worked really hard in the offseason. It was good for her to see some results from that and to be reinforced from kind of making some unselfish play earlier in the year,” said Bauer.

Bauer says that unselfishness has been something they have been playing with all year. “I think that that's unspoken trait for our team. Something we don't appreciate enough is we have a lot of willing passers on our team. Even kids that typically lead us in scoring. Emmi Powers, for example, she normally our leading scorer, one of our two leading scorers, she's a very willing passer. When help comes she finds that opening and she takes quality shots, but she makes quality passes as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “I think that a lot of that probably starts with Lila Plesac. The last two games especially I thought she was really early passer in transition making some distance passes across the floor, up the floor and that is a statement to her kind of accepting her role and playing to her strengths and her comfortability.”

Colonel Crawford (7-1,4-0) hosts Bucyrus (0-9,0-4) on Saturday. Bucyrus lost (47-38) to Mohawk in “N10” action last Saturday.

Bauer says this is a young team that’s trying to grow. “I see a young team. They start a freshman and a sophomore at least. It's a team where they've got a lot of growing to do, but I think that if you're going to grow it's time to do it at the varsity level. I think that you see a lot of promise there and it's a team that's going to play really hard. One thing that coach (Brian) Seybert does is he gets his kids to play hard and that's something that we kind of reinforce to our team and practice. Listen, in the “N10” you're not going to get a night where it seemed just kind of a sleepwalk. Teams are ready to go and they know the expectation on how our league is. Bucyus is no exception to that. They're going to come into battle and play to their standards and that's kind of what we think going into every game and this one is no different,” said Bauer.

Published 12/24/25

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Crawford Faces Good Matchup With Old Fort

Colonel Crawford takes the bus to Old Fort to meet the Stockaders in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

Of course, next year this becomes an “N10” game when the Stockaders join the league.

In their first conference game last Friday, the Eagles destroyed Buckeye Central (54-13) in a dominating performance.

Coach David Sheldon says their pressure caused the Bucks a lot of problems. “I’ll tell you it was a night where we really defended. I thought our defensive pressure was very good. We caused over 20 turnovers, full and half court turnovers, so our defense was great. It was a night where we didn’t shoot it specifically well, but we went and got it on the offensive glass,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We've seen zone and we've been able to throw it inside even against zone. The thing about Payne (DeGray) is he's an excellent passer too. At times he'd get double teamed and the way him and John worked together, his brother, with interior passing and then kick out threes was really good against the zone.”

Payne DeGray led a balanced attack with 19 points against Buckeye. John had 14.

Sheldon says with a limited preseason, he believes they are going to shoot the ball better as the season goes on. “Like I told them last Friday two weeks prior to that they were playing in the state semis in football. Our guys have put in extra shooting not just during practice. So, they understand the importance and I feel like this next week playing four games in eight days will definitely help our conditioning over the Christmas season,” he said.

Crawford (2-0) plays at Old Fort (2-2) on Tuesday night. The Stockaders downed rival Tiffin Calvert (65-58) in a Sandusky Bay Conference River Division game.

Sheldon says Old Fort can match their height and can make perimeter shots. “Well, first it's been a tradition of success with the program. They're coming off a great win Saturday at Tiffin Calvert. They start five seniors. This is a senior dominated team with great length. They go 6’7”, 6’4”, 6’2”, so they've got great length. This is what we want. We try to schedule great non league opponents. We believe in playing good non-league opponents helps you down the road. It's a very good basketball team that's well balanced having good size inside, they can shoot the three and it'll be a great road test for us early on in the season,” said Sheldon.

Published 12/23/25

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Improvement the Key for Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford, the defending Northern 10 Athletic Conference champion, begins its conference schedule at Buckeye Central on Friday night.

After a long football run, they played their first game Tuesday night and downed Galion (68-42) in non-league play.

Coach David Sheldon says they did some good things. “I was happy with the start. You just never know going into game one, especially with Galion having a few games under their belt. Proud of our group, got off to a great start right out of the gate. Guys stepped up, we had eight practices and we still have got a lot of work to do, but was a good start to the season. We saw a lot of zone, so we got to work on some stuff. Galion presents a lot of guards where we had to guard everybody on the floor and it was a solid defense stuff for 32 minutes,” he said.

There are high expectations for a team that played in the division VI final four last year. Sheldon says their goal is to be better every day. “We want to make progress so starting (Wednesday) in practice. We talk about hey we have got to take advantage of every day we're in the gym. We're still covering details that we haven't been able to get to. That's the one thing that we have to do every time we step in the gym,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We also have to be smart. We're trying to play a whole season in two months, so you're going to have to save legs. You can't beat on each other with having so many games throughout this season. That's our goal every day in this program is to try to get better. We'll break down things from the film against Galion where we need to improve. So, there's improvements even after wins that you have got to point out and try to get progress the next time out.”

Buckeye Central (1-4,1-2) lost Monday night (68-48) to Wynford in an “N10” game.

Sheldon says they have been dealing with a lot of injuries. “They've had some unfortunate injuries. The Phillips kids both had knee injuries. They are great kids and you feel bad for those two kids with their injuries. They bring back Hunter Caudill, who's a really nice guard and had a great game against Wynford earlier in the week. I think this time of year right now for Colonel Crawford we need to worry about Colonel Crawford getting better. We'll touch base on what we're going to see from Buckeye, but we want to see progress from us as a group and still try to get our basketball legs under us as we go through this season,” said Sheldon.

Published 12/18/25

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Crawford Wants to be Sharp

Colonel Crawford, the Northern 10 Athletic Conference co-leader, will be at home for Upper Sandusky in a conference game on Friday night.

The Eagles (4-0,2-0) downed Mohawk (67-41) in the conference game on Saturday.

Coach Zac Bauer says they shot the ball better on Saturday than they have been and that’s good. “We played well Saturday. We played with good pace and good control and we're able to shoot the ball a little bit better than we did in a couple past games, so I was excited to see it,” he said.

Bauer says this week they have been working on being able to play longer without taking a mental break. “I don't know that there is anything that's sticking in my crawl, but I think that something that we've tried to focus on this week is extending our level of focus. How long can we be sharp when we're fatigued or how long can we play at a good pace without taking a mental break or relaxing if that makes sense,” he told Swanknsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Maybe not relaxing since we're always trying to rack it or score, but at the same time being sharp and being precise. When those corners start to round that's when you kind of run into trouble.”

Upper Sandusky (0-5,0-2) lost (51-32) to Tiffin Columbian in a non-conference on Tuesday night.

Bauer says the Lady Rams are young, but they know how to play the game. “What we’re going to in Upper Sandusky on Friday is a really nicely coached team. Coach (Jerry) Vent at Upper does a really good job. They're young, looking at their roster they're very young, but they are very fundamental, they're really sharp and have good footwork, they pass the ball well, they also play fast, get the ball down the court really quickly and like to speed teams up. So, it's going to be again a matter of can we hold our attention for long periods of time, stay regulated, stay sharp when we're fatigued,” said Bauer.

Published 12/11/25

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Crawford Working to Get in Shape

Colonel Crawford will have a very short preseason, but they are going to be a very good basketball season.

They open their season next Tuesday at home against Galion.

Coach David Sheldon says he has a lot of great kids that are athletes to work with. “First of all, what are run by our football team. You look at calendar year 2025 with these guys because everyone in my varsity guys plays football. You look back at the calendar year the final four in boys basketball last March, our baseball team in May to the regional, our track team to the state meet June and this fall our cross country in the state team meet and then the final four in football. It's been a great run of athletes that we've been blessed to have. It just shows the amount of multiple sport athletes we have on Colonel Crawford too,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon. “It was great run and a great time for our community, but now we have got to turn the corner. We gave them some days off and they needed it. If you look back, they played 17 football games, including the scrimmages, and last time I checked Ohio State has only played 13 football games. So, it's a long season back to July when they start practice until December as far as they went.”

Sheldon says his players understand what kind of effort it takes to be good. “We have kids that just want to compete and put the work in. We have hard workers, whether it be in the weight room, whether it be in the gym shooting, or in the batting cage. That's what it is. It's not what you see on Friday nights, it's the work that these kids put in 12 months out of the year with the various athletics they are in. I always say success breeds success. So, when you see success in one sport and then you come to the next these kids love to compete and understand what it's like for 32 minutes in basketball or the entire football game or for seven innings in baseball,” he said.

The Eagles are defending Northern 10 Athletic Conference and regional champions.

Sheldon says his kids are ready to get to work. “We return six lettermen and sample starters and I think that's a good thing, but we have got to get into basketball shape. It's totally different than football. You look back to last year we had a run in football and got off to a slow start it basketball. So, hopefully the maturity, we're all juniors and seniors, so this is a mature group. We have got a lot of work to do to get to the potential and that's what we talk about right now. We have got to get better every day. We have got to get into basketball shape and get a basketball back in our hands. You're back to 0-0, but this is a group that's locked in. When they came in for the first time late last week I didn’t have to tell these guys to go hard because they understand the importance and we're going to have such a quick preseason here,” said Sheldon.

Published 12/09/25

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Crawford Must Play 32 Minutes

Colonel Crawford makes the short trip to Wynford to play the Lady Royals in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference opener for both schools on Tuesday night.

Crawford is the defending league champion.

Last week, they stuffed Firelands Conference favorite New London (31-19) in non-conference play.

Coach Zac Bauer says it was a good test for them. “Going into that New London game, we kind of told the kids that that we're going to get really tested quicky. New London has a big offensive menu and are well coached, they run things so sharply. That's a group of kids that I remember watching playing as freshmen at our place, and it's the same team. So, with a young team for on our end that was a good test to get us ready to go into league play with another well coached program that has been very successful for a very, very long time and that's going to test us possession after possession,” said Bauer.

When it comes to Wynford, they are a longtime rival, but Bauer says most importantly against them you have to play a solid 32 minutes. “I guess you could probably say that about a lot of league games, especially in our area with us being kind of centrally located. You could mention that with a lot of other teams. League wise you have to treat that with a little bit of special care because it's so competitive and you don't want to get caught on a bad mental night where you give one up that you shouldn't,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “In this case it's going to be a team that's very well prepared that is used to playing at a high level and has a lot of mental clarity and a lot of mental fortitude that they could be locked in for long periods of time. So, that really is our test is can we stretch ourselves mentally without taking a three minute break where we don't score, we just have bad possessions. That's really the test. You talk about rivalry games and I think there's a lot of those in our league, but ultimately it comes down to is a league game against the high quality opponent where we have to be mentally focused for long periods.”

Bauer says Wynford has very solid guard play. “They have two very talented guards who have played for a long time, since they both were freshmen. That's something that we have to kind of watch for and be cognizant of and have kids ready to run a lot around screens or in transition they have to be ready to go and move. It's going to be a couple new faces doing that with us you know losing Gabby Roston, who was that person for us for years. So, now it's going to be who can step into a role and be ready to run and be involved and be that locked in place for 32 minutes,” he said.

Published 12/02/25

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Crawford has to Believe

Colonel Crawford meets defending state champion Kirtland in a division VI state semifinal at Byers Field in Parma on Friday night.

The Eagles (13-1) hammered West Jefferson (35-7) in a regional final last week.

Coach Jake Bruner says the start of the game was key. “Especially in the first half, I thought we really did. It was a kind of adverse weather conditions, but I thought our kids were pretty focused and had a great start. Lucky to be in this position. I didn't think that was probably what was going to happen, but sometimes things unfold” he said.

Bruner says they were able to take West Jeff (11-2) out of what they wanted to do. “We wanted to kind of control the clock and keep their offense off the field and then in the turn of that they throw the ball, so when they went three and out a couple times in the first half it gave us more possessions and more time and more opportunity. Converting on third downs and stopping people from converting on third downs are huge,” said Bruner.

The Eagles have scored 154 points in their four playoff games and have had a running clock in all four.

However, Bruner says Kirtland (13-0) is another kind of beast. “I don't know how many state titles, seven state titles and 5 runner up finishes. A great coach, stability, great kids that play hard, they hustle, they fight. They've got it all and that's why they're doing what they're do and they do it the right way too,” he said.

Kirtland got past Sugarcreek Garaway (21-7) last week.

Bruner says they want to run the football and they have the athletes to do it. “They have great quickness. I know they have great speed, but they have great quickness and they have a couple of good sized kids. They use their speed and agility and just they're kind of tenacity,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon,” You can tell that they're smart kids. They understand their roles and what they do and they're blocking scheme and they just keep coming after you. They just do a great job and they just compete.”

Kirtland’s trip to the site will be shorter. Bruner says if the Eagles win it will be in a tight game. “Our ability to try to stay in the game. If we're going to win the football game, it's going to be by a close margin. That's a great football team and we've got a huge challenge. They're a lot closer than we are. So, we're going to have to stay in the game early or fight our way back, one way or another,” he said.

Bruner says it very important this week that they believe they can win this game. “That’s one of the things we talked to our team about. Listen, everybody has their time and place. We have to believe that we have the ability to do those things and we believe that. If they didn't tell us who were playing, we'd show up and play the best we could. It's really no different. Right now, we put on pants the same way. We're going to get ready to play Kirkland and to us they're just another team,” said Bruner.

Published 11/25/25

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Crawford Faces Electric West Jefferson

Colonel Crawford meets West Jefferson on Friday night in division VI regional final at Highland High School.

They won their semifinal last week by smoking Centerburg (42-13) on Friday night.

Coach Jake Bruner says they really played well. “We were really concerned. Centerburg was a really good football team. They have got a division one kid on their team and a lot of speed and athleticism and great coaches. To go there, that's the other thing we were worried about. We had to go to their place, at their home field, and our kids played pretty well. I don't know if it was our best game, but I think that our kids played well and executed the game plan. We see things to improve on, but overall, the goal is to move on and we're moving on and that's what's most important,” said Bruner.

Colonel Crawford (12-1) meets West Jeff (11-1) on Friday night. The Rough Riders rallied past Fort Frye (34-32) last week. They have won five games this season by a score or less.

Bruner says this is a team that wants to go up tempo and throw the ball around the field. “We're in the elite eight now, so we know this, everybody's really, really, really, really good. Number one, it’s a storied program. They've been here before, they've got an amazing quarterback that's the coach’s son, so when you play a kid that's the coach’s son, I don't know how many yards he’s thrown in his career, but I’ll tell you it's a lot. I think he's almost got 4,000 yards passing this year. Their receivers, it's not just one kid, it's a multitude of kids,” he told Swankonsports.com, “They have got running back, they have got a line and they're just fundamentally really good. They're a fast break offense, so they're going to throw the ball. Running might become second, but they can run the ball, the quarterback can run it. They can run it with the tailback. There are a lot of empty sets as well. It's going to be a huge task for us because they are a totally different team really than we faced this year in our schedule. Every once while you face these kinds of teams, but this year we haven't faced one like it, so it’s going to be a big test for our defense and obviously for our offense.”

Bruner says honestly they have not faced a team like this all season, so they will need to adjust their game plan. “We have got to kind of change our mindset a little. The first two weeks played really heavy run teams and then you get to Centerburg, who is a lot like us, a balanced team that throws, that runs, a quarterback that can run, and running backs that are really fast, very balanced, Now, you have got a team here, they could run it, they choose to throw it if they have to choose. They spread it out so well. It's kind of like playing a Keith Diebler basketball team from Upper Sandusky back in the day. They just are really good at what they do. The other thing is they've won two close games in the playoffs. So, they've been there, they don't get worried, they just say when we get the ball again it’s going to our game, that's what I think. They do a great job, so it's going to be huge task for us” said Bruner.

Bruner says it’s also going to be difficult to get pressure on West Jefferson. “I think the difference here is this kid is a veteran, he has played from the freshman year. The coaches have done a great job. He can throw it quickly, they screen you well. They've got answers on offense and defense for every situation. It’s very important you can see from them that they're well coached, been through this before. So, we're going to have to play our best game to move on. We're just excited for the opportunity and a big challenge from a team we haven’t played before,” he said.

Published 11/21/25

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Colonel Crawford Building with Good Pieces

Colonel Crawford is the defending Northern 10 Athletic Conference champion and they are going to have talent on their team again this season.

They open the campaign at home against Mansfield Christian on Saturday.

Coach Zac Bauer says they return some good players from a team that lost in the division VI district final. “Well, our team kind of starts with Lexi Dure, she's a four year letter winner for us. She started as a sophomore and full time last year. So, she's basically the heart and soul of our team leadership wise. Another starter back Robin Ehmann. As a sophomore she was a special mention All-Ohio and all district player, all Northwest District player. Those two as former starters and then Emi Powers, who came off the bench for us last year and was kind of a splashy freshman had some big moments,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Saylor Holt as well came in and played for us as a freshman and then Lila Plesac is our other letter winner that we had back. She played for us as a sophomore off the bench at the one. So, they're back and then we bring in a really exciting freshman class and a couple of juniors up from our JV's in Claire Smith and Lilly Alberty. So, it's different you know without Roston, Holt and Zender, but at the same time there's some consistency there.”

Bauer says the girls reacted very well to what they threw at them in the preseason. “I really like the resiliency of our team. We kind of set up a pretty talent heavy scrimmage list against a lot of bigger schools that have seen some success in the tournament. So, we took our lumps in scrimmages, but the week of practice we had last week and the way that our team kind of responded taking their fair share of lumps and scrimmage play is pretty encouraging for a young team. We probably weathered a harder storm than we have ever weathered in years past and the kids came back to practice ready to roll every day. They were ready to get better and it was the lesson we needed to learn and that's why we designed it that way and as we reminded them about that, and ourselves about that, we continue to get better,” said Bauer.

The Lady Eagles were set to play a non-conference game against Cardington on Friday, but they game will be rescheduled due to the football playoff game. Instead, the open on Saturday against Mansfield Christian and then play New London and Wynford next week.

Bauer says they are going to have to hit the ground running. “You can't take anything lightly when we go up against some quality opponents early, even non-leagues you can't take nights off. That's one reason why we scheduled scrimmages the way we did because it's nothing easy when it comes to our schedule league or non league. When you face quality teams like Mansfield Christian and with the good players that they have and they quality coached teams like New London and Wynford you have got to be sharp and we're hoping to be that early in the season with the young team,” he said.

Published 11/18/25

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Colonel Crawford to Play Very Athletic Centerburg

Colonel Crawford makes the trip to Centerburg to play the Trojans in a division VI regional semifinal on Friday night.

Both are league champions, the Eagles shared the “N10” with Carey and Centerburg won the “KMAC” outright.

Crawford beat another school out of the “KMAC” in Mt. Gilead (42-8) last week.

Coach Jake Bruner says their quick start last week was important. “We wanted to have a fast start and stop the running game and trying to get a lead so that we can put them in a situation where they do something they didn’t want to do,” he said.

Centerburg (10-1) downed Ridgewood (28-14) last week in a quarterfinal.

Bruner says they are just very athletic. “Well, what's not good about them? They just have a complete team. Number one they’re well coached, number two, they have got a junior kid that's got 21 division one offers and they just got lots of speed. They have got great receivers, they have got a great running back and quarterback that's a dual threat. Their line does a great job. You can just tell they are so explosive on offense and they run to the ball so well on defense. This is going to be a big task for us there at Centerburg,” said Bruner.

Miles Marshall has over 1,500 yards rushing and 21 touchdowns this season for the Trojans from his running back spot. Blane Ball, the Centerburg quarterback, leads the “KMAC” in total offense.

Bruner says Ball is a difference maker for them. “He's got about 1,200 yards rushing on his own and then he throws the ball for 12…1,300 yards. He throws the ball deep well and makes good decisions. He's a dual threat kid, so if somebody's not open he could run at any time. He's not an overly big kid, but I'll tell you this he’ll put his shoulder down and run you over if he if he wants to. He doesn't avoid contact,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Their line they have guys I'm not saying they're overly big, but they're just athletic. They use their hands and their feet and their body well together. They do a really great job with what they do. There's a reason they're a pretty good football team.”

Centerburg has pitched four shutouts this year, including both Fredericktown and Mt. Gilead, and Bruner says they are very fast to the ball. “Their speed and the way they run to the ball. They're athletically really, really good. They can cover you man to man, they can play zone, they don't really blitz, but they get so much pressure with their ends and their linebackers you can tell our great leaders and run to the ball well. The athleticism of them really fires off the film when you watch them. A lot of the same kids are playing offense and defense at small schools. It's one of those things that you just see the athleticism, the way they run to the ball and they're not afraid to hit and gang tackle. They do a great job,” said Bruner.

Bruner says most of all they are athletic. “When you get to the Sweet 16 everybody's good. Some teams are better than others. Everybody has great players. They have got junior that's 6’3”, 230 pounds with 21 division one offers already, that's pretty impressive. They've got a lot of kids that just pop off the film with athleticism and explosiveness,” he said.

Published 11/13/25

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Crawford Must Contain Run Game

Colonel Crawford is down the road at Mt. Gilead to challenge the Indians in a division VI regional quarterfinal on Friday night.

The Eagles (10-1) buried Reedsville Eastern (35-7) in the opening round.

Coach Jake Bruner calls it a good effort. “I thought we played pretty well early. Got off to a great start. I thought we played really good defense. We were physical and I’m happy overall,” he said.

Colonel Crawford shared the “N10” title with Carey. Mt. Gilead (9-1) finished as runner up in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference.

Bruner says Mt. Gilead is huge and they feature a power run game. “First of all, coach (Mike) Reid has just done a great job there. I think it's been since I was a freshman in high school that they won nine games and it says a lot about their program and where they're coming from. They have a ton of kids out and they're at home,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They're big, man they're big. I think they have three or four kids that are over 6 foot 2 and close to 300 pounds and they run the ball. They have a running back that’s got almost 1,900 yards on the season and they just pound it. They eat the clock, they pound it and they play great defense. You can tell their kids believe in what they're doing. They are having a really special season there. They've had a lot of success.”

Fullback Carson Barnum led the “KMAC” in rushing with 1,801 yards on the ground. The Eagles defense is anchored by defensive lineman Payne DeGray. The “N10” defensive player of the year. Conner McMichael has run for 1,116 yards, second in the conference for Crawford. However, they also throw it well. They have thrown for 1,900 yards and 19 touchdowns. The Indians have thrown only 35 passes all year.

Bruner says the Indians know who they are. “Give their coaches a lot of credit. In this day and age, a lot of people are not very patient. They're patient, they run the ball, they take care of the fundamentals and they're going to eat that clock. They're going to just take what you give them. They're going to run to the boundaries if they have too. They just do a great job and their kids believe in what they're doing. They're kind of like coach (Scott) Spitler had it going at the at Lucas. They've got kind of got that going on right now,” he said.

In a close game like this, Bruner says special teams can be a big factor in the outcome. “I like their kicker on kick off a lot. They do go for two a bunch for on offense. Special teams just in general. We always talk about they have got to be special and it's a third of the game. We have got to make plays. I thought last week we won that special teams battle. I think we have got to do that again. At the end of the day, it's going to come down to tackling, blocking, taking care of the football and playing great special teams. It's going to be a big challenge for us on the road,” said Bruner.

Published 11/05/25

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Crawford to Face Physical Eastern

Colonel Crawford will host Reedsville Eastern in a first round playoff game in division VI on Friday night.

The Eagles (9-1) earned a share of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title with a (50-14) win over rival Wynford last week.

Coach Jake Bruner says titles always put a smile on your face. “I always tell our kids a win is always going to be celebrated. You always feel good about a win and every time you can beat your rival and get a share of a conference championship in the tough league you feel good about yourself,” he said.

Bruner believes the competition they played in the “N10” has prepared them well for the postseason. “You look at the top part of our league and the parity in our league with Carey, Colonel Crawford, Seneca East, Mohawk all really good football teams. Maybe we played better on some nights and the other teams didn't play as well and vice versa. I think all the coaches in those four teams would say the same thing it's been tough to play back-to-back opponents with every one of those. We played Seneca East and then played Carey, Carey played us and then Mohawk, Mohawk had to play Carey and Seneca East. It's tough to play those back-to-back tough games and the competition is very, very close,” said Bruner.

Those other four are also in the playoffs.

Eastern (7-3) carries a three game winning streak into the playoffs.

Bruner says they are a team that shows a lot of toughness. “We've seen them before just because they have been on our list of teams we've seen in the playoffs the last couple of years. Last year we thought we were going to end up being matched up with them. I just see a physical ball club. Toughness and physicality is important to them. They're very big. They remind me of the 90s when I played the Crestline Bulldogs. They're grubby, they're tough, they run the ball. They have got great size and then their kids just play so hard,” he said.

Bruner says Eastern has a huge offensive line, but they do not have the big backs that Carey has, the only team to beat them this year. “I will say this about them. Their line is very big. Carey’s backs are extremely big guys. They're more speedy in the backfield, but they're tough kids. Just because they're not 230 pounds or 240, or whatever the backs from Carey are that they seem to come with every year. They have great speed. They have great toughness,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Their line is really big. They have got two kids on the offensive line they go over 300 pounds and our 6’4” plus. They have got a couple 280s. From a standpoint of the offensive and defensive line they are very big. Then they have some skilled kids that run well and they tackle really well in space. You can just see the wrestling or the toughness of the community down there in Meigs County.”

This year, Crawford does not have to make that long trip to play a playoff game and Bruner says that can be a plus. “I think that anytime you're home you feel more comfortable. I sometimes think about those games in the past where I think sometimes it's good to be uncomfortable too. I'm not going to be wishing for that two hour or three hour bus ride in Monroe Central or Hannibal River that we've had the last couple of years. I’m glad somebody else has to do it,” he said.

Published 10/28/25

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Crawford to Play for a Share

Colonel Crawford will win no less than a share of the football title in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference if they can beat rival Wynford at home on Friday night.

They set up that chance with a (46-24) win over Upper Sandusky last week in league play.

Coach Jake Bruner says it was a good win. “Anytime you are on the road late in the season, a win is a win. We did some good things early, made some mistakes, got some young players in the game. That's good for us, number one for health and two for some of our younger guys,” he said.

Crawford scored 25 points the first quarter and led (46-10) at the half.

The Eagles (8-1,5-1) host Wynford (3-6,2-4) in the “Iron Plow” game on Friday night. The Royals beat up Buckeye Central (55-8) last week.

Bruner says they at hitting their stride. “Number one, they have five dynamic players, but the injury bug kind of hit them. I think you look at that Mohawk game and it’s 14-14 at halftime. The last two weeks they've rolled,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They've got a dynamic running back, a quarterback with a really strong arm and legs and some other nice parts around them. They seem to have put it together last couple of weeks. You see their ability to do some great things. It’s a rival game. We know we're get their best effort Friday night.”

With a division title on the line, plus it being Wynford, Bruner says there should be need for motivation speeches. “There is a lot to play for us, but I don’t think you need much motivation to play a crosstown rival game anyway. Anytime you can play the Wynford Royals. I know their kids feel the same way. They're going to take that opportunity, so we shouldn't need any motivation at all,” he said.

Bruner says when it comes to keys, they are same as any other week. “Just so the things we've done all year. We have got to tackle, we've got to take care of the football and we have got to play Colonel Crawford football. We have to do it the way we do it and be physical,” he said.

Published 10/23/25

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Crawford Has to Get Back to Winning Football

Colonel Crawford lost for the first time this season last week and they will try to get back on the beam on Friday night at Upper Sandusky against the Rams in play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

Carey beat the Eagles (24-14) to grab sole possession of first place in the conference. Crawford now shares second with Mohawk.

Coach Jake Bruner says they got beat by a very good team and they also made some uncharacteristic mistakes. “Well, number one give credit to Carey. Carey is a tough place to play. They're well coached. They have got great players as always. They beat us fair and square. We did some things that we didn't do before. Dropped some passes and didn't tackle as well as we wanted to, didn't get lined up as well as we wanted to at different places and time. The good news for us is we've got a lot of things moving forward. We have just got to get those things fixed and get back to our winning ways,” said Bruner.

Football is different than another games at the high school level in that you have to wait a week to play again. Bruner says it does give them a chance to work on some things. “I don't think we'll get (the bad taste) out until we get a win again. The good and bad about football is you have to wait a week to play. The good news is you get those days to practice to get better at the things that you didn't do well Friday night. A lot has to do too, and I don't want to take anything away from Carey, they're a very good team,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (7-1,4-1), plays at Upper Sandusky (3-5,2-3) on Friday night. The Rams were smoked (31-6) by Mohawk in “N10” play last week.

Bruner says the Rams have some talented kids. “I do see a team that just has so much talent. I look at them in the leaders in the league and they have got the leading tackler in the league, one of the top rushers, one of the top couple receivers,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “They look the part. They run well, I know their well coached, and we have got to go to Upper and it's a tough place to play. So, we know we're going to get their best effort and we have got our work cut out for us.”

Now, Carey and Mohawk play this week and the Eagles still have a chance to share in the title, but Bruner says they must concern themselves with what’s on their plate. “Right now, we have got to worry about us. We have just got to worry about what we can control right. The only thing we can control is to worry about Upper Sandusky and what they bring to the table. Then keep chopping away and keep building those bricks until playoff time. So, lots in front of us and just want to make sure that we are heading the right direction,” said Bruner.

Published 10/14/25

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Run Game Important for Crawford

Sole possession of first place is on the line on Friday night in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference as co-leaders clash as Colonel Crawford is at Carey.

The unbeaten Eagles (7-0,4-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, overwhelmed Seneca East (31-0) last week in “N10” play.

Coach Jake Bruner says it felt closer on the sidelines. “I’m obviously pleased with the outcome. There are always things that you can improve on. Seneca East is a really good football team. Sometimes the score is not predictive of their of their players and how good they are. Sometimes the score at the end of it felt a lot closer than 31-0 I can say that with the talent they have on that team,” he said.

Conner McMichael ran for 369 yards and four scores for the Eagles in the game last week.

Carey (4-3,4-0) smoked Buckeye Central (56-0) last week in a league game. The Blue Devils ran for 396 yards and seven TD’s in that game. They gave up only two yards.

The Blue Devils have won four straight and Bruner says they are just very good at the point of attack. “It’s a typical Carey football team. They play, and it's not even an argument, they played the toughest schedule in our conference non league with Hopewell-Loudon and Galion and LLC. I don't know how many even losses of those three teams have together. So, this is a senior driven, junior driven, talented team. One of the most talented teams we're going to play all of the way up to wherever we go to,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Here's the thing, they just have so much experience. I look at their defense and just how many starters they have back on offense and defense. We've got a large senior class they may have more starters back than we do from last year. We have a lot of kids back. So, it just speaks to the Carey program and the way they do things, just so consistent in what they do. Their kids are so tough and it's tough place to play in Carey.”

Bruner says Carey just has athletes all over the field that make plays. “Number one they run the ball well. I think the other thing that they do that probably doesn't get enough credit is they stop the run. Their defense just tremendous. They have got athletes all over the field. They run well, they tackle well. Respectfully great just great defensive players. Offensively, they're not afraid to run the ball and get 2 yards and be patient. Like I said it says a lot about coach (Jonathan) Mershman and the program he's got over there,” said Bruner.

Carey won this matchup (19-10) last year in North Robinson. The Eagles did win at playoff game at Carey (21-14) in 2022.

Bruner says he looks forward to the chance to play at Carey. “I'll be honest, I love going to Carey from a standpoint of their people love football. In our area, there are some very unique settings, but Carey is one of those settings. You get amped up going there just knowing that there'll be a lot of people there that care about the outcome of that game and they care about football and that's awesome,” he said.

Published 10/08/25

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Crawford Must be Consistent

Colonel Crawford, the “N10” co-leader, plays host to Seneca East in a game of significant importance in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Friday night.

Crawford shares the lead with Carey. Seneca East is a game back.

The Eagles (6-0,3-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, kept themselves in position with a (48-0) destruction of Bucyrus last week.

Coach Jake Bruner says they made the plays. “I would give credit to our kids. Bucyrus is improved, just like Buckeye Central from a year ago. They gave us some problems and we had to do some different things and that was good. Give credit to them. The kids rallied and did what they needed to do to get the win,” he said.

Conner McMichael ran for 175 yards and three touchdowns.

Seneca East (4-2,2-1) beat Upper Sandusky (35-14) last week. Nic Parks threw three scoring passes and ran for another.

Bruner says the Tigers are loaded with talent and they are well coached. “What's not good about Seneca East? Ed Phillips has been doing this a long time. He's been coaching a long time here in our league, it’s probably been 15-16 years, plus he’s a track coach. They just have tremendous speed. They always have athletes. They're big this year. I see a great improvement in their defense. The (Nic) Parks kid at quarterback is experienced and he's a gunslinger. He can run it and he can throw it. They have a really big back and their offensive line is super improved from a year ago with experience back. I tell you what, they could be undefeated,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon,” They lost to Northmor in overtime. It was 20-14 with Carey. They’re a heck of a football team. So, we know that the quality of opponent we're going to get. They have got great numbers out in there programs. Ed just does a great job. Offensively, they give you so many different looks and they got the speed with their track kids and they can catch the ball deep and they're going to push all the envelopes and all our buttons Friday night.”

The Tigers defense has not allowed more than three scores in regulation in a game this year against a good schedule. Bruner says they must have consistent execution. “I think we have just got to be consistent in what we do. I mean listen they're going to take some things away. They're going to get some plays because they have got some great players. Their middle linebacker is a heck of a football player. He was a first team all leaguer last year and he's even better this year. He's a great wrestler and he's a tough dude. They have got some other big defensive lineman that are really good with experience. We have just have to be consistent. This is what we do and realize that they're going to get us sometimes. Offensively, they just give us a lot of different looks. It’s hard to take away one thing. Their quarterback he runs it and he throws it. They have got a tailback that's really good and a big offensive line. So, we're going to have our work cut out for us Friday night,” said Bruner.

Published 10/03/25

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Colonel Crawford Expects Best from Bucyrus

Colonel Crawford plays at home against Bucyrus in a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Friday night.

The Eagles limited Buckeye Central to 102 total yards last week, 23 rushing in smoking the Bucks (42-8) in a conference game.

Coach Jake Bruner feels they played pretty well. “Anytime you go to a New Washington in a rivalry game. They did a great job eating the clock and limited our possessions. I thought our guys responded really well. We did some good things and things to improve on,” he said.

Parker Weithman returned a punt for a score and caught sixth TD for the season on Friday.

Bruner says they took advantage of their opportunities on Friday. “We're not bad. Friday night we didn't get a lot of possessions. When we scored, we scored quickly. We played a lot of defense Friday night because we just kept everybody in front of us and wanted to limit the big pass of Buckeye Central. They have a great quarterback and a couple of good receivers. Sometimes stats and those things aren't as glowing as they are some years. Right now, what we're doing is trying to win football game and keep people healthy,” said Bruner.

Colonel Crawford (5-0,2-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, plays host to Bucyrus (1-4,0-2) on Friday night. The Redmen were thrashed (62-7) by Mohawk last week.

Bruner says the Redmen have kids that can make plays. “Just like Buckeye Central, much improved from last year. They lost their running back week one. He was a really good football player. They have a freshman quarterback in the (Isaac) Mckeever kid, who's going to be a really, really good player down the road and he’s a freshman. He runs the ball well and throws the ball well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “His brother's a good running back as well, a good receiver. They've got some skill back. Their line is also all back from last year. They've kind of weathered the storm of playing young kids. They're much improved and from week to week you can see that they've improved. Unfortunately, they're just trying to get back into competitive mode and they're getting there, it's just going to take some time.”

With both Seneca East and Carey looming, Bruner says they have been talking about focus this week. “We talked to our guys about we're trying to improve every week on who we are as a football team and then worry about our opponent one week at a time. I'm sure that they're aware that that's who we play after this, but Bucyrus is another game that's in our county. It's a rival game. Those guys are going to play hard and we know we'll get their best effort coming to North Robinson on Friday night. So, we want to be prepared to play and every week it's a different opponent and that’s what makes it fun,” said Bruner.

Published 9/23/25

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Crawford Better be Ready

Colonel Crawford takes part in the “602 Rivalry” as they are down the highway at Buckeye Central in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play on Friday night.

The Eagles (4-0,1-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, rallied to beat Mohawk (24-21) in an “N10” game last week. A Peyton Baker’s fourth quarter TD run was the difference.

Coach Jake Bruner says it was a very good win for them against the defending conference champs. “I thought our kids played really hard. Anytime you go to Mohawk, and number one on they’re a great football team and well coached team. It's the second longest trip in our league for us, but it feels like the longest getting there. So, it's a tough place to play. They get great support there. Anytime you get a road win in the league opening week against a top team is obviously a blessing,” he said.

Bruner says they won the game with effort and they ability to stay calm in the face of adversity. “Well, I think for the most part we played with great effort. We didn't execute everything we wanted to as coaches or players, but I think our kids played with tremendous effort. They battled the highs and lows of a big game. Meaning the back and forth of who's taking the lead. It felt like for a while that we had the momentum and then Mohawk took it back and then took it, back and forth all the way to the end. I thought we battled the highs and lows pretty well. Whenever you go through those you learn things about yourself and about different people. Things you have to get better on and things that you did well. I think our kids handled those highs and lows the best they could,” said Bruner.

Buckeye Central (3-1,1-0) handled Bucyrus (34-13) last week in their conference opener. Jack Phillips threw for 171 yards and three scores last week and returned an interception for a touchdown.

Bruner says the Bucks can do some things. “Number one how much improved they are from a year ago. They have a veteran quarterback. A veteran quarterback that has played a couple of years that throws the ball really well and is really good out of the pocket running the ball, finds open receivers, they got a couple of top receivers in our league by number of catches,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “You can just tell that that their coach has done a great job in preparing them offensively and defensively to improve. It's a backyard rivalry for us. We're going down 602 to play our neighbors. Everybody knows each other and we’re at New Washington. So, I can remember a few years ago that we were over there and we were down at halftime. So, we're going to get their best effort. We have got to be ready to play.”

Bruner says they cannot take a win for granted. “Think of it this way, we're one game in the league and both undefeated. We're both coming off a big win. What we can't do is feel like hey we just beat Mohawk and now we are going to just go to Buckeye Central and get a win. Those guys are going to play hard, they're going to be well prepared and we got to be ready for them. They’re tied for first just like a couple teams are right now. We're all just trying to get another win. We're going to be on the road. So, we know we're going to get their best effort there in New Washington,” he said.

Published 9/17/25

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Crawford and Mohawk to Clash in Big One

Colonel Crawford is at Mohawk on Friday night in a game that might go a long way in determining the Northern 10 Athletic Conference football champion this year.

Mohawk won it last year. The Eagles finished in a tie for second. The Warriors won (35-7) in North Robinson last year.

Last week, Crawford (3-0,0-0) pulled away in the second half to beat East Knox (42-18) in a non-league game.

Coach Jake Bruner says they responded to the challenge. “We played good in the second half and then we did some good things in the first half. Give credit to East Knox, they have got a nice quarterback and some fast receivers. They are a challenge and we saw that a little bit on Friday night in the first half,” he said.

Mohawk (3-0,0-0) also had a big second half and smoked Ayersville on the road (40-15) last Friday.

Bruner says the Warriors have a nice combination of talent and experience. “Number one, the improvement that the kids have shown. A lot of the kids are back. A lot of people think they graduated everybody last year. They graduated a lot of their skilled kids and they were really tremendous players, but had been banged up in early parts of their career. Last year, they were mostly healthy, at least when we played them, and they were able to win the league and had a great year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “A lot of those guys that were role players have now you can tell they've done the weight room. You can tell that they've gotten better and the nucleus is still there. So, they've got a different quarterback, they've got just some different receivers, different DB's, but the linebackers are back, their line is back, the defensive line is back. I think six of their front seven are back, so a lot of the guys are back. So, you're playing a team that has number one experience, number two confidence and then playing at home, so it's going to be a tough test for us.”

Bruner says Mohawk is big and physical. “A lot of times this year we'll play some teams that we're maybe a little bigger than them. They've got two guys that are 6’5” and 290 and 280 and they've got some size and some experience to go with it. So, they've got a little bit of everything. They have got a really nice quarterback that played tight end last year. So, he's got experience and he runs the ball well, he throws the ball well, the running back is back and so there's just a lot of kids. You see those names at Mohawk, the Clause, the Bish, those kind of names that you kind of constantly see. When you see those kid’s names you just know that they are good,” said Bruner.

Playing a game of this magnitude on week one of the conference season is interesting. Bruner says anytime you play the Warriors it’s going to be a challenge. “It’s how you look at it, I guess. Either way you're going to have to play each other. I think no matter when you play them you know it's going to be a great game. They're well coached, they do a great job on both sides of the ball, the kids are really aggressive. You can tell that they care. They're going to give us everything they’ve got and hopefully our kids will give that great effort as well,” he said.

Published 9/09/25

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Crawford Has Physical East Knox

Colonel Crawford will host East Knox in their final non-conference game of the season on Friday night in North Robinson.

The Eagles (2-0) downed Fairfield Union (28-14) last week.

Coach Jake Bruner says they played pretty good physical football. “I was really happy with our kids effort. Fairfield Union is a really well coached team, division IV team with very physical kids. They like to run the ball, kind of like we do, and they did that. They came in here and gave us a heck of a battle. I was happy with our performance overall. With our execution some things we have got to do a little bit better. We had a fumble and some special teams errors, just things we have got to get cleaned up as we go into week three,” said Bruner.

Bruner says their non-conference schedule prepares them well for what promises to be a tough “N10” slate. “Facing the Mohawks, the Careys, the Seneca Easts, those type of teams, and an East Knox type of team. Physical, tough kids that are going to battle. You're find out when the chips are down what kids going to going to fold and what kids are going to fight and battle to the end. That's what I want to see in our kids,” he said.

East Knox (0-2) lost last week (28-12) to Wynford, another team out of the “N10”.

Bruner says the Bulldogs will be another physical test. “I think just whenever you play East Knox you get a tough, scrappy kid that's going to play really physical football. Football is really important at East Knox. I think just watching them on film last week they're probably a little disappointed in their performance,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They were really motivated week one with Northridge and lost when they went for two and didn't get it or they would have would have won. Wynford played really well last week and was very physical. They've got a great quarterback coming back. Two of the fastest kids we'll see all year at receiver. We're going to get their best effort (Friday) night.”

Published 9/05/25

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Crawford Must Improve Fundamentals

Colonel Crawford will be at home in North Robinson for the first time this year on Friday night as they host Fairfield Union in a non-conference game.

They opened with a strong (42-7) win over Fairbanks last week.

Coach Jake Bruner says it was a good win, but still work to do. “Number one it was a great experience for our kids to be at Ohio Wesleyan and play at a college against an opponent that we hadn't seen before and play for real. We're happy because we won, but lots to work on, which probably every coach in the state of Ohio is saying,” said Bruner.

Bruner says they are emphasizing fundamentals this week in practice. “You know just blocking assignments, we did fumble the football one time, missed tackles, misalignments, just execution things that you want to be better with. A guy forgot to get on the punt team, that kind of thing,” he said.

When it comes to improvement for week two, Bruner says you have to make it happen. “You have got to make sure that you're unsatisfied with the performance even though you won and be able to find those mistakes and realize that there's a lot of them to keep improving. It’s a long season, it's not just 10 weeks anymore most teams make the playoffs even though they're still moving to 12. It’s a long season, especially in the offseason. So, with all the work we’re doing you really want to play well and show that execution on Friday night in front of your home crowd especially,” said Bruner.

Fairfield Union lost (26-6) to New Lexington last week, but Bruner says this will be a very tough challenge for them on Friday night. “Number one, they’re a division IV team and we are a division VI team. They're graduating 137 kids and I think we graduated 64 last year. So, just a bigger school and have got a coach that has won and has been very successful there. Yeah, New Lexington beat them week one, but New Lexington is a pretty good football program. They have a tough schedule,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “What I see on film is a tremendous quarterback, a lot of physicality, some good size. They like to run the ball, they like to play run defense. So, it's very obvious to me that they're well coached and they are very physical. It’s going to be a big test for us against another opponent we have not faced before and a coach we have not faced before. It’s going to be a big battle for us because of their size, speed, you can tell by just watching them they want the contact, so it’s going to be a big test for us.”

Published 8/27/25

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Crawford to Play Physical Fairbanks

Colonel Crawford takes on Fairbanks in a non-conference football game to be played at Ohio Wesleyan University on Thursday night.

Coach Jake Bruner says it is kind of cool to play on Thursday. “Well, it influenced it from the fact that we scrimmaged on Thursday night last week. Kind of set up a whole week with a plan. To be honest with you, I think you're going to see more and more of this, this is not the reason for us, but there are more and more games on Thursdays and Saturdays because of the lack of football officials. This game in particular, I really like playing the opening game on a different night. It allows for a bigger crowd. It allows us to go watch other opponents and it's just a kind of excitement to the start of the year. I started my coaching career as head coach at Bucyrus. We always played Ridgedale on that opening Thursday night and I always thought it was pretty cool,” he said.

Bruner says he likes the way his kids have progressed, but they have a big challenge coming up. “I think as a coach when you have coached as long as I have, and there's guys that have coached longer, you really never know. We saw improvement from the first scrimmage to the second scrimmage, but we're going to a college town, different location on turf, to play an opponent we've never played before and obviously a heck of a football coach in Dave Carroll, coach of the year last year, had a great season of Fairbanks, has got them rolling. We know they're a heck of a football team and heck of a program, they have got a heck of a coach, so we're confident, but at the same time we know that it's going to be a war against them. They're well coached, their kids play extremely hard, they have got some speed, they got some size and we know we're going to get their best effort,” said Bruner.

Bruner says the Eagles will be facing a unique offense when they meet Fairbanks on Thursday. “We talked to our team about adjustments and in game adjustments. We're going to have to make some in game adjustments. In the first two scrimmages, they're running the Lucas offense, which is something Dave hasn't done a lot of, but as a Dave Carroll coached team, I think they're very good at what they do. That offense is really hard to understand and to defend. Lucas and Scott Spitler did that probably back in 2011 really made a career now he's at Fredericktown doing that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday morning, “Dave’s doing the exact same thing right now at least in the first two scrimmages, obviously he has the ability to do some other things too and we'll have to be ready for those. We know it's going to be a tough game, it's going to be a physical game and it's going to be one of those games that that we're going to have to make adjustments and hopefully we'll be able to a find a way.”

Published 8/21/25

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Crawford Finding Ways to get Better

Colonel Crawford is poised to have another excellent season with a lot returning talent from team that won nine games last year and finished in a share of second place in the tough Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

Coach Jake Bruner says this season they will be a more veteran team than they have been the last couple of years. “We have some kids that have played for a couple years back and we have a more veteran group than we have had. We have had a lot of young kids the last couple years. We still have some young kids there too, but we have a lot of kids back and we're excited, but lots of room for improvement,” he said.

Bruner says this year they have been going at things faster in preparation for the season. “Number one when you have some experience back you can throw a lot more at kids and we have thrown a lot more at them this year. For some of them they've done it for two or three years and for other ones it’s been at least a years’ experience. So, we feel like we're a little more experienced at different places. Still trying to build that depth, that's what's key, because kids are going to get hurt, it’s football, and things happen and just trying to build depth on our football program,” said Bruner.

Crawford opens the season on August 21 at Fairbanks, coached by former Clear Fork coach Dave Carroll.

Their first scrimmage test is Friday against two very good schools in Shelby and Sandusky Perkins.

Bruner says there are some things they want to accomplish. “I think first of all we'd love to get out there and be healthy. For us our scrimmage schedule is brutal. We have Sandusky Perkins and Shelby (Friday), who you know are both picked to be in the final four or the final two this year and their divisions and those are bigger schools than us. There are some great players from both those teams. Then we have Hopewell-Loudon in our second scrimmage, who is one of the top teams in division VI this year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We love it. Number one, we want to be healthy. Number two, we just want to get lots of kids in and get to see them on tape and fix things. Sometimes you think you're better at something than you are and sometimes you think you're worse at something than you are and you can get better at those things. Then build some depth, get some film and get see some kids against some different people than yourselves.”

Published 8/08/25

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Big Inning Leads to Crawford Win

A six spot in the sixth inning propelled Colonel Crawford to a (10-5) win over Crestview in a division VI district semifinal Wednesday evening at Shelby High School.

They will meet Western Reserve for a district title on Friday at Shelby.

It was a seesaw game up that point with Crawford holding a (4-3) lead.

With one out in the top of the sixth freshman Gabe Stratton laced a ball up the left center field ally and it looked like coach Jordan Oliver had the stop sign up at third, but Statton ran through it and scored for an inside the park home run.

Then Carson Rader and Parker Weithman dropped in singles and with two out there was a walk, two Eagles reached on errors and Grady Riddle tripled to drive in the final run of the inning.

Colonel Crawford (12-13) stole four bases on the day and picked up a lot of extra bases.

Oliver says they want to be aggressive. “We've got a team with a with a lot of speed, so that's something we've emphasized all year. We want to be aggressive on the base paths and sometimes it doesn't always work out for us,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “We want if we get a couple guys thrown out to continue to be aggressive. You have got to throw it, you have got to catch it, you have got to complete the tag and sometimes that's difficult at any level of baseball. So, trying to use our team speed to our advantage.”

When it comes to Stratton’s homer, Oliver confirmed he gave that stop sign. “It got us excited. Our freshman hit the ball in the gap. It was a legit triple and then he kind of just went right through the stop sign at third base and we were fortunate that they didn't complete the tag at home. Again, he was aggressive and he's got good speed and that worked out for us,” said Oliver.

Crestview coach Don Keener says that sixth inning kind of snowballed on them. “It did seem to spark them a little bit. It's one of those bang-bang things at the end. It’s damned if you do and damned if you don't. You almost have him and he ends up scoring and they got a little energized. They got a couple bloopers here and there and then it just kind of snowballed a little bit there in that inning. It's tough to come back from that but the guys kept fighting. All you can tell them is you have got to chip away and stay focused. Our guys fought and that's what I’m proud of the most is they don't give up. I told those guys the last month, month and half, of the season, you guys turned into a ball team.”

Crestview (12-14) got on the scoreboard first on a ground ball by Tyson Ringler in the bottom of the first. Crawford tied it (1-1) Evan Metzger’s run scoring single in the top of the second. Crestview went up (2-1) in their half of the second on an RBI hit by Landon Fulk. Crawford got two in the top of the third on Nate McCartney’s two run double making it (3-2) Eagles. Again, it was tied in the bottom of the third on a ground ball by Kayn Patton. This time Crawford responded with a run to make it (4-3) in the top of the fourth.

The final runs came in the seventh on a two run homer over the leftfield fence by the Cougars Gavin Barker.

Van Wintersteller went the distance for Eagles and he stranded 10 Cougar runners.

Oliver says he was ready for the opportunity. “He is a kid that loves baseball. It's his only sport. He plays elite level travel ball in the summer. I know he was really excited to have an opportunity to pitch us for a chance to play in the district championship game,” he said.

When it comes to Western, Oliver says they will have to play well. “I know it’s going to be a challenge. Just like Crestview was. Crestview has got some really nice seniors. Ringler and Barker, he hit a home run there at the end. We're going to have to scout up Western and learn some more about them but that's going to be a challenge. It won't be easy I know that,” said Oliver.

Published 5/29/25

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Crawford Falls in State Semifinal

Colonel Crawford’s historic season came to an end on Friday night as they lost (52-38) to Marion Local in a division VI state semifinal at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University.

The Eagles (25-2) had been a team that had traditionally gotten off to good starts this year, but Friday night they found themselves down (8-2) with 5:10 to play in the first quarter.

After trailing (17-7) after the first quarter, the Eagles were able to claw back into the game cutting their deficit to four (22-18) with 3:42 to play in the half after a Brayden Holt hoop.

The Flyers scored the final three points of the half to lead (25-18) at the break.

Crawford coach David Sheldon says the slow start in both halves put them behind the eight ball. “I thought two of the big keys (Friday) night is we got off to a bad start the first quarter and then the start of the third quarter. You can't do that against very good teams. The first quarter we got hurt on the offensive glass and then we get a lot better they only end up with eight. We knew they were moose on the glass and then we get better, Credit to my kids, they fought back and cut it to five there and had a shot at three and it didn’t go,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Our kids battled, they left it all on the floor and they made history, they made history at Colonel Crawford and I'm proud of them. It was just a special group the brotherhood in that locker room. It's tough when you come to this, but there's a lot we'll look back and many accomplishments. Were always chasing that next one. You run into a great team like Marion Local and you know hats off to them and good luck to them next Saturday.”

Marion Local coach Kurt Goettemoeller agreed the start of the third quarter was a plus for them. “We always talk about first 3 minutes and second half and how important they are and to get that sick of 6-0 spurt to get it to double figures. Of course, you knew they were going to make a run and they did yeah. It was just one of those games that kind of hung on between five and 11 the whole game. They couldn't quite catch us and we couldn't quite put them away. There was some trepidation there. We made some plays, but man they battle. They're a good basketball team for sure,” he said.

The Eagles didn’t go away and they were able to cut the lead to little as five in the fourth quarter at (35-30) after a John DeGray layup with 6:10 to play.

Crawford shot only 38% from the field and made just 1-9 threes on the game.

Sheldon says that the Flyers length hurt them making shots more difficult. “Brayden gets 18 shots and Payne gets 16 shots and that's who we want and it was both of them. The errands kids, who's unbelievable athlete guarding Brayden and then Niekamp, with his size. That's the guys that have carried us here the whole way. So, I thought that length really, really hurt us. It's probably one of the most physical teams. Most times all year we've been the more physical team, but you ran into a little bit more physical team (Friday) night, but their length really altered shots all night long,” said Sheldon.

Only three players scored for Colonel Crawford Payne DeGray had 15, Holt 13, and John DeGray 10.

Sheldon says they for not able to get three open three point attempts that they normally get on the wings. “They did a good job. They didn't lose Goddard. They made sure that they did not leave Goddard. We got some other good looks from three and they didn't go, but they have got good length and they have got good physicalness and they're extremely well coached,” he said.

Austin Niekamp led Marion Local (26-2) with 18 points. The Flyers made 16 of 19 free throws on the night.

Published 3/14/25

Colonel Crawford Has the Weapons

Colonel Crawford will advance to the state championship game in division VI with a win on Friday night against powerful Marion Local in a state semifinal to be played at the Stroh Center on the campus of Bowling Green State University.

The Eagles (26-1) are the champions of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference. Marion Local (25-2) was the runnerup to Delphos St. John’s in the Midwest Athletic Conference.

The only common opponent is Maumee Valley Country Day. Crawford beat them (48-41) in a regional semifinal last week. Marion Local smoked them (62-40) in an MLK weekend game at Fort Loramie.

Colonel Crawford is led by the district player of the year, both coaches and media, in point guard Brayden Holt.

Coach David Sheldon says he is a playmaker. “He's seen every type of pressure. You just saw that last week with the athletes who we won against with Maumee Valley and “LCC”. He can score it, he can distribute and his pace and demeanor is the epitome of a coach on the floor,” he told Swankonsports.com, “He's the leader out there and the guys around him trust him and he trusts them when he finds them whether it's Goddard making shots or the big boys or Weithman and on and on, so he's definitely special.”

He is also a football quarterback for the Eagles and Sheldon says he has great vision and he handles the ball very well. “He sees and his change of pace to get around traps is phenomenal. We did a great job of that. The other night against “LCC” we only have seven turnovers as a team and that starts with your quarterback, your point guard,” he said.

The Crawford wings on not typically big scorers, but Sheldon says they make big shots when called on to do so. “We have got great shooters with Logan (Goodard) and Parker (Weithman) and (Lucas) Foy and then the bigs of John and Payne (DeGray) playing off each other. It's just the team that plays as a team and that's why we have an opportunity to make it to a final four this week,” said Sheldon.

Both DeGray brothers shoot over 70% from the field in the post.

Marion Local is going to play a very physical brand of basketball and Sheldon says they have to do the same. “We have to, we can't back down, we have got to be the hunter all night for 32 minutes,” he said.

Published 3/14/25

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Crawford Preparing Hard for Marion Local

Colonel Crawford is one of only four teams in division VI still playing as they are getting ready to play Marion Local in a state semifinal on Friday night at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University.

If they will they will play either Kirtland or Monroe Central for a state championship next week in Dayton.

Junior point guard Brayden Holt (18 ppg, 6 apg) says this run has been thrilling, but they are going to keep their focus. “Obviously it's something that's never been done here so being able to be here is awesome and exciting, but now we're focusing on Friday to keep continuing these steps of playing another game,” said Holt.

Holt adds that they want to make this week, at least from a practice standpoint, as normal as possible. “We'll go through the same exact routine as we would for regular season game. We'll go through scouters, watch film on them and go throughout practice throughout the whole week like I said and be ready to go on Friday,” he said.

Marion Local (25-2) is the best small school football program in the state, and they are very physical, but junior post Payne DeGray says they want to continue to be the most aggressive team on the floor. “All of those guys are football guys over there. They've won a bunch of state championships in football, but we've always come out and we've tried to be the most aggressive team out on the court and that's always a push for us. Then it's also what we do in practice here. We go very hard and it's been like that all year. I've had three years of experience myself this is probably the best group I've ever practiced with just because of how fun it is, compared to last year especially, but it’s just a fun time right now,” said Payne.

The big 6’6” post shoots 74% from the field on the year.

His younger brother John makes 70% of his field goals.

John says he and his brother have always been competitive and that helps them be better players. “In practice it definitely does being we're both competitive, we've always been competitive, and it just pushes us to be the best we can be,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (25-1), and winners of 25 in a row, know who they are as a basketball team.

Coach David Sheldon says they will be true to themselves, but look to make adjustments for Marion Local too. “Every game we adjust. We adjust to what our people's strengths are. We put game plans and these guys by Wednesday will know that. We'll come in here and drill it and drill it and do what we think is best to put us in this situation to win a basketball game Friday night,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Every team we do a little bit different. We're Colonel Crawford and we're going to be us, but we have to adjust sometimes defensively and offensively to what we see from our opponents.”

Published 3/13/25

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Colonel Crawford to Play Physical Marion Local

Colonel Crawford clashes with Marion Local on Friday night at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University in a state semifinal in division VI.

The winner will play either Kirtland or Monroe Central for a state title next weekend in Dayton.

Marion Local (25-2) beat Anna (58-43) in a regional final last Saturday at Wright State.

The Flyers have won 15 state football titles, including last fall and Sheldon says they are a very physical basketball team too that is also well disciplined. “It's a very good basketball team that's well coached. They play in a great league in the “MAC”, which we all know about in all high school sports. They're very fundamental defensively and offensively,” he told Swankonsports.com, “The (Austin) Niekamp kid is a load. He is 6’8”, he can go inside, he can go outside. They've got the (Damon) Cramer kid that's an excellent shooter. They've got other guys all around them and they're winners over there. It reminds me of us, they're similar to Colonel Crawford.”

In the tournament so far the Eagles have clearly been the most physical team, but Sheldon says this time it’s going to a war. “It's going to be a battle of physicality. Both teams are very similar and the style of play is very similar as well. So, it'll be a chess match and it'll come down to kids making plays,” said Sheldon.

With a point guard like Brayden Holt and shooters like Logan Goodard and Parker Weithman, the Eagles are also very skilled basketball players and Sheldon says they have to use those skills on Friday night. “We have got to use our skills to our advantage were we think we can attack offensively. Then defensively we've really got to be very good because they're going to be patient and they get a good shot as well,” he said.

Colonel Crawford won two games last week in the regional at Bowling Green in beating Maumee Valley (48-41) and Lima Central Catholic (44-37) and Sheldon says they like playing at the Stroh Center. “That’s huge in the last week we played there twice. It's the same routine, nothing different and we love that environment. I love the setup and be able to play in the place that we know. We like routine and it's a beautiful arena for high school basketball. I like it better than Dayton because I think it's the perfect size for high school. It's not too big and we're just looking forward to the opportunity,” said Sheldon.

Published 3/12/25

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Eagles are a Brotherhood

Colonel Crawford will make its first appearance in a state semifinal on Friday night as they face Marion Local in division VI action at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University.

The Eagles (25-1) have won 25 straight games and coach David Sheldon says they are always focused on the next game. “The most important thing is Friday night. You look at this basketball team and they've won 25 games in a row and it's because of these guys. When we win one, we move on to the next one and now the next one is Marion Local,” he said.

It was not the first time Crawford has been to a regional final and Sheldon says he enjoyed it with current and former players. “Three years ago, we were there and we ran into a guy named Colin White from Ottawa-Glandorf and it was tied going into the fourth at “BG” and Colin sort of took over the game and that was special. Every year special. We have won 31 championships here in 19 years everyone is special. After Saturday night my phone was blowing up. The most important texts I got were my guys. Those are the former guys that played for us and started the tradition of success,” said Sheldon.

Marion Local (25-2) was the runnerup in the tough Midwest Athletic League. Their only league loss to Delphos St. John’s (55-43) on January 17. They also lost their last regular season game to unbeaten Russia (55-29). They beat Anna (58-43) in a regional final at Wright State last Saturday.

Of course, they have a tremendous football reputation and Sheldon says the Flyers are very physical. “It's a spitting image of ourselves. That's what it is. Every one of my kids is a football guy and they're tough kids. They're spitting image. They're very well coached, they're very disciplined. It's going to become a grind out type of game. You have got to fight through the physicalness, but we've been battle tested with that throughout this entire year. It comes down to possession by possession of us attacking with our strengths are and trying to stop them what their strengths are you know every possession,” said Sheldon.

Marion Local features a 6’8”, 200 pound post in senior Austin Niekamp.

Sheldon says his guys are a very close group that plays as a unit. He says they are not just athletic players, they understand the game. “They enjoyed the moment Saturday night, that's when it is. They enjoy being together on and off the floor and that's what's special about this group. It's a brotherhood. If you look up here seven of the eight guys up here, their fathers have been coaches. The only one that's not is my little “nat”, I call him something else, but with the media. He's one of the toughest and that's Logan Goddard,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Almost every one of these guys their fathers have been coaches and that's what this team epitomizes because they all know what their roles are and their strengths just like their fathers. You have got to have people that understand roles. Not everybody's going to be the leading scorer and handle the ball the whole time. I think that's what's neat with this team because that's why they've got togetherness because they grow up in homes. (Goddard) is as tough as nails. He wants to fight you in the back alley and he just blends in well with you.”

Published 3/11/25

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Colonel Crawford Wins Again

Colonel Crawford hasn’t reached the promise land of Dayton and the state tournament yet, but they can certainly smell it after the 25^th straight win on Saturday.

They held off Lima Central Catholic (44-37) in a division VI regional final at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University. It’s the school’s first ever regional championship. They will play either Kirtland, Marion Local or Monroe Central next week in the state semifinal. The OHSAA says who and where on Sunday.

Colonel Crawford held LCC to 36% from the field (12-33) and had only seven turnovers against the Thunderbirds aggressive pressure defense.

Coach David Sheldon says those were keys. “I think our defense was the key. What we did to Priddy, he is dynamite, the best player I've seen on film of everybody I've watched all year. It's what we've done all year defensively was a clinic. I thought (Brayden) Holt handled the traps so well. His change of pace. They tried getting it out of his hands and then we had the finishes inside. We did a great job of attacking that with them trying to get it out of his hands. We've seen that throughout the year. So, I think those were some of the keys when at the start of this basketball game,” said Sheldon.

LCC was down as much as 14 when Brayden Holt made the first basket of the second half to make it (28-14) Eagles.

Lima Central Catholic coach Sean Powell says the Eagles are tough to score on, but they battled back. “Going into the game I knew it was going to be tough one. I had told my team numerous times that this team plays the best pack line defense we saw this year. Coming from Shelby County, I’m familiar with the pack line I know how difficult it is. It's the perfect defense for tournament play. It doesn't give you anything easy in the paint, so I knew it was going to be tough going into the game to just get quality shots. I think they started off rolling and we kind of started off sluggish and a game like this that would give any kid that adrenaline to be better than what they are and they stepped up as a team. They played better at the start the game and we were chasing the entire game.” He told Swankonsports.com, “We're just waiting for that one play, that one home run. I think we had a three in the third quarter and I could just tell how with that three the energy felt like we won the game with just one shot. So, that that told me we were kind of pressing a little bit instead of chopping away. There in the fourth quarter, we got it to two. I thought if we can get another one or the ball bounce our way, we have got a good shot at this.”

Crawford took a (7-6) lead at the 5:11 mark of the first quarter and never tailed again, however the Thunderbirds would make them work very hard to hold on.

The Eagles scored only six points in the third quarter and LCC cut their deficit to six at (32-26) after three.

An (11-4) run in the fourth quarter brought the Thunderbirds to within two at (37-35) 3:42 left, but just like in Tuesday's semifinal win over Maumee Valley (48-41) Crawford made big plays at crunch time.

Payne DeGray muscled in basket with 3:07 left to make it Eagles by four, but a Brady Parker laid up in to again cut it to two at (39-37) with 2:24 in the game.

After successfully running some time off the clock with solid ballhandling John DeGray got a very good pass and kissed it off the glass with :38 left to make it (44-37)

Crawford (25-1) got a stop and rebound and Holt found Payne DeGray, who threw down and two hand slam and added a free throw to close it out.

Sheldon says his kids were able to make plays. “A great team's going to make runs and we withstood that. We've seen that throughout the year. The moto in our program is one possession at a time our way. It's the next possession and I thought we did a good job withstanding that. Then the big fellas dunk that was the exclamation point. I think the loud meter in there went up a little bit. It's a credit to my guys. I can't say enough, it's so hard to get to the final four. We're going to enjoy this tonight and tomorrow then go back to work,” he said.

LCC (18-8) guard Jordan Priddy has 25 in a (43-35) win over Patrick Henry on Tuesday, but Eagles were able to hold him to 11. “We did an unbelievable job. He's a dynamite player. I've watched 12 films and he is lightning and it took a team effort. We tried to face guard him. You have to find him in transition. We sent three guys back on the shot. We wanted to find him on the sideline because he's so explosive. Then when he put it on the floor, we doubled him. He is a great player and credit to our guys. We put game plans together and these guys and it's different every game depending on who you're playing,” said Sheldon.

Holt had 13 points, eight rebounds, and six assists for the Eagles. Payne DeGray 11 points and seven boards, John DeGray had nine and seven carroms.

Everyone played a role. Logan Goddard had eight points and Sheldon says played outstanding defense on Priddy. “Logan Goodard hit some big shots. He's a tough little kid. A lot of the time he’s on Priddy. He’s 6’2” and he's just up in him. Every one of my guys plays football and that toughness,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “We had to turn this into a physical game. If we go out to the track and high jump we were in deep trouble against them and we did a great job of that in the half court. When they made their run in the second half it was transition points and they're so explosive in transition. At 2:30 with the lead we go four quarters spread the floor and did an unbelievable job of handling that and then just finishing with layups inside.”

Priddy had to set for more than three minutes in the second quarter with three fouls and the Eagles were able to build a double digit lead.

Sheldon says they were able to keep Payne DeGray in the game. He says taking advantage of Priddy on the sidelines was big. “It was huge. When he was off the floor, that was huge for us because he is their best player. We were fortunate because of that. My big fella got two early too and we played him. At this level we know that maybe you have to play. Fortunately, he didn't get three. A couple possessions there we went box and one. We had seen some teams do that and we just changed it up to sort of hide him at the blocks instead of man. That was huge with him and three. We had to make that challenge too. When you get two you have got to be smart because he just can't put yourself in that situation,” said Sheldon.

Holt is also a football quarterback and he was able to break the pressure sometimes with precision long passes. “He’s pretty doggone good. He is the best that I've seen run the show. The thing about Brayden is his pace and he never gets too high or too low. You look at his face and you wouldn't know if he just scored a bucket or if he just turned it over. That’s a key to have quarterback with patience in the pocket and that's how he is out here,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Brayden is the son of a coach, he's grown up and understands what it's all about to direct and coach a team. I've always said the point guard is the coach for 32 minutes during the game and he showed that against the pressure he withstood all night long.”

Payne DeGray says he would not have predicted this kind of run by the team if you asked him before the season. “We put in a lot of work throughout the season. We've grown a lot from our first loss at the beginning of the season to Crestview. We came back and beat them in the district finals. To come out here and chill out Bowling Green is just so special. It's a special thing not everybody gets to do it,” said DeGray.

Holt says the postseason has been a war for them. “Very exciting I mean right away from first game losing to Crestview, like he said and being able to bounce back and win out from here. It's just exciting. It's been a grind since district semis. There hasn't been an easy game. So, being able to come out and work the game plan, prefect it, and coming out victorious is huge,” said Holt.

For Sheldon, the son of hall of fame coach Rob Sheldon, understands what this team is accomplishing. “For me it hits home. I'm a son of a father that coached 30 something years in every Hall of Fame in Ohio. I still remember fifth grade and seventh grade, my years being the ball boy when my dad went to the final four. There's so many great coaches in the State of Ohio, I've got so many friends, and guys don't get a chance at the final four. The legends that I look up to. It's a blessing, all the glory goes to God for this, and my guys are unbelievable inside that locker room,” said Sheldon.

Published 3/08/25

Crawford Has to Get Stops

Colonel Crawford plays Lima Central Catholic on Saturday afternoon at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University and at stake is a berth in the state semifinals in division VI.

It would be the Eagles first ever regional championship.

Coach David Sheldon believes they have been well prepared with the kind of schedule they have played. “We've played some great opponents this year. You look non league Cardington was in the regionals. Fredericktown won their league. You look at two Mohawk games that were just back and forth battles for championships. Then you look through our district. I think when you put your kids in tough situations against very good teams, and well coached teams, it prepares you for moments like this. Then the preparation that I talked about the other day. After games is the preparation, our kids are used to it depending on the opponent how we attack things night in and night out,” said Sheldon.

The Eagles (24-1) have Brayden Holt (18 ppg) the Northern 10 Athletic Conference leadings scorer, Payne and John DeGray, both shoot over 70% from the field, and Holt and Parker Weithman both shoot over 43% from behind the three point line.

Sheldon says they have a lot of options. “We're very fortunate with the balance that we have with the post presence, an excellent point guard and then we have got shooters on the wings. So, we're very versatile depending on what we see and that helps,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “Then they're all tough minded defensively and that's been the key to our success is the defensive end of the floor. To date Saturday at noon is going to be the biggest challenge we have with what we're going to see with Lima Central Catholic, but I know these guys will go out punching for 32 minutes.”

Lima Central Catholic has won 12 of its last 13 and been putting up 70 plus points in a lot of those games.

Sheldon says they have to take the first couple of options away on Saturday. “We have to slow them down defensively especially. They're really good in the transition offense game. We've got to get them to set up in the half court. Obviously, we like to push in transition. If we have it, we'll push it, but then you have got to maximize possessions. When you play very good teams you just can't take bad shots because every possession at this level means so much. Our guys have got to look to capitalize every possession down the basketball floor,” said Sheldon.

The Eagles didn’t shoot it very well Tuesday night, but Sheldon says he is not that concerned. “You have got two very skilled to have basketball teams. I think you'll definitely see that with the environment being a little bit different than what we play regular season. All the stuff we do all season, in summer now, you play in different environments throughout the year. So, it's about coming down and kids making plays and getting after it at the defensive end of the floor,” he said.

Published 3/07/25

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Colonel Crawford Focused on Preparation

Colonel Crawford locks horns with Lima Central Catholic on Saturday afternoon at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University for a regional title in division VI.

It would be the first such title in the history of the program.

Crawford beat Maumee Valley (48-41) on Tuesday night in a semifinal and LCC followed that up with a (43-35) win over Patrick Henry.

Crawford coach Davis Sheldon says they can expect see a lot of defensive pressure, just like Tuesday night. “Well, first of all you're going to see the same pressure we saw (Tuesday) night. They get up in you and pressure the basketball. They'll run and jump and we've got to handle their defensive pressure, no live ball turnovers,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “On the offensive end Jordan Priddy is a special player. He's a really good player for them. They’ve got quickness with guards around him they can put it into the paint. So, we just have got to keep playing and turn it into half court defense like we have throughout this year. We've got to use our physicalness at this level.”

Priddy had 25 points and six rebounds in the win over Patrick Henry.

Sheldon says Priddy does a lot of things well. “He's very smooth. He can shoot the three and he's got good range, he's a physical, strong kid that can put it on the floor. It's going to take multiple defensive coverages with him being such a special player that he is,” he said.

Sheldon says they are going to work to keep the ball away from Priddy if they can and they started developing their game plan on Tuesday night. “You want to limit his touches and you've got to have great rotations when he puts it on the floor. We've played against very good players like this throughout the year. So, we have to have a good three days of preparation before Saturday. Our guys have done a great job of moving on to the next game throughout the entire year and now next up is Lima Central Catholic,” said Sheldon.

Sheldon and his staff work very hard at preparing the players for the next game and he likes having three days to do it. “We're so big on preparation of our opponents that we were happy to have the time and the rest. We spent a lot of energy (Tuesday) night just like Lima Central Catholic did against a very good Patrick Henry team. You're in the elite eight and there's nothing easy when you get to this time of year. We’re looking forward to the opportunity come Saturday,” he said.

Published 3/06/25

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Crawford Beats up Maumee Valley

For just the second time in school history, the Colonel Crawford Eagles have reached the elite eight after a (48-41) win over Maumee Valley in a division VI regional semifinal on Tuesday night at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University.

They return Saturday afternoon to take on Lima Central Catholic in a regional final. The Thunderbirds edged Patrick Henry (43-35) in Tuesday’s second game.

Colonel Crawford, who carries one of the highest shooting percentages in the state, shot only 32% percent for the game, but the Eagles were clearly the more physical team on the floor.

Coach David Sheldon says that was key. “We had to use our football mentality, our physicality. We weren't going to go out and high jump with them out on the track. We said we have to box out with bodies all night and if you look at our rebounding is phenomenal. Three guys with double figure rebounds and they only get 5 offensive rebounds. Our defensive effort all night was unbelievable. We've shown that throughout the year,” he told Swankonsports.com. “They really locked in the plan with how we had to guard because this team was a little bit different than anybody we've played throughout the regular season with their quickness and their athleticism and I thought our guys did a phenomenal job.”

The Eagles owned (48-20) margin on the boards. Payne DeGray had 15, Holt 12 and John DeGray 11. The Eagles had 19 offensive rebounds.

Crawford took an (8-5) lead on a Logan Goddard three with 4:30 to play in the first quarter and never tailed again in the game, but you never felt they could breathe easy either.

An (8-0) run in the last 2:53 of the half put, the Eagles up 11 points (24-13) at the intermission. Brothers John and Payne DeGray both had old fashion three point plays.

However, Maumee Valley (17-9) wouldn’t go away. They were down 12 twice in the third quarter, (32-20) after a Payne DeGray basket at the 3:46 mark and (34-22) after a John DeGray hoop on the next possession that made it (34-22) with 3:05 left in the quarter. Even in the final quarter, Crawford was up as much as 11, (40-29) with 2:39 left in the game after a Brayden Holt free throw. Maumee Valley went on a (10-2) run, fueled by eight points by Kee’ran Stokes to cut to (42-29) with 1:08 on the clock. From there Holt made six of eight free throws to put it away.

Sheldon says Holt, the district player of the year, is who you want to at the line. “That's who you want shooting. He shoots 85% line. He's an unbelievable free throw shooter. Credit to them, they made a run late, but we never panicked. He made big free throws down at the end. I thought at the end, one of the real big things is we’re up four and John DeGray gets a heck of an offensive rebound off of free throw and that was huge, just to extend the possession,” he said.

Crawford made just over half of their charity tosses for the game (13-25).

Maumee Valley coach Dontaviyon Fleming says he was proud of the effort and expects to be back at this level next year. “I was very proud of my boys. I told them in the locker room, the one thing we can say is we never gave up. I have been preaching that, giving up is easy. They fought to the last second. I have to clap my hands and thank them for that,” he said.

Holt led the Eagles (24-1) with 23 points and five assists and he, and the rest of the team, kept their heads and didn’t panic against Maumee Valley’s aggressive pressure.

Sheldon says they able to control things for the must part and they didn’t get rattled. “The second half we were in our 50. Just spacing and we got some great dump off passes to our big guys. Holt can dominate and control the game with that. The first half Logan Goddard hits a couple huge threes out of the gate, just like last Friday in the in the district final. I thought we did a good job with their seven footer inside of when to attack and when not to attack. We talked a lot about that this week being fundamental and disciplined is what we need to have (Tuesday) night and the Eagles showed that,” said Sheldon.

Frankly, the Hawks 7’0” post Ty Lewis was a non-factor in the game with four points and one rebound.

Sheldon says they wanted to be physical with him and the rest of the Hawks. “Our physicality bothered him. When I watched his films if you just allow him to roam or jump you're in trouble and our physicality really helped us to negate that. Now, I will say this the (Kee’ran) Stokes kid is a special player, he’s good, he leads them in scoring. He some tough shots (Tuesday)) night,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “We had to make some adjustments on the fly. Early on we were going under some ball screens and we went back to edging over top and that just shows the discipline of this basketball team. We talked it was different ways depending on how we make adjustments through the game.”

Stokes ended up with a game high 25 points.

Payne DeGray had 10 points, John DeGray nine and Goddard six for Crawford.

Sheldon says now it’s time to get back to work and prepare for LCC. “I’m proud of our guys to get back to elite eight, but we talked afterwards now we're on to game two of this two day tournament. The sectional was a one day, the district a two day and now this is a two day. So, we have got to get back to work (Wednesday),” he said.

Colonel Crawford also made the regional final at “BG” in 2022, losing to Ottawa-Glandorf.

Sheldon says its just so hard to get to this level of the tournament. “The older I get, the more sentimental, it's so hard to even get to a regional and to be the second team to get to and elite eight, but here's the good thing. These guys know what it's like. We weren't just happy to be here, we talked about that, but it's special. Right now, we're worried about Saturday, but you'll look back in this after the seasons over and say, wow, what a long run we made, but we have got more work to do against a very good team come Saturday,” said Sheldon.

Published 3/05/25

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Colonel Crawford Must be Fundamental

Colonel Crawford takes on Maumee Valley on Tuesday night in a division VI regional semifinal at the Stroh Center and Bowling Green State University.

The winner will face either Lima Central Catholic or Patrick Henry for the regional title.

The Eagles (23-1) hammered Crestview (61-39) in a district title game last Friday at Ontario High School.

Coach David Sheldon credits their outstanding start as a real key. “Especially in the first half. You look at the start that we got off to and just really played well. It started on the defensive end that allowed us to get out and transition get some easy looks, got some wide open looks, and just the first half of basketball was a dominating performance for us. We talked about coming off Wednesday of getting off to a great start. I really thought our guys succeeded with that and then it just stayed throughout that game. To win a district championship like that is special because of the dominance that we showed all night long,” said Sheldon.

Crawford has played in a district championship in 12 of the last 14 years.

Point guard Braydan Holt had 25 and post Payne DeGray added 20.

Sheldon says they exceptional depth is a big plus for them when they have the ball. “When you have a point guard, a post player, and some guys around them that can shoot it and slasher at the trail spot it definitely gives you multiple opportunities depending on defenses that we've seen all year and it makes you more versatile,” he said.

Maumee Valley (17-8) overwhelmed Mohawk (75-45) on the “N10” in their district final.

Sheldon says they are very athletic and have a big. “They're very athletic. It reminds me of three or four years ago when we were at “BG” with Harvest Prep. You've got to take care of the basketball. They get up in you, they deny, they pressure, so we've got to make sure we take care of the ball and not have live ball turnovers,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Transition defense is going to be good because they like to get up and down. We've got to make sure that they have jump shots contested not allowing them to lay it at the rim all night long. It's a very athletic basketball team and they have got a seven-footer inside. He alters a lot of shots around the rim. Defensively he's a major impact more than the offensive end”

On Tuesday night, Sheldon says they are going to have to be very fundamentally sound to beat Maumee Valley. “That's been our motto all along, one possession at a time. I think fundamentals are huge against teams like this. You have got to be fundamentally sound, you can't mess with the ball at the offensive end, you've got a shot fake, pass fake, move the ball and don't settle for just a good shot. We have got to get great shots with the balance that we have. Defensively, we've got to be fundamental with our coverage all night in trying to take their strengths away,” said Sheldon.

Published 3/04/25

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Colonel Crawford Must Adjust

Colonel Crawford battles Crestview in a district championship game in division VI on Friday night at Ontario High School.

On Wednesday night, they had to grind out a win (51-45) over Western Reserve to advance. They did not take the lead until late in the third quarter.

Coach David Sheldon says they made big plays late. “Hats off to Western. Those kids left it all on the floor and they played their tails off both offensively and defensively. I am very impressed with their toughness and the impressive thing is there's no seniors out there for them, so hats off first to them. Our kids made plays well in the second half. The first half we got good looks it just didn't go and in the second half we converted, which was key. Then we got some key stops down the stretch and we're very fortunate to move on to a district championship Friday night,” said Sheldon.
Crestview (17-6) stuffed Seneca East (52-40) on Wednesday.

Sheldon says the Cougars have developed a lot of options. “First of all, a very good basketball team. You look going in this was a team that had a lot of back from last year's successful team. Everybody knows about (Justice) Thompson, he's a really good player, but their other guys around have stepped up big time. (Wednesday) night in the district semi (Tyson) Ringler goes for 21 and Wells 16, so there's other options around him. When you get to district final every game is going to be tough. So, it's going to be a battle for 32 minutes when you look at a quality opponent of a Crestview,” said Sheldon.

Crestview is the only team to beat Crawford this season (56-48) way back on November 30.

They are known for their solid man to man defense, but Sheldon says they likely will see some zone from Crestview. “They've been playing a lot of zone late in the year. I think some of that has to do with their depth. They had some kids step away from the program throughout the year and they've been running a lot of 2-3 zone and their 2-3 zones are good because they've got pretty good length,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We've seen that throughout the end of the year from Crestview. I think that's why and they do have good length throughout their zone.”

Colonel Crawford has seen a lot of different defenses this season, including some combination defenses designed to take away Brayden Holt. Sheldon says they have to attack whatever they see. “We've seen multiple looks. We've seen looks just like we saw the other night. We saw that throughout the regular season. So, that's what you got to adjust and you try to prepare kids for all the different ways people are going to defend you and this group's really bought into that. I think the thing about our team is the other night with my two sophomores got double figures. We've got multiple weapons and we just have got to take what the defense gives us and then attack from there. So, we'll be prepared and Crestview will be and it's going to be a great district championship for fans in Mansfield and the surrounding area,” said Sheldon.

Published 2/28/25

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“Out of Bounds” this Saturday night

10-11 PM

Crawford Must be Rady for a Lot of Things

Colonel Crawford meets Western Reserve in a district semifinal in division VI on Wednesday night at Ontario High School.

They advanced with a (63-23) belting of New London on Friday night in a sectional final.

Coach David Sheldon says they executed well. “We took care of business and played a lot of guys and did what we needed to do to move on to where we want to be in a district tournament,” he said.

Western Reserve is coached by David’s younger brother Chris Sheldon.

David says the Riders (10-12), who beat Mansfeld Christian (73-50) in their sectional final, are playing excellent basketball at the right time. “I think first you have got to look at the second half of the season. They've won eight of their last 12. They've been playing good basketball and some great wins along the way. It's a team that has a lot of guys have played a lot of high school basketball back to last year when a lot of them were playing as sophomores. So, they can really score the basketball,” he told Swankonsports.com, “They can really shoot it from every position and they can put it on the floor. They're going to run their motion offense and a few sets here and there. It's a good basketball team that's playing very well. The last two games they've put up over 70 points on the board, including last Friday when they made 11 threes against Christian. So, it's a team that can score the basketball.”

Sheldon says Western will show them a lot on defense and will play it all well. “They're going to be well prepared and they're going to get after it. They'll play some man, they play a little diamond and one and you've seen them play some 2-3 zone. They'll vary it up. So, we've got to prepared. A lot of times they pick people up full court. That's a good group of athletes that's going through Western Reserve if you look at their junior class and below,” he said.

An advantage at the Eagles (21-1) would have is their size in the paint. Sheldon says they want to take advantage of that. “We have got good size. We definitely have good length and we try to take advantage of that. The good thing about our good length is they're good passers and we're shooters around them. If they get double teamed and we’ve seen different defenses all year long. So, that's a good thing we've seen multiple looks and we’ll adjust to what we see come Wednesday night,” said Sheldon.

Published 2/26/25

There will be a special edition of

“Out of Bounds” this Saturday night

10-11 PM

Crawford Ready to Get Started

Colonel Crawford, the number one seed in the district, will play host to the New London Wildcats, in a sectional final in division VI on Friday night in North Robinson.

The Eagles (20-1), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, was the outright winner of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference. They beat Mohawk (60-56) in overtime in a huge game last Wednesday and then capped it off with a (67-36) destruction of Wynford on Friday night.

They beat Mt. Gilead (58-35) in a non-conference game on Monday.

Coach David Sheldon says they are ready for the postseason. “I think we've made great progression over the course of the last three months. Where we were back in November till now at the end of February, we've liked the progression this basketball team has made. We've played in some big games throughout that stretch as well. So, it's definitely a team that has grown and is playing well at both ends of the floor, but now you go into tournaments, which is always a special time of the year. Every possession ramps up when you get to tournament basketball,” said Sheldon.

New London (2-20) finished in a share of the last place in the Firelands Conference. This would seem like a David versus Goliath sort of matchup, but to be fair, New London would take more of the liking of David’s little brother.

Sheldon says they take nothing for granted. “Well first of all, they're young basketball team. They're playing a lot of juniors. They play multiple defenses, various zones and man you've seen from them and they're well coached. Tom Howell went back home to a place that is dear to his heart and they're very well coached. We take every opponent, doesn’t matter who we're playing, doesn’t matter what their record is, as very serious,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “You're playing for a sectional championship Friday night, so we've got to make sure that we're prepped just like any game and then come out and do what we do no matter what kind of defense. We've seen all different defenses throughout the entire year.”

Colonel Crawford has gotten off to good starts in games this year and Sheldon says they need another of those on Friday. “I think that's one of the things that this basketball team has done. They’ve done a great job versus getting off to good starts throughout the year, not depending on who the opponent is. That's just the focus. Last Friday we won the league championship and this team was ready to go as we moved on after Monday night's game to the tournament come Tuesday,” he said.

Published 2/20/25

There will be a special edition of

“Out of Bounds” this Saturday night

10-11 PM

Colonel Crawford Expects Battle

Colonel Crawford tangles with New London on Thursday night in a division VI district semifinal at Willard High School.

In a sectional final last Saturday, the Lady Eagles outlasted rival Buckeye Central (36-32) to advance.

Coach Zac Bauer says they did what they had to. “We played well. You could tell we had a week off, but Buckeye didn't make anything easy on us. It's credit to the “N10” for being battle tested and put on a good show, both teams,” he said.

Crawford (21-2) won the “N10” and New London (18-5) won the Firelands Conference.

Bauer says the Lady Cats will play fundamental basketball. “Physically they have good size, they're well coached, coach (Eric) Mitchell does a really nice job with his kids. They execute really sharply and the thing that impressed me about them, other than how well they run their stuff, is just how well they pass the ball. It's a really nice passing team. That’s a credit to a well coached team with fundamental kids,” said Bauer.

Crawford beat New London (27-16) way back on November 27.

Bauer doesn’t think there will be many points scored in this one either. “Watching that first game back it was awfully early in the season for both teams. With us playing some young kids, our sophomores and freshmen played like sophomores and freshmen there. The New London team was trying to kind of figure themselves out for the beginning of the year too,” he told Swankonsports.com om Wednesday afternoon. “It'll be a little bit smoother on both ends. I know the teams are more comfortable with who they are and what they do. It's definitely going to be a low scoring affair because they're well prepared and they do things really well defensively and that's something we try to do as well.”

Published 2/20/25

There will be a special edition of

“Out of Bounds” this Saturday night

10-11 PM

Crawford Wants Fast Start

Colonel Crawford will host fellow Northern 10 Athletic Conference member Buckeye Central in a division VI sectional final on Saturday afternoon in North Robinson.

The Lady Eagles (19-2), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball poll in the small school division, won the outright “N10” championship this year. Their first title in more than a decade.

They beat Wynford (47-37) in their final regular season game last Saturday.

Coach Zac Bauer says they are eager to get the second season started. “This is the longest layoff we've had in our season. It’s a long time between games with two more days still to prep you kind of feel it (Wednesday) the urgency to get back playing,” he said.

Buckeye Central (10-13) advanced to this game with a (38-20) over Western Reserve on Tuesday night.

Bauer says the Buckettes are well disciplined and they have some length to them. “The Northern 10 continues to test us in the sectional tournament. The last two years we played “N10” teams in sectional tournament. Buckeye Central first of all is a well coached team. Phil Loy does a really good job with those girls,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “It's a mix of upper classmen and some freshman he's playing. They're fundamental, they're long, they shoot the three. If they get hot, they have got the length to shoot over hands and that makes it kind of an interesting situation.”

Crawford beat Buckeye twice during the regular season, winning (37-25) on December 7 in North Robinson and (57-24) on January 14 in New Washington.

Bauer says getting off to a good start is going to be important. “That's something we focus on practice this week. The first five minutes of our practice we tried to be really intense, be really loud, play fast, and get going, so there’s not a lull in practice for the first 15 minutes. By now the players kind of know the routine and we don't want their wheels to spin. We want them to go and we want it to be intentional. We’ve tried to focus on that, especially early in practice,” said Bauer.

Published 2/13/25

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Crawford Must Value the Basketball

Colonel Crawford has a chance to win an outright title in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title as they travel to Mohawk Wednesday night to battle with the second place Warriors.

A Mohawk (17-1,11-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, win would mean the two schools would be tied for first place with a game to play.

Crawford coach David Sheldon says it should be an outstanding game. “It's two very good basketball teams. You look at Mohawk and the body of work they've done this year. We've had a successful season. It's going to be two very good basketball teams battling it out and that's what you want the end of the year. It's a great best for both programs you know as we head into the tournament next week,” he said.

Mohawk’s only loss this season came January 10 (53-50) in overtime to Colonel Crawford in North Robison. They were up eight with 2:30 to play.

Sheldon says they this is a team that has great balance and is used to winning. “You look at Mohawk, they've got great balance. Four guys averaging double figures and they're all seniors. This has been a very successful group all the way through back to junior high and they play well together. They are very tough nosed kids and defensively they're very good as well. So, it's going to be a very big challenge for us going on the road (Wednesday) night. The good thing is we are in a good situation with two games to go being up one in the league, that's a good situation to be in. It’ll be game 13 of a 14 game “N10” journey this late in the season,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (17-1,12-0), #3 in our poll, has not lost since November.

Sheldon says valuing the basketball is key for them. “One thing is you have got to value every possession. This is a type of game when you play a very good basketball team in Mohawk that you got to value the basketball and get good shots. Defensively, you've got to be sound because they really try to break it down with their personnel off the bounce and they have got great shooters and then the big kid inside,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “I think you have got to value every possession at both ends of the floor come (Wednesday) night. Then it comes down, you've heard me say this over the years, kids making plays. They're going to be very well prepared. Coach (Paul) Dunn does a wonderful job and we're having good preparation as we head over there Wednesday night.”

Sheldon says that one game lead they have in the standings is important. “We protected homecourt in the first round and now Mohawk’s trying to protect it the second round to get a piece of the league championship. So, as I said earlier we're in a good situation going on the road. I know our guys will come out and play free spirited and do what we do as a basketball program over the years. So, it's two very good teams. I wouldn't say there's pressure, but we've got a good advantage being up one game going over to Sycamore,” said Sheldon.

Published 2/12/25

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Crawford Focus on Seneca East

Colonel Crawford, the leader in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, hosts Seneca East in an “N10” game on Friday night.

Thet lead Mohawk by just a game and play the Warriors next week.

They absolutely smothered Carey (55-18) last Saturday in a conference game.

Coach David Sheldon says their half court defense was tremendous. “I just thought defensively we were really good in the half court. That's a good, athletic basketball team. We really locked them down and put a lot of emphasis on the (Kyler) Boes kid you'd had scored 30 points two out of the last three games. Our guys just took it heart every time when we step on the court defensively. Offensively, when you get defensive stops, you're able to get out and run in transition, which just basketball team likes to do,” said Sheldon.

Sheldon says their solid defense is based on their physicality. “It comes back to what I talked earlier in the year about the physicality of our basketball team and the athleticism. The reason for that is that weight room where we spend a lot of time between football and even during our basketball season to make our kids better athletes that translates on the basketball floor,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (16-1,11-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, winner of 16 in a row, plays at home against Seneca East (13-6,7-5) on Friday.

Sheldon says the Tiger guards make them a tough matchup. “Two of the best guards in our league when you look at Mason and Bordner. They've been very successful the last three years this team has won. We had a dogfight up there the first time when we went up there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “It's a good basketball team that's been playing well. The good thing is we get to play at home this time. I have got the utmost respect for what coach (Anthony) Langhurst has done with that program since taking over. So, it's going to be a tough challenge anytime especially in this league and Seneca East is a very good basketball team.”

Crawford won the first game (64-45) on January 4.

The Eagles play Mohawk next Wednesday, but Sheldon says their eyes are on Seneca East. “It’s game 12 of a 14 game journey. You've heard me say that week after week the last three months and the most important game is Seneca East come Friday night,” he said.

Published 2/05/25

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Colonel Crawford Can Win Outright Title

Colonel Crawford is in position to win its first ever Northern 10 Athletic Conference girls’ basketball title. They can win it outright with a win at home against second place Seneca East on Friday night.

A win by the Lady Tigers would create a tie at the top of the standings.

Coach Zac Bauer says they look forward to the opportunity. “You always want to be in a position to play for a league championship. We tell the girls that's the number one goal going in and they all know that. We are very fortunate have the opportunity to play for a league championship,” she said.

Bauer says to win a league championship takes a lot of dedication from players and coaches. “From both ends from not only the coaches, the coaches families and the kids and their own families. It's a lot of time away. A lot of mental focus and clarity. Focusing for two or three hours a day six days a week. It's a grind, but you do it because you love it. You don't do it because you have to. You like the people that you do it with,” said Bauer.

Colonel Crawford (16-2,10-2), #3 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, hosts Seneca East (13-5,9-3), on Friday night. The Lady Tigers lost (48-28) to third place Wynford in a conference game on Tuesday night and fell out of a share of first place.

Crawford rocked Seneca East (54-32) on December 28.

Bauer says they Lady Tigers have scorers and they have a lot of varsity experience too. “They're an experienced team. A lot of those girls have been playing basketball at varsity level since they were freshmen. They are well coached, big, athletic, physical and shoot the ball really well, run the floor well,” he told Swanknsports.com on Thursday night, “Izzy Stockmaster (15.4 ppg) is one of the top scorers in our league. Alexa Snay (14.2 ppg) the same getting almost a double double every game. They are solid all around and we will have our hands full.”

Published 1/31/25

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Crawford With Two

Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader Colonel Crawford plays two games in the league against second division teams in Bucyrus on Thursday and Carey on Saturday.

The Eagles, also the leader in their division VI RPI district, have won 14 in a row. Last week, they used a big second half to beat Buckeye Central (62-39) in an “N10” game on Friday and downed Knox Morrow Athletic Conference leader Fredericktown (69-53) on Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says they have their eyes on their goal. “First, we got a league win. Credit Buckeye they came out and that's a much improved Buckeye team and they've made some great growth over the course of the year. Then Saturday night was a great non league game against a very good Fredericktown team, that’s very explosive with an offense averaging over 70 a game. I thought that was just a really good non league game between the “KMAC” leader and the “N10” leader at the present time,” said Sheldon.

On Thursday night, Crawford (14-1,9-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at Bucyrus (1-15,1-9) in a game the Redmen see as a rivalry.

The Eagles won the first meeting (73-33) on December 14.

Sheldon says they need focus. “Last week they won at home against Buckeye. It was their first win of the year. We have got to go on the road. Just like last Friday going on the road. This is game 10 of this 14 game “N10” journey and you have got to bring it every night because you get everybody's best shot this time of year,” he said.

They travel to Carey (4-10,4-5) on Saturday night. Again, the Eagles won the first game between the two (72-49) on December 20.

Sheldon says games against Carey are always physical ones. “It's always been a great rivalry for us and Carey whether it's football or basketball. They're a physical basketball team with great athletes on the floor. It'll be a challenge with game two. That's the great thing about in the league playing home and away,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “It'll be a challenge with them. They had a good first half against Mohawk. They're playing a little bit different lineup now than the first time feeling their way with the brand new group of kids to start the year with the great senior class they lost last year. So, it will be a challenge anytime it’s Colonel Crawford-Carey no matter what the sport is.”

Published 1/29/25

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Colonel Crawford Continues to Produce

Colonel Crawford, the leader in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, heads up the road to play Buckeye Central in a conference game on Saturday night.

They started the second half of the “N10” schedule last Saturday night with a (53-31) destruction of the Upper Sandusky Rams.

Coach David Sheldon says they were very good on both ends of the floor. “I was proud of our guys. It just shows the growth we have made from the beginning of the season because that's a very good Upper team. I thought we did a great job sharing the basketball. Putting four guys in double figures with some of the things Upper did defensively. Then also on the defensive end we were very good. We have got to play great one-on-one defense. They have got so many scorers and I thought we did a really good job defensively against a very explosive team,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (12-1,8-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is up state route 602 at Buckeye Central (6-7,3-6) on Friday night. Buckeye is coming off a (54-42) win over Wynford in “N10” play.

Crawford overwhelmed the Bucks (85-30) on December 12.

Sheldon reminds this is another game in a process. “We look at this as game nine. This is the most important game nine of a 14 game in an “N10” journey and the most important game is Buckeye. We are the hunted now with where we're at. That game earlier in the year, we just shot lights out, and yes we’ve shot it well throughout the entire year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We've got to come out and go on the road and it’s one of these type of games you want to get off to good starts versus a team like Buckeye. They're coming off a win last weekend against Wynford.”

Fredericktown (12-2) plays at Colonel Crawford in a non-conference game on Saturday night. They are in first place in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference.

Sheldon says it will be a test. “It's a very good basketball team. They're going to come into our place Saturday night 12-2 and in first place in the “KMAC”. This is what we try to do with our non league games. You look at Old Fort is in first place in the “SBC” River, Crestview first place in the Firelands and this is another very good basketball team. We went down there last year and they put it to us. So, it's a very solid basketball team with multiple weapons and it's going to be a great non league test come Saturday evening,” said Sheldon.

Published 1/24/25

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Lady Eagles Need Focus

Colonel Crawford, the Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader, plays host to Bucyrus on Friday night in a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

Tuesday night, they drilled Buckeye Central (57-24) in a conference game.

Coach Zac Bauer says they were pleased. “We're happy with how we played offensively and defensively. It helps when your kids are playing with a lot of confidence and they take things as seriously as they do,” he said.

Crawford leads Seneca East by one game and Wynford and Carey by two in the standings.

Bauer says they have a group that is very focused on the little things of the game. “Everybody has the same goals. Everybody's coming out to play to win every night, but it's the teams that are going to push themselves to be attentive to little things. I think that we have seniors right now that help to pull that attitude and that attentiveness into practice. We're very fortunate with the senior group that we have and as hard as they work physically they're pretty locked in mentally too on practice days and on prep days and things like that. So, we've been very lucky there,” said Bauer.

Colonel Crawford (13-1,9-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at home for Bucyrus (1-13,1-9) on Friday. Crawford won the first meeting (54-24) on December 13.

Bauer says their focus has to be on what’s ahead. “You have to deal with what's in front of you. You can't think about what happened last time because that's over. In any situation whether you win or you lose, you win big or you lose big you have to focus on what's in front of you,” he told Swankonspoorts.com on Wednesday evening, “Adaptability has been a big focus of ours for the last two or three weeks and especially going in the second round you can't predict what other teams are going to do to you and how they're going to adjust. You can only deal with what you see and be able to change on the fly. So, it's not reflective of what happened, but it's going to be about who comes out and executes. It's just like any other game in the “N10”. You have to come out and execute, you have to be sharp and focused and attentive to details and if we can do that, I think that we'll be in a good spot.”

Published 1/16/25

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It’s About Making Plays for Crawford

Colonel Crawford, the Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader, has a big test on Saturday night when they host the Upper Sandusky Rams.

Upper trails Crawford by two games.

Crawford took sole possession of first place in the league when they edged Mohawk (53-50) in overtime last Friday.

Coach David Sheldon says they made some big plays at crunch time. “It was a game between two very good teams, it was a battle, and fortunately we came up on top. We held serve at our home court because we know that it's round robin in this league and we still have to go to Mohawk and in the middle of February. So, proud of our guys. You talk about the end of the game. We got some key turnovers and made some big plays down the stretch. We were very fortunate in overtime to score first basket and make free throws down the stretch,” he told Swakonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “I told everybody that pregame Friday in North Robinson with two very good basketball teams was better than watching Lee Corso and Herbstreit for pregame of the Ohio State game. So, it's one game and it was game seven of a 14 game “N10” journey and we've got a big game eight coming Saturday night.”

The Eagles also beat Upper Sandusky (44-42) on December 6 in a game that was very similar to last week.

Sheldon says they prepare for such situations. “We preach one possession at a time our way in our program. I think that's the key. You can't get too high and you can't get too low when you go throughout a 32 minute game. Last Friday, it took 36 minutes. So, our kids have been in these situations and we played some very good non league games early on in the season that helps prepare you for these as well. I think that's a key as you move forward as you go through a long season of high school basketball,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (11-1,7-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays host to Upper Sandusky (10-2,5-2) on Saturday night. The Rams have won nine of their last 10 games.

Sheldon says Upper has a lot of scorers. “It's a very good basketball team. You look at them and they are 10-2 and they have played a very good non league schedule and went undefeated non league wise. It's very similar to Mohawk. They have got five guys that can score on the floor and we're going to have to play great one-on-one defense when you look at them. They're going to be well prepared. It’s going to be kids making plays. Just like I said last week, when you have got two very good basketball teams it comes down to kids making plays in games like this,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford has had great success over the years at Mac Morrison Gym and Sheldon says that can be a big plus for them. “Anytime you can play in the “MAC” in North Robinson it's a great atmosphere. Our student section and then our community the way they support our high school athletes here at Colonel Crawford. So, it'll be a great atmosphere Saturday night and we've had a great historic run back and forth with Upper Sandusky and it's two good basketball programs that'll battle it out come Saturday night,” he said.

Published 1/15/25

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It’s Crawford and Mohawk for “N10” Lead

There will be just one leader in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference after Friday as co-leaders Colonel Crawford and Mohawk meet in North Robinson for the lead.

Mohawk (7-0,5-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, has held teams to 30 points or less in five of their seven games.

Coach David Sheldon says they just very hard to score on. “They're very good defensively. It starts with the (Conner) Flood kid that protects the rim allows them to get out in passing lanes. Their man to man defense is very good. They’re a physical basketball team. They bring that football mentality to the basketball floor and they're very athletic. This is a group that has played together for probably 13 years. You look at the fathers of Cleveland and Haines on their bench and it's a very close group. They're very good defensively and you've got to be sharp with your execution. It'll be a grind out type of game, which we've had several times over the years with Mohawk,” said Sheldon.

With much of the same cast back for both schools, they spilt their two conference games last year with both winning on the road, Crawford (38-27) at Mohawk and the Warriors (52-38) at Colonel Crawford.

Sheldon says the game will be determined by kids making plays at crunch time. “I think it comes down to kids making plays. That's what it's going to come down to. Mohawk is so well coached I have got the utmost respect for coach (Paul) Dunn and what he's done with that program. It's going to come down to kids making plays and who rises to the occasion come Friday night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We’re physical, they’re physical and those are the type of games that you want to see between two undefeated teams presently in the conference. It's why both of us have been in this situation. So, we're looking forward to the opportunity. You get into January and there's some people you know still competing for conference championships and some waiting for the tournament. We're fortunate both programs right now that we're still in the hunt for conference championship.”

It’s a home game for the Eagles (9-1,6-0), #4 in our poll, and Sheldon says it’s good to be home in the friendly confines of the Mac Morrison Gym. “We've played so many on the road. We've been to Upper, we've been to Carey, we have been to Seneca East. So, it's very nice to have a home game. It's two great communities. I’ve got the utmost respect for Mohawk and our community will be out there. So, it's sort of the pregame before the Buckeyes come Friday night with Mohawk and Colonel Crawford,” he said.

Published 1/08/25

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Wynford Names Court after Rob Sheldon

If there were a Mt. Rushmore for boys’ basketball coaches in North Central Ohio Rob Sheldon would be featured.

On Saturday night, Wynford Schools named the court at the “House of Thrills” gym in his honor before a game with rival Colonel Crawford.

Rob says he got the job with a goal in mind. “This was a school that had tremendous success but never won a district championship. I had just won one up at Pioneer, the last year I was there. The principal Don Miller said we're not accepting applications and he said where do you coach? I said North Central, we just played in the regionals. He said can you come down tomorrow at 2:00,” he told Swankonsports.com Saturday night, “I got in after the interviews were closed. The whole crux to the thing was we need to get this program to the regional tournament, but I also knew that if we didn't, I'd be looking for another job. This school was loaded with talent. You don't win 400 games because you're a great coach, you don't win national championships because you're a great coach you have great players to go along with some good assistants, so very blessed.”

He accomplished that goal. In fact, he won two regional titles in 1987 and 1989.

More than 50 former players and coaches turned out to honor Rob. “I try to be the toughest guy in America and even though it's been 23 years. For all those guys to come back. They came back from Florida, the came back from the East Coast I mean it’s crazy, it's crazy,” he said.

Rob has two sons that are coaches, David at Colonel Crawford and Chris at Western Reserve. Plus, his daughter in law Amy is the longtime girls’ coach at Wynford.

David says it was a special night. “I grew up in diapers in this gym and it’s why I'm doing what I'm doing. Why my brother is. My father hired my wife. If you look at all the success, it’s because of that guy that started it and installed it. It's just neat to see those guys. The guys that were his assistants, the former coaches from all over the state came here. It's a special night for the 73 year old that built this program. This was the mecca back in the late 80s the 90s and early 2000s. Just a lot of great memories for me growing up in the gym with those guys and why I'm doing what I'm doing,” said David.

Oh yeah, they played a game Saturday night too and Colonel Crawford smoked Wynford (65-21) to maintain a share of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference lead with Mohawk.

David Sheldon says again they again turned defense into offense. “It was set up by our defense. I thought our defensive pressure was good all night. It allowed us offense. You recognize inside, out is good. Whether you're inside on a drive, score on a post feed, if they double you kick it out and we've got shooters. We came over here and did we needed to in game six of the 14 game league journey,” he said.

Published 1/04/25

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Colonel Crawford Must Keep Focus

Northern 10 Athletic Conference co-leader Colonel Crawford plays at longtime rival Wynford on Saturday.

They will be naming the “House of Thrills” gym in honor of former Wynford coach Rob Sheldon.

Last weekend, Crawford handled Seneca East (62-47) in “N10” action on Friday and Cardington (60-36) in a Saturday night non conference game. They have won eight straight.

Crawford coach David Sheldon, Rob’s son, was very pleased with the execution. “We were very happy with our play both Friday and Saturday because those are two very good teams. You look at both of them and they have seven wins already. It was two back-to-back wins. First the league game Friday at Seneca East, who was a nemesis last year. Then a very, very good Cardington team had four guys averaging double figures. Just proud of our guys. It was our fourth double weekend basically in a row. So, it's nice to have a single week this weekend. Now they're back at it when we got back in the gym this week to get ready for Saturday night at Wynford,” said Sheldon.

The Eagles (8-1,5-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at Wynford (1-7,1-5) on Saturday. The Royals lost (62-26) to the other co-leader Mohawk last week.

Sheldon says they have kids capable of making plays. “Well, first of all they lost a very, very talented senior class last year. They bring back two guys that played a lot with the (Weston) Prenger kid and the (Drew) Johnson kid. So, those are two very good players. They have some young kids, so they've struggled, but they've been in some games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “The big thing is going over to Wynford and the Colonel Crawford and Wynford rivalry over the years. It'll be a special night that night with a lot of former players back with them renaming “The House of Thrills” court after my father. So, there's going to be a lot of energy in that building and we've got to make sure we come out focused with the task at hand with Wynford.”

Sheldon says they have to have focus. “This group's been great about that and that starts with our preparation this week leading up to Saturday. Once those warm ups start and the tip off we get back to what we've worked on and focused in practice with the keys to being in a game versus Wynford Saturday night,” he said.

Published 1/01/25

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Crawford Plays Rival Wynford

Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader unbeaten Colonel Crawford will be at Wynford on Friday night for a conference game.

The Lady Royals trail Crawford by two games.

On Saturday, the Lady Eagles (10-0,6-0) downed Seneca East (54-32) in “N10” play.

Coach Zac Bauer calls it a good win. “Seneca East is a really talented team. They've got a lot of experience. They've had that same group of girls that are juniors playing since they were freshmen. That's a hard place to go play and anytime you can win a league game like we did on Saturday you have got to feel pretty good about that,” said Bauer.

Wynford (6-3,3-2) handled Mohawk (58-40) in a conference game on Saturday.

Bauer says Wynford has talent. “Like any other team in the league they are very talented with a good mix of sophomores and juniors and a couple seniors mixed in there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “They're going to be well coached, well disciplined. It's like every game in our league every night. You have got to be prepared yourselves, be focused and bring your best. That's what we're going to try to do on Friday.”

Bauer says to win Friday they must execute very well. “We have to be very fundamental and be focused, sharply execute, be confident and play to our own strengths as well,” he said.

Published 12/30/24

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Crawford Faces Seneca East Zone

Colonel Crawford, the co-leader in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, will be at Seneca East for a conference game on Friday night.

The Eagles (6-1,4-0), #4 in Swankonsports.com basketball coaches poll in the small school division, have won their last six and coach David Sheldon says they have found their groove. “I really think after that first weekend, even weekend two, we're back into basketball form. It takes a while and I knew December could be a little bit slow because of the late start. So, happy, our kids have really been working hard in practice to get to this progress. We're happy with our start, but we have got a long way to go as we go to game five of a 14 game journey Friday night up in Attica,” he said.

Seneca East (6-2,4-1) won two “N10” games last weekend in beating Buckeye Central (67-46) on Friday and Wynford (59-40) on Saturday.

Sheldon says they have great guard play. “Two of the best guards around in Lucas Bordner and (Luke) Mason. They're very good. Defensively, they're you know playing their 1-3-1, they're showing a little 2-3 match up and playing man. So, they're still doing what they do defensively. It's a good basketball team. If you look at their record overall they're off to a great start. When you have two great lead guards like those two it makes it tough and that's why they've been successful,” he said.

Sheldon says they have been working against zone this year, but Luke Mason makes this a tough assignment. “We have seen some zone. You work on it and we've seen it in games. It's just something you adapt to. The key to their zone is Mason up top. He’s just so active on the ball. He's very good and his motor never stops at both ends of the floor,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Then they got athletes. The three guys that fill the other starting roles are great athletes. They didn't play basketball last year, but coach (Anthony) Langhurst got them back out and they've got five athletes on the floor at all times.”

Seneca East had the Eagles number last year and Sheldon says they certainly remember that. “They had a great run last year. We had to play them three times. I shouldn't have to say much when we go into this game Friday night because we have got a lot of our guys back that played in the district final and in the two regular season games. Our guys have the utmost respect for them and we're looking forward to it. It’s another big road game. We went to Upper, we went to Carey and it seems like we've got a lot of road games and now we have got to go up to Attica Friday night and make a good business trip. It's preparation all week waiting to Friday night,” said Sheldon.

Published 12/24/24

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Crawford to Face Physical Carey

Colonel Crawford takes its act to Carey for a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Friday night.

They play at Lucas in a non-conference game on Saturday.

Last week, they belted a couple of league opponents in Buckeye Central (85-30) on Thursday and Bucyrus (73-33) on Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says they were able to build leads early. “I thought it was a good week anytime you have a double league round during the weekend. I was pretty happy with the way we got out to good starts in both games. It really started with our defensive end of the floor and continued then to the offensive end,” he said.

Sheldon says their defense gave them some easy looks. “We created turnovers and we shot the ball really well. I feel like we're getting our legs under us and we shot it well from the perimeter and extended possessions with offensive rebounds as well,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (4-1,3-0), #4 in the Swankosports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Carey (1-4,1-2) on Friday night. Th Blue Devils beat Wynford (67-61) in a “N10” game last Saturday. They fell to Willard (56-49) in a non-league on Tuesday night.

Sheldon says as always Carey is going to be physical. “First, I have the upmost respect for Carey kids. I think they're hard workers. You look at the competition we've had in multiple sports over the last several years with Carey. We know that Carey is going to bring it. They are a physical basketball team and very athletic,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “You've got to be able to handle their physicalness and athleticism they bring on the basketball floor. I think early in the season they have got a brand new head coach, so there's some things they're doing different than in the past, so they're adjusting. It's going to be a tough road challenge anytime we go to Carey doesn't matter what sport it is.”

Sheldon says they preach taking one game at a time and they understand the importance of winning on the road. “We talk over a three month period it's 14 game journey through the “N10” and it's so well balanced that you've got to be able to go on the road and take a business approach on what needs to be done. This is another situation of that Friday night. You've got to go on the road. We were fortunate with one road game so far to get a win and now there's a big one Friday night in Carey,” he said.

Published 12/19/24

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It’s One Game at a Time For Crawford

Colonel Crawford is in sole possession of first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and they play at Mohawk in a conference game on Tuesday night.

They smoked Bucyrus (54-24) in a “N10” game on Friday night.

They have banked on their defense this year, but coach Zac Bauer says their offense is coming around too. “I think that things are running a little bit more smoothly offensively. I think we're doing a lot of good things. Everybody would say this, but I wish we would make more shots just to see the kids rewarded for making the right play. I think things are running smoothly. They're turning the ball over to an acceptable rate, it's not super high. I think the quality of shots we're getting is good, so I've been happy with that,” said Bauer.

Colonel Crawford (6-0,3-0) is at Mohawk (3-3,2-1) on Tuesday. The Lady Warriors beat Buckeye Central (34-32) on Friday night on a buzzer beater by Chloe Miller.

Bauer says they work well together. “It’s another tough environment to go play and a well coached team that's really disciplined. They've got a lot of nice young players. They play a sophomore at the point in the (Katie) Woodland girl and a pair of sisters out front that play on the wings and the (Aubrey) Gottfied girl is I believe a sophomore that plays inside,” he told Swakonsports.com on Monday night, “I've been impressed with their effort. They play really, really hard and they're really disciplined and they're doing the right things. You can tell that by watching them play and the way they interact with their coaching staff they're real receptive to what their coaches want to be doing.”

The Lady Eagles are all alone in first place right now, but Bauer knows they have to keep working hard. “You just have to focus on little things that you can control and play one possession at a time. It's a long season and a lot of things can happen and go right or poorly for you in spurts. We just have to control what we can control and kind of stick to what's in front of us and not get too big picture right away,” he said.

Published 12/17/24

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Colonel Crawford Looks for a Battle with Buckeye

Colonel Crawford with host rival Buckeye Central in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Thursday night.

Both won their league openers last Friday.

Crawford (2-1,0-0) rallied to beat Upper Sandusky (44-42) on Friday night and then added a key non-conference win (52-39) over Old Fort on Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says they were both very good wins. “Those are two very quality teams. They're going to win a lot of basketball games, both Upper and Old Fort. I thought our kids showed a lot of resilience, especially late game Friday night. We're down eight with 2:30 to go and to come back and play one possession at time. Then Saturday, Old Fort is really good, that's a team they'll be favored to win their league and win a lot of games coming off of regional appearance. It was a good quality weekend and very proud of our guys and hopefully it's a stepping stone to get us going,” said Sheldon.

Sheldon says they have to keep working as a team to improve. “Last night, we’re in the film room not just for pointing out positives, but things we had to improve moving forward. I think that's the key as you go through a long three, four month season you have got to keep improving and especially the early in the season. We enjoy the victory, but there's a lot of work still to be done,” he said.

Buckeye Central (3-0,1-0) rallied from 17 down in the second half to beat Wynford (67-62) in overtime on Friday. They also got a non-conference win (46-34) over New London on Saturday.

Sheldon says the Bucks are playing with confidence. “They're undefeated and if you look they start five juniors and this junior class of theirs has been very good all the way back to junior high. We knew this group was coming. They're playing with a lot of confidence. They have got three good wins and it's going to be a test on Thursday night,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We have got a lot of work to do to prepare. The Phillips boys are really good, but they have got other people around them as well. So, it'll be a challenge for us and it's always fun to battle of 602 with us being so close rivals.”

Sheldon says Buckeye has a lot of shooters and they get them good shots. “They surround the floor with shooters. Like I said both Phillips boys, the little number one and then the (Cayden) Jarvis kid came back to Buckeye from Crestline is a good player. Then they have got a big inside and Fishpaw. So, they definitely have shooters galore and they run a lot of good sets offensively to get them shots as well,” he said.

Published 12/11/24

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Crawford Has Upper For “N10” Opener

Colonel Crawford opens the Northern 10 Athletic Conference portion of its schedule at Upper Sandusky on Friday night.

They host Old Fort for a good non-conference battle on Saturday night.

They lost (56-48) to Crestview in their opener last Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says they didn’t make enough shots. “It looked like the first game and Crestview's a really, really good team. We knew they had a lot of returning. Credit Crestview, I thought their role player Daniel Wells really played well. He came out and hit four threes in the first three quarters because you have got to put so much attention on (Justice) Thompson, he's one of the best players in the area. We just didn’t shoot it well. We got great looks from beyond the three-point line that I think moving forward will make those, but we didn't make shots,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday morning, “It was a good Crestview team and it was a great test. You learn a lot in those games early. I love playing good non league schedules because you can point out things on film moving forward instead of playing a cupcake. So, it was a great non-league game and we just came up on the short end last Saturday night.”

Sheldon thinks the shooting will come for the Eagles. “We've been at it two weeks with our great football run like we talked in the preseason. We had two scrimmages and Crestview was able to get five scrimmages. The more game like situations you hope moving forward that that will be able to make those shots and share the ball to get open shots and kind of take advantage of that,” he said.

Upper (1-0,0-0) beat Willard (53-40) in their first game last Wednesday.

Sheldon says the Rams have key experience. “It's a very good basketball team and it's a well coached team. Coach (Jeff) Winslow has done a great job over the years with the consistency at Upper. They return four starters from last year. Realistically only lost one guy that played a lot for them in the Daris kid. So, this is an experienced basketball team that's very good. We're going to have to go on the road for opening league game against a very good basketball team,” he said.

It will be Old Fort’s opener, but Sheldon knows the Stockaders will be good again. “It's a very good basketball team. It’s another team non league. They were in the regional. The (Ryan) Adelsperger kid for them is very special. They get up and down, they're going to press. They play with a lot of confidence. The thing about Old Fort is they've been playing basketball all fall with no football over there. So, they're going to be chomping at the bit and it's another great non-league test. I've always said I want a challenging schedule because we're about winning championships hopefully down the road instead of just getting wins. This will be another great non-league test to see where we are against a very good Old Fort team that's well coached by coach (Eric) Hoover,” said Sheldon.

Published 12/04/24

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Crawford With Test at Upper

Colonel Crawford will be over at Upper Sandusky to play the Lady Rams in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Tuesday night.

They are coming off a (27-16) win over Firelands Conference power New London on Friday night.

Coach Zac Bauer says it was a good win for them. “Well anytime you go on the road over the holiday, day after Thanksgiving, it's good to get a tough non league win. Like we said last week, New London’s really well coached and they're really disciplined and they're experienced team that plays to some of our weaknesses. It was a sign of some team maturity on our part for finding a way to win when we didn't make shots,” said Bauer.

Bauer says the Lady Eagles are going to have to play defense every night in order to be consistently successful. “It has to be because there's going to be nights where we don't make shots. We always tell the girls that that's something that they can control is their defensive effort and their execution on that end. You just can't control whether they make shots or not. Just take good ones and do the best you can to prepare that they go in, but on days where they don't, you have got to find ways,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (3-0,0-0) is at Upper Sandusky (1-1,0-0) on Tuesday night. The Lady Rams lost (38-36) to Willard in a non-league game last Tuesday night.

Bauer says is very fundamentally sound and has one of the best players in the league. “Well, Upper Sandusky returns to the reigning “N10” player of the year in Grace Walton. Another really well coached team who's very disciplined. Coach Jerry Vent does a really good job with his teams being fundamental and they pass the ball so well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “It's something I really like to watch when you watch Upper Sandusky’s teams over the last three years is how well they pass the ball. They play extremely hard, they play well together. They are an experienced team. They've got some girls have been playing varsity basketball for two, three years and it's going to be a test any night you play in our league.”

Published 12/03/24

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Colonel Crawford with Big Challenge

Colonel Crawford takes on New London in a key early season non-conference matchup at New London on Friday night.

The Lady Eagles have won both of their games so far this season, beating Cardington (39-30) last Friday and Plymouth (53-18) on Tuesday. This will be their most difficult game of the season so far.

Coach Zac Bauer is pretty pleased with their start. “Yeah, I'm happy to see your kids rewarded for the time they put in. It's just a credit to them for being focused and being ready to go,” he said.

New London (1-0) beat Huron in their first game (51-42) last Saturday also in non-conference action. They are the defending Firelands Conference champion.

Bauer says they are experienced and fundamentally sound. “They're really well coached. Coach (Eric) Mitchell does a great job with his kids preparing them and being more disciplined and they're fundamental. It's a team that's been essentially a varsity team for the last two years as sophomores and freshmen. They're league champs, they're well weathered and they play with a lot of confidence, they're physical, defend well, they do a lot of little things right,” said Bauer.

Crawford beat New London (43-30) two years ago in North Robinson.

Bauer says they will need to be able to defend the Lady Cats inside Friday night. “That's something that we stressed (Wednesday) in practice that we have to have good inside presence and have good post defense and interior play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “That's one reason why we wanted to go back and pick up New London this year after not playing last year was that's something that's been kind of a weakness of ours and something we wanted to kind of stress and challenge ourselves to do.”

Published 11/28/24

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Crawford With Good Matchup With Crestview

In a matchup between two of the best small school basketball teams in the area Colonel Crawford visits Crestview in a non-conference game that serves as the opener for both on Saturday night.

Crawford coach David Sheldon says they are still working on coming up with their rotation. “I think after 12 days of practice we're trying to figure that out. We have got a lot of guys competing for spots. We only lost two seniors last year and there's a lot of depth that we're competing with right now. I think some of that will play out as we get in early in the season and see who rises to the occasion, but that's a good thing to have. We're very fortunate to have that. We are a work in progress. We've had 12 days together. We have got to open up Saturday, so it's been a work in progress, but the competition within our gym and our scrimmages has been really good the past almost two weeks now,” said Sheldon.

The Eagles are built on defense and Sheldon says this team can defend. “We have that football mentality. We're a physical basketball team and I think that helps with the defensive end. These guys know the foundation and that we really preach defense and spend a lot of time on it and how important it is. So, I do think they can. It’s been like I said, competitive in our practices. Guys going at it each other to competing for spots to play this weekend it’s Saturday night,” he said.

Crestview is the defending Firelands Conference champion and Sheldon says this will be a big test for them. “It's a very good basketball team. They only lost one regular season game last year. So, this is an opener that's going to really test us. They bring back three really good players with Thompson, Goon and Ringler back that played a lot of basketball on a very successful, probably the most successful team ever, in Crestview history,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “It's a good basketball team that loves the game of basketball. Coach (John) Kutrz does a great job and he's had groups that just love the game. So, it's going to be a very, very good test. They're very explosive offensively and they're going to play hard man to man, get out and passing lanes and make things tough. It's a great opener where our program is and Crestview, it's good to have two teams go at it come Saturday night. Now, they've had their kids a little bit longer. I know it'll be a test for us before we go into league play next week.”

Published 11/27/24

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Crawford to be Tested by Cardington

Colonel Crawford will host Cardington in their girls’ basketball opener on Saturday night at Mac Morrison Gym.

They were runners-up in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference last year and district runners up too.

Coach Zac Bauer says his kids are ready to play. “This is the first year where on our first practice we had the whole team. Kids haven't been playing in the postseason in their fall sports, which is fortunate for us. It's been a time where you know I think we've needed the practice in the long preseason with having some young kids. I talked to two of our captains (Tuesday) and they said we're ready. So, I trust our kids, I don't doubt that they're ready,” he said.

Bauer says they are a deeper team than they have been and that’s a plus. “I feel really good about where our team is. It's a situation where I have to tell myself that we are our own team. We're not the past years team. With us being young we've wanted to make sure we're good at a few simple things before we've complicated the wheel like we have in years past,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “I think that basketball talent wise we have a deeper group than we've had in years past with some of our underclassmen and with the competitive nature of the kids that we have and with as hard as we play and with the way things have been in our scrimmages we've been tested in scrimmages against really quality opponents. I just I trust our team to tell me they're ready to go and I believe that they're ready.”

Bauer says they expected a good test from a Cardington team that is both talented and experienced. “Their experienced, they have a lot they have four seniors and on their team this year. They're real fundamental and sharp to watch. They execute really well, which is a quality of a veteran team. They've got some really talented guards and a real nice post player. It's definitely going to be a good test for us to open up the season with an experienced team and hopefully tournament like atmosphere with it being Saturday night. So, it's going to definitely challenge us, but I think that it'll make us better in the long run down the road I think it's going to be something we'll benefit from,” said Bauer.

Published 11/20/24

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Colonel Crawford Getting in Shape

Colonel Crawford, one of the traditional small school basketball powers, looks to have the potential for another outstanding season this year.

They shared the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title last year and advanced to a district final.

Coach David Sheldon says right now they are trying to get into shape to play basketball. “We look like a football team right now. We've had our kids for three days. We brought them in last Thursday. The biggest thing is trying to get them into basketball conditioning and it's totally different than football. The OSHAA didn't help us because we lost three weeks of the season with football starting games a week later, moving basketball season up to Thanksgiving weekend and then the end of the season there's a week because of seven divisions,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “You're up against the wall with time constraints and trying to get kids into shape. The good thing is we had great success in football and I've always believed success breeds success. We've dealt with this, which is a good thing, because of the great football program that we have as well. It's just getting a ball in their hands, getting them in shape and trying to get healthy. We have got bumps and bruises from a long, great football playoff run where we got to get healthy as well.”

Sheldon says having a fine football season, the Eagles plays 12 football games this year, and having that success is going to help them this winter. “It's great having them have success in playing football. I love my guys out there playing on Friday nights all fall. Of our 12 guys on the varsity roster 11 of them played football, so I'm a big one that kids competing is a good thing because then it breeds success because they're competing on the football field. Now they compete in the winter on basketball court and then in the spring with track and baseball. So, it's definitely a good thing and it's why our athletic department has been very successful over the years because our kids play multiple sports and that's what small school athletics is supposed to be about,” said Sheldon.

Crawford only lost one player to graduation and Sheldon says the building blocks are there. “We bring a lot back from last year's district final team and that's a good thing. It's more that we brought back and what we started with last year at this time. We are very fortunate to have a good June before we sent them off to football in July with molding this team together. So, there's a lot of competition in our gym right now within our team. When you look at practices and kids competing for spots, so that's a good thing. Our practices are very intense and you want that in the preseason as you lead into next Saturday versus one of the best teams in the area in Crestview,” he said.

Published 11/19/24

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Colonel Crawford With Good Combination

Colonel Crawford was the runner up in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference last year, advanced to a district final, and the outlook for the Lady Eagles this season in pretty good too.

Coach Zac Bauer says they have a good mix of experience and younger talent. “We're in a good spot where we return three major players from last year’s team in Mira Holt, Gabby Roston and Lexi Dure. Couple that with a letter winner in Robin Ehmann, who lettered as a freshman and saw more time as the year went on. The challenge for us is going to be who's going to fill the void left by our senior class last year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “We've got kids in Carley Zender and Lila Plesac who are ready to do that. We’ve got Camryn Powers coming up as a senior from our JV last year. We've got two nice freshmen stepping in in Emmi Powers and Sailor Holt. It's just who can find a way to kind of support those other three that have been through the ringer with us for the last two years and getting them to feel like they belong and are peers to those three.”

Colonel Crawford tips off its season with back to back games against teams out of the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference in Northmor and Cardington November 22 and 23.

Bauer says they have spent this preseason determining who can play and how much. “That’s what we sent our first two scrimmages doing was just seeing not only if our young kids are ready to play at the varsity level, but then rotation wise how do they fit in with the others and could they find their footing there. I think those young ones, they are sophomores and freshmen. have done a really, really good job doing that and rising to the occasion,” said Bauer.

Bauer says he is particularly impressed with the work ethic and improvement shown by one of his girls. “I have got to mention Carley Zender again. She's a girl I sat with in the spring and we kind of set a goal for her to be a catch and shooter for us. I just never seen a kid go after a role and the spot and do the things that she did on her own to get to where she is right now, so proud of her,” he said.

Published 11/12/24

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Crawford to Face Speedy Grandview Hts

Colonel Crawford, of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, is at unbeaten Grandview Heights on Friday night in a division VI regional quarterfinal,

The Eagles played one of the most exciting games in Ohio last week when they railed late to beat Monroe Central (37-36) on Friday. The game winning points coming on a two point conversion.

Coach Jake Bruner says it was a great win, but their execution must be better this week. “At school this week a lot of people were saying great job to our guys. Probably as fan it was fun to watch, not so much as a coach. It was a very interesting game. It was far away and whenever you get a road win at a place you have never been against a team that was 9-1, you feel good about it. There were a lot things execution wise that we didn’t do a very good job with, so we really have to do a better job this week if we are going to compete with this team,” said Bruner.

Colonel Crawford (9-2) visits Grandview Heights (10-0), the top seed in the region, on Friday night. The Bobcats blasted Marion Elgin (41-6) in their playoff opener last week.

Bruner says the Bobcats have great speed. “I don’t know what’s bad about them. Obviously, they’re undefeated. They have a tremendous amount of speed at the running back position. They are well coached. You don’t get to this level and not be well coached and not be a good team. Their speed really concerns me. They do a great job on special teams. They fly to the ball. They are not extremely big, but they get off the ball up front. They take care of the ball. They like to run the ball like we do and they do a really good job with that,” he said.

Bruner says Grandview has gotten off to good starts in a lot of their games, their only close game was a double overtime win over Johnstown Northridge, and he says they can’t allow that to happen. “What they have done all year is they get big leads early and kind of just cruise on teams and they have been very successful doing that. Once they do that defensively they kind of lay back and kind let you make a mistake,” he told Swankonsports.com, “They are already up and they can run the ball and eat the clock. They do a great job with that. They don’t have a huge team, but the kids they do have is they play hard and they do a great job of getting the ball around. They key of one back and he is very, very good.”

Published 11/08/24

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Crawford Must Defend the Spread

Colonel Crawford heads for Southeast Ohio and a meeting with Monroe Central on Friday night in a first round playoff game in division VI.

The Eagles finished the regular season (8-2) after winning the “Iron Plow” game with rival Wynford (42-6) last week.

Coach Jake Bruner says they played a good game. “Anytime you play a rival game week 10 you're concerned. Wynford-Colonel Crawford is a big rivalry and we knew we'd have our hands full. I thought our kids came out and played pretty well overall,” he said,

Monroe Central (9-1) beat Shadyside (52-0) last week.

Bruner says they will be forced to defend an outstanding quarterback in Tucker Hall. “To be honest, never heard of Monroe Central until now. They play there against Hannibal River, a team we played in the last couple of years on week one. We've got a long trip, it's a three hour trip one way there, that's the first hurdle we have got to get over. They have one of the more talented teams that they've had there. They won a playoff game last year and were 7-5. They have a tremendous quarterback. He's the leading passer all time in their school and his brother is a great receiver. They've got a couple other guys that are really good. They have a big team from a size standpoint. They’re big sized guys offensive linemen, so it's going to be a huge challenge for us,” said Bruner.

Bruner says Monroe Central is going to feature a lot of the spread offense when they have the ball. “There are parts of them that remind us of different teams. The difference is the style of play down there is different. I don't mean that good or bad, it's just different, people do different things and it's a little different from the area you're part of. They remind me a little bit of a lot of different teams we play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon. “Their quarterback is very versatile. He runs the ball, he throws the ball, he has a tremendous arm. He throws it deep very, very well. They want to spread you out. They'll run it a little, but they want to spread you out. Spread you out and run the ball with him and they want to spread you out and throw the ball with him. So, the offensive really goes through Tucker Hall. He's the all time leading passer for a reason. He's got a big body, a big frame and he can run the ball and throw the ball.”

Published 10/29/24

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Colonel Crawford Plays Big Rival

Colonel Crawford pays a visit to Wynford to play the rival Royals on Friday night in a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

The Eagles got more than 200 yards rushing and four touchdowns from running back Conner McMichael and beat Upper Sandusky (28-14) last Friday in league play.

Coach Jake Bruner says it was a good win for them. “Number one, we were happy to get a win. We really felt like Upper Sandusky was hot right now. They’re playing really well and they played really well that night. They were very physical. I could tell that they're much improved, especially from game one and offensively they're really hitting on all cylinders,” he said.

Bruner says this game is always important for the Eagles. “Number one, for us this is a big rival game. The playoffs and all that stuff is obviously important, but more important for our community and our kids Wynford has a great program. It's a big rival school across the county. We have got to go there. They've won two in a row. They're going to get some kids back healthy,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They've got enough weapons. They do a great job running the football. They have got one of the best backs in the league. We know we're going to get their best effort Friday night and it's going to be a war.”

Wynford’s Anthony Evans has run for more than 1,000 yards this year.

Colonel Crawford (7-2,4-2) stands ninth in its division VI region. A win could get a home playoff game.

Bruner says the Royals (3-6,2-4) want to be physical and over the years wins have not some easy at Wynford. “They're big up front. They've got size up front. They've got bodies to throw at you. They've got two nice running backs. They've got some skill. Obviously, they're well coached. We know anytime you throw the records out with the rivalry. We're going to get their best effort Friday night and hopefully our kids will give their best effort as well as we travel over there. It's a tough place to play. Lately we've won there, but over the past 20 years there's not been too many wins over there,” said Bruner.

Colonel Crawford has won the last two games played at Wynford, but the Royals have won seven of the last 10.

Published 10/23/24

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Crawford to Play Athletic Upper

Colonel Crawford tries to bounce back as they host the Upper Sandusky Rams in a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

Both schools trail the conference tri-leaders by just a game.

Crawford (6-2,3-2) lost last week (19-10) to Carey, but remained just a game back because Upper beat Mohawk (13-6) giving the Warriors their first conference loss.

The Eagles also stand 11^th in their region in division VI and they could pretty much guarantee they qualify if they win this week.

Coach Jake Bruner says Carey made more of the crucial plays than they did. “We were disappointed not coming out with the victory, but our kids played really hard. Give credit to Carey they have got a nice football team and they're playing really well at the end of the year. We just made some mistakes, both as players and coaches. Those five or 10 plays that happen in a big game have to go your way and not all of them went our way,” he said.

Upper Sandusky (4-4,3-2) has won three of its last four and Bruner says hey are playing some good football and they are very confident right now. “I just see a team that's really hot right now. Not only did they upset Mohawk last week, but a couple weeks before that they almost beat Seneca East, I think it as 14-7 and Seneca East is a heck of a football team too. They've got a lot of talent on that football team. Their quarterback is playing really well. They have got two really, really good receivers. They have got a great running back, a couple great linebackers, and a great nose guard. I see a lot of talent. I see some good size. They're a scary team right now. They're playing with a lot of confidence. You can see that earlier in the year they didn't have that same confidence and now they've got it going. It's going to be a heck of a football game here Friday night,” said Bruner.

Bruner says Upper has been a big play team on offense because they have a lot of speed on the perimeter. “They are a big tip play team, number one because they're both of their receivers are really fast. From that perspective they kind of remind you of Seneca East and the Young kid because the (Kaleb) Francis kid and the (Max) Martinez kid really can really scoot. They're fast and they have got a lot of catches,” he told Swakononsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “The quarterback is a first year player, first year starter at quarterback, but he just seems to get more and more confidence. He throws the ball really well. He's got a nice arm. Their running back, who is also their inside linebacker, he's one of the leading tacklers in league and he's a heck of a football player. He seems like he's been there for years, he’s pretty good. They're big, they're big up front, so it's going to be a tall task for these guys.”

Published 10/16/24

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Colonel Crawford to Play Confident Carey

It’s a big game Friday night in North Robinson as Colonel Crawford hosts Carey.

The winner stays in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference race, the loser likely does not.

Last week, Crawford rallied in the final minutes to beat Seneca East (21-20) in a “N10” game.

Coach Jake Bruner says it was a big win for them. “It was a big win for our kids on the road against a really good opponent. Seneca East is having a really good year. They have won a lot of games and will probably go pretty deep in the playoffs. So, excited that our kids were able to go up there and win. Our consolation prize is turn around and play the three time “N10” champs. At least we're at home against a great Carey Blue Devil team,” he said.

Sophomore Parker Weithman picked off a pass deep in Seneca East territory and junior Connor McMichael punched it in for a late touchdown.

Bruner says when big plays are to be made, you have to make them. “There are usually five to 10 plays a game that kind of determine those factors, those big plays, either a turnover, a big play, or limiting a big play, or a big tackle. It really comes down to those tight ones that come down to those big plays or those fourth and ones or those third and twos. We were able to come away with more of those then Seneca East, but credit Seneca East, that's a great football team and they're very well coached,” said Bruner.

Colonel Crawford (6-1,3-1) plays at home against Carey (3-4,3-1) on Friday night. The Blue Devils smoked Buckeye Central (56-7) last week.

Bruner says he is impressed with consistency of the Carey football program. “In our society we do not recognize consistency. Carey is consistent. They have a really tough non league schedule and they just seem to get better every game, every year and that's a credit to their coaches and their kids. They just do a great job the kids are physical, they run to the ball and they're fundamental. They're just doing a great job over there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “I hate playing them this time of the season because it seems like they just keep getting better and better. Wish we could play a more like week one. So, they just seem to get better and better and more confident. We're going against an awful good running back, receiver, a great defense. So, we're going to have our work cut out for us.”

Bruner says Carey is big and they are athletic too. “They always have great size. With that size they get a push, they've got big backs and their backs are not only big, but they're fast. They run a little option. They have got a couple nice receivers and they do a great job with play action. On defense, they just do a great job running to the ball, taking away your best plays, playing great run defense and they let their athletes make plays behind them. So, there's just so many factors to them and they just do a great job. That's why they've been so good over the years just consistently. Whenever you play Carey you know they're going to be physical, they're going run the ball, they love football and it's always a great game,” said Bruner.

Published 10/08/24

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Crawford with Big Challenge

It’s a key game in the Firelands Conference on Friday night as Colonel Crawford is at Seneca East.

Right now, the Eagles trail Mohawk and Seneca East by a game. A win for Crawford is a must.

Coach Jake Bruner says these are the fun games to play. “Small school football up in Attica on Friday night, looks like it's going to be good weather, they have got a tremendous football team, a group of kids that are seniors that have won all the way through their career, and it's going to be a big ball game for both teams,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (5-1,2-1) is at Seneca East (4-2,3-0) on Friday. The Tigers held off Upper Sandusky (14-7) last week.

Bruner says the Tigers have a lot of athleticism and speed. “First of all, give Ed Phillips a lot of credit. They lost their number one offensive threat in the Foos kid and he was a great player both sides of the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They bring back the (Taylor) Young kid, with just so much speed. I see so much speed with the (Bryler) Beamer and the(Jackson) Gayheart kid. The (Nick) Parks kid at quarterback is a difference. He's been a gunslinger back there. They score a lot of points, they're hard to tackle and they're very fast football team. So, a lot of concerns for them.”

Bruner says they need to contain Seneca East, but that won’t be easy. “That's easier said than done. I think they've shown in every game that they can go past people. That they have that big play explosive ability. They always have good, big lineman, big, strong kids. So, we know they're really a good football team. Right now, them and Mohawk are batting for the league title and they're both in kind of the driver’s seat of this league. So, we have got a claw our way back into it,” he said.

Bruner says they understand the importance of this game. “We're worried just about going to Seneca East and getting a “W”. We've got a lot of big games left to go. For our young club right now, we just have got to go up there and be focused and play our best game to even have a chance because. This is a really veteran group for them. You look at the Young kid, the Beamer kid, the (Justin) Reiter kid they have played for a long time and they have got a nice football team. So, we've got a big challenge with them,” said Bruner.

Published 10/04/24

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Colonel Crawford Continuing to Work

Colonel Crawford makes the short trip to Bucyrus to meet the Redmen in an Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

They bounced back last week to overwhelm Buckeye Central (62-0) in “N10” play.

Coach Jake Bruner says they responded to the adversity of the loss to Mohawk the week before. “We had a good start. It was a long week last week, so we needed to get to a game and have a chance to do it again and feel good about ourselves afterwards. So, it was just kind of a chance for us to get back on the field correct some things and try to get better anyway and we did,” he said.

Mohawk had smacked the Eagles around (35-7) the week before.

Bruner says last week was a long week, but they got better. “When you lose your stomach hurts a little bit and you have to regroup and have to figure out what you did wrong and try to not make those mistakes. When you win you do the same thing really you just feel better about yourself. So, that's about the only thing that's really different. Each week is different. Each week you have got to face a different set of either injuries or different challenges. So, that's what's fun about it as well, but sometimes the week seems very long until you get the next one,” said Bruner.

Colonel Crawford (4-1,1-1) is at Bucyrus (0-5,0-2) on Friday night. The Redmen lost (63-0) to Mohawk last week. They have been outscored (151-32) the last three weeks.

However, Bruner says they have some kids that can play. “It's funny in watching them play Buckeye Central I guess was probably one of the key things we watched because we were playing them back-to-back weeks. We see a really talented running back and some great skilled athletes. In their first three games they could have won the first two for sure. Since then, kind of the wheels fell off again, but they're young,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “They're juniors and sophomores and freshman. They only have one senior. So, when you have one senior that's really hard and overcome some certain things. Coach (Jon) Butchko is doing a great job. They've got it coming in the middle school. They have got some freshman players. They have got a great junior class. They have just got to keep getting better. Their line, a lot of those kids played last year, so they're back. They are just going through their growing pains of playing a lot of sophomores and freshmen.”

Published 9/24/24

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Crawford Eager to get Back on the Field

Colonel Crawford entertains the Buckeye Central Bucks in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

In what many thought would be a good game last week, Mohawk hammered the Eagles (35-7) in the conference opener.

Coach Jake Bruner says Mohawk played really well and they did not. “Well, number one hats off to coach (Eric) Daniel and his team. I know it’s a talented group of Mohawk players. That group has been really good all the way through. My son is a senior, so I remember when they were in seventh grade in football and basketball. They've been really good. They did a great job against us and obviously we didn't do some things we needed to do. We have got to kind of rally the troops right now and get better at what we're doing and focus on the one game at a time and just getting better at what we're doing,” said Bruner.

Bruner says they want to get back on the field and prove last week was not who they are. “Whenever you lose a week is a lot longer and it's a lot longer until Friday night. Friday night can't get here soon enough to have a chance to try to make it right again,” he said.

Buckeye Central (2-2,1-0) won their second straight game last week when they punished Bucyrus (42-24) in a conference game.

Bruner says that the Bucks have confidence and they definitely have some kids that can play the game. “I see great improvement from them you know obviously its starts with the Phillips kids and then they've got a quarterback and some receivers and they’re athletic. Buckeye Central always has size, so they have some size to deal with that too,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Coach (Jordan) Phillips does a great job there. He was the offensive coordinator last couple of years and their offense has always been pretty good. So, we know that with a rivalry game we're going to get their best effort, we know that. We know they're going to be well coached. It's right down the road, so there'll be a lot of fans here and a lot of people on both sides and it will be a great game.”

Published 9/18/24

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Crawford Has to Show Balance

Colonel Crawford puts out the welcome mat for the Mohawk Warriors in a crucial early season game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Friday night.

Crawford (3-0), #4 in the first Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, blasted East Knox (33-0) on Friday night.

Coach Jake Bruner was pleased, but he says it’s time to move on. “I felt the effort was there for our kids and obviously anytime you go on the road and the place like East Knox it’s a tough place to play, so we will be happy to be home this week, but a big challenge for our kids with Mohawk,” he said.

Mohawk (2-1) hammered Margaretta (36-14) last week in their final non-conference game of the season.

Bruner calls them deep and athletic. “Well, this senior group for them has been really good all the way through since middle school. They have been really dominant, not just football, basketball and other sports. They senior laden with the (Kahne) Hayman kid, who is healthy again, the (Ben) Bogner kid, who has been the quarterback for the last three years, the (Kaleb) Bish kid that was all Ohio last year, the (Garrett) Rinehart kid,” he told Swankonsports.com, “You can go on and on about all the kids they have back. They have got their numbers up. They have almost got 50 kids on the team. You can tell they're much more disciplined. They’re more physical. Coach (Eric) Daniel is doing great job over there and he's getting more kids out. They're playing to really well. They're one point away from being 3-0 right now.”

Bruner says to get a win Friday night they have to contain Mohawk’s big play ability and show some balance on offense. “We have got to take care of the ball. We have got to make sure we can limit their big plays. They have a lot of big play capabilities with the Bogner kid, the Hayman kid and Bish kid among others. So, we have got to play great defense. We've got to keep them in front of us. We've got to take care of the football. We have got to be able to run and throw and be balanced like we have. If we can do those things I like our team, but it's going to be challenging. It’s going to be a four quarter game on Friday night,” said Bruner.

Published 9/12/24

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Crawford to Face Hard Hitting East Knox

It’s Friday night and Colonel Crawford is playing for the first time this season on Friday as they travel to East Knox for a non-league game.

Last Thursday, they blew out Richmond Heights (48-0) on week two.

Coach Jake Bruner says they were prepared, but not really challenged. “It was a weird situation, they obviously hadn’t played a game. We were just simply better than them. I'm not taking away from their kids, they are just starting a program and trying to build it. We had no idea what we were getting into. I'm proud of our kids that they were ready to play, but at the same time we weren't really challenged and we know this Friday night we will be. We will get challenged by East Knox, especially at East Knox. They have a great team and a great place play and it's going to be a tough challenge for our team,” he said.

On Friday, the Eagles (2-0) are at East Knox (1-1), who beat Wynford (25-12) last week.

Bruner says this is a really solid team they will be playing. “What's changed a little bit about four years ago they had a kid at quarterback in Lester that took them to the final four. His brother is now a junior, played last year as a sophomore, and so now they have the ability to throw the ball and run it, which makes them even harder to defend. They've got that tough blue collar running the ball, got a great back in the (Blake) Elliott kid, who's been one of the top tacklers in the State of Ohio and is a great running back, All-Ohio,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “Now, you bring the (Jaxon) Lester kid back with a year’s experience as a junior. He's got the body, he can run it, he can throw it. It's going to be a tough challenge because they're a nice football team. They can run it, they can throw it, their kids are tough. Then, of course, we're playing at East Knox, which is a kind of a hostile environment. They bring a great crowd, it's a great small school football location, kind of Carey like from a standpoint of they care about football and they like to win.”

Bruner says they must be ready for a physical game because the Bulldogs just like to hit people. “They have kids that want to hit. They are encouraged to hit, they like physical contact. You can tell by the way they play, even last year when we played them. They want to hit you, they enjoy running the ball and tackling, it's just kind of like inbred it in there, their being there. So, they're doing a great job on defense, like they always do. Some of the same kids on offense or the same kids on defense doing those things. You can tell that that they have that mentality that defense is fun and we like to hit people and they’re physical and they run to the ball. So, those are the things that make them really dangerous,” said Bruner.

Published 9/06/24

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Crawford Going into the Unknown

Colonel Crawford plays on Thursday night for the second straight week as this time they host Richmond Heights in North Robinson for a non-league game.

Last week, they smoked Hannibal River (55-13) to open the season.

Coach Jake Bruner says after some early mistakes, then got busy. “The first quarter, the first two series, we didn't look real good. We looked like a nervous young team and maybe the coaches were too nervous too, but we went three and out and punted, a 26 yard punt, and gave up a touchdown in a couple plays. Then kind of settled down and really you know kind of showed some poise and got right back on and got rolling a little bit. So, it was good to see us throwing it and running it. Played a lot of kids and felt good about it at the end of the day. but a lot of mistakes, like every team in Ohio had last week, and a lot of things you have got to fix,” he said.

Bruner says a plus was they were able to get a lot of kids into the game and that’s going to help them down the road. “We have got to see some kids. We were talking this weekend, our coaches, that we saw some kids that can play on Friday night for us. That's really good. In this day and age, you want to play kids because the more people you could play on Friday night you could wear opponents down, especially the small school level and get kids experience. You keep it coming you always have kids with experience from the year before. We like our team. We've got some growing pains to go through, just a little bit of youth, but at the same time we like how hard they're playing, we like how they play together. It was an exciting atmosphere for a Thursday night. A little weird about playing on these Thursdays because I'm used to the Friday nights. I thought it was a great atmosphere, it's a beautiful night last Thursday. It's a hot week, it looks like it's going to be hot this week, which is another challenge for us, but also good for us in preparation for conditioning as you as we get through the year,” said Bruner.

Richland Heights, known as a basketball powerhouse, was (1-7) last year and so far this year they have not scrimmaged and they didn’t play last week.

Bruner says there are a lot of unknowns. “I just don't know much to tell you about them. It's a weird situation. Cardinal Stritch about a month before football started cancelled their season. We were their week two and played them last year up at Clay Stadium. Then we were just looking for a week two. We were about ready to go to Michigan to play a team and they reached out and said they want to play. I didn't know Richmond Heights had a football team. I think last year they played McComb in the playoffs. They have a new coach and we haven't seen them in a scrimmage, we haven't seen any film on them, so it's one of those things where it's going to be good for our team and our coaches to make adjustments during the game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “It's also a kind of a scary thing. In my 24 years I can honestly say I've never been this situation like this where we're kind of like looking around going okay who are we playing. Who's this kid, who's that kid. I guess the good news is there's the internet. So, I guess that's about the best we can do right now. At the end of the day, we just want to get lined up correctly, play hard, run to the ball, do those things. That's what we're trying to focus on, getting better, trying to fix things that we screwed up on week one.”

Published 8/27/24

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Colonel Crawford to Face Physical River

It’s a Thursday night kickoff in North Robinson as the Colonel Crawford Eagles host Hanibal River in a non-conference game to open the season.

Coach Jake Bruner says they ware working to be ready. “You're always skeptical as the coach. It comes up on you quicker than you think. You think you have all this time, all the practices and the seven on sevens and then it’s Saturday, it's Monday and Tuesday and you're walking through (Wednesday) and that's it. So, you hope the kids are ready. We know we're going to make some mistakes. I don't want our guys to worry about making mistakes because they're going to make some. I just want them to play hard, give great effort and control their response and hopefully we'll come out on top,” said Bruner.

Bruner says they have some kids that have done this before, but some kids that haven’t too. “We only have eight seniors, so yes we got some veterans, some guys, all of them played last year. Some of the juniors have played as sophomore so you feel good about. You’re going to sprinkle in some younger kids on there and hope that the lights aren’t too big for them on Thursday night,” he said.

The Eagles have been chosen by a media panel as the favorite to win the “N10” this year.

Last year, Crawford won (21-20) down by the Ohio River.

Bruner says they are going to face a physical team. “They had a tremendous team last year. We were very fortunate to get out there with one point with victory down there. They're kind of like us, they have got some guys back, yet they also have some youth too,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “I know this you look at their record over the last 22 years with Mike there. Mike Flannery as the head coach has done a great job. They're going to play really hard, they're going to be well coached, their kids are super physical. As always, they have some kids that are very big, so the size they bring to Colonel Crawford here in North Robinson (Thursday) night at 7 is going to be an issue for us.”

Bruner says it’s going to boil down to execution. “Both teams have some veterans back and both teams have some younger kids back, so we're kind of very similar. We talked about two years ago about playing each other. I don't think either coach really knew much about the other school and now you look at both of us and see we're very similar in different things that we do. Thursday night we're just going to be who's going to execute, make less mistakes and who's going to put more points on the board,” he said.

Published 8/22/24

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Crawford a Mix

Colonel Crawford has been in the top of half a competitive Northern 10 Athletic Conference for the last number of years and they should be again this fall.

Coach Jake Bruner says the players have been working hard and showing their promise. “I have been really happy with our guys. Our kids have worked really hard this summer. Felt like they've done everything we've asked for the most part and now we're just excited for another season. It's kind of surprising, it's like wow it's almost here already. We're kind of in the dog days right here before our first scrimmage. So, just kind of getting things worked out, trying to get better every day and battle the heat, the rain and the storms a little bit. Just trying to get better every day and it's been fun. I'm really happy with our kids and our work ethic. One thing about being in a small school where it's kind of a country school and those things and you get kids with great work ethics and our community is doing a great job with supporting that. Our kids are playing basketball, they're playing baseball, they're running track, they're playing football and their lifting weights. We have a lot of kids that do a lot of different things and I think it's very similar to where it was when I was a kid. That's what you do in these kinds of communities. So, we're excited for another season and man it's going to be here before we know it,” said Bruner.

Bruner says they are a kind of a mix of kids with experience and guys that will be new to starting roles. “Well, it's kind of an interesting group. We played two quarterbacks last year. Obviously, Trevor Vogt played most of the time and was a tremendous three sport athlete, but we got experience for Peyton Baker, who was a sophomore last year and he probably threw about for about 500 yards and played in every game. He played in one of our big wins against Wynford. He was really, really big for us and played a lot of time in our really close loss to Ottawa Hills in the playoffs. So, we've got some experience like that back, but it's small experience,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We only have eight seniors. Our senior class, the class of boys in our school, there's only like 25 boys. So, we have a smaller senior class, but all eight of those kids were either starters or major contributors last year. Then we have a big junior class with a lot of kids that have played. Then some sophomores that played as freshman last year. So, we have some experience, but we also have some youth and some growing to do and some maturing to do from there. So, it's a little bit of both, so it'll be an interesting kind of season how we can put those things together.”

The Eagles finished as runners up in the conference last year and Bruner says if they show the kind of improvement they are capable of they be right there again. “I think we will be in the fight. I think it's really an interesting year with who graduated and who's back. Carey has been really good the last couple of years and we've been right there with them. Wynford is going to be a pretty a pretty good team this year. Seneca East, kind of like us, lost arguably some of their best offensive players, but maybe better offensively as a group. They bring a lot of guys back lineman, and receivers, running backs and just kind of replace that quarterback position, which is a big deal. Mohawk, who probably struggled the last few years have been kind of young. This senior group for Mohawk has been, they've been really, really good all the way through. They will have a great basketball team, they're going to have a great football team, they've got some kids that have been playing as freshmen and sophomores and kind of get hit by the injury bug, they're going to be really good this year. So, that'll make it a very interesting league for us. I hope by week 10 we're talking about being in the hunt there, but I do think that our group, if they can continue to mature a little quicker because we're, like I said we're going to be a little young in a lot of positions, hopefully we'll be right there,” said Bruner.

Published 8/07/24

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Crawford Holds off Carey

Colonel Crawford hung on Wednesday evening to beat Carey (7-6) in a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

Published 4/25/24

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Third Chance for Crawford

Colonel Crawford will play Seneca East for a third time this year this time at Willard High School is a division IV district final on Friday night.

The Eagles (18-6) are attempting to defend their district title, but Seneca East beat them twice this year as they shared the title in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference with Carey and Mohawk.

With the tournament success they have had in recent years coach David Sheldon says it has just been another week at the office. “Even after Tuesday, after the win, there wasn't celebrating with our guys, they were here we go and they got on the bus and went home and you know got rest. We were back to work on Wednesday to start preparing for a very good Seneca East. So, with the quick turn around, they understand the routine. This one's a little bit different than some because we’ve played this team twice, so it's a little bit different preparation than when you're playing a brand new team in a district championship like we have over the years in our program,” said Sheldon.

They beat Mansfield Christian (63-59) in a semifinal on Tuesday night.

Seneca East outscored Lucas (76-66) on Tuesday night in their semifinal.

Sheldon says they have great balance on offense and they are athletic and aggressive on defense. “It's just a solid team and credit to Seneca East. This team has put that basketball program on the map with the success that they've had all year long. They're very balanced, their five starters go from eight points to 11.5 points per game, so they play really well together, they share the basketball well on the offensive side,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “Defensively, they're very good. Coach (Anthony) Langhurst has done a great job putting that defensive plan together using their athletes. They’re athletic at every spot and they do a very solid job and have bought into a very good defensive game plan you know that they've shown you know all year long with their 1-3-1, that's not a traditional 1-3-1 zone.”

The Tigers (20-5) beat Colonel Crawford (46-40) and (53-44) in “N10” games this season.

Sheldon says they need to handle their halfcourt zone without a bunch of turnovers. “Their 1-3-1 is not the way extended like you see some 1-3-1. They change it up depending on who they're playing they've shown different looks. I think why it’s so good is because they're so athletic, they're active, they cover a lot of space in that zone. Number one, you have got to take care of the basketball against it. You can't have turnovers that lead to them getting out in transition because they're so good at transition as a basketball team,” he said.

Published 3/08/24

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Colonel Crawford Dominates Third; Beats Mansfield Christian

Colonel Crawford outscored Mansfield Christian (23-9) in the pivotal third quarter and went on to beat the Flames (63-59) in a division IV district semifinal on Tuesday night at Willard High School.

They will play fellow “N10” member Seneca East for a third time on Friday night at Willard in the district final. The Tigers beat Lucas (76-66) in the nightcap Tuesday night.

Christian led (36-29) at the half, but Crawford would open the second half on a (14-6) run to take a (43-42) lead with 2:47 to play in the quarter field goal by sophomore Payne DeGray, who had nine of his 17 points in the quarter.

After Davis Wushinske made a basket to give the Flames back the lead (44-43) with 2:25 remaining in the stanza, Trevor Vogt scored on a twisting layup to make it (45-44) and the Eagles never tailed again, although it was a little tense in the final minutes.

Crawford (18-6) would lead by as many as 10 at (58-48) with 3:01 left after another Degray goal, but the Flames would never go away. They cut it to as to (61-59) when Amarr Davis banked in a three form deep on the left wing with :14 left in the game. Vogt sealed it with two free throws with :08 seconds left.

Eagles coach David Sheldon says they didn’t panic in the physical, momentum changing game. “We got some easy ones, we finally beat their pressure (in the third). We talked going into this game, we had to be very disciplined and you had to keep your composure for 32 minutes. They get off to a 9-2 start and you have got to keep your composure against a team that plays that style, the trap and the athleticism, and the denying, the up and down. I was proud of the way we kept our composure because we knew they were going to play fast. You're never out of it and I thought our discipline was very good. We talked about, as “Coach K” from Duke would say, next play and we did a good job and not losing our composure. The third quarter was huge, Payne (Degray) got some easy ones. We were able to get it into him, we got layups when we beat the pressure. Just a total team effort and very proud of this group you know because that's a very good team. They've won 20 games and it's a very, very good basketball team,” said Sheldon.

Mansfield Christian coach Carey Craner says they gave Crawford too many easy chances in that third quarter. “Our freshmen didn't have the game that they normally do. We relied on Amarr (Davis). They got a couple easy layups. Defensively, we broke down, that's really what I think happened there. I thought we played good defense on Degray the whole night, but you can't come out and do what we do and not rotate the trap and that's really what got us in that third quarter,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Proud of the boys how and they fought back though and came back in the fourth. We never gave up when we were down. I told the coaches, we had, I think :08 to go there at the end of the game and we're taking the ball out and I said, well if we make a bucket they don't have to bring it in bounds and our boys still played hard. So, I'm proud of them for that. It's been a great run with those seniors and yeah it's hard.”

It was a game of runs. The Flames (20-5) took a (9-2) lead over the first 2:15 of the game, punctuated by a Davis three, and forcing a Crawford time out.

The Eagles eventually caught Christian on the first play of the second quarter on a Logan Goddard three (19-16) with 7:42 until halftime. However, the Flames outscored Colonel Crawford (9-2) over the final 2:12 of the half to take the (36-29) lead at the intermission.

Sheldon says they were able to withstand the Flames runs and he adds they got great guard play. “They're going to go on runs. They start the game up 9-2, second quarter we take the lead and the end the half they take it, and then we come out. Fortunately, in the fourth we did a great job of ultimately taking care of the ball and extending that lead to get it. You have got to withstand their runs. Trevor Vogt was outstanding. You're going to see him turn the ball over, but I'm telling you he took a beating all night because of that pressure for 94 feet, 32 minutes and there's a reason he's a player of the year in the league. He's the quarterback of this team and I told him afterwards, I said you're more sore now than you were on Friday nights this fall with no pads on,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “Eight guys stepped up (Tuesday) night. That's a neat thing about the brotherhood in that locker room. Lucas Foy was huge in the fourth quarter for us. He plays late in the game when we have to handle it. He got a late start because of a football injury. We had to play him and Connor McMichael. Our biggest fans were Ryan (McMichael), Logan (Goddard) and Kaden Bruner on the bench because of the type of style it was. That's what this team has done. People think we slow it down, we just play the style depending on what goes on.”

Vogt led Colonel Crawford with 23, Degray added 17 and Conner McMichael 10. Davis had 26 for the Flames.

It has been a great season for the Flames and Craner believes this can be a jumping off point for them. “We talked about that in there (Tuesday) night. The seniors have kind of set a standard. We challenged you know our underclassmen that if you want to be here again next year it starts in June, it starts in the summer. We have got to play in the summer, we have got to have dedication. If you want to play late in the season, you have got to work hard in the summer, so you can come out and perform in the basketball season, you can't wait until November. So, yeah, we got a bright future, we told them that and they believe that,” he said.

Sheldon says they understood that Mansfield Christian and was going to make plays and they know Seneca East will too. “That's how it is at this level. If you're worried about the last two possessions, you're not going to get over the hump and I thought you guys did that. It still comes back you look at strength of schedule. The toughest the toughest in this district in Martin RPI is ours. We've played great teams all year. Our league was phenomenally balanced and then playing four league champions out of conference, that prepares you for districts. We're fortunate to go back to another district final Friday night,” he said.

Published 3/06/24

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Colonel Crawford Knows How to Play

It’s familiar territory for the Colonel Crawford Eagles as they play Mansfield Christian on Tuesday night in a division IV district semifinal at Willard High School.

The last time Crawford was not part of a district tournament we had snow in the winter in North Central Ohio.

They are co-champions of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and coach David Sheldon is proud of what they have already accomplished. “We've been very fortunate over the years with our program with 13 straight sectional titles. The older I get the more sentimental I get. I told our guys the other night after the game, I said don't take this for granted. It's so hard to even win a sectional when you look at teams in the area fighting to do that. This is a special one for me I guess just because there's only 64 teams left in division IV,” he told Swankonsports.com on Nonday afternoon, “Sadly, next year we go seven divisions and it's just not going to be the same. Sort of like when you add football, you get to the regional semis in football there's always 64 times, whatever, four, because of seven divisions. So, it's special and proud of our guys for the consistency and continuing the tradition of success.”

Colonel Crawford (17-6) stuffed Plymouth (52-30) for their sectional title. Mansfield Christian burned Norwalk St. Paul (69-50) to win theirs.

Sheldon says the Flames are explosive on offense and feature elite pressure on defense. “It's a very good basketball team. There's a reason they've won 20 games with getting to the district tournament everybody's good and that this team is no exception. First of all, offensively they're very explosive, they're athletic as all get out, they're very good off the bounce, they have got good shooters as well around and they get to the offensive glass. The number one thing is their defense. You know you're going to see pressure for 32 minutes in the full and half court. You have got to be able to handle that, so you don't you allow them to create live ball turnovers,” said Sheldon.

When it comes to the Christian press, Sheldon says they have to attack it. “A lot of teams have handled them in the back court and then the front court once you get across half they turn it over. You have got to take advantage of opportunities and we have played several teams like this this year. So, this isn't anything new. We’ve played teams like this on our tough schedule, probably one of the hardest schedules in our district when you look at the Martin RPI. So, we just have got to make sure we're disciplined and take advantage of opportunities that might come about and when not, then you know set up the offense,” he said.

The district tournament tends to be physical and Sheldon says they have to be smart in how they handle that. "The good thing is our kids have been here. Yeah, sure only one or two have played in this, but they have been a part of tournament teams in preparation. You talk about as you go down the line it definitely does get a little bit more physical and you have got to be smart because a foul is a foul. You get to this level you always have great officials on games. So, it's going to be discipline, we've got to do it for 32 minutes, which has been the key to this team success all year,” said Sheldon.

Published 3/05/24

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Colonel Crawford Must Maximize Possessions

Colonel Crawford, the co-champion of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, will host Plymouth in a sectional final in division IV on Friday night in North Robinson.

The Eagles have had enormous success in the tournament in over the years and coach David Sheldon says that helps them when it comes to these postseason games. “The kids playing for us now two years ago were playing as Harvest Prep on the scout team when we were preparing for a regional game. So, they know everything changes once we get into the tournament. They're used to the routine and they know the expectations and the preparation and how important every possession is. So, I think it does help just because our kids went through the program and at one time they were on the scout team and now they're playing in tournament basketball,” he said.

Crawford (16-6) did not return much talent from a team that qualified for the regionals last year, but Sheldon says they have shown a lot of improvement as they season has unfolded. “It's probably a team that's grown as much as any team we've had. When you only return one starter. These guys have really bought into how we need to play at the defensive end and offensively. We've developed multiple scorers, everybody knows Vogt and (Payne) Degray, but you know Goddard and Bruner are shooting a great percentage on three pointers. The McMichaels are able to go inside and also shoot a 15 footer or do whatever needs to be done. Then bring it up a freshman in John Degray that has done a great job of the second half of the year of giving us minutes. Then Lucas Foy, the backup point guard. So, I think definitely that this team has grown over the year and just because of the maturity of bringing this team together for the first time,” said Sheldon.

Plymouth (10-13) downed Buckeye Central (51-41) in their semifinal at Plymouth on Wednesday.

Sheldon says their approach to the is really a lot like theirs. “They're playing very well. They won three of their last five heading into Friday night. Eric Picklesimer does a great job, worked with him when he did a great job at Buckeye, and they're going to be well coached,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “It starts with their three guards. They have got three very good guards in Gavin Bishop, the (Jarrett) Burrer kid, and (Cannan) Sloan and they have got good players around them. They're a possession by possession team that is very good defensively, sort of like us and we've got to make sure we maximize every possession of the game and take advantage of opportunities that we see.”

Published 3/01/24

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Crawford to Play Fundamental Clear Fork

Colonel Crawford will take on Clear Fork in a girls’ division III district semifinal on Thursday night at Shelby High School.

The winner will meet either Margaretta, the top seed in the district, or Upper Sandusky for the district title on Saturday.

Crawford, the runnerup in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, beat Bucyrus, also of the “N10”, (41-27) to win a sectional title last Saturday night.

Coach Zac Bauer says it was a nice reward for the kids. “It was good to do that too and it was nice to get our kids rewarded for the time and the effort that they put in since the offseason started until last Saturday,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “It's exciting to get another opportunity play and play in the district tournament for the first time as a program, at least in my tenure, is really exciting.”

Colonel Crawford (18-5) will face Clear Fork (17-7), a winner of a sectional title for the third straight year, on Thursday night. They beat Huron (60-34) last Saturday.

Bauer calls Clear Fork a smart team. “They're very fundamental and a high basketball I.Q. A lot of girls that play at a really high level. They're fun to watch. It would be a good team to go and watch as a spectator, but it's an interesting challenge as a coach just because of the way they play, so fast and so fundamental,” said Bauer.

This season, Clear Fork has shown a willingness to press a lot and play a lot of man-to-man defense and on offense attempt a lot of threes.

Bauer says they want to make them uncomfortable. “Every time you get a team to play maybe outside of their strengths you'll have a little bit better chance of success. We know that going in, so we’ve worked on that a little bit this week,” he said.

Published 2/28/24

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Crawford Must Work to Get Good Shots

Colonel Crawford can do no worse than share the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title this season if they beat streaking Mohawk at Mac Morrison Gym in North Robinson on Friday night.

Right now, they share the lead in the conference with Carey, who plays Upper Sandusky Friday, with Mohawk and Seneca East, who hosts Wynford, a game back.

Coach David Sheldon says they have worked hard to get in this position. “This is where you want to be when it comes to game 14 of a three month league journey. The guys have put ourselves in a good situation and we're looking at this week as this is number 14 of 14 as we've taken the philosophy of one game at a time and this is the last game of the league with Mohawk coming to town on Friday night,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (16-5,10-3) hosts Mohawk (15-6,9-4), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, on Friday night. The Warriors have won eight of their last nine games, including beating Seneca East (34-29) last Friday.

Sheldon says they are balanced on offense and really good in a number of ways on defense. “Since we played them in mid-January, they have won eight of their last nine, including every team the second round in our conference. I think there's a couple things. First of all, they've got great balance on offense. They have got three guys that average double figures, another with eight and seven and that's a very good basketball team offensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “I think they've really grown defensively. If you look over their games they've been playing a lot more man to man. They still play their 2-3 zone and their diamond whether it's full or half court, but they've been playing a lot of man. I think the key to their man is they have got great guard athletes, but the Flood kid in front of the rim, the 6’7” kid, has really came on and grew into a very good basketball player over the course of this year.”

Crawford beat Mohawk (38-27) on January 12.

Sheldon says they are not going to change the way the run their offense just because of Flood. “I just think we play the way we do and you want to still attack inside. We've been inside out, we've got shooters as well and you're going to take what the defense gives you. I think that's been the key to this team. If you look at our scores throughout the year, we've done a good job of getting great shots instead of settling for good shots. So, I just think you've got to be aware of what's a great shot every time down the basketball floor,” he said.

Published 2/22/24

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Crawford Must Defend Wynford Scorers

Colonel Crawford, one of the tri-leaders in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, plays at rival Wynford on Friday night.

The Eagles share first place with Seneca East and Carey after Seneca East beat them (53-44) last Friday. Mohawk is just a game back.

Coach David Sheldon says they cannot be looking in the rearview mirror. “Hats off to Seneca East, they played a very good game. We got off to a slow start and were able to take the lead in the third and then Seneca East made another run and finished it off. So, there's a reason there's a three-way tie with two to go with three losses in the league race because of the balance. I've talked about it all season, that consistency. We have put ourselves in a good opportunity with two games to go, but these are two very tough teams that we have to finish up with. We had to come back on Monday and start to go to work on Wynford Friday night,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (14-4,9-3) plays at Wynford (13-7,6-6) on Friday night. The Royals lost (60-43) to Mohawk in conference play last Friday. The lost (61-56) to Northmor in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

Sheldon says they are the best team in the conference on offense. “If you look at league stats they lead every offensive category. They are so very skilled and athletic across the board. They are able to score in multiple ways. They play extremely fast and high percentage of scoring. So, you're going to have to play great one on one defense because they're so good offensively,” he said.

Crawford beat Wynford (65-63) on January 5 in Norh Robinson.

Sheldon says again they have to attack the Wynford zone. “We were able to play that way because they run a 1-2-2 and trap and you get good books out of it. So, when you're able to get a good look you have got to take advantage of it. So, the way they play defensively with their 1-2-2 you've got to attack that when you have opportunities and we did that the first time,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We've shown all year we can vary our styles depending on what we're seeing defensively. I think a big thing is you have got to limit your turnovers and second of all settle for great shots not just good shots every possession down.”

Published 2/14/2024

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Crawford Has to Attack the Zone

Colonel Crawford, the leader in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, will be at second place Seneca East, a game back, on Friday night in a huge conference game outside of Attica.

Crawford took the lead to itself with a (48-39) win over defending champion Carey last Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says this year in the “N10” you cannot afford to spend time looking in the rearview mirror. “The balance in this league is the best I've seen in my 18 years of being the head coach. Every night you have got to move on to the next one. We talk about that this is game 12 of a 14 game league journey over the past three months. So, it's another very good basketball team that we are going to face Friday night in Seneca East,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (14-4,9-2), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at Seneca East (13-4,8-3) on Friday night. The Tigers lost (35-27) to Upper Sandusky last Thursday to fall out of a share of the conference lead. They beat Buckeye Central (54-41) on Saturday.

Sheldon says they have solid balance on offense and give primarily a zone look on defense. “First, offensively they have got great balance. They've got five guys that all average eight to 12 points. So, they've got really good balance and they play well together offensively. Defensively, they run their 1-3-1 zone and they're very effective. They're very athletic and they move well. So, it's just a very balanced basketball team and there's a reason they're 13-4 on the year and a good team,” said Sheldon.

Now, Seneca East beat Colonel Crawford (46-40) on December 29 in North Robinson.

Sheldon says to win Friday night they are going to have to be able to handle the ball against an athletic team. “We've seen some zone from few teams throughout the year. You have got to get some ball reversals, you have got to get paint touches, get in gaps and you have got to take care of the ball. I've been a broken record for the last couple months, we've got to limit turnovers and make good decisions against the zone and move the ball and not settle for good shots, but great shots the entire evening.”

Published 2/08/2024

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Crawford Takes First Place

It has been defense that has paved the way for the Colonel Crawford Eagles and that was the case again Saturday night as they secured the outright lead in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference with (48-39) win over Carey at Mac Morrison Gym in North Robinson.

The Eagles scored the first five points and took a (16-5) lead after the first quarter.

Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon thought that start was key for them. “We got off to a great start defensively. We hold them the five in the first quarter and we hit some big shots early on. I thought the start really set the tone because I have the utmost respect for that team, that group of seniors over there, has owned this league and basketball and football and they play the game the right way. We knew they would make a run, which they did, they cut into it in the second quarter. They had a big second quarter, hurt us inside. Then we made some adjustments on how we were guarding inside at halftime,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “I thought we got off to another great start in the third quarter when you talk about starts. Then we expanded the lead. I'm proud of our guy’s effort. We knew this would be a war, physical battle, all night. It's two physical teams that look like men. We talked about mental and physical toughness going into this game against a very good Carey team.”

Carey coach Jamie Young thought they got the ball into the paint, which is what they wanted, but they couldn’t make the shots. “We did a good job I thought of getting inside and being physical with them, we just could get anything to fall. I mean it was a physical game, so we have got to learn to finish with a little bit of contact. Early on when we were we're getting inside, we weren’t converting our foul shots when we had the opportunity. So, I mean that's a big part of it. Then we couldn’t get Carter (Smiley) going because they were all over him. The kids battled with the week we've had with me being sick, and a couple other guys being sick, I can't say it enough, I'm super proud of these guys and the way we played this season, especially the last couple of weeks,” said Young.

Carey made only one field goal and was 3-7 at the foul line in that first quarter.

Carter Smiley, Carey’s leading scorer, and one of the best three point shooters in the conference, was held to seven points and he made only one three. “You look at Logan Goddard and Lucas Foy, they did an unbelievable job. He has seven and he had to work for them, we were on his hip. He's a great player, he's the quarterback of that team and he's one of the best three point shooters in the league if you look at stats. We did a great job of making him hit tough looks to get those seven,” said Sheldon.

No Blue Devils finished in double figures, Alexander Putnam also had seven for Carey.

The Eagles connected on some perimeter shots early as Logan Goddard and Trevor both dialed long distance. “We let Logan get open two different times and we weren't supposed to leave him, but we did and he just knocked them down. That's what good players do. That’s what makes you a good team, when players step up and make shots and he did that. Trevor was cooking early. So, we just we couldn't match them early on,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Then we got it going inside. We cut it to four, five, six points and then we would have a miscue defensively or they would make a good shot. It was a battle back and forth. We just got down too much too early, but I love the way the kids battled back there at the end of the fourth quarter. We showed a lot of fight and determination,” said Young.

Carey got as close as six (22-16) on a stick back by Mitch Boes with 3:04 left in the second quarter, but Crawford led (27-20) at the intermission.

The Blue Devils cut it to five (33-28) on two free throws by Boes with 1:19 to play in the third quarter, but Eagles went on a (12-0) run, highlighted by five points from by sophomore post Payne Degray, and took a (45-28) lead with 4:30 remaining in the game.

Sheldon says they ran a lot of good offense Saturday night. “We were very efficient in our motion offense. We got ball reversals. We got the shots we want, whether they're inside or kick outs. Logan Goddard hits a big three in the fourth. I just thought this team has been successful because they buy into their roles and everybody played their role to the highest ability (Saturday) night, which you have got to do in big games. Once again, we guarded because that's a good team, I'm telling you. The lead to get that up. Carey, those kids, they didn't quit. We forgot to make a lot of free throws in the fourth quarter, I hate to say it, but they didn't quit and that's a credit to them and coach (Jamie) Young with that program over there,” said Sheldon.

After time out, Carey put on an aggressive full court press and forced some Eagles turnovers, plus Colonel Crawford was just 3-8 from the foul line in the final 4:00 minutes and just 10-21 on the night.

Carey got as close as (45-39) with 1:11 left after a Dominic Yeater hoop, but ran out of time.

Vogt had 14 and Degray 12 to lead the Eagles.

Colonel Crawford (14-4,9-2) now leads Carey (10-6,8-3) and Seneca East (13-4,8-3), the Tigers beat Buckeye Central (54-41) on Saturday, by a game.

With three league games yet to play, Young knows anything can happen. “Within our league it's very deep. There's six teems that that can knock anybody off, actually I’ll just say everybody because I'm not going to take any nights off, I don't think. So, they still have got to play Seneca East and Wynford (and Mohawk). So, like anything's possible and we have just got to find our way here the rest of the way and just keep getting better every day,” he said.

Colonel Crawford has won two of last three “N10” titles, Carey won last year, and Sheldon knows they have to keep their noses to the grindstone. “That was game 11 game, game 12 is next Friday, so we got a lot to go. It's a tough road ahead. This has been the best league I've seen one through six forever, the balance. So, there's a long way to go with this. If you look at schedules, Carey’s top half of the second round was really tough. We still have got three tough ones, but the reason we put ourselves in this situation is our kids have went from game 10 to game 11 now we go game 11-12. You go enjoy it, but then you have got to get back in the workshop, in the gym come Monday and get ready for a very, very good Seneca East team that's playing for a lot as well,” said Sheldon.

Published 2/03/24

Crawford to Play High Scoring Loudonville

Colonel Crawford hosts Loudonville in a big non-conference girls’ game on Wednesday night at Mac Morrison Gym.

It’s the leader in the Northern 10 against the leader in the Mid-Buckeye.

Crawford solidified its lead in the “N10” winning (42-38) at Carey on Saturday.

Coach Zac Bauer says it was a really big win for them. “It was a really good win for our girls over a very high quality Carey team. It's nice to be able to talk with the other coaches in our league before games just about the quality of our league in girls basketball. It's so competitive every night there are no easy nights and it is stressful. It’s the dog days of January, but you can't take any league game lightly that you're going to walk into in the “N10”. We were fortunate to go to a Carey gym, that's a good home court for them, against a well coached, well prepared, Carey team and come out victorious,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “We have got to credit Gabby Roston. She shoots 10 free throws and I can't count how many times that she went to the basket and got bumped, got knocked down and got to the free throw the line and stepped up there made them. Lexi Dure steps in and makes two big free throws for us at the end, this is a sophomore doesn't blink in the face of adversity. We lucky to come on the other side and it puts us in a good position for the rest of the year in our league, so we're fortunate.”

Colonel Crawford (16-1) hosts Loudonville (15-1), #1 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, on Wednesday night.

Bauer says the Lady Redbirds are extremely explosive. “Offensively, they’re really, really explosive. When you have a 2000 point score on your team, you're going to be able to score and score quickly, but it's not just her. They have some other kids that can shoot the ball well. They play really confidently and really smooth together and they move the ball well. Defensively, and they can turn it up and press and give you problems that way. It's an impressive team to watch play basketball,” said Bauer.

Bauer says this game is a big opportunity for them. “I'm excited for this challenge for our girls. Before the year, we talked with our four seniors and they said they wanted to be tested and they wanted to be challenged and look for that every day in practice and during the regular season. We are in our league and when this opportunity presented itself with Loudonville it was hard to pass up because we know that it'll be a good test for us and it'll hopefully prepare us down the road too in a tournament run. So, I mean it's exciting,” he said.

Published 1/31/2024

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Colonel Crawford Has a lot to Play For

Colonel Crawford is in a three way tie for first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference with Carey and Seneca East.

They play host to Carey on Saturday, but first they have to go to Bucyrus for a conference game on Thursday night.

They won their fourth straight league game when they downed Buckeye Central (59-25) on Friday night.

Coach David Sheldon says their (17-3) lead after the first quarter was key. “We got off to a great start and really attacked them inside. So, it was a great start and we made some shots and it was good league game for us,” he said.

Payne DeGray had 23 points and 10 boards for the Eagles.

They did lose (55-38) to Fredericktown in a non-conference game on Saturday night.

Thursday night, the Eagles (12-4,7-2) play at Bucyrus (4-10,1-8) in “N10” action. Bucyrus lost (75-45) to Mohawk in a conference game last Friday. They hammered Mansfield St. Peter’s (64-33) in a non-league game on Saturday.

Sheldon says with Maliki Bayless, the schools’ all-time leading scorer, they are going to be in most games they play. “I think they're dangerous, they have got one of the best players that went through Bucyrus in Maliki Bayless, he can really score it. We're going to get their best shot. Going to Bucyrus on Thursday night is going to be tough. This is a big game for them playing us with not the amount of wins total that they've had, so we've got to make sure we focus and lock in on Bucyrus with five league games to go,” he said.

The Eagles won the first meeting (58-23) on December 16.

With the big game with Carey looming on Saturday night, Sheldon says they have to have focus on Bucyrus. “I think our guys have done a good job of going one game at a time. In this league, it's so balanced and you see right now there's two losses and a three-way tie and that just shows every night you have got to bring it in this league. We've talked about it all year. Our guys have done a good job. I said a couple weeks ago, it's going to be consistency throughout the second half of this league and most importantly is Thursday night with Bucyrus before we take on Carey Saturday,” said Sheldon.

Carey (9-5,7-2) has lost their last two league games by one point each to Mohawk (47-46) and Seneca East (55-54) last Friday. The beat Crawford (35-31) on December 22.

Their senior point guard Brayden Young has been out with an injury, but Sheldon says they have adapted. He says they are really physical. “Brayden was a really, really good player you know, even last year and they've adjusted. (Carter) Smiley has went to the point and Smiley is having another great year. They're just winners, those kids, and throughout a long year they had a tough stretch there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon. “We know we're going to get a great Carey team coming over here that is still a defending champs. In my eyes, they're still the champ because they won it last year. It'll be a tough possession by possession game between two programs that are physical and every possession is going to be important that game Saturday night.”

Published 1/30/2024

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Crawford Right There

Colonel Crawford is right in the thick of the race in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference as they trail Carey by just a game gping into their game against Buckeye Central in North Robinson on Friday night.

Last Saturday, they edged Upper Sandusky (35-33) in a league game.

Coach David Sheldon says again they did what they had to do to win. “We were very fortunate because that's a very good Upper team that had won six out of its last seven and extremely well coached by coach (Jeff) Winslow. Our defense was very good once again. Offensively, we played the game the way we need to possession by possession,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “I thought we did a good job. Kaden Bruner stepped up and hit some big shots with them crowding the lane. We did a great job of getting second shots at the offensive end. So, it was a very efficient game against a very good team and anytime you can win on the road this year in this league it's a bonus.”

Crawford shares second with Seneca East a game behind Carey and the Eagles have second round games with both left on their schedule.

Sheldon says it’s going to come down to which team is more consistent in its play. “We have still got six games in this league and it's a challenge every night out. You have got to move on to the next one and really lock in with what the plan is each week. So, it's a challenge and there's a lot of basketball to be played. So, we're a long way away to determine who the league champion is going to be. It's going to be the team that's more most consistent night in and night out,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (11-3,6-2), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, hosts Buckeye Central (3-9,0-8) on Friday night. Crawford won the first game between the two (53-27) on December 14.

Sheldon says they have to have great focus. “I think it's a team that’s got better. They've got some good now late wins throughout the year. It's a young basketball team. They're throwing a lot of different defensive looks looking at film lately. So, have we got to be prepared and Buckeye Central is the most important game this week. We have got to have great focus as we go throughout this week and prepare for Friday night,” said Sheldon.

Published 1/24/2024

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Crawford Meets Much Better Upper

Colonel Crawford, in share of second place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, plays at Upper Sandusky in a conference game on Saturday night.

Last week, the Eagles beat Mohawk (38-37) in a league game on Friday night and Lucas (43-31) in a non-conference game on Saturday night.

Coach David Sheldon says they did what they had to do to win on both nights. “I was very pleased with our guys, especially defensively. Both those teams have put up great numbers offensively and we were very good defensively. The other thing is we took care of the basketball. I've said all year if we take care of the basketball and are very efficient offensively. I thought we did a good job both ends, so it was a good double weekend against two very good teams in Mohawk and Lucas,” said Sheldon.

Saturday night begins the second round of conference play and Sheldon says the have to be ready to adjust. “It's sort of like a chess match. People adjust from game one to game two depending on what they thought was effective and what needs improvement. So, you really get into detail oriented when you're playing the same teams twice in your conference,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (10-3,5-2) visits Upper Sandusky (7-5,3-4) on Saturday night. The Rams had a fourth quarter lead, but lost (53-48) in league leading Carey on Friday night. They would respond and beat Kenton (66-40) on Saturday night.

The Eagles won the first game between the two teams (40-38) on December 8.

Sheldon says Rams have improved and are going to be a handful on both ends. “First of all, they've won six of their last seven. This is a team that has really grown from the beginning of the year. It's a typical Upper team. They do a good job of sharing the basketball. They'll have four guards out there and a post player and they run their stuff very well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Defensively, they're going to get after it with man, they're throwing in a little 1-3-1. So, it's a good a contest. I've said all year this is a bear of a league every night, you got to move on to the next one. This will be a tough road challenge for us. Our guys are looking forward to it as we go into the second round of the league. You just try to go one game at a time and this will be a tough challenge on the road.”

Published 1/18/2024

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Colonel Crawford to Play Streaking Mohawk

Colonel Crawford, in a three way tie for second place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, will play at Mohawk in a conference game on Friday night.

They host Lucas in a non-conference game on Saturday.

Carey owns a two game lead on the field in the “N10” race and Sheldon says they have separated themselves right now. “I mean every night out is tough. It's one of the most balanced I've ever seen the league other than Carey, give Carey credit. We have one game to play in the first round and they went undefeated. They're the defending champs and all those kids are seniors now, they're senior class is very good, but other than Carey so far it's been very balanced night in and night out. We talked this week when we came back in the gym and it's going to come down to consistency, you're going to have to bring it every night because of the balance throughout our whole conference,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (8-3,4-2) is over at Mohawk (7-4,3-3) on Friday night. The Warriors have won three in a row, including a (54-30) pasting of a good Seneca East team on Saturday night in league play.

Sheldon says Mohawk has talent and they are starting to prove that. “It's a very good basketball team. We knew going in their junior class is outstanding and has had great success all the way through. The last several games they are really starting to play. They have got four guards that can flat out score and then they got the big kid (Conner) Flood inside their post player,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “It's a good basketball team playing with a lot of confidence, can really shoot the three, and it’s a good basketball team that we have the utmost respect for and they had a successful program for many years now under coach (Paul) Dunn.”

Lucas (8-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, leads the Mid-Buckeye Conference standings.

Sheldon says they have three very good players back from a team the Eagles beat last year in the division IV district final. “It's another tough non league game, there's no easy nights for the Eagles even non league if you look at who we've played this year up to this point. They are 8-1 and they return three starters from the team we played in the district championship last year. It's a team that knows how to win, whether it be football or basketball. Coach (Taylor) Iceman has done a tremendous job and once again they're off to a great start. So, it's going to be a very tough challenge non league especially after a road game Friday night game at Mohawk. We'll turn to them come Saturday morning after we get done with Friday night,” he said.

Published 1/12/24

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On Friday night at www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Lady Eagles Need 32 Minutes

Colonel Crawford is back in first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference girls’ basketball standings.

They play at Upper Sandusky on Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Eagles beat Mohawk (41-34) on Tuesday night and together with a Carey (44-42) loss to Upper, Crawford is back on top of the standings.

Coach Zac Bauer says they had to work hard to get that win. “Mohawk is a really nice team, they're really well coached. Coach (Natasha) Mullholand does a really good job with those girls and they play incredibly hard. I was impressed watching them before we played and seeing them live and in person they're very passionate about what they do and she pushes them to be the best they can be. They're a solid basketball team and that's a place that I've taken a lot of teams to in the years past and we've struggled and it was good to see our team come out and play with such energy and with such enthusiasm and play so hard on a Tuesday night road game. In our league, you have to do that if you want to be successful and we were fortunate enough to come out on the winning end (Tuesday) night,” said Bauer.

With nature of the “N10” this year, Bauer says he have to be ready every night. “There are no nights off and with ups and downs and just the way that the season works and being kind of the dog days of January that's a point of emphasis for us every day in practice. You have got to keep your nose to the grindstone, and you can't get bored in the process and you can't get bored with the minute details because those things are going to win or lose you games at crunch time,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (12-1,6-1) is at Upper Sandusky (7-5,4-3) on Saturday.

Bauer says they have to play four quarters if they are going to win. “Upper Sandusky is a really well coached team. Coach (Jerry) Vent does a really nice job with this player development and the things that he runs, the philosophy that he has there. They are really fundamentally sound team, they pass the ball so well and they move without the ball so well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “We're going to have to be active on the ball and away from the ball. Our feet and our voices are going to have to move and our minds are going to have to be engaged for 32 minutes because they don't let off the gas. They're going to come and play hard on their home floor. You saw the other night with them beating Carey that any given night you're going to get the other team’s best shot and you can see that from every team in the league. You have to be ready for that. So, it's going to be a couple days of preparation and see what we can do there Saturday.”

Published 1/11/2024

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Crawford Beats Wynford at the Horn

Trevor Vogt picked up a loose ball and went the length of the floor and made a running one hander at the buzzer to lift Colonel Crawford to a (65-63) win over Wynford in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game at Mac Morrison Gym in North Robinson on Saturday night.

Both teams trail “N10” leading Carey by two games. Carey (6-0) in the league, beat Bucyrus (75-47) on Saturday.

Colonel Crawford did not lead the entire second half until Vogt’s winning shot.

They tied the game at (63-63) on Logan Goddard’s three from the right wing with :31 left in the game.

Wynford coach Mike Smith called time out to set up the final play. Grant McGwire got the ball just behind the three point arch and tried to take it to the rim, but slipped down right of the lane and Vogt picked up the ball, sprinted down the court like a gazelle and floated through the air and dropped it in and the Crawford faithful erupted.

Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon says they made the clutch plays in the final seconds. “The possession before, we do a great job making the extra pass and Logan Goddard hit a big three. Then we had the transition from trapping and fouling to back to this end and they called timeout to set something up. We switched the ball screen, if you look. We talked in the huddle and we made a switch and we sort of doubled. McGuire slips and Trevor, the great athlete that he is, he should be All-Ohio in three sports, picks it up and goes coast to coast like we see him hurdling out on the track, and makes an incredible play,” said Sheldon.

Wynford had chance to put the game away, but Ashton Warren missed three and Weston Prenger one free throw in the final 80 seconds, leaving the Royals with a (63-60) lead with :43 remaining.

Smith says the final play really didn’t cost them the game. Instead, he says they didn’t put the game on ice when they had the chance. “That didn't lose the game. It was our rushed shots and missed free throws. It was almost similar to last year's game, very similar, and they got the last shot this year and we got the last shot last year. Hats off to David (Sheldon), they played a heck of a game. They were ready for us. I didn't think we played particularly well the whole game. There were times I thought we handled it pretty well. I don't think we attacked the basket a lot (Saturday) and that's due to them,” he told Swankonsports.com, “I'm sure they were trying to take that away. We're going to go back to work, that's all you can do, life moves on. I told them you learn a life lesson. You always have got to be prepared for whoever you're playing. This league is not easy, this is a hard league. So, we have got to buckle up and get ready for Seneca East because we have got another hard one next week. Hats off to David and his kids, they played really well.”

Crawford’s last lead before the final buzzer was at (26-24) with 1:26 left in the first half after an old fashion three point play by Conner McMichael, but they never went away either. You always got the feeling that they were close enough. Back to back threes by Ashton Warren gave the Royals a (30-26) edge at the intermission.

6’5” sophomore post Payne Degray led Crawford with 19 points on seven field goals all of them around the basket, and five eight free throws, and Goodard had 18, all on threes. Vogt had 14.

Sheldon says they were able to get clean looks from the perimeter because they made the extra pass. "The key was against that 1-2-2 you can't run our stuff, you have got to make basketball plays getting into the middle. We did a good job of getting into the middle either Payne (Degray) would take it or Conner McMichael would take it and when they got stopped we got kick out threes to Goddard and (Kaden) Bruner. That's the thing we talked about, we have got to make the extra pass against them because they got 6’6”, 6’5” in the middle with (Sam) McMillian and (Ashton) Warren. That was why we got the open looks,” said Sheldon.

Smith says they didn’t make good close outs and left the Eagles open too much. “We knew Trevor could get threes, we knew Goddard could get threes. We didn't get to them a lot of times and I'm sure he's saying the same thing that they didn't get the us either, but they had one more shot than we did and it went in, so, again, hats off to them,” he said.

The Royals held the lead for the entire second half before losing in the end. In fact, they led by nine (57-48) with 5:35 to play in the game after a McGwire free throw.

Wynford had 11 threes on the night, seven of them in the first half.

Ashton Warren was tremendous in the first half scoring 15 of his game high 21 points for the Royals, all coming on threes. McGwire added 13, Prener 11 and Sam McMillan 10.

Sheldon says they gambled a little bit in leaving Warren open. “Hats off to Warren. They're so explosive. I've been here 18 years and those athletes and that team reminds me of 2005 to 2011 when (Tim) Ehresman was coaching them and they were making regional runs, they are so explosive. We were helping off Warren a little bit, he was shooting 19% going into game on threes and hats off to Ashton, he's a great senior player, he made big threes for them. Our guys never panicked. Sometimes you have got to give and take when you're going against an explosive team,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Logan Goddard he does what he does. We know he can shoot it and by them gambling it paid off because he got open looks because his teammates did a great job of making extra passes to put him positions to make shots.”

Published 1/06/24

Crawford Has to Handle it

The shoe is on the other foot this time as Wynford visits Colonel Crawford for a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Saturday night.

Over the last decade it has normally been the Eagles that would be the favorite, but Saturday night it will be the one loss Royals.

Crawford (7-3,3-2) lost (46-40) to Seneca East in conference play, but responded with a (63-41) win over Clyde Saturday in a non-conference game.

Coach David Sheldon says they didn’t shoot the ball very well against the Tigers, but they turned it around on Saturday. “Friday night we just didn't make shots. A lot of credit goes to Seneca East. They played really good defense and we just didn't shoot well from the field. It was a tough loss at home, but credit to Seneca East. Saturday, we really came out and played well against an explosive Clyde team. I was happy the way our guys bounced back from the adversity of losing two in a row. They really came back Saturday and played good against a very good Clyde team that can really score the basketball.”

Wynford (9-1,4-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball poll in the small school division, beat Mohawk (66-55) in a conference game last Friday.

Sheldon says this is a Wynford team expected to have success. “Well first of all over our 18 years here they've had six coaching changes this is the most explosive overall team since the 2005-2011 years when Tim Ershsman was making those regional tournament runs. It is a very, very good basketball team that can really score the basketball. They bring a lot of tough challenges with matchups and that. They like to play fast and you’ve seen our scores. So, it's a good basketball team that is expected to do big things with the talent they have with their senior class and you sprinkle in a few juniors that are really good as well,” said Sheldon.

Wynford likes to be up tempo and they press. Sheldon says they are going to have to be able to handle the ball. “The key is we have got limit our turnovers. Last Friday against Seneca East we were sloppy and turned it over and then Saturday we came back and didn’t. So, we've have got to limit turnovers. That's the good thing about our tough non league schedule, we played some teams up really like up tempo. When you look at Crestview, Cardington and Clyde,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “This is a big challenge, but I know our guys will be excited to play. Anytime you get two great communities together like Wynford and Colonel Crawford it'll be a great atmosphere here Saturday night and Mac Morrison Gymnasium.”

Published 1/04/2024

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Crawford Plays Improved Seneca East

Colonel Crawford plays at home against Seneca East in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game between contenders on Friday night in North Robinson.

The Eagles fell out of a share of first place in the conference when they lost (35-31) at Carey last Friday.

Coach David Sheldon says it was the kind of game he thought it would be. He says they had chances. “First of all, it was two defensive oriented teams that really get after it defensively. It was tough to come by baskets and I thought both teams were exceptional defensively. Against the defending league champions, we want to have a chance at the end. We had looks at the end, we a shot to take the lead with two to go and then we got several shots to tie it within the last minute or so. So, we had excellent opportunities and shots they didn’t go and a lot of credit goes to Carey with their defense. Hats off to Carey, they protected their home court. The parody in this league is as good as I've seen it one through six. It's going to be a dog fight every night out in this league,” said Sheldon.

After an extensive schedule early in the season, Sheldon says he believes they are reenergized. “It's nice, we played eight games in 22 days and then we were able to give our kids three days off Saturday, Sunday, and Monday and came back at it Tuesday with three days to prepare for Friday night’s game with Seneca East. I think everybody about that time of year after a long preseason and that and coming right out of football for our guys, it was a good little break. They came into practice hungry and ready to get back at it. So, I think you just have got to manage because it's a long season and you don't want to overdo it too early in the season,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (6-2,3-1) and Seneca East (5-1,3-1) share second place in the “N10” with Wynford, game behind Carey. The Tigers hammered Buckeye Central (51-29) in league play last Friday.

Sheldon says they have good guard play and will play a lot of aggressive zone on defense. “It's a very good basketball team. Off last year, all they lost was Isaac Mason and they had good talent around him. It starts with their two guards with the younger (Luke) Mason kid that's back and then Lucas Bordner, they're very good guards. I think they have got good people around them too that can make shots,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They're really playing with a lot of freedom offensively. Defensively showing a lot of 1-3-1 zone and some man and they will extend that as well, but this is a very good basketball team that's very skilled and off to a great start. It's another one of those that's going to be a dog fight in this league every night out no matter who your next opponent is.”

Published 12/27/23

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Crawford Has to Show Discipline

It’s a battle of early season co-leaders in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference as Colonel Crawford pays a visit to Carey on Friday night.

Both are (3-0) in the league.

Colonel Crawford rallied to beat Cardington (61-57) in a non-league game on Tuesday night.

Coach David Sheldon says it was a good win against a good team. “I was very proud of our guys, that's a good Cardington team. They were undefeated and averaging about 74 game beating team by 20 or more. We were down 15 in the third quarter and our guys really showed a gutsy effort at the end of the third and into the fourth. We just plugged away one possession at time and we're fortunate to take the lead late in the game with 2:00 to go and hang on at the end. So, very proud with our guys. We're in a stretch of four games in nine days, so it's a very busy time right now and our guys really showed some character with the win on the road Tuesday night,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (6-1,3-0), #5 on the Swankonsports.com basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Carey (5-3,3-0) on Friday night. Carey beat Wynford (66-59) in their league game on Saturday night.

Sheldon says Carey is very experienced and very physical. “Well first, they're the defending league champions and they were all juniors last year and now they're all seniors. This is a very good basketball team that has won a lot of games, whether it be on the football field or basketball floor, Carey is very, very good. It's a tough challenge going on the road to their place Friday night, but I know our guys are looking forward to the opportunity. You look at them and it starts with their defense. They're very solid defensively, they'll do a little 1-2-2 three quarter press and they're man is tough physical defense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We've got to limit turnovers and take care of the ball and we have got to control possession the way we've been playing all year. Offensively, they're just so balanced you know they got four guys averaging nine, one 12. They've got great balance, so you've got to play very good, disciplined defense because they're disciplined offensively as well. So, it's a great test early in the year and we're looking forward to the opportunity, but we have our hands full. These guys have rose to the occasion so far, our guys, so this will be a huge test.”

Sheldon says they must react in the right way to the physical nature of the game. “It's a matter of two of the best football teams all fall you know. Carey won the league in football and their kids all play football, just like the Colonel Crawford kids. So, it will be a physical battle, but both teams play the game the right way. So, like I said before like tournament district game in a league elite conference game, so it'll be physical both ends of the floor. You have got to have some mental and physical toughness in games like this. I have got the utmost respect for them and they're the defending champs until somebody can knock them off throughout this year,” he said.

Published 12/22/23

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On Friday night at www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Back to “N10” Play for Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford plays two games in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this week as they are at Buckeye Central on Thursday and host Bucyrus on Saturday.

They lost for the first two time this year when Crestview trimmed them (40-39) in a non-conference game on Saturday night in North Robinson.

Coach David Sheldon says there are things they can learn from that game. “I was proud of our guys effort. They hung in there versus a very good team that won 21 games last year in Crestview with almost everybody back. We just hung around and had a chance to win a game at the end of that basketball game and that's what you want. We missed out on some opportunities, but Monday was a teaching moment in the classroom on how we have got to handle some late game situations, which we've taken pride in over the years,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We played the game the way we needed to hang around and play with an explosive Crestview team, but give credit to Crestview they made plays at the end and it was a great non-league. It reminded me of a district tournament game. Just the physicalness and the possession by possession. When you get down the tournament trail that's how it goes and it was a great non-league, but we have got to learn the next time we're in that situation we have got to move forward.”

Crawford (3-1,1-0) is at Buckeye Central (0-2,0-1) on Thursday. The Bucks were ruffed up by Wynford (83-27) on Friday night.

Sheldon says the Bucks are pretty young this year. “First, it's our first road game in the league. We opened up league at home last Friday and we're fortunate enough to win and now we got to go on the road. So, we always talk about a business like approach. We got to come out and get off to a good start. The (Jack) Phillips kid is a nice player that played a lot from them last year. They've got a lot of new kids playing varsity basketball. With our style of play we've got to make sure we take care of each possession and go over there on a business like approach. Coach (Chris) Moyer is doing a good job, you see structure and everything that's going on over there right now,” said Sheldon.

Sheldon says Bucyrus (1-2,0-1) is a team that’s going to want to play fast on Saturday night. “They have got three guys averaging double figures. They can put up some points. They've got a lot of guys that have played varsity basketball. It starts with Malachi Bayless, who has a chance to be the all time leading scorer in Bucyrus history. He's a very explosive basketball player. So, we'll work on them come Friday when we get ready for that Saturday night, but I think it's a team that has played well and improved from the year ago,” he said.

Published 12/13/23

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Crestview Edges Colonel Crawford

Jarek Ringler grabbed an offensive rebound and cashed in on a pair of free throws with 34 seconds left to give Crestview a (40-39) win over Colonel Crawford in a physical non-conference basketball game played at Mac Morrison Gym in North Robinson on Saturday night.

Crawford took its first lead of the game since it was (3-2) when Payne Degray muscled one in with 1:42 left in the game to give the Eagles a (39-38) advantage. However, they failed to score the next three times they had it.

They had one final chance taking the ball out under their own basket with :06 left. They were able get the ball to senior Trevor Vogt, who was able to spilt two defenders and get a good look from in the lane, but the ball rolled off the rim at the horn.

Crestview coach John Kurtz was holding his breath because Vogt freed himself for a good opportunity. “He did… we kind of expected the ball being in his hands and yeah just rolled off. I mean it was a good look and it just didn't go in, sometimes that happens,” he said.

Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon says they got the shot they wanted. “We couldn’t ask for a better look. Trevor 's right in front of the rim. That's the shot you want. You want to put your kids in opportunities and our kids had an opportunity. Even the possession before, we got the lead, we spread the floor. We had a couple opportunities again, we just didn't capitalize. Our kids effort for 32 minutes, it was a war, physical and I couldn't be more proud of the way we played,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “That's one of the best teams in this area and just it's a great non-league game. Those are the kind you want to play to get you ready down the road when you're in wars like this. We had every opportunity and credit Crestview they got an offensive rebound and got to the foul line and make two free throws basically to win it.”

It was a game that resembled being stuck in rush hour traffic in New York City moving at a snail’s pace.

Kurtz says they knew it was going to be that way. “We told our kids all week, it's not all run up and down, they're not going to press, it's going to be half court, they're going to take 40 seconds to run a set. I thought our defense was really good (Saturday). I thought it might be the best defense we've had all year,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “They're really patient and they take a lot of time off the clock. We just kept building that lead to eight, but couldn't get over it or nine, I think. Then after that we just had to gut it out. There were probably three straight stops there, so pretty cool.”

Crestview scored seven of the final nine points of the first quarter to take (9-4) lead after one.

Crawford got it down to three (15-12) on Vogt’s two free throws with 2:41 to go in the half, but Crestview went on a (9-4) run, seven of those points coming from junior Justice Thompson to lead (24-16) at the break.

The Cougars got up as many as eight in the third quarter (28-20) after Tyson Ringler’s basket with 5:11 to play in the third.

They took their biggest lead of the night at (35-25) when Tyson Ringer scored the first basket of the final quarter with 7:37 left.

But, the Eagles kept chipping away and they tied it at (35-35) on Vogt’s three with 4:40 to play. Crestview got back up by three (38-35) when Thompson bagged a three with 3:53 left. Degray cut to (38-37) a tough basket in the lane, but missed the tying free throw with 3:08 to play.

Both defenses forced tough shots in the closing possessions and nobody scored until Degray’s basket at the 1:42 mark.

Sheldon says he was proud of the way his kids kept fighting. “The team just runs through walls. They're relentless at the defensive end. They're playing the way we need to offensively with this group. There's no back down with this group. That's a nice thing and why it's just the fun to see this process so early in the season because we’ve got so much to go. This is a good learning opportunity and like I said we went toe to toe with one best division III teams in this area,” said Sheldon.

With the patience Crawford showed with the ball, Kurtz says they had to be patient too. “We used one time out because we thought took two bad shots, but honestly we did also miss like three point blank layups in the fourth quarter that I think we typically make, but credit to them they played really hard, really well, Dave (Sheldon) does an incredible job,” he said.

Vogt led Colonel Crawford with 16 points. Degray added 13.

Thompson led everybody with 20, 15 in the first half.

Colonel Crawford (3-1) plays Buckeye Central and Bucyrus in Northern 10 Athletic Conference games next week.

Sheldon says this team is going to get a lot better this year. “We already have from day one to now how far this team's came and made progress each week. We just have got to keep progressing, that's the thing. It's a marathon I've always said this season step by step you lead through the league race and then the tournament. So, these guys will come back Monday and get back to work,” he said.

Crestview (5-0) plays at Monroeville in a Firelands Conference game on Friday.

Kurtz says this kind of game is going to help them the rest of the year. “That was the first thing we told our kids, it was like a tournament game. That's why we play these guys because that's what they do. That's the kind of game they're going to give you every time and that's a testament to their program and how they play,” he said.

Published 12/10/23

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Colonel Crawford With Two More Tough Ones

Colonel Crawford opens play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Friday night by hosting Upper Sandusky and then will be at home for Firelands Conference favorite Crestview on Saturday night.

Last week, they beat Crestline (66-24) on Friday and Northmor (41-34) on Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says it was a good start. “We were very fortunate last weekend to get two wins. There were a lot of unanswered questions with really only one guy back that played significant minutes at the varsity level last year in Trevor Vogt. I thought our guys did a good job of defensively all weekend and we still got a lot a lot of progress to go. There's a lot of things that we need to work on and improve and you're going to hear me say that on a weekly basis throughout this year. Happy to get two wins and now we get another very, very tough double weekend ahead of us,” said Sheldon.

Upper Sandusky (0-1) lost to Willard (71-58) last Friday in their first game.

Sheldon says the Rams have shooters and they are going to pressure you. “Upper is a very good basketball team. You look at the roster they have a lot of guys that played a lot of varsity basketball last year. It's a typical Upper Sandusky team. They've got shooters all around, they like to get out and run and they're going to pressure your defensively. It's another good team that we are going to have our hands full. You have got to limit their transition baskets and you have got to take care of the basketball. That's a big area of emphasis as we head into Friday night,” he said.

Crestview (3-0) beat Fredericktown (79-56) on Tuesday night in non-conference play.

Sheldon says they are tough to defend and work hard to defend you too. “First you can tell I’m not the AD anymore. We will open last Saturday with Northmor, who’s picked to win the “KMAC” and now Crestview, who will walk through the Firelands, but no all kidding aside this is a very good basketball team. I think it's one if not the best division III, IV team in the surrounding Mansfield area. This junior/senior class of theirs has been good and playing since their freshman/sophomore year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They've got great length, they can all score and they defend John Kurtz style. So, it's going to be a very big test Saturday night. Most importantly is Friday night with Upper and then we'll prepare, but it's going to be a good test. Like I’ve side before, we do this to get us ready and things we need to do to get to a tournament later in the year. So, I have the utmost respect and you have got a bunch of kids at Crestview that love the game of basketball right now. It's a very, very skilled basketball team and it'll be a very tough challenge come Saturday night.”

Published 12/07/23

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Crawford Needs to Play Well

Colonel Crawford is at home for Upper Sandusky in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on the opening night of league play on Tuesday night.

The Eagles have won all three of their non-conference games so far and coach Zac Bauer says it’s because of all of the hard work they have put in. “I've been really encouraged with our start to our season. We worked really hard this offseason offensively on skills, shooting and having as many kids back as we do we we've gotten really good results from that, but it's because of the work that our kids put in. They work so hard and it's good for them to see those results and to gain that confidence to know that they're able to do the things we're asking them to and that we've always told them that they could,” he said.

Winning on Tuesday night is important, according to Bauer, but it does not make or break their season. “Well, obviously one of our goals is to win a league championship and I think that you could ask any team they would say the same thing. Our expectations or our standards for ourselves are to play our best and to play to the ability that we know that we have. We know that we're going to face adversity whether that be losing a game or losing the possession and we have to find ways to deal with that and make those bits of adversity as small as we can or as few and far between as we can,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “If we can do those things we put ourselves in a pretty good position to win and that's the mentality that we have to take. We can't put that much pressure on ourselves and in game one. We need to take care of each possession one possession at a time and minimize our lapses if we can do that we'd like our chances.”

Upper Sandusky (2-1) beat Willard (45-37) last week.

Bauer says do a lot of the fundamental elements of the game really well. “Coach (Jerry) Vent at Upper Sandusky does a good job. They play hard, they're fundamental, and they pass the ball well. It's a fun team to watch play basketball. Grace Walton is a really nice player. She's really fundamental, she's smooth, she shoots the ball well. They've got kids that just buy into what coach Vent has set up for them and they execute on both ends. It's going to be a game where we have to be again attentive mentally, vocally active and we have to be physically engaged because they're going to stress that and they're going to put pressure on us on both ends of the floor possession after possession. We have to be sharp in three areas,” said Bauer.

Published 12/05/23

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Inexperienced Colonel Crawford Starts With Two

Colonel Crawford will feature one of their least experienced teams in recent memory as they open the season with a double weekend at home with Crestline on Friday and at Northmor on Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says his teams is making the right kind of progress. “I think it's a group that's made progress over the last two weeks. We've had our guys for two weeks now and they've made a little progress and that's the thing that we have got to keep doing throughout this entire year. With the one starter back they have bought in. Every year we try to find roles and play to our strengths and you know we're still feeling that out early in the preseason and it's good to have two non league games come this weekend,” said Sheldon.

After graduating almost all of their scoring, Sheldon says they are trying to find guys that can put the ball in the basket. “What we're trying to see, who's going to step up. We've had three scrimmages now and we've been able to see some progress for some guys and the capabilities and trying to play to the strengths of each individual on our team and bring them together as a collective group, but that's going to be growth as we go throughout this year,” he said.

Crestline has a new coach this year in Paul Webb. Sheldon says the Bulldogs are going to be pretty young. “First, they're young basketball team. They have no seniors looking at the roster. A brand new coach in Paul Webb, who came from a very good coach he worked under in Tim Mergel, who was a really good coach over the years that I had the utmost respect for. So, we know they're going to play hard, but early in the season don't know a lot of them other than no seniors on the roster and they're going to be well coached. So, early in the season we got to worry about Colonel Crawford and try to get off to a good start,” said Sheldon.

On other hand, Sheldon says Northmor will be very experienced and they are talented too. “It's going to be a very good road test for us. Northmor is picked to win their league. They've got everybody back except one senior they lost. It's a very, very good basketball team and I think one of the best teams in the area. Last year, they're in the district finals with all those kids back this is going to be a very, very tough test for us on the road,” he told Swankopnsports.com on Tuesday morning, “We schedule this to get us ready for later in the season and where we need to grow before we head into league play the week after. So, it's going to be a great road test for this group of young guys playing varsity basketball for the first time. We have got one starter back in Trevor Vogt and we’ll have a lot of new faces out there. I know our guys are going to go and compete against a very good basketball program in Northmor Saturday night.”

Published 11/29/23

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Colonel Crawford Looks Ready

Colonel Crawford tips off the girls’ basketball season at home on Wednesday night as they host the Northmor Lady Golden Knights in a non-conference game.

Coach Zac Bauer says they have made good progress during the preseason as they approach the opener. “When we talked to our team (Monday) night after practice about being ready for the opportunity that Wednesday is going to bring and about the growth that we've made from our first practice through our scrimmages and we've seen that in some film study that we've done on ourselves and we've seen that in some of the shooting drills that we've done and the numbers that we're starting to rack up in those. We've got such a great group of kids that work so hard, they push themselves, they push each other and when you have that kind of environment in practice you will improve.”

Bauer says he likes the fact that the players are excited for that first game. “It's good that the preseason is as long as it is to get them ready and to get the kids, the players themselves, to a point where they're confident in themselves and they know they're ready. I like to hear that from a team,” he said.

The Lady Eagles won this opener a year ago and Bauer says they better be ready for Northmor to play with some intensity. “I know Northmor has some players back from their team last year. They played some younger players on the team last year. So, a year of varsity experience for those younger kids always helps. Their physical and they get after you on the defensive end and they're going to come into our place and play really hard,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “One thing we talked about was, we kind of shocked the world last year by winning that first game because we lost 1,000 point scorer and maybe were not seen as ready to win that game. We've got to be ready for them to come into our place with the same mentality. Come on our home floor and spoil our home opener.”

Published 11/21/23

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Colonel Crawford Will be Physical

Colonel Crawford, one of the traditional small school basketball powers, will be less experienced this year than they have been in a long time.

Veteran coach David Sheldon says they return only one starter from a team that won a division IV district title last year. “Well, it's early, we just got our football players in all together last Friday with getting to the second round of the playoffs we gave him some time off and we just got them in. We're a work in progress. We're a very young basketball team with losing four starters from last year and four seniors that averaged 45.6 points per game, those four seniors. So, we're sort of putting the pieces together and it’s a young team that we got to keep progressing day by day during the preseason,” he said.

Sheldon says they really only have one kid returning that played a lot for them last year. He says they are trying to find out how the other pieces fit together as they are working in the preseason. “We return one starter Trevor Vogt, who averaged just over seven points a game and then we have two kids back that came off the bench last year in Ryan McMichael, a senior, and then Payne DeGray, a sophomore, but everybody else played JV basketball the year before,” he told Swankpnsports.com on Monday afternoon, “The good thing is we got together in June before they got off to football and started to see what we could piece together. Then we didn't see him until last week all of our guys for the most part played football, which is great, they had great success. We have just got a lot of work to do to be honest as we're early in the preseason.”

The Eagle football team finished as the Northern 10 Athletic Conference runner-up and advanced to the division VI regional quarterfinal.

Sheldon says they are going to be physical, but they must work hard on sharpening their basketball skills. “We have got a physical basketball team, that's the one thing about this basketball team is they're a physical one. Every night we're going to have to guard night in and night out. The thing is we're doing so much skill work right now offensively, just getting the ball back in their hands, shots, ball handling, everything, breaking down the fundamentals since we don't open until the first week in December. It's nice, we don't open Thanksgiving week like years past, we have got another extra week of preseason with the long football run that we made,” said Sheldon.

Published 11/14/23

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High Expectations For Crawford

Colonel Crawford, coming off a third place finish in the tough Northern 10 Athletic Conference last year, is excited to find out how good they can be this season.

Coach Zac Bauer says the players really want to play some basketball. “I've been really happy with what I've seen out of our kids. We've got good numbers out and our girls were eager to get back to it. The more I talked to them leading up to our first practice the more excited they seemed. We've never had a problem with kids going hard in practice, but I think this year they're more comfortable with the terminology that we use and kind of the expectations of the way things go. It's carried over and things seem to be running smoother now than they were last year at this time after 10 practices just because of the familiarities there.”

When it comes to how good they can be, Bauer says the team has high expectations. “There are a lot of variables that go into that, but we've talked about that as a team and our biggest thing as a team this year is can we live up to the standards that we set for ourselves? Our players have talked to me and I've kind of talked to them too and they have high expectations for themselves and so I told them we're going to hold you to a high standard and practice and they've held themselves to a pretty high standard for the first ten days and that's what we're going to continue to do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We're going to see how high our ceiling can go because we do have kids that work really hard and they get along well and they play well as a team. So, potential wise it's hard to put a definite answer on that, but we have high expectations for ourselves and that's what we want to try to live up to.”

This season the Lady Eagles have a lot of players back that played significant roles. Bauer says right now they are trying to determine the players that will make the varsity roster. “For us with having so many kids back. We kind of know who our top few are just based off of last year. The good thing for us right now is to see who else can contribute to that group and how we can get them the most time possible, whether that be at the varsity level only, whether that be at the JV level only or whether that be a combination of the two. When you start looking at a combination of the two, how many quarters a night do they play one way or the other and that's something that we're going to try to figure out here in the next two weeks is how can those middle of the ground players can be utilized the best,” said Bauer.

Published 11/08/23

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Crawford Meets Talented Ottawa Hills

Colonel Crawford will be at home for Ottawa Hills in a regional quarterfinal in division VI on Friday night.

They hung on to beat Seneca East, a Northern 10 Athletic Conference rival, (24-16) in the opening round last week.

Coach Jake Bruner says they did enough to win. “I told our guys when you play an opponent for the second time it's always tougher. Our expectation was just to win the game and that's what we did. We just want to win by one more point the other team. So, at the end of the day, we liked how we played the first half and it did get a little dicey there at the end, but give credit to Seneca East, thy have got some good players as well some good coaches,” he said.

Crawford (10-1) hosts Ottawa Hills (10-1) on Friday night. The Green Bears walloped Margaretta (42-7) in their first playoff game.

Bruner says they have a lot talent. “They've had about three really good seasons in a row. They just have a very talented team with a lot of speed on their team. They do have some size. They have got some really good linebackers. They obviously just terrorized their league this year. They’re 10-1, their only loss is to a Michigan team that's a from a small school in Michigan,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They play really, fast they throw the ball well, they run the ball well, and very physical on defense. They just do a great job with really 30 kids on the roster. They play about 14 kids on Friday night and they just do a great job. Their kids are very veteran, they have a lot of experience back and obviously they a lot of talent, so it's going to be a big task for us.”

Bruner says they can’t let Ottawa Hills with all of their speed to get to the perimeter and they must tackle well. “I mean we have got to control them and at the same time they throw well. The quarterback can run and throw it. They have got a really fast running back. We have got to limit the big plays and we have got to tackle well here on Friday night, hopefully being in North Robinson will help us a little bit. Hopefully we can move the ball as well and keep their offense off the field,” said Bruner.

The Crawford coach says it’s good to be home too. “We've been here before. It's going to be a big challenge here, but we're happy to do it at home. Last year, we had to go on the road to Carey, so we're privileged to be able to play here at Colonel Crawford,” he said.

Published 11/03/23

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On Friday night at www.swankonsportshosting247.com

Colonel Crawford Faces Explosive Seneca East

Colonel Crawford plays Seneca East, a team they beat in play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this year, in a first round playoff game in division VI on Friday night in North Robinson.

The Eagles (9-1) smoked Buckeye Central (45-6) in a “N10” game on Friday. They haven’t lost since conference champion Carey beat them (27-7) on September 22.

Coach Jake Bruner says they hope they are at their best as the postseason begins. “Well, I hope so, I mean when you get to this point you want to be on your best. We’re all playing to survive another week. So, I think we're coming along, but we have got to perform on Friday night as well,” he said.

Seneca East (5-5) at one point had won four of five, but they have been soundly beaten the last two weeks by Wynford (66-34) and Carey (55-6) in “N10” play.

Bruner says this is a team with an exceptional athlete at quarterback in Blake Foos and they scare you on offense. “Well, obviously give credit to Carey and Wynford, they're both pretty hot right now, both playing really good football. Seneca East is a as a team very similar to us. They have got some experience back at different levels, but then they have got some young guys in there. They've shown some progress throughout the year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “When you have a quarterback like the (Blake) Foos kid. He's just dynamic in everything he does. I think he's got 2,800 yards between running and throwing. The (Taylor) Young kid at receiver and running back has 54 catches and leads our league in receptions. So, they're just a really, really, really good offensive team. They’re well coached and their coaches have been through this. They were in a final four (in 2018). We know we're going to get their best effort on Friday night when they come down North Robinson.”

When they played on September 15, Colonel Crawford won (29-14) again in North Robinson. It was (29-0) at the half.

Bruner says they aren’t taking anything for granted. “I think our kids have a lot of respect for their athletes and their kids. The game was a game that was kind of back and forth early and then it kind of went our way and then the second half they just did a good job controlling the ball. So, I think they know that we’re really up against a really good opponent. If we don't play well, we're going to get beat. These guys have been in the playoffs. They’ve been through this before and they're good football team that’s well coached. Their kids play extremely hard. Seneca East always has nice looking kids, they're big, they're physical and they always have athletes. So, we know that we've got our hands full on Friday night,” said Bruner.

Published 10/24/23

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Crawford to Play Improved Buckeye Central

Colonel Crawford needs a win and a favor to get a piece of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title.

They have to win at Buckeye Central on Friday night and then have Seneca East upset conference leading Carey.

Last week, the Eagles (8-1,5-1) beat Mohawk (41-12) in a conference game.

Coach Jake Bruner says they were focused on what they had to do. “Anytime you're on the road against a rival team you want to make sure your guys are ready to play. I thought our kids were focused and ready to play and I think our work showed on the field and on the scoreboard,” he said.

Buckeye Central (3-6,1-5) smoked Bucyrus (55-14) last week in winning their first conference game. Dom Dean ran for 126 yards and three scores.

Bruner says Buckeye is a good football team. “Well, number one I think Chad Jensen's done a great job there. They are a lot better football team than they were a year ago. It shows on defense with the (Landon) Sherwood kid and the Dean kid. Then offensively, their quarterback has had a great year. They've got a lot of different receivers that have caught the ball. They've done a lot of things and scored a lot of points this year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “It's kind of a “602” rivalry game there for us, so we know we're getting their best effort. Coach Jensen and staff do a great job there and we know that it'll be a tough one for us on Friday when we head there.”

Colonel Crawford also stands third in its division VI region and Bruner says if they are to maintain that double home game position, they have to beat Buckeye Central. “I think that's what our message our kids is right now that the only thing we need to worry about right now is Buckeye Central. Not about who we're playing in the playoffs or who's going to help us do this or that. Right now, we just need to focus on how we're playing. We've got a task in front of us and that task needs to be completed and we need to take care of business there. We know that it's not going to be easy. Buckeye Central’s kids play hard. They have got a lot of good players over there and we know we'll get their best effort,” said Jensen.

Published 10/19/23

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Crawford Expects Game From Mohawk

Colonel Crawford, a game back in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, plays at Mohawk in a conference game on Friday night.

They also stand second in their division VI region and a win would solidify that spot.

They scored on a Peyton Baker to Conner McMichael touchdown pass with just over three minutes left to beat Wynford (37-34) last week.

Coach Jake Bruner says it was a tremendous game. “Well, obviously whenever you win a rival game in the fashion that we did you feel pretty good. At the same time, you look back and see a lot of things that you did wrong, but you can't argue with both teams effort on Friday night and the effort they gave,” he said.

They have won seven of their eight games and Bruner says they have matured. “I think we were more poised, we are more experienced. We're a young team, so we're playing with a lot of young kids. So, the experience factor for us has really been the improvement that we had to make. We've got some veteran guys back, not a lot of them, we had a lot of inexperience around them and we needed those guys who grow up a little bit. Obviously, eight games into it you surely hope they've gained some experience,” said Bruner.

Colonel Crawford (7-1,4-1) is at Mohawk (1-7,1-4) on Friday night. The Warriors were thrashed by Seneca East (30-7) last week.

Bruner looks for them to rebound. “Looking at how they played Carey a couple weeks ago. They've had a lot of injuries. They got hit by the injury bug. They're kind of a junior driven team. They have played some tough teams. Look at the first two opponents, they're undefeated still. They play a great schedule and are banged up a little bit and just things haven't gone their way, but they're good team and they're well coached,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We're concerned, we're going to Mohawk. They play us very well every year. I think their coach is a little disappointed in how they played last week. I think he was disappointed in how they played against Wynford and that next week they played Carey really, really well. So, we know we're going to get their best effort going over there on Friday night.”

Published 10/11/23

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Colonel Crawford Must Play Well

Colonel Crawford and Wynford, both a game back in the standings in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, play in a big one on Friday night in North Robinson.

They both trail Carey by a game and another loss likely puts them out of the conference title race.

The Eagles (6-1,3-1) bounced back form a loss to Carey to belt Upper Sandusky (41-6) last week.

Coach Jake Bruner says they are back on the beam. “Number one, it’s never easy to take a loss, but when you come back and feel like you play pretty well it gives you hope that your young team is coming along,” he said.

There are a number of first time varsity contributors on the team and Bruner says it was gratifying to see them respond. “You always worry about that as a coach. You never want to be too low or too high just because there was a lot of football to play, especially with the playoffs now. I mean everybody's like we're in week eight of the season, but we hope our season goes as long as we can and that could mean a lot more football hopefully for us in the future. Right now, we're just focused on this week and obviously we have got a game with a really good opponent,” said Bruner.

Wynford (4-3,3-1) smoked Buckeye Central (45-0) last week.

Bruner says they have good players all over the place. “I think it starts with their coach. I think Cyle Skidmore is in the second year. Number one, he was an excellent player in high school and college. When you're a young coach in your first year, and I've been that guy, it's tough to come into a program that has so much success like Wynford has done. It's just a credit to him and his coaches there is so much improvement they've made in a year, they're a heck of a football team. They have played a heck of a schedule this year. They have competed every week. They scored like 170 points in the last three weeks to I think to 29 and they're really rolling right now,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “I think it starts with the coaching staff and then obviously you know goes to their players. You look at the (Kalen) Skidmore kid, he's one of the best defensive lineman and offensive lineman in the league. They have two great backs, a quarterback and receiver, they're all in tops and league. We know we're going to get their best effort Friday night. It’s a rivalry game and they're going to play really well and they're going to be really well coached and we have a lot of respect for you know their team and we know we're going to get their best effort on Friday night.”

Both teams like to run it, but Bruner says they need to do some other things too. “I think both teams want to run the football, both teams want to play good defense and I think both teams are physical. So, it's going to be interesting to see what both teams have. I think both teams obviously can throw it. I just think it's in our DNA a little bit. Both of us running really similar offenses when you look at them and it's kind of fun that way I guess in one regard,” he said.

Published 10/05/23

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Crawford Faces High Octane Upper

Colonel Crawford needs to get back on the winning track after suffering its first setback of the season last week.

They play at Upper Sandusky in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action on Friday night.

They fell (27-7) to defending “N10” champion Carey last week.

Coach Jake Bruner says they got beat in the trenches. “Carey is a crazy, great football team. Really, with about six minutes to go in the fourth quarter, I think it was 13-7 and we had the ball. Give credit to them, they're great football team. I was really pleased with our defense and how they played all night in a tough situation. Offensively, up front we really have to improve. They took advantage of some things with us. We just have got to get a little better in that area. We played a lot of young kids, but give credit to Carey, they're a heck of football team and heck of a program and they're well coached,” said Bruner.

Bruner adds that he knows they are going to get better this week. “They have some really great size and some great speed and they did a great job Friday night. We needed to do a better job up front and then do some better things as coaches. Football is a humbling sport and I know our guys will get better and continue to fight and move on from that,” he said.

Crawford (5-1,2-1) plays host to Upper Sandusky (3-3,2-1) on Friday. The Rams rallied to beat Mohawk (39-34) last Friday.

Bruner says quarterback Kaden Holman, who has thrown 20 TD’s this year already, and his group of receivers are tough to contain. “Talk about two tales of two different teams. We're going from Carey and the Maryland “I” and running the ball every play to Upper Sandusky, who has one of the best quarterbacks in the last decade in our conference and some great receivers to go with him,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “They're really fast, they have lots of speed, we're going to their place and it's going to be a big challenge for us. They play some really good competition and obviously they beat us last year and overtime. We know what they're capable of and we know that it's going to be the heck football game over there at Upper.”

Overall, this season the Eagles have run the ball really well. Bruner says that would be key Friday night in keeping the ball away from the Rams. “That would be great if we could do that, that would be awesome because the less time they have it on offense, the better for us,” he said.

Published 9/26/23

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Colonel Crawford Meets Physical, Disciplined Carey

Colonel Crawford and Carey were the best two teams in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference last season and that might the case again this year.

They meet on Friday night at Carey to see who takes the conference lead.

The Eagles (5-0,2-0) downed Seneca East (29-14) last week in “N10” play.

They led (29-0) and coach Jake Bruner says they got a very good start again. “I thought our guys were really excited to play in front of the home fans, a lot of lot of things going on in Colonel Crawford the last couple of weeks here. So, we wanted to have a good start and we did and we were happy with that and thought our guys played really hard,” he said.

The two teams have five of the top 10 rushers in the league this season. Crawford’s Micha Thomas is second in the “N10” with 620 yards and leads the league with 10 TD’s.

Bruner says this is just a traditional Carey team. “Gosh when you watch Carey you tend to think it's like watching Carey in 1975, 2005 or 2010. They just seem to do good things all the time. Obviously, with their schedule with Hopewell-Loudon and Galion, those are two tremendous programs. We scrimmaged Hopewell-Loudon and I know they’re really, really good, so their two losses are two really good teams,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We know that they're a really good football team, they're well coached, they're physical, they've got great size, and they're playing at home this week. So, we know we're going to get their best effort and it'll be a heck of a challenge for our young team.”

Neither starting quarterback has thrown 40 passes this season.

Bruner says Carey (3-2,2-0) beat Buckeye Central (41-0) last week and they are not fancy or deceptive in any way. He says you know they want to run the football. “I think sometimes that's probably scarier than being deceptive. At the same time, their quarterback the (Carter) Smiley kid is very sleek and is quick and they've got different running backs they use that all have different qualities that are really, really good. They just do a great job there with their football program. I don't think they've had too many losing seasons at Carey since the beginning of the Carey school district. So, we know we're going to get their best effort it's going to be heck of a football game,” said Bruner.

Is this the “N10” football title game? Maybe. However, Bruner knows it puts them in pretty good position if they win. “We really don't talk about that and probably Carey doesn’t either, but at the same time we know that this is an important game and the “N10” championship race. The whole idea of high school football is kind of changed now with the playoffs. It's such a longer season if you're having a good season and so many teams make the playoffs. So, there's a lot of football to be played, but we know this is an important game for all for a lot of reasons,” he said.

Published 9/20/23

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Schedule Gets Tougher for Crawford

Colonel Crawford has played some excellent football this year, but the quality of their opponents will get better the rest of the way beginning when they host Seneca East Friday night in a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

Last week, they walloped Bucyrus (56-6) in an “N10” game.

Coach Jake Bruner says there is still a lot of room for improvement. “As we watched the film, we saw some things that we didn't like that we have got to correct. I think that's just part of this game unfortunately is you're never as good as you want to be and you're never as bad as you think you are sometimes. So, we just have got a lot of work to do. We have got a big week this week obviously Seneca East has a really good football team and a really good coaching staff. Blake Foos is a really good player and they had a big win Friday night, so they have got a lot of momentum coming into our game,” said Bruner.

Crawford (4-0,1-0) is at home for Seneca East (2-2,1-0) this week. The Tigers outgunned Upper Sandusky (46-44) last week.

Bruner says Foos does a lot of good things. “I mean he wears that number 12, so he kind of reminds me of Tim Tebow out there. Number one, he's a really good player and he carries himself the right way, he says the right thing. We have a lot of respect for him and coach (Ed) Phillips and how they do things and they have got a lot of other good players too. They have got size, they have got speed and a lot of things are going to keep me up at night,” he said.

Foos accounted for six TD’s last week.

When it comes to size, Bruner says the Tigers have a lot of if, all over the field. “They always seem to have good size and they have good skill. The guys up front, they just seem like they just grow up there in Attica on trees or something. They always seem good size up front and then they have those ends that are 6’1”, 6’2”, 210 and 215 pounds that can run. That is always a big concern when you watch them on film. They always pass the eye test too. So, we know we're going to get their best and we know that they're well coached and they've had a lot of success there and it'll be a great game Friday night.”

With Carey, Upper, Wynford and Mohawk to play all in a row after this week, Bruner says knows things are going to get real. “We're getting right into the meat of the conference. Our conference is really interesting this year. Just looking at as a whole, I think there's a lot of teams that are very similar in talent and that's exciting. I think you saw that with the Upper Sandusky-Seneca East game. Both of those teams have really good players and what a shootout it was,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “I think there is a lot of consistency in our league. I think looking really basically the rest of the year out, we're going to be in a meat grinder every week in our area, no gimmies and we're going to play really well and try to stay focused one game at a time.”

Published 9/11/2023

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It’s About Improvement for Crawford

Colonel Crawford hosts Bucyrus on Friday night in the opening of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference season in North Robinson.

The Eagles (3-0) beat East Knox (49-15) last week in a non-league game.

Coach Jake Bruner feels he has seen good improvement through the first three weeks of the season. “I think we've gotten better and we're going to keep doing that because like I said we're far away from where we have got to be. We're playing some younger kids right now and just trying to bring them along,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “I'm really happy with how hard they're playing. We have just got to execute a little bit more, be a little more consistent. That's what you find with young teams is sometimes you're not as consistent in what you do all the time.”

Again, last week they ran the ball successfully and that has been key for the Eagles this year.

With a younger team this year, Bruner says sometimes they have to watch how much they are feeing them. “I mean you see growth all the time every week, every play, and sometimes you get a moment where we might be a little over their head as a coaching staff or hey, we've got to slow things down for them and make it more manageable. That is just how it works in football, just constantly learning and getting better every day,” he said.

Bucyrus (0-3) lost last week (36-28) to Cardington when the Pirates scored in the late going.

Bruner says the Redmen have been showing promise. “I saw a young team getting a lot better. I realized this week how old I am. The quarterback from Bucyrus is the (Bryaden) Campbell kid, his dad threw for 4000 almost 5000 yards when I was at Bucyrus. So, it means I'm getting really, really old, but it’s where we're going. He played a great game last week and hopefully he won't play that well this week because he was pretty good last week,” said Bruner.

This game is a rivalry and Bruner says Bucyrus is going to be ready to play. “Our kids see them every day and it's a rivalry and they're going to play hard and we got to be ready to play off right here or we're going to be in trouble,” he said.

Published 9/08/23

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Colonel Crawford Faces Hard Running East Knox

Click here to listen to an interview with coach Jake Bruner

Colonel Crawford is at home for the first time this season as they entertain the East Knox Bulldogs in a non-conference game on Friday night.

They smoked Cardinal Stritch (57-13) last week, scoring seven times in the first half of the game.

Coach Jake Bruner says they were focused getting off the bus. “I thought our kids came out and we're more focused on having a fast start and we did that. With the far away trip and an opponent with 14 seniors we were concerned going into the game, so I was proud of our kids,” he said.

Bruner says one thing that was improved for the Eagles (2-0) was their commination, especially on offense. “I think we communicated better a little bit on the offense and offensive line. Week one to week two is a big deal. I mean I think everybody has some mistakes week one and you try to get out with a win and hoping that it's not too many that it's going to cost you game. We have some young kids playing. We're just trying to get better every week. We still have a lot of growth to do,” said Bruner.

East Knox (1-1) fell (20-14) to Crestview last week. The Eagles beat East Knox (37-7) in Howard last season.

Bruner says they need to stop the run. “Well, number one I'm really impressed with them. East Knox is traditionally tough, hardnosed kids and they play really hard. Last year, the score may not have indicated it, but that was a really good football game over there at East Knox. We're happy to be at home,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “They have got a lot of seniors, a lot of kids that played last year back and seeing that on film both they're running backs and they're offensive line is scary. So, we have our hands full and our work cut out for us on Friday night.”

After traveling to Hanibal River and Oregon Cardinal Strich the first two weeks, Bruner says it will be nice to be in North Robinson on Friday. “500 miles in the last two weeks I'm happy to be home. We've been on some major big road trips,” he said.

Published 8/29/23

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Communication has to Improve for Crawford

Colonel Crawford tries to make it two in a row to start this season when they play Cardinal Stritch at Oregon Clay Stadium on Friday night in non-league play.

They held off Hannibal River (21-20) in their first game last Thursday.

Coach Jake Bruner says it was an up and down game, but they were able to outlast River in the end. “I guess you could say that obviously as a coach it was you know not as exciting as it was probably for the fans. I thought our kids for a four hour one way trip, four hours home, staying in West Virginia and playing a really gutsy team I thought really showed our character. Getting down 14-0 on the road and to come back and tie it up right before halftime. Then our struggles in the second half. We took the lead, I thought we controlled it, but they kept fighting. It's a good football team and when you play a team of that caliber with that caliber coach you're going to get their best and we did,” said Bruner.

Going to week two, Bruner says they have to be better on both sides of the of the football. “Well, there's a lot of things coaching and playing that we've have got to get better on. We had a lot of them, I thought we had a lot of mistakes offensively and defensively we were bad at times. Obviously, give credit to our opponent because they gave us a lot of problems, but at the same time I think there's just a lot of room for improvement from communication to just overall play. Some of that's just the first week, but we've got some young guys playing and we got to get better,” he said.

Cardinal Stritch beat up Fremont St. Joe (41-6) last Saturday in their opener to the season.

Bruner says they are going to put some athletes on the field. “Well, what worries me about about Cardinal Stritch is I don't know a lot about them, number one. We only have a couple of films on them. They didn't play football last year and they have 14 seniors,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Those 14 seniors are if you follow Cardinal Stritch basketball, they're pretty good and they have got some basketball players out. They have got some excitement in their program. Their coach is doing a great job. When you come off scoring 41 points and get a win there is a lot of excitement there. We're going on another road trip for an hour and 40 minutes to play there so it's going to be a challenge for us.”

Published 8/23/23

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Colonel Crawford A Long Way From Home

The Colonel Crawford Eagles are about four hours from home and ready to play a football game against Hannibal River Thursday night, a school that sets right along the Ohio River in Southeast Ohio.

They have finished up the three weeks of prep for the game and coach Jake Bruner, speaking to us on a bus across the river in New Martinsville, West Virginia, says he likes the progression the team made this preseason. “I think we've been getting better. I mean we have got a lot of work to do. We have got a lot of guys that were in roles last year playing varsity and now they have to step up and be the guy. Then we have a lot of young kids that we're kind of trying to bring along and they've worked extremely hard,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Our kids have done a great job. I'm very proud of them. We just have got to keep getting better each day and each week as we go along in the season.”

Perhaps the situation is not ideal, but Bruner says both schools were looking for a game and here we are. “We have a tough game to this (Thursday) night at Hannibal River. They are a powerhouse down here in southern Ohio. We were both looking for a game and we signed two-year commitment to go up here once and they're going to come up to our place next year. Obviously, (Thursday) night we'll have a pretty tough game here with a really good opponent,” said Bruner.

River was (11-2) last year and lost to Newark Catholic is a division VII regional final in 2022.

Bruner says they are big in the trenches and they have a quarterback that is very skilled and some backs to get the ball to. “They remind me of the Crestlines of the of the 80s and 90s. They're really big up front, have very skilled players. They bring a quarterback that's a three-year starter that was touted to be in the top 22 players in Ohio and two great running backs. They have just got it all and we're going to have a big test here week one on the road,” he said.

Published 8/17/23

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Colonel Crawford a Mix

Colonel Crawford hopes to again be a factor in the race in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

They finished in a share of second in the conference standings with Seneca East last season, two games behind the Carey Blue Devils.

Coach Jake Bruner, in his second year at the helm, says they some players that are going to have to step into new roles with the Eagles. “Well, I mean obviously I love our athletes. We have a lot of great kids that come across they work really hard. We had a great summer. When you graduate 17 seniors it's tough to replace a group like that, but we've got a lot of kids back that maybe played a role, a smaller role last year, they're going to step up and be the leaders this year. I got some young kids that are coming along too, so it'll be a work in progress, but it'll be an interesting group of kids to coach and we're excited for what the future holds” said Bruner.

Bruner says every year you have to assemble a puzzle and find out what pieces fit where and that is exciting. “What is fun about high school is that every year changes and you get to see kids and how they grow. We've had some kids just wow it's watching and it's like hey, wow, we're seeing what we thought we would and you see kids step into those roles and then you see them mature,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “You have kids that you move around and you see them in different ways and that's what makes it exciting. We're just trying to figure out the puzzle pieces, obviously. We've got some experience back, but we've got some youth too, so it'll be a growth process.”

Crawford (10-3 last year) beat Carey (14-7) in a second round playoff game before losing the next week to Columbus Grove.

Bruner says they have a tradition of winning and that’s a plus. “I think it's a great thing to have. I think our kids know that the work has to come. I can say this we may not win a game this year, but our kids worked awful hard and they do that. Our kids expect to win and they go into it with that mindset there's a lot of pride in that and that's kind of how programs are built. We just have got to keep getting better every day and focusing on ourselves and working on those fundamentals and hoping it'll come together,” he said.

Published 8/01/23

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Hamilton Gets Stronger; Leads Crawford Past Mohawk

Brennan Hamilton retired 15 of the last 19 batters he faced and Colonel Crawford edged Mohawk (4-2) in a division IV district semifinal played at Galion’s Heise Park on Wednesday.

They will play Seneca East (15-12), also of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, on Friday evening. The Tigers beat Lucas (2-1) in the district nightcap.

Mohawk would score two runs in the top of the second inning on a two run single by nine place hitter Hunter Haynes. They loaded the bases in the third, but didn’t score. Coach Dan Gorbett says Hamilton found his rhythm and really carried the team. “He was in a jam in the first inning too on those kind of swinging bunts, they're base hits and there's not much you can do it just falls in there. He got out of that with just one run. Once he got out of that third inning jam, he turn it up and a notch. He’s that four year lettermen, senior that you want in a pressure tournament game again. He put the team on his back and that carried us through,” said Gorbett.

Mohawk (10-16) left nine runners on, six in the first three innings, and coach Eric Hoover said that led to their downfall. He says Hamilton made clutch pitches when he had to. “We knew it was going to be a close game. Coming in I thought probably four runs would win the game. We had chances to score big early. We got popouts and strikeouts. We get runners in scoring position and obviously that's like the worst case scenario. There are lot of other ways to get runs out and that's not one of them,” he told Swankonsports.com, “I mean (Hamilton’s) good, he does a great job on the mound and makes it tough. We watched too many strikes. That’s not the first time first time. We have talked about it and worked at it. He did a good job of finding that outside corner a lot and hitting the catcher’s mitt and making it tough on us in those situations in battling out of it. He could have folded or got angry or started complaining about balls he thought he should have got or whatever, but he didn't. He was mentally tough and he showed zero emotion out there on the mound whatsoever and that's how you get through tough times on the mound. You have got to do that as a pitcher and he did a good job with most situations.”

Mohawk played some solid defense too, ending the first and fifth innings with double plays. Hoover says that helped to keep them in the game. “We haven't turned any double plays all year, maybe just a couple. We have been working a lot at it, so I'm glad to see them get that done. I thought defensively we made plays we had opportunities to do so, which has been a struggle for us a lot. He have been giving up six, seven runs and we were able to hold them down,” said Hoover.

Colonel Crawford (15-12) scored in the first on an error, a hit by pitch, a walk and an RBI single by freshman Van Wintersteller. They added two in the third on two walks, another RBI single by Wintersteller and a perfect sacrifice bunt by another freshman Nate McCartney. The final run came in the fourth on Hamilton’s RBI single.

Gorbett praised the plays made by those young kids with the bats. “A freshman Wintersteller went three for three. We got a nice safety squeeze by another freshman there. We just found ways to get some runs. Friday we're going to have to hit the ball better. That was some good situational baseball that we did there. We didn’t strike out very many times. I haven’t checked the book out, but we put the ball in play,” he said.

Micah Thomas, the regular shortstop, was ill and not available against Mohawk, but Gorbett says they had a number of other kids step up. “They have really been amazing. Our starting shortstop is our best hitter and he was throwing up at noon, so he didn't play. So, our center fielder hasn't played shortstop all year is at shortstop. There were some plays and stuff like that I'm getting upset when like well okay he hasn’t played there all year, so I have to expect that. That's how we've been with them all year. We moved our third baseman to centerfield. They just say okay coach, they don't question it, they don't oh I can't do that coach. They're freshmen that act like three year lettermen.”

Published 5/25/23

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Crawford Explodes Late to Beat Buckeye

Colonel Crawford scored four runs in the fourth, three in the fifth, and two in the sixth and they smoked Buckeye Central (11-1) in a division IV sectional championship game in North Robinson.

They will play Mohawk in a district semifinal next week Wednesday in Galion.

It’s was just 2-1 Crawford going to the bottom of the fourth, but coach Dan Gorbett says they got some hits and some breaks to pull away. “It was really close game. Buckeye Central was doing a great job of getting Brennan Hamilton’s pitch count up. They were tough outs. We both had some unique plays and it’s 2-1, close game, and then just a combination of walks, hits, and I don't know if there are errors or just balls that kind of snuck through the infield and all of a sudden it was like 4-1 or 5-1 and the momentum has swung to us,” said Gorbett.

Hamilton and two hits as did Nick Eachus. Kason Wurm, hitting in the nine hole, had three hits and scored three runs for the Eagles. Eachus, Deagan Moore and Jacob Lucuis had two RBI each.

Hamilton end up giving up three hits. He had three walks and nine strikeouts. He threw 88 pitches, 56 were strikes.

Gorbett says he got stronger as the game went on. “He started out little bit slow, but as the game went on his velocity increased and he was more dominant towards end of the game than in the beginning of the game,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (14-11), the top seed in the district, plays Mohawk (9-15), a team they beat twice, (5-2) and (8-2), in play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

However, Gorbett says they have not seen Mohawk’s best pitcher Brayden Chester. He expects a challenge from the Warriors, who beat Ridgeway Ridgemont (13-1) on Thursday. “Well, I don't think we faced their ace yet, so that will be a secret. They have faced our number one and our number three or four. The first game there we will be throwing Brennan Hamilton, so they have seen him,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “They're always a team that makes a run in the tournament. They play their best ball the end of the year. They are well coached. So, it's going to be a battle. We are both 1-0. Everything else that happened before really doesn't mean a whole lot. So, we're going to practice (Friday), rest the weekend, try to get a game next week and see if we can get a district semifinal win over Mohawk next week.”

Published 5/19/23

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Crawford Downs Mohawk

Brennan Hamilton scattered five hits in going to distance as Colonel Crawford beat Mohawk (8-2) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Thursday evening.

The Eagles (12-7,8-3) also had no errors and that was big, according to coach Dan Gorbett. “We hadn't been on a diamond in seven days. We didn't have a game last Friday, it was prom weekend, so we had the weekend off, we didn't have a game Monday and then we were rained out Tuesday and Wednesday. We took some grounders in the infield and we had no errors (Thursday) and we only had eight strikeouts, so we had a lot of opportunities,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night after the win, “The defensive star again was Micah Thomas. I think eight times the ball was hit to him and three of them they were like slow rollers that you had to come up and throw off balance and he made every single play. That was a big key to the game, all of our defense, but especially his defense.”

When you set a week and don’t play, Gorbett says rust, especially on defense, is a worry. “I was concerned because we're a young team and how are we going to respond to being off this long. Every team's different, but we did an outstanding job of being focused and having good at bats every inning and staying in the game and playing outstanding defense again,” he said.

Mohawk (7-10,4-7) has struggled a little bit lately and coach Eric Hoover says they had some chances to score, but didn’t take advantage. “Hamilton had a very good outing on the mound and for the most part they played very good defense behind him. We missed opportunities to make plays on defense and gave up too many free bases. We are still trying to figure some things out heading into the tournament,” said Hoover.

Now, the tournament draw is Sunday and Gorbett says this is the time of the year you want be at your best. “We have been talking about that. You need to make sure we're getting better and you know staying focused. We'll find out you know what our situation is on Sunday and hoping for a nice tournament run,” said Gorbett.

Published 5/05/23

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Colonel Crawford Rallies to Beat Wynford

Colonel Crawford took second place back to itself in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference with a dramatic (6-5), nine inning, win at home over longtime rival Wynford on Wednesday evening.

Wynford had won (10-1) on Tuesday.

Trailing most of the game, the Eagles (11-6,7-3) tied it five in the bottom of the seventh and then Austin Kelly won it with an RBI hit in the ninth for the Eagles.

Coach Dan Gorbett says starting pitcher Nick Eachus was really magnificent against the Royals on Wednesday. “It was an outstanding game. We're the big underdogs and had to mention Nick Eachus, he just pitched great. They are an outstanding hitting team. He gave up some hits, but it seemed like they had guys on second and third base or bases loaded a lot and he would get that big out and he was just a real bulldog,” said Gorbett.

Wynford (12-5,6-4), #4 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the small school division, was one of the preseason favorites to win the “N10”, along with Upper Sandusky, the Rams are first place by three games over Crawford after a (13-0) win over Buckeye Central on Wednesday.

Gorbett says there really wasn’t any pressure on them Wednesday because Wynford was supposed to win. “I mean there's really no pressure on us because I don’t think anybody expected us to win. We just kept chipping away. They jumped out to a lead and we just you know worked our way back and hung in there,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win on Wednesday night, “Both teams had opportunities to win it in the late innings. Our sophomore Austin Kelly came up with the base hit that scored the winning run in the bottom the ninth. That was a big win for us, big confidence booster beating a team like Wynford.”

Crawford must play competitive Mohawk and Upper Sandusky yet in “N10” games and Gorbett hopes the win Wednesday can give them some confidence. “I mean we start out 9-0, we lost some games and I think we lost some of our confidence. We beat Plymouth Monday and that helped. Then it was kind of a close game with Wynford (on Tuesday). It was like 2-1, 3-1, 4-1 and then we kind of fell apart in the late innings and we lost 10-1 (Tuesday), but it was really a closer game than that score indicates. Our kids did a nice job bouncing back and playing a good game (Wednesday),” said Gorbett.

Published 4/27/23

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Colonel Crawford Belts Plymouth

Colonel Crawford broke a five game losing streak by walloping Plymouth (10-2) in non-conference baseball on Monday evening.

Coach Dan Gorbett says the difference was their defense. “We played very well. We played great defense, which when we were 9-0 we were playing great defense and everything looked good. In our 0-5 slide there we had some really ugly defense. So, we really cleaned it up and had a freshman on the mound and played a real nice game,” said Gorbett.

Gorbett, a hall of fame coach, says defense is a very important part of the game and they executed well on Monday. “You ask your pitchers to throw strikes and they're going to put some balls in play. You have just got to make that play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Plymouth was playing really good defense for the first like three, four innings and had one inning where they had a couple of errors and we capitalized on it and scored a bunch of runs in one inning.”

Colonel Crawford (10-5,6-2) plays at Wynford (11-4,5-3), #4 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the small school division, on Tuesday in a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

Gorbett looks for a battle with the longtime rivals and he emphasizes again how important defense is going to be on Tuesday. “It’s a rival game and Wynford is a very good team. Of course, being a league battle their pitching their ones and twos, while in non-league you are pitching three, four and five. So yeah, that will be a good challenge (Tuesday) and they're going to put the ball in play, so for us to have a chance of beating them, we have to have great defense,” said Gorbett.

Published 4/25/23

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Colonel Crawford Keeps Share of First

Colonel Crawford hammered Carey (10-0) in six innings on Tuesday night in play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

The win keeps them in a share of first place with Upper Sandusky, who beat Mohawk (7-1) on Tuesday. In other league games Wynford beat Bucyrus (16-1) and Seneca East downed Buckeye Central (12-1).

Crawford coach Dan Gorbett says they were able to put it away in the sixth inning. “They were in second place in the league and they're a good team. We got two runs where they made some bad throwing errors. We have a big field and it went all the way here to the fence, so we advanced like three bases in two different situations to go up 2-0,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win on Tuesday night. “We did a real nice job getting runs three and four. A hit, bunt, advanced runner, ground ball, score, that type of thing and it was 4-0. Then going into the last inning there erupted for six runs to end it in six innings, so it was a good game.”

The Eagles (8-0,5-0) play at Carey (5-5,3-2) on Wednesday in the rematch.

Tuesday night, Gorbett says they got a dominating performance from starting pitcher Nick Eachus. “He pitched an outstanding game. This is what I thought he had. In the scrimmages he just looked okay and he wasn't throwing as hard as I thought as he could. He's picked up his velocity and he's got a slider, a curveball and a change up. He struck out I think nine (Tuesday) night and walked three. Just pitched an outstanding game. They had the bases loaded, second and third, like twice and he got out of the jam,” said Gorbett.

Gorbett, a hall of fame coach, says being able to great breaking stuff over makes you an outstanding high school pitcher. “I mean it makes your fastball faster. So, after you see these slower pitches that fastball instead of being, I'm not sure what he throws 78, 79, 80 maybe, it seems like it's 85 when you throw this other pitch for a strike,” he said.

Published 4/12/23

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Colonel Crawford Starting to Come Together

Colonel Crawford shares first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference softball standings with Carey and Upper Sandusky.

Coach Sarah Fraser likes the way they are playing right now. “The girls, they're doing great. They come, they work hard, everything we ask of them. We had some pretty key positions to fill,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We had three to graduation, our center fielder, right fielder, and our second baseman and then our pitcher from last couple of years decided to go the track route. So, we had some very significant spots to fill, but the girls are doing great.”

Pitching is the key to softball and when you have to replace her it’s never easy. Plus, Fraser says they really didn’t have a lot time to figure it out. “We kind of found out kind of last minute, so the plans we thought we had in place had to be changed a little bit. We had to ask some different things out of different girls that they probably weren't expecting, but they take it in stride and they do it with a smile and they work hard at it and that's all we can ask,” she said.

The Lady Eagles (3-1,3-0) smoked Bucyrus (13-4) on Tuesday in an “N10” game.

Fraser says they are feeling more comfortable at the plate. “We played Bucyrus (Tuesday) and we finally put a complete offensive game together. The first three games it was kind of like we either start off slow and end well or vice versa or have a have a good inning in the middle of the game. So, offensively (Tuesday) it really looked like they were coming around and buying in and relaxing a little bit and feeling comfortable. So, always work to be done, but right now we're good, just keep working,” said Fraser.

Published 4/06/23

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Colonel Crawford Gets Past Buckeye Central

Colonel Crawford used a six spot in the third inning to propel them to an (8-6) win over Buckeye Central in the first Northern 10 Athletic Conference game for both teams in North Robinson on Tuesday.

Buckeye scored three in the top of the second, but coach Crawford coach Dan Gorbett says they got something for everybody in that third inning. “We were up 1-0 and then they came back and scored three and were down 3-1. We are a really young team, as Buckeye Central is, so it's nice to respond with the big inning and we had people contributing one through nine, which was another concern of mine so, everybody one through nine had good at bats,” said Gorbett.

Brennan Hamilton and Micah Thomas both had two hits for the Eagles (1-0,1-0) and Thomas had 3 RBI. Rod Rike had 2 RBI as well.

Gorbett says it was big that they were able to respond Tuesday, something they didn’t do very much last spring. “We've talked a lot about that preseason because last year we didn't do as good a job as we should have responding when bad things happen or the other team strings some hits together like Buckeye did (Tuesday) night and that was nice yes bounce back and have a big inning,” he said.

It was also Buckeye Central’s (0-1,0-1) first game of the season. “I thought we hit the ball well and Isaac Hiler pitcher really well, but we had six errors. We aren’t going to beat anyone giving them six extra outs. With that being said, I thought our kids competed and really had some great at bats. We do need to sure up of defense, but there can be a lot of positives to take from it. (Wednesday) is a new day and we will be ready to go,” said Buckeye coach Chad Jensen.

The two teams meets again Wednesday, this time in New Washington.

Hiler went six innings, striking out eight and walking four. Heath Jensen and Jeremiah Fishpaw had two hits for the Bucks. Fishpaw and David Siefert had two RBI.

Nick Eachus went the first five and two-thirds for the Eagles, allowing 11 hits, striking out five and walking two.

Gorbett says they had to also get big efforts from Hamilton and Thomas on the mound. “They are a good team, they kept battling and we hung on. I had to bring in (Wednesday’s) pitcher for one batter the get us out of the inning. We got ourselves in a situation where we didn't have a pitcher warmed up and that's on me as the head coach,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “I should have had somebody ready. When Nick got in trouble, we had to bring in somebody cold, which I eventually had to, but Brennan Hamilton came in and got the third out and then Micah Thomas came in and got the save for us.”

Published 3/29/23

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Good and Bad for Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford has shown some good things this spring and some things they need to work on too as we get ready to open the season.

Veteran baseball coach Dan Gorbett says they have seen some pretty good hitting, but their defense really needs work. “At the beginning the year I thought hitting was going to be our biggest weakness and that's actually progressing. The younger kids are more advanced than I thought they would be. Our upperclassmen are not quite where they need to be, but you know it's early. So, I’m kind of pleased where we're at in that area,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Pitching, I thought we'd be a little bit ahead on that. I’m not ready to panic. We had three freshman pitch against Clear Fork (Tuesday) and they did well for freshman. So, I'm kind of optimistic that those guys will grow or every game. The place we really need a lot of work on is defense. That has hurt us in all of our scrimmages. So, I thought that was going to be a strength, but right now it's not, so we have some decisions to make and a lot of work to do in that area.”

Gorbett says they have to take advantage when there is good weather and work on that defense. “I mean we did have like four days in February where we took ground balls on the field. We didn't throw much, we just put them in buckets because their arms weren’t in shape to throw it around the horn and everything like that. We had arm issues last year, so I'm really cautious of that. We're kind of point where we need to get out there and take a lot of grounders and shag a lot of flies and get better in that area,” he said.

Colonel Crawford opens the season next Monday at Plymouth. Their first two Northern 10 Athletic Conference games on March 28 and 29 against Buckeye Central.

With inexperienced pitchers, Gorbett says the thing they need to learn the most is understanding how to pitch and not just throw. “I think it's almost mental. They're nervous out there. There are times they look good and sometimes they spike the ball in the ground. They're confident kids and they've worked really hard and they have really good attitudes, but just getting over those jitters and then learning not to just grove the ball down the middle that you have to work the corners. A young pitcher wouldn’t understand because there are probably from the dominant side at the lower level. Now, they have to you know pitch more than just throw hard. So, learning that concept of changing speeds and changing location is going to be big adjustment,” said Gorbett.

Published 3/22/22

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Dalton Makes Plays Late to Down Crawford

Dalton outscored Colonel Crawford (8-2) over the final four minutes and beat the Eagles (51-46) in a division IV regional semifinal on Tuesday night at the Canton Memorial Fieldhouse.

Dalton (18-8) will play unbeaten Richmond Heights in a regional final on Friday night in Canton.

Derek Horsley’s three with 4:18 to play gave Crawford a (44-43) lead, but the Bulldogs responded with three straight hoops by sophomore Brady Hignight, Quentin Lehman and Jack Steiner and took a (49-44) lead with 2:42 remaining. Two charity tosses by Trevor Vogt made it a one possession game with 1:56 left. The Bulldogs missed the front ends of two one and one’s, but the Eagles could not take advantage at their end and then Hignight, a sophomore, made two free throws with :11 left to close it out.

Dalton coach Justin Greenfelder was very pleased with how his team responded. “Our kids have been in an awful lot of close games this year and played some really good teams. They have had to continue to play and fight back. So, just because we see a team comeback and take a lead we don’t get phased by that. In an environment like this, to see these kids immediately respond, it wasn’t three or four possessions later, it was responding immediately, and them turning around and getting a stop and that was great to see,” said Greenfelder.

Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon says they just couldn't get the key stop and they had had a chance to make some shots that they normally make. “We take the lead and then we give up three buckets in row. We just couldn't get that stop with the game on the line and then after that we got some good looks, had some key turnovers in the fourth when it's a one, two possession game,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Braxton (Baker) gets a three look right in front of our bench to tie it, Jake (Maddy) gets a two inside and we got the shots we want. Those guys have carried us all the way here and they just didn't go. Every possession in a regional tournament is so important. The amount of error magnifies in this setting because these teams are so good at when they're 16 left.”

Braylon Wenger scored seven points in a two minute span late in the first quarter and the Bulldogs led (15-4) after one and the game was teetering on a blowout, but the Eagles battled back. They scored 10 of the first 12 points of the second quarter, eight by Maddy inside, and cut the Dalton lead to (17-15) 5:24 to play until the half. The two teams traded baskets the rest of the way with Dalton leading (23-21) at the break.

Sheldon feels that second quarter was key for them. “We gut punched in the mouth in the first quarter. We had to use two timeouts and we could have you know put ahead between our tails and these guys came fighting back one possession at a time and it’s a one possession game at halftime. It's a credit to the character of this basketball team,” he said.

On Monday, Greenfelder told Swankonsports.com that they wanted to push the pace, and they did that early, and then they kind of settled into more of a half court tempo. “It was kind of a trade off. If I sped them up too much it was going to give them an opportunity to score more easily. So, once we got the lead and they had to chase us I felt more comfortable playing them in the half court at that point making them spend 30 or 40 seconds on offense I thought that played advantage at that time,” said Greenfelder.

Wenger and Steiner both had 12 points to lead Dalton on Tuesday night. Baker and Maddy both had 16 for Crawford.

It was Baker that kept the Eagles in the game in the third quarter as he scored 11 of his 16 and it was Dalton leading (37-36) after the third.

Greenfelder says they made a little defensive adjustment in the fourth quarter. “We talked to Braylon a little bit between quarters about staying connected to him a little bit more. He got a couple of mismatches in the third quarter and that allowed him to get downhill. He's a good player and good players are going to get theirs, he's going to find a way to get a few buckets and he did there in that third quarter,” he said.

Crawford (18-8) has appeared in the regional tournament in third time in the last four years. After graduating two All-Ohio players last year, Sheldon says this year’s seniors really developed into an excellent team. “It's a special group. You look at Braxton and he's the next great one to come through and he's the next gym rat. He spends so much time in our gym. Jake Maddy turned into one of the best back the basket players I have ever coached. He averaged one point of game last year,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Derek Horsley, he's a quiet assassin. Derek doesn’t say much, but he's a great point guard and facilitates. Ethan Holt is the epitome of our program. He waited until his senior year to play varsity basketball because of the guys in front of him and then took advantage of it. Then Gabe Thew he would do whatever is needed. He took a couple years off and then tries to come out as a senior, but he had a great attitude the whole time. The thing about these five seniors is they're great kids. We faced diversity and they could have said hey that's done and they kept fighting and they got us back to a regional. It'll be a group that'll go down in my 17 years as another special group to come through Colonel Crawford.”

Published 3/08/23

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Crawford Meets Dalton in the Regional

Colonel Crawford, out of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, plays Dalton, a tri-champion of the Wayne County Athletic League, in a division IV regional semifinal on Tuesday night at the Canton Memorial Fieldhouse.

The Eagles (18-7) beat Lucas (59-49) to win their second straight district title, they won it last year in division III, and their third in four years.

Coach David Sheldon says right now the team is playing its best basketball of the season. “We've been very well-rounded. You look at last Friday night we put four guys in double figures. With the amount of emphasis on (Jacob) Maddy and (Braxton) Baker, we have other guys stepping up. I think the number one thing is our defensive focus and preparation from our guys throughout this tournament run has been fantastic. I've always said it starts with the defensive end and this group has really been locked in since we started this tournament a couple weeks ago,” said Sheldon.

Last Friday, the tweaked their defense a little bit to help defend they way Lucas drives hard to basket. Sheldon says your have to be able to do that in the tournament. “I mean every opponent we tweak depending on who the best players are. If it's an inside or a guard and who we're guarding and that, so we do a very in-depth scouting report and that's a credit to my assistant coaches that help put everything together. They work in advance scouting, who we can see and we're very fortunate that our guys really buy in and lock in with what we want to do night in and night out,” he said.

Dalton (17-8) beat Warren JFK (71-58) in the district final.

Sheldon says the Bulldogs feature maybe the best player they have faced this year in Braylon Wenger. “Well, it starts with Braylon Wenger, he's a 6’7” guard that can go inside, he is really good, he's probably the best player we've seen all year long. I know he's got division I looks and he's very good. Their record is a little misleading because he missed the first six games of the year with an injury and they had some losses,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “He averages about 26 game and then they got a point guard that's a tough kid, very good, the (Brandon) Steiner kid and he averages about 15 a game. So, those are the one, two punch, but they've got good players around them. They're a very physical basketball team. The four of five they start are seniors. It's going to be a challenge, but I know our guys are looking forward to it come Tuesday night.

Sheldon says they are going to try and keep the ball our of Wenger’s hands, but that won’t be easy. “You have got to make things tough on him you know he's probably one of the best players in the Wayne County League. It’s not just one person, it's going to take a team effort the entire night,” he said.

In their recent tournament success, the Eagles has played a lot at Bowling Green State University, Sheldon says Canton will be a different experience. “Well, first of all there's a lot of history and tradition at the Fieldhouse. It's a great old school arena. The last time I was in it was in 1986-87 when my father went to the state tournament. That was where he was playing the regional championship against Waynedale. So, you know it's a very historic place. I haven't been there for a while, but it's something that these kids will remember the rest of their life. It's a neat, we've been able to play at “BG” several times over the years and now another great venue across the State of Ohio,” said Sheldon.

Published 3/07/23

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Colonel Crawford Must be Physical

Colonel Crawford locks horns with Lucas on Friday night at Willard School in a district final in division IV.

The winner advances to the regional tournament next week at the Canton Memorial Fieldhouse.

Crawford (17-7) beat Lucas (60-57) at Lucas on January 14 in a non-conference game.

Coach David Sheldon says it’s a game between two teams used to be in this position. “It’s two good basketball teams and you get to a district final everybody's good and Lucas is very good. They've been here before, we've been in this situation before and it's going to be a high grade high school basketball game come Friday night. I have got the utmost respect for their kids, their program and coach (Taylor) Iceman. They've got tradition and looking forward to the opportunity to play in the district final Friday night,” he said.

Offensively, Lucas (21-4) likes to drive the ball hard to the basket and Sheldon says they are going to have to play some physical defense. “They're patient, they'll weave it, they'll cut, until they get a driving lane and then you know they line up some shooters around them as well. So, it is a very tough task at hand for us and it comes back to you to playing good one-on-one defense and you know you have got to hold your ground because they're tough kids,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We have got tough, physical kids too. You look at the two programs everybody on my roster except one plays football and Lucas is the same way and the tradition of both schools and basketball and football is being the best small schools in this area and it'll be a great battle.”

Aiden Culler hurt Crawford from the perimeter in that first game and Sheldon says Lucas has a lot of guys you have to guard. “You look at Lucas they got four guys averaging double figures and he's one of them. He's a good player. It's a tough matchup because they've got so many options. It's a very balanced team and they play very well together and there's a reason they won over 20 games and they're playing in the district final,” he said.

Because of their toughness, Sheldon says they Cubs are hard to score on too. “I think they bring that toughness to the to the defensive end. They will pick you up full, they're going to try to deny you, they're going to press you and then in the half court they make it tough for you to run stuff they're hard man to man defense using their athleticism and physicality. So, you must be able to withstand that pressure if you're going to have success,” he said.

Published 3/03/23

There will be a special “Out of Bounds”

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Colonel Crawford Takes out St. Paul

Colonel Crawford outscored Norwalk St. Paul (11-2) over the final 2:25 and beat the Flyers (64-51) in a division IV district semifinal on Tuesday night at Willard High School.

They will return Friday night to play Lucas (21-4) for a district championship. The Cubs beat Monroeville (49-37) in the nightcap on Wednesday.

Crawford (17-7) led (27-25) at the break, but coach David Sheldon felt they made some adjustments defensively and were more aggressive offensively in the second half. “We are a lot better the second half. Our help was better. The first half they really hurt us in the paint and I thought the second half we talked about halftime some adjustments and did a good job,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Offensively, we were very efficient the second half. Jake Maddy really came to play. That number 32 (Even Wangler) is a big, strong offensive lineman type. I said you're 6’5” go finish the thing and he did a great job. When they tried to double, he passed it off. Braxton (Baker) was solid all game. I'm happy that our guys get a chance to play in another district championship come Friday night.”

St. Paul led for almost the entire first quarter and held an (11-10) advantage after the first stanza. The Eagles took the lead (13-12) on an Ethan Holt goal with 7:09 left in the half. Baker’s back to back threes gave Crawford a five point lead (23-18) with 3:00 left until half, but St. Paul would close it a two-point game (25-23) on a Nolan McCall three.

St. Paul coach Steve Minor says a key for them was to match Crawford’s physicality and for most of the night they did. “I think we tried to match their physical play and how aggressive they were and it almost worked out for us. The last few minutes there things got away from us and well it didn't work out how we wanted,” said Minor.

Colonel Crawford never trailed in the second half. They led by seven (34-27) after a Trevor Vogt three with, but St. Paul would battle back to tie it (39-39) with 1:38 to play in the third quarter after a three by Korey Frazee.

The Eagles big guns showed up for the district semi as Baker had 28 and Maddy 23, 16 the second half, for 51 of their team’s 64 points.

Sheldon says they stayed patient and got the ball in the right spots. “I thought we were patient until we got the right shot. We talk about being efficient. There's no shot clock out there and we did a good job of being effective and we played through physicalness and that's what you get when you get to a district tournament and I thought our guys did a great job of that,” he said.

Sheldon says one of the adjustments they made on defense was to make a better effort of transition defense. “The first half we gave them a couple leak outs, but the second half we did much better. The second half we sent a couple guys back we made a little adjustment at halftime,” he told Swankonsports.com, “To be back in the district championship we only got one guy back from last year that started and these guys have grown up in a program and now they get the opportunity to do that Friday night.”

St. Paul (11-14) would not go away. After Colonel Crawford took a nine-point lead at (53-44) after two Baker free throws, the Flyers went on a (5-0) run to get back to a four point game (53-49) after Michael Kirk was fouled shooting a three and cashed in on three charity tosses.

Minor says there was no give up in their kids. “No, they didn’t, just towards the end when things start piling up, but its’ understandable but, still if you tell them that there were still 10 more minutes to play, they would say good, let's go. I mean unfortunately there's not,” he said.

Frazee, a sophomore, led all St. Paul scorers with 12. Senior Ian Deeter had nine.

For Crawford it’s another district final, their fourth in five years, and Sheldon feels that kind of consistent success helps them in games like Tuesday night. “I think it's huge you know and I come back to our regular season. We played a heck of a non league schedule, four league champions on the year, five division II’s. We talk about that gets you ready to have an opportunity to play in a district tournament and what that was about (Tuesday) and every possession is important. These guys have grown up as little kids coming up through Colonel Crawford and this is your dream every night when you're working on your game and whatever to get a chance to play in the district final Friday night,” said Sheldon.

Published 3/01/23

There will be a special “Out of Bounds”

Saturday from 10 to 11 PM

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Crawford Will be Challenged Defensively

Colonel Crawford, who won a district championship last year in division III, plays Norwalk St. Paul in a division IV district semifinal on Tuesday night at Willard High School.

They beat Sandusky St. Mary’s (55-30) in sectional final last Friday night at Shelby.

After trailing by one after one quarter, head coach David Sheldon says they put things together on both ends the final three quarters. “We were very efficient on both ends of the basketball floor. If you look at the second through fourth quarter. Happy the way our guys came out and played in a sectional championship. So, credit to our kids and it's great experience for them. You don't take that for granted because it's so hard to get to that level and now we get to advance to the district,” he said.

Senior Braxton Baker is the only starter that played in the regional final team at Crawford last year and Sheldon says last Friday was quality experience for a lot of guys. “We only have one starter back from that regional team last year, so for a lot of these guys this is their first time playing in tournament basketball and it's a totally different atmosphere when you get to the tournament. I thought it was great to get there feet wet and the guys really came out produced. We talk a lot about one possession at a time and I thought our guys took that at heart for 32 minutes the other night,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (16-7) meets Norwalk St. Paul (11-13) on Tuesday night. The Flyers beat Danbury-Lakeside (45-44) on Friday night in their sectional final.

Sheldon says they will have to be able to defend a lot of stuff when they play the Flyers. “I think it's a team that's playing very good basketball when you look at what they did. I got to see both of their sectional games. Coach (Steve) Minor is a disciple of Mike Smith, the legend from Norwalk St. Paul. Looking back when we played him in 2016-17 and 17-18 I see a lot of familiarity offensively in what they're doing. It’s a well coached team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “They can spread you the floor, they can shoot the three with their dribble drive and they run sets. They try to get their kids good shots. Defensively, they're very sound. It's going to be a tough game. Anytime you get to a district tournament every team's good from here on out. There's only 64 teams left in the State of Ohio when you get to that district semifinal.”

With what St. Paul does on offense. Sheldon says they have to be able to play solid one-on-one defense. “You have got to play good one-on-one defense. I think that's a big key. They're very good at distributing when they get in the paint, whether it is their posts relocating or kick out threes to their shooters. So, the key is good one-on-one defense and you have to have great communication. So, it's going to be a challenge for sure because they run other sets too. They're going to try to attack you with what they think is the best way to attack whoever they're playing night in the night out,” said Sheldon.

Published 2/28/23

There will be a special “Out of Bounds”

Saturday from 10 to 11 PM

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Crawford Has to Keep St. Mary’s Out of Paint

Colonel Crawford takes on Sandusky St. Mary’s in a division IV sectional final on Friday night at Shelby High School.

The Eagles (15-7) are coming off a solid (52-36) win at Upper Sandusky in play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Friday night.

Coach David Sheldon says they continue to play excellent defense and last week they finally made some shots. “I thought it was a very big road win for us to go on the road and what our guys did Friday night to win handily against an Upper team that's been playing very well. I'm proud of our guys effort and it started on the defensive end and we were good on the offensive end and made shots. So, it was a good way to end the season and then Saturday morning you're back to 0-0 as we head into the tournament this week,” he said.

All-District selection Braxton Baker broke out of a personal slump with 18 points against Upper.

Sandusky St. Mary’s (7-16) got a stick back at the horn to beat Plymouth (46-44) in a semifinal on Tuesday night. They were behind (16-7) after the first quarter.

Sheldon says they have a very good point guard in Sedrick Cook. “I think it's a good basketball team. They play a very tough schedule if you look at their non league and their league and the success in that. It's a good basketball team very dominated by seniors and juniors. I think it starts with the Cook kid, the point guard makes him go,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “He can get in the paint, he creates for people, he's a very good player and they've got shooters around him and some bigs inside. It's a very solid basketball team. They're well coached, coach (Chris) Ceccoli does a great job and we're looking forward to playing for a championship Friday night.”

Sheldon says against the Panthers they are going to have to play some very good individual defense. “You have got to play very good one-on-one defense and you've got to have good rotations. It’s not just the guy guarding the ball, it's rotations because they've got other guys that can hurt you as well. They have no double figure scores, but they have nine, eight, seven, they're very balanced and they play together very well,” said Sheldon.

Published 2/23/23

There will be a special “Out of Bounds”

Saturday from 10 to 11 PM

First Source for All Things Sports

Colonel Crawford Needs to Make Shots

Colonel Crawford plays at Upper Sandusky in its final regular season game in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play on Friday night.

Last weekend, the Eagles dropped games to Mohawk (50-29) on Friday in “N10” action and (40-38) to Ontario in a non-conference game on Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says they just have not been able to make shots, good shots that their offense has been creating. “We struggled with that last week and that's for sure. Now, I thought we got good shots. It wasn't like there were a lot of turnovers. If you look at the statistics, we've got to make some shots. All you can do is keep working on that.” He told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “I also think it's we played some very good basketball teams. You look at last week, we played Mohawk, who is playing for league championship and Ontario, a team that plays in a great league with twelve wins. I was telling the guys (Monday) you have played four league champions, five division II schools across the board and hopefully that prepares us you know next week when we start tournaments. It was a tough weekend that we're not used to having around here and you have got to come back and get back to work to prepare for your last regular season game this Friday night.”

Colonel Crawford (14-7,9-4) plays at Upper Sandusky (3-18,3-10) on Friday night. The Rams lost to “N10” leader Carey (42-34) last Friday and (59-55) to Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference leader Shelby on Saturday. Colonel Crawford won the first game between with Upper (47-45) on January 7.

Sheldon says this is a team that is much better than their record. “I give those kids a lot of credit. They're playing their hearts out. I watched both games from this past weekend when they played Carey and Shelby. Carey they lose by eight they have got a lead in the third and late against Shelby, who's one of the better division II schools in the area and they play them to a four point game. So, we're going to have our hands full. It's their last home game, we have got to go on the road to a tough environment. I've been impressed with how hard they're playing for coach (Jeff) Winslow and they're doing a lot of good things. They've had some lineup adjustments, the Holden Daris kid is playing very, very well for them. I think it's a team that's a lot better than what their record shows,” said Sheldon.

Sheldon says they need a win against Upper to build some confidence. “I mean that's your goal every night out all 22 games, but you'd like to have some momentum because then we're off till next Friday when we play in the sectional championship. So, it's a long week, it's not like it's a double weekend or a mid game next week. We need to come ready to go and Upper is going to give us their best shot because it's their last home game of the season and they've got seniors on that basketball team as well,” he said.

Published 2/15/23

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Ontario Beats Colonel Crawford With Tip in

Gage Weaver tipped in a miss at the buzzer to give Ontario a (40-38) win at Colonel Crawford in non-conference basketball on Saturday night at Mac Morrison Gym in North Robinson.

They took their first lead (36-34) since it was (2-0) on a Gage Weaver basket with 1:36 to play in the game. They held the Eagles scoreless in the fourth quarter until a Braxton Baker five footer in the lane with :35 to play in the contest, which got the Eagles to within two (38-36). After an Eagles timeout, Ontario broke the Crawford pressure, but was called for a traveling violation on a two handed dunk attempt, giving the ball back to Colonel Crawford. Trevor Vogt tied the game with two free throws with 6.9 seconds left, leading to the final sequence.

Ontario coach Tim Mergel says he made the decision not to call a time out after the free throws. “Obviously Colonel Crawford is very well disciplined defensively and you know to call it time out there and let them get set up defensively and talk strategy, I didn't think it was worth it. So, just get it out let's go and (Grady) Schroeder had a nice drive to the basket and came up short, but in comes Gage Weaver, he's a kid that competes at a high level all the time and I'm a firm believer that basketball rewards energy and he got rewarded,” said Mergel.

Colonel Crawford took a (6-4) lead on a Jacob Maddy lay in with 4:07 to play in the first quarter and led by as many as 10 at (16-6) on another Maddy hoop with 5:16 to play in the second quarter. Ontario would cut it to six at (20-14) after a Bodpegn Miller three with 2:06 to play until halftime. The Eagles lead (24-14) the half when Derek Horsley scored with three ticks left.

However, they scored only 14 points the second half and four in the fourth quarter.

Coach David Sheldon says they got good shots, they just couldn’t convert. “We got great looks and we didn't finish and that's where it is. Everybody’s going to talk about the last play, but we come out the third quarter with a good lead in the first four possessions we go empty. We call time we make a run and then the fourth, we got shots in the hands of people we want and they didn’t go,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “That's the tough thing about the game of basketball. The Weaver boys were pretty good (Saturday) night and they're good players. That was great game for us, but it's a tough loss. It was sort of the roller coaster this game like of our season when you look at it throughout the entire 21 games we've played so far.”

Ontario scored the first seven points of the third quarter, punctuated with a Braxton Hall three to cut to (24-21) with 6:28 left in the third.

Mergel was confident they could get back in it. “Coming in at halftime, I told the kids, I didn't mind the position we were in. Coach (Carl) Schnittke made some recommendations offensively. We were just rushing things. We were making extra passes like in the first couple minutes each quarter and finally got that momentum on our side,” he said.

Colonel Crawford led (34-26) entering the final stanza and there were three goals on then first 5:30 of the quarter, all by Ontario, two of the them by Carter Weaver, to tie the game at (34-34) with 2:30 to play.

Mergel says defensively, they tried a number of things defensively before they found something that kind of worked. “That was a chess match out there. We started off switching and they exploited us and they started going high, low. When they got a mismatch, then we went no switch. Then they were going dribble drive on us,” he told Swankonsports.com. “At the very end there we were only switching ball screens, so it was a nice chess match between coach Sheldon and I and fortunately for us we made one more play.”

Sheldon thought they were effective defensively. He says it boiled down to not making shots. “Overall to hold them to 40 points that's a good night. I mean they're explosive, they shoot the three well, they have got the Weavers who can put it on the floor really well. So, defensively it wasn't bad. We just didn't convert at the offensive end and we got great looks all night. We were watching and saying jeez oh petes, how is that not going? It's tough loss, that's bottom line, but you have got to learn from it and move on to our last game next Friday night,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (14-7,9-3) plays at Upper Sandusky in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night. Braxton Baker led the Eagles with 14 on the night.

Carter Weaver had 17 for Ontario (12-8) to lead all scores.

The Warriors will entertain Bellevue on Tuesday and Shelby on Friday night in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game.

Mergel says Saturday night was a big win for them. “This environment is second to none. It’s an older gym and it's louder and heck in there, your kids can't hear and that's where you play just unstructured basketball at its best and I thought our kids did a fantastic job and you know moving forward we have got two tough opponents and then obviously that district is just a nightmare,” he said.

Published 2/11/23

Crawford Has to Handle Mohawk Pressure

Two teams that are the number one seed in their respective division IV districts, Colonel Crawford and Mohawk, meet Friday night in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game at Mohawk.

The Eagles play at home against Ontario in a non-league game on Saturday.

Crawford trails conference leader Carey by two games, Mohawk is back by one.

The Eagles last week got a couple big wins as they beat Seneca East (61-36) on Friday and Wynford (57-45) on Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says it was a big step for them. “It's a good double weekend. Anytime you go against a Seneca East team that's won twelve games and Wynford 11 and playing really well. I was proud of our guys. We faced a tough week the week before of adversity and they responded and came back and had a great weekend with two wins. This team has faced some adversity throughout the year and they've responded both times. So, it was a good big step for us but now we have got to look to have consistency. That's been the big word now is we're have got to have consistency and string some together like we just showed we could do this past weekend,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (14-5,9-3) visits Mohawk (18-2,10-2) on Friday night. The Warriors beat the same two teams as Crawford did last week. They beat Wynford (71-55) on Friday and smoked Seneca East (61-30) on Saturday.

Sheldon says Mohawk is outstanding on defense and they have a very talented player in A.J. Hess. “Well, they have won 10 straight since the last time we played them. They're playing very well. It starts with the Hess kid, he's good, he can go inside, he can go out and they've got good guards around him. I think the one thing they have really gotten better defensively. They still play their zone, but their man has gotten a lot better as well and I think that's a big reason for their success,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “I mean it's a very good basketball team, They're playing for a championship Friday night. We're out of that thing with being two games back where they're playing for a lot. So, this is a great game for us to play against a one seed in division IV over at the Findlay district. You want to be playing great teams down the stretch and we're looking forward to the opportunity. We're out of the league race and there's a lot of pressure on them. They've got to win this one to make game 22 mean something the following week at Carey.”

Colonel Crawford beat Mohawk (58-49) on December 30.

Sheldon says Friday night they have to be able to handle the pressure that they are going to see from Mohawk. “Well, first of all we have got to take care of the basketball and I thought we did that. They're going to show you different looks, a diamond look, a three quarter look and you've got to make sure you handle that pressure and also in the half court. They have got really good hands in their zone and in their man. They showed us zone and man the first time. So, I think you just have got to prepare for everything. There's no secrets, we know what they run, they know what we do. The bottom line is it's going to come down to kids making plays when you got two good basketball teams going at it head-to-head Friday night,” he said.

Published 2/08/23

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Colonel Crawford to Play Two Teams That Can Score

Colonel Crawford will be at home for two games in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this week as they host Seneca East on Friday and Wynford on Saturday night.

The Eagles fell two games behind conference leading Carey when they lost (47-38) to the Blue Devils on Saturday night.

Coach David Sheldon says they played hard, they played well in defense, but points were hard to come by. “It was a typical Carey-Colonel Crawford game, it was a battle. It’s (38-34) Carey has got the lead with 5:40 to go and nobody scores to a 1:20 when we have to start fouling. It was tough to come by points. They're very good defensively and I was pleased with our defense overall. The one area we got hurt was on second chance points. They got too many offensive rebounds and we gave up a few too many. Our kids battled for 32 minutes, we came up short and offensively just didn't get it done and a lot of that had to do with Carey’s great defense,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (12-5,7-3) is at home for Seneca East (12-5,6-4) on Friday night. The Tigers, enjoying their best season in many years, beat Buckeye Central (47-35) last Saturday. In their first meeting back on December 17, the Eagles won at Seneca East (69-58).

Sheldon says this is a team that can do a lot of things on offense. “It's just another tough league game when you look at this league this year. They can really score it. You have both of the Mason boys and they've got other kids around them. They're very good offensively. We had a battle the first time back in December when we had to go there. This is a big couple games before the tournament draw come Sunday. You're still playing for a lot with the division IV tournament draw on Sunday. It's a very explosive offensive of team that can score in many ways,” he said.

Wynford (12-4,7-3) just beat Crawford (55-53) in overtime last week.

Sheldon says there won’t be a lot of secrets between the two teams. He says Wynford is another team with a lot of scorers. “It was a very intense game last week over at their place. There's no secrets, they know what we do and we're going to know what they're doing. It's going to come down to kids making plays, that's what that game comes down to Saturday night. Most importantly first is the Seneca East game Friday night. It's a big game, they're in our district tournament as well,” he told Swankomsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Then Saturday morning, we will turn the page and focus on Wynford. With playing them just recently it's not like there's a lot of unfamiliar things because it's not like a normal league schedule because of that makeup game from earlier in the year. So, it'll be a tough game and as I've said all year Wynford’s a very good basketball team this year. They can really score the ball and it'll be a challenge come Saturday night when we play them again.”

Published 2/01/23

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“Sports Saturday” each week 10 AM to 1 PM

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Colonel Crawford in Must Win Situation at Carey

Colonel Crawford, a game back, plays at Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader Carey on Saturday night in a game they have to win to have a chance to defend their title.

The Eagles fell a game back after a (55-53) overtime loss to Wynford on Tuesday night.

Coach David Sheldon says there were some opportunities Tuesday night that they did not take advantage of. “First of all we got off to a great start. We knew Wynford was explosive. They have got five guys you can score it and they are one of the best three-point shooting teams in the league and they made a run. The big thing is we were 7-17 from the foul line and you lose by two in OT. The end of regulation we get the last shot, we get a great look, it goes in and out. In overtime, the possession before McGuire hits a great shot, we get a layup, we get fouled and miss two free throws. There was just so many opportunities. Give Wynford credit, McGuire in overtime hit big shots for them and carried them. That's a very good basketball team. Over the years, that's one of the most skilled Wynford teams that we've played against. We have got to learn from it. We knew every night out in this league going to be tough and it was a tough loss on the road. We faced adversity in December and we're going to see how we respond from this,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (12-4,7-2), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at Carey (11-3,8-1), #3 in our poll, on Saturday night.

Sheldon says Carey is a very good shooting team and it is tough to be successful on their court. “Well, first of all Carey has always had great athletes, physically strong and athletic. They do a great job of running Jamie’s system. But, I think the difference with this Carey basketball team from some years past is they shoot it really well from the three-point line as well. So, they not only have great athletes that that can guard you, they can get to the rim, but they're shooting it as well as I've seen a Carey team from the three-point line,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “That's just a very good basketball team. There's a reason they’re in first place and we're a game back. So, our backs are against the wall and we got to go on the road to a tough environment at Carey Saturday night. We're going to see what this basketball team is made of. From here on out we're less than a month until the tournament. We're in the home stretch and every night out it’s tough game in this league. It's like you're playing tournament games every night when you're in a league race and especially when you're behind the eight ball and behind a game now.”

Sheldon says to win on Saturday night, they have to play great man to man defense and handle the Blue Devils physicality. “Well, first of all we've have got to play great one-on-one defense because it's a team you have go to guard almost everybody. It's very similar to Wynford. We have got to come down and we've got to guard. We've got to be able to handle their physicality. Carey kids are physical and their physical at the defensive end and offensive end, so you've got to be able to match their physicality for 32 minutes as well,” he said.

Published 1/27/23

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Crawford Expects Different Bucyrus

Colonel Crawford, in share of first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, plays at Bucyrus in a conference game on Saturday night.

They share first place with Carey and play the Blue Devils next week.

Wednesday night, the Eagles beat Fredericktown, the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference leader, (59-52) in a non-league game.

Coach David Sheldon says they played very well for three quarters. “We played probably as well for three quarters as we have (Wednesday) night. To beat a good Fredericktown team, they are in first place in their league, they're undefeated in their league, it was a very good win by us. So, the fourth quarter we got a little sloppy at times with the time and score and situation, but it was a very good game. I mean that's a good team. They go 6’6”, 6’3”, 6’2” and they had athletes galore. So, very proud of our guys, especially coming off a big win Saturday against Lucas to go back-to-back against two non league teams that are leading their conference showed a lot of growth for this basketball team,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (11-3,6-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Bucyrus (2-10,0-8) on Saturday night. The Redmen were thrashed (77-43) by Mohawk in “N10” play last Friday. The Eagles beat them (75-26) on December 10.

Sheldon says they are putting together more consistent play as of late. “This is a lot better basketball team. They had a brand new coach at the beginning of the year and you look lately they've been playing Carey tougher all throughout two, three quarters. Mohawk for a couple quarters and then Seneca East the whole game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They are doing good things in our league. Bucyrus is running a lot more 2-3 zone than they were earlier in the year. We have got to go on the road and it's always a tough place to play in Bucyrus. I think the big thing right now is it has to be a businesslike approach. We have got five road games and only two home league games left. We're right in the hunt with this league and that's where you want to be with one month to go in the season, but you have got make sure you take everybody serious and come ready to play.”

With such an easy win the first time against Bucyrus, Sheldon says they can’t be concerned about that at all going into Saturday night. “We’re not going to look back too much that game. That was so early in the year. We're looking back at their last couple games when we start talking about Bucyrus. They have changed things up and they have got a brand new coach and he's changing things as the year has went on, so we've got to be ready to go,” he said.

Published 1/20/23

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Colonel Crawford Must Do Little Things

Colonel Crawford last week fell out of the share of first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, but they get a chance to get back on the beam against Carey on Tuesday night.

Last week, they fell to league leader Buckeye Central (35-32) on Tuesday and then suffered an upset loss to Bucyrus (43-39) on Saturday.

Coach Zac Bauer says they were not at their best on Saturday and they have to play at that level if they expect to win. “You're always concerned when you lose a couple games in a row, especially with as much confidence as we played with running into those two games, especially losing to a team in Bucyrus that we had beaten the first time around. That's always frustrating and you wonder how your kids are going turn around respond, but we had a good practice (Monday) and I think we came in a little bit more refreshed. The message we tried to deliver to them is we want to be at our best every game because every team in our league is going to give their best every night because our league so bounced. We didn't do that Saturday and credit to Bucyrus they were at their best on their home floor. That's a hard place to go play and a good home court for them.”

Bauer says they have gotten some breaks at times this year. He says they must execute the small things. “In close games, sometimes it's a bounce here and bounce there and we've gotten a couple of those bounces early in the year and we didn't get those in our last two games. That's where we talk about the little things and little things make a difference. It might be a little thing in the first quarter, it might be a little thing the fourth, but you have got to do those little things when the games tight in order to be successful late,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (11-3,5-3), #5 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Carey (9-4,5-4) on Tuesday night. Carey beat Wynford (49-22) on Saturday. The Lady Eagles won the first game (32-31) on December 9.

Bauer describes Carey as a physical team that plays good defense. “I think you can say a lot of teams in our league are good basketball teams. Carey is a tough matchup for us. They are physical, they're big and play tight man to man defense. We we've got to be strong with the ball and like we have all year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “We've got to come down and get stops when the game counts and did that first time against them and made some big winning plays late. Allison Weithman makes two big free throws there late and it would be nice to get some more offense from her again. We got good minutes from Ayla McKibben, so we're looking to get some minutes from our bench. Execute our game plan and be strong and tight with the ball and not give them extra opportunities.”

Published 1/17/23

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Sheldon Gets 300^th Win as Crawford Edges Lucas

Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon earned his 300^th career win as his Eagles topped Lucas (60-57) in a non-conference game played at the “Cub Cave” on Saturday night.

There were five lead changes and four ties in the first have of the game. Crawford never trailed in the second half, but Lucas was never out of it.

Jacob Maddy had another monster game for the Eagles with 27 points and sometimes was unstoppable in the paint.

Sheldon, who took the Colonel Crawford job in 2005, says really the 300 wins is not about him, but the program. “17 years ago, I was blessed to be hired by the Superintendent Mr. Ted Bruner and the Board of Education and this isn't about David Sheldon this is a program in 17 years to get 300 wins it's the unbelievable with the players and a lot of great memories with so many over the past 17 years. My assistant coaches are unbelievable. They don't get enough credit for what goes on and the parents have been very supportive, I'd say about 85 to 90% of them. They've allowed me to coach their son. I'm passionate and we develop a lot of discipline with roles in that and our parents have allowed that,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “It takes a whole army and it's not about David Sheldon it's about the Colonel Crawford program. One of the things I am the most proud of is the consistency almost averaging almost 18 wins a year in 17 years and that's make me the most proud. I started my morning at 7:30 AM in the gym for two hours with 3^rd, 4^th, 5^th, and 6^th graders and that's where it starts. That is where you start a program that's developed 300 wins over 17 years.”

Sheldon adds that you develop lifelong relationships with players. “I just sit behind the scenes. Every once in a while I have got to chew a kid out, but I'm also patting them. That's what people don't see. They see you're passionate on the sideline, but they don't see the love I have for these kids. They're my sons and I've seen some get married now and I've seen some get divorced over the last 17 years. I'm there for them, it's not just about basketball, it's a game of life,” he said.

Lucas coach Taylor Iceman told Swankonsports.com earlier this week that he has great respect for Sheldon and he reiterated that Saturday night. “We talk a lot during the season and I definitely look up to him. Congratulations to him that is a cool thing. I was able to get my 100^th here a while back, so I know 300 is a big deal. It’s sucks it had to happen here, but he’s a great coach,” said Iceman.

The Cubs (9-3) led by as many six in the first quarter (14-8) after an Aidan Culler hoop with 1:24 left, but Crawford closed the quarter on a (5-0) run. The game continued to seesaw in the second quarter, but Maddy scored the last two baskets of the half to give the Eagles a (30-26) advantage.

The Eagles (10-3) went up eight (40-32) with 4:10 to play in the third after a three by Ethan Holt. They again led by eight (55-47) on Braxton Baker’s basket off an offensive rebound with 4:31 to play in the game, but the Cubs wouldn’t go away. They cut it to three (55-52) with 2:23 remaining after Logan Toms converted a steal into a score. They trimmed it two just two (59-57) when Toms bagged a basket and added a free throw with :41 to play. Lucas got off a three that would have tied it, but it was mostly a throw.

Maddy had 22 Friday night in a win over Buckeye Central and Sheldon says he has been dominate at times in the low post. “I went to him at the beginning of the year and said you have a chance to be a really good back to the basket player. There's not too many of those anymore guys, even in college and the NBA. Everybody wants to flow and drive and he has turned into that. (Friday) night he goes for 22 and (Saturday night) 27. The thing about Jake is we've seen crazy defense with doubles and he's an unbelievable passer, he is one of our assist leaders on the team. That is a part of this program. Last year, he was two, three points a game and now he's averaging big time numbers. Braxton Baker was the third option last year and that's our program that discipline when it's your turn to step up and Jake’s done that,” said Sheldon.

Maddy says he wants the ball. “The confidence has grown for me. At the beginning of the year, I was iffy on the back to basket play, but I’ve grown into it and it has been good for me,” said the senior.

Lucas prides itself on the defensive it plays, but Saturday night Iceman says they let Maddy get too deep in the lane and they didn’t keep the Eagles off the offensive glass. “We just let him get too deep with everything. Even there in the second half we doubled him a little bit and then he found guys and then they made shots. We're not big by any stretch of the means, so we have to do a better job. Even when we did contest, we didn't box out he got the his offensive rebound and put it right back in. So, much of our offense is generated through our defense and we just didn't finish possessions by boxing out getting out and running,” said Iceman.

Sheldon says their length, especially Maddy and Baker helps them on the boards. “We have pretty good length. Lucas is so physical. It's two football teams. Everybody on my team plays football, but Baker and they have got them all. We have got some length where we were able to get some offensive rebounds and keep it alive with the length,” he said.

Maddy had 27 for Crawford and Baker added 13.

Culler had 20 to lead Lucas, 15 in the first half, but he was saddled with foul trouble to the second half, picking up his fourth foul with more than 3:00 left in the third quarter.

Logan Toms was huge for the Cubs in the fourth quarter as he brought them back, scoring 10 of his 16 in final stanza.

However, Iceman says he need him to do that all of time. “Logan hasn't played real great. Logan plays really good defense and he gets the task of guarding the other team's best players, especially since we lost Fanello. So, we ask Logan to do a lot. He's still kind of getting it going. He's he started slow, but you see it there. We needed him and he went and did it. Sometimes, in our league games and stuff when we're supposed to win, he's passive and will get other guys involved, which is great but, we need him to be that guy for us, to be as good as we think he can be. So, we're still growing and getting better this year,” said Iceman.

Published 1/14/23

Colonel Crawford Continuing to Build

Colonel Crawford, now in a share of first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference standings with Carey, plays at Buckeye Central in a conference game on Friday night.

They have an intriguing matchup in non-conference play at Lucas on Saturday night.

The Eagles (8-3,5-1) held off Upper Sandusky (47-45) in a conference game last Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says Upper made a run at them, but they survived. “We got off to a good start and got the lead up to 16 in the third quarter. Then give Upper credit, they just kept fighting one possession at a time and hit a lot of threes in the second half and some were contested just tough shots. They hit a three threes in the last 30 seconds of the game. They just shot it really well, which I knew going in, they were shooting over 35% behind the line. Our guys hung in there one possession at a time and we found a way to win. I've always said in a 22 game season there's some nights you have got to grind out wins and that was the epitome of that you know Saturday night,” said Sheldon.

Braxton Baker is the leading scorer in the “N10” this year and Jacob Maddy is second in the conference in rebounding, but Sheldon says clearly the players around them are improving. “Like the other night (Ethan) Holt was our second leading scorer. He had 11 points and he played to his strengths. People are trying to take away Maddy and Baker and to their credit they're just starting to find other guys and they're starting to benefit because of some of the defense that we see night in the night out,” he said.

Buckeye Central (4-8,1-6) lost (60-49) to Wynford in a league game last Saturday. The Eagles won the first matchup of the season (50-35) December 3.

Sheldon says the Bucks are very patient with the ball and they show you a lot of looks on defense. “First of all, it starts with Tyler Sanderson. He's a very good player, he's been playing for a long time, he's a senior. They had a tough injury to one of their better players. The thing about them is they play very hard. Offensively they're very patient. They get good shots every time down the floor,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “ It’s not like they are holding the ball. Defensively, they will change some things up, so it's different looks. It’s on the road. It's the first game of the second round and you have to go on the road. We have got to make sure we come to play as I said all along this is this league has good parody and any night anything can happen as we have seen over the last few weeks.”

Colonel Crawford plays at Lucas (8-2), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, on Saturday night.

Sheldon says they want to play good teams. “They have to most talent back if you look at amount of players back from that division IV district last year. There's a reason we wanted to play them. They're very good with us being division IV now it's a great non league game. Coach (Taylor) Iceman does a wonderful job. They have got the Toms boys and several others around them. They're very physical. It's been a school that has been very, very good lately in basketball as well as football and that's a big credit to coach Iceman and (football) coach (Scott) Spitler with what's going on. So, it's going to be a battle and down at Lucas and we're looking forward to it. That's why we play good non leagues just like Crestview earlier in the year. You want to challenge your guys in the regular season to get you ready for later,” said Sheldon.

Published 1/10/23

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Crawford Knows Upper is Good

Colonel Crawford, in second place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, plays host to Upper Sandusky in a conference game on Saturday night.

They picked up a non-conference win on Tuesday night (67-55) in beating Northmor.

Coach David Sheldon says they set the tone with their defense in the first half. “It was a good win. We got off to a great start, at halftime had a double figure lead and we really defended the first half well. A couple weeks ago, we really challenged, hey we have got to take some ownership at the defensive end. I thought we did that. Then the second half credit Northmor, they're very good team, they have got three guys averaging doubles, they came out and hit a lot of shots, but it never got under double figures. Offensively we were very efficient playing to our strengths. The good thing is you know everybody's talked about Baker and Maddy and our three other guys really stepped up and they combined for about 28 points and played well. So, we're starting to get well rounded which is a good thing as we head into January now and the new year as we finish the season,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (7-3,4-1) hosts Upper Sandusky (2-8,2-4) on Saturday night. The Rams beat Buckeye Central (44-40) in an “N10” game played on Thursday night.

The Eagles and Rams have played a number of outstanding games over the years and Sheldon says Upper is much better than their record. “I think it's a good Upper team. I think their record is very misleading. If you look at the beginning of season they had an illness go through that team for two weeks. You look at their non league schedule nobody in our league plays a better non league schedule than Upper Sandusky. So, I think it's a very good basketball team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They've got good guard play, they shoot it well from three, they got a couple bigs inside. So, they played a lot of teams right there even in our league. I think it's a good basketball team. They're well coached, they've got a tradition of success and it'll be a battle like we've had over the years with Upper Sandusky Saturday night here in North Robinson.”

Sheldon says the Rams are going to get up in them and make them handle the ball. “Early in the year they were playing a lot of 2-3 zone, but Jeff’s went back to the staple of their program playing man and getting up in you, getting in some passing lanes. Their kids have been doing that and playing well. So, I think it's going to be a very tough match up Saturday night. I think there's a parody in this league that is as good as I've ever seen it. If you look every night it’s a battle and there's no easy games, there's no you no one team standing out. I think it's a battle every night. Carey is in first right now and we're all chasing them.” he said.

Published 1/06/22

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Colonel Crawford Has to be Tougher

Colonel Crawford hosts Mohawk in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference contest between teams a game back in the conference standings on Friday night in North Robinson.

On Tuesday night, the Eagles dropped a tough one (64-63) to Clyde in non-conference play.

Coach David Sheldon says they were not up to their standards on defense. “It's a tough loss, give Clyde credit. They have a couple guards that were explosive and we didn't do a very good job defending as a team. The frustrating thing is you've lost three games one by four, one by two, and one by one, and in the fourth quarter we've been tied or in the lead. With this group, we haven't got over the hump yet. We've talked a lot about every possession is so important and we talk about that and preach that in our program, one possession at a time. It's some toughness and some things that we have to get over if we want to become a good basketball team. The good thing is they were both non league games, those last two against Crestview and Clyde and we're back in the league but we have got a very, very good team coming Friday night,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (5-3,3-1) is at home for Mohawk (8-1,3-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, on Friday night. Mohawk smoked Vanlue (72-51) in their last game last Tuesday.

Sheldon says Mohawk is very good, beginning with A.J. Hess. “Well, first it starts with Hess. It seems like he's been there forever. He’s a very talented player he can go inside, he can go outside, he's got good length and I think he's having a great senior year. They have got very good scorers around him. They have got great guards that can shoot it. You have got to guard everybody and they are a very, very tough matchup. They're explosive team offensively. It's going to test our toughness and how we can guard one-on-one. That's a big thing with Mohawk because you got to guard everybody,” he said.

Mohawk has been known for their very aggressive 2-3 zone, but Sheldon says they are playing a lot more man this year. “Yes, they have been playing more man, but watching a few other games they to their 2-3 zone as well. So, we have prepared for 2-3 zone as well as man because they have been playing a lot more man. I think that coach (Paul) Dunn is trying to bear down and make his kids guard man. With them wanting to win a league championship and make a tournament run and how important that could be,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They've played some of their patented 2-3 zone and some games that we watched, but they played more man than ever under coach Dunn. This is special group they have got with they're sophomore class and Hess and Hannam this is a very, very good basketball team that has high expectations over in Sycamore.”

Published 12/30/22

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Colonel Crawford Has to Bet Better

Colonel Crawford heads across town to play Wynford on Friday night in a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference. It’s a boys-girls doubleheader.

It one of the best matchups in this early season, the Eagles lost to Crestview (56-54) in non-league action on Tuesday night.

Coach David Sheldon says they did finish in the lane and that was costly. “First of all, Crestview is a good basketball team. They are undefeated for a reason. We go over on the road and lose by two and we had a ton of opportunities, had a lot of opportunities, and we just didn't capitalize. I didn't think we did a good job of finishing inside the paint. If you look at what we did inside the paint, we did not finish throughout the night. Some of that's Crestview, their length gave us some problems as well. It was a tough loss, but you look at our two losses Carey is undefeated and Crestview is undefeated. We've got to keep challenging our guys to get over that hump and respond. Now we're back at it getting ready for Friday,” said Sheldon.

They have lost to their last three and Sheldon says they have to become a better basketball team right now. “I think you have got to learn something. Like (Wednesday) in practice we are going to do a 20 minute film session and show you film doesn’t lie. Here are areas we've got to get better and that's what you got to do this time it's still early in the year with December part of your schedule and kids have got to learn from what what's not working and where we have got to get better. So, we do a lot of teaching with film and I think that's what we have go to do before we even move on to Friday night because whatever you can see it, but you've got to correct things that need to be corrected in the losses that we've had,” he said.

Crawford (5-2,3-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at Wynford (6-2,3-1) in an “N10” game that will be played at Wynford’s old gym. The Royals beat Plymouth (69-45) on Tuesday night in a non-conference game. They edged Mohawk (73-69) in double overtime on Saturday night.

Sheldon says they Royals have a lot of firepower. “This is a very good Wynford team. They have got explosiveness at every position on the floor. Against Mohawk, a great win they had for their program last Saturday they put five guys in double figures. They can really put up points. They have got good athleticism, good length and they shoot it well and it's a very good basketball team. It's Wynford team playing with more confidence than I've seen in a long time. They have got a lot of good pieces. Theis three good classes the sophomore, junior and then the senior class is good three good classes that they've had coming up and kids that have bought into the game of basketball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “So, it's going to be a challenge that's for sure going over to Wynford and they're going to be excited playing. It's just like the other night it's crazy after the game at Crestview. I told our guys there's an X on your back every gym you go into because of the kids before you that have set the tone for Colonel Crawford basketball. So, that’s going to be the case with Wynford, their whole community will be up for this game Friday night and we've got to respond because everywhere we go there's people trying to you know knock us off and celebrate.”

Published 12/22/22

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Lady Eagles Need to Execute Under Pressure

Colonel Crawford, a game back in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference standings, plays at rival Wynford in conference game on Friday night as part of girls-boys doubleheader.

Last Saturday, they downed Seneca East (43-21) in a conference game.

Coach Zac Bauer says they did it without shooting very well. “It was a good day for us on Saturday because we didn't really play well offensively. The shots we made in the in the past few games, we didn’t make. Credit to the Seneca East defense takes things away from us and making our jobs tough. I told our kids after the game, I said you know it's a sign of the really good team to come out and win by 19 like we did when we didn't shoot the ball well. It's a credit to the kids resiliency that they didn't get frustrated, they didn't hang their heads, they pushed through and that is a sign of a good team and sign of the things to come,” said Bauer.

Colonel Crawford (9-1,3-1) is at Wynford (3-4,1-3) on Friday. The Lady Royals fell (54-40) to Mohawk on Saturday.

Bauer says the Lady Royals are good fundamentally and they play solid defense. “They are an experienced team and the more that I watch them play they just have a good feel for the game and they seem like they're really well gelled and they play good defense. It reminds me a little bit of watching our own team with the way they guard and the way that they're real fundamental and structured. They have got some experience there with a few seniors and kids that have played a lot of basketball. So, it's always exciting getting good test in the league and playing in that environment and we'll get to play on Friday we'll be fun,” he said.

It has the makings of a close game and Bauer says they have to be prepared to make the plays in the end. “You do have to make plays and that's what we talk about a lot with our kids is hey you know when it counts we're going to have to get stops and we're going to have to get good looks and so that's something that we focused on in our practices,” he told Swankosports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “The last 10 minutes of practice it's hey mentally where are you right now? Because in the last five minutes of a game, we can't have you wanting to get out of there. The feeling of getting to the end of practice and feeling that close was this different in the game. It's not wanting things to end and not want the time run out. We've tried to focus their attention the last 10, 5 minutes of practice where it's gut check time. You have got to lock in and compete you have got to get one more push to the end of practice and that's something nice that we've done a good job of last four days.”

Published 12/22/22

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Colonel Crawford with Tough Back to Back

Colonel Crawford is set to play two tough games in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this weekend as they host Carey on Friday and travel to Seneca East on Saturday.

Last Saturday, the Eagles hammered Bucyrus (75-26) in a conference game.

Braxton Baker connected on 19 of 23 field goal attempts and scored a school record 45 points in playing only 16 minutes against the Redmen.

Coach David Sheldon says they got things going early and did a good job getting the ball to Baker, who was feeling it. “I think one of the keys is we got off to a great start. Bucyrus is a little down and that's one of those you want to get off to a good start and get that. Baker got feeling it and credit his teammates because they got him the ball. They knew he was in the zone. They did a good job of finding him. It was a good second week. So, it's good to start 2-0, but now but now we have got a tough weekend ahead of us with our first double weekend of the of the season,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (4-0,2-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball poll in the small school division, is at home for Carey (3-0,2-0) on Friday night. The Blue Devils beat Wynford (59-47) in a league game last Saturday.

Sheldon says they have a lot of balance and they play very hard. “They have got it rolling. I mean they really do. Watching the film on them it's another Carey team with tough kids. They play hardnosed defense and they're very balanced offensively. They have got multiple guys that can score. They very balanced and they do a good job running coach Young’s motion offense and in a few sets sprinkled here and there. So, it's a team that I have the upmost respect for. The toughness that they bring forward. These kids play hard. I think that we've had some great battles over the years. It'll be another one Friday night in North Robinson,” he said.

The Eagles are at Seneca East (4-1,1-1) in another league game on Saturday night. The Tigers are coming off a (59-38) win over Upper Sandusky in “N10” play on Saturday night.

Sheldon says they have the reining scoring leader in the “N10” in Isaac Mason, but this year they are spreading the scoring out with more players. “I think it's one of the most improved teams in the area. They're off to a great start. They have got four guys that average double figures and I think Isaac is doing a good job of distributing the ball. He doesn't have to do all the scoring they have got multiple options. They could score from every spot. It's almost like they play five guards at a time and they're very, very explosive offensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “So, this is a tough double weekend it's going in the league and you know you've got to respond and come back after Friday and get back on the road because Seneca East is a very good basketball team.”

Published 12/15/22

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Colonel Crawford Back on the Beam

Colonel Crawford got a needed win Tuesday night and now they are preparing for a matchup with Carey in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Friday night in North Robinson.

After a (38-19) loss to defending champion Buckeye Central last Friday, the Lady Eagles downed Bucyrus (52-33) on Tuesday night in “N10” play.

Coach Zach Bauer says it was important to get back on the floor and play well. “We told our kids Friday after the game that the best thing about basketball is pretty soon we get to play again. We were fortunate to come out and play (Tuesday) night and come out and play well and I think that helped our confidence to get a win after playing hard Friday against a good Buckeye team, but coming up a little short,” said Bauer.

They didn’t score in the fourth quarter against Buckeye and Bauer says they put some extra time in shooting the ball. “We got some shots to fall. Our kids really do work at it. Saturday, after getting beat by Buckeye we did a lot of shooting in practice. We have some kids that want to get in the gym extra and stay over and work on their game. Mira Holt is one of those kids,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “(Tuesday) night, we got some more production out of her than we did Friday. So, credit to our kids for wanting to work at it and that paid off a little for us.”

Colonel Crawford (6-1,1-1) plays at home against Carey (4-0,2-0) on Friday night. The Lady Blue Devils edged Wynford (53-48) on Tuesday night.

Bauer says Carey is a very experienced team with good skill too. “They are an athletic team. They are fast. They are good defensively. They have some kids that can score. They are physical. They are an experienced team, they play juniors and seniors. It is a game going into the season that I kind of had my eye on because they had everybody back. They didn’t have any seniors last year. They all have had a season or two under their belts. It will be a good test for us as a young team,” he said.

Published 12/08/22

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Colonel Crawford Must Improve

Colonel Crawford plays at home against Bucyrus in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Saturday night.

However, the practice time they get this week is going to be key for them.

They played three games in six days last week, culminating in a (50-35) win over Buckeye Central in “N10” play on Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon was impressed with what they did last week. “I was really happy to get off to a 3-0 start last week and it started at the defensive end. I think a lot of that has do with our physicalness that we bring on the basketball floor shows on the defensive end of the floor. We have always taken pride in that defensive end. That is the one area that you can control every night. Toward the end of the week, we had other guys step up,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Everybody knows about Baker and Maddy, two of our key guys. Saturday night, we had other guys step up. We had three guys in doubles and Wednesday had three guys in doubles. So, we are getting good equal scoring. Which is good because that makes you tougher to guard when you are trying to take away people.”

Sheldon says having five days of practice this week is going to be really beneficial to the Eagles. “It is very important to us, especially with the late start. We had three practices, scrimmage, three practices, scrimmage, and we have a whole week now. So, this week we are concerned about Colonel Crawford. We have to worry about what Colonel Crawford has to do to get better. Then at the end of the week, we will start looking at Bucyrus. This is a big week for this basketball team just for us to get legs back and work on things that normally people do the first four weeks of preseason. So, we are looking forward to having practice because after Saturday we get on a gauntlet in the league and outside the league,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (3-0,1-0) hosts Bucyrus (1-3,0-1) on Saturday night. The Redmen lost (79-45) to Mohawk in a conference game on Saturday.

Sheldon says being the two time “N10” champion, with a 57-game regular season winning streak, everyone will play well against them. “When you look at Bucyrus, they have a new coach, so I am sure he is feeling his way and what needs to be done with that program. It starts with the Bayless kid, Malachi is a good player that has played since his freshman year for them. They are off to a tough start, but we are going to get everybody’s best shot right now. No matter who Colonel Crawford plays we are getting their best shot. We have to make sure we talk about playing one possession at a time. The most important game right now is Saturday night with Bucyrus. Colonel Crawford has to get better this week with the practice time we finally get to have,” said Sheldon.

Published 12/06/22

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Colonel Crawford Doing it With Defense

Colonel Crawford, the defending Northern 10 Athletic Conference champ, opens defense of its title at home on Saturday night in the “Route 602 Rivalry” with Buckeye Central.

The Eagles (2-0) downed Kenton (53-42) on Wednesday after beating Crestline (50-23) on Monday.

With not a lot of time to prepare for the season, coach David Sheldon is pleased with the results. “I am happy with our start. Two and a half weeks ago we are on a football field and now all of these guys are playing basketball. So, to get off to a 2-0 start our guys are pretty locked in and we still have a long way to go. It’s a big week, with three games in one week since we got backed up one week because of the football season we just have to get through this. Our guys are tired, you can tell right now, just from going from to transition from playing football to playing games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “A good thing is after this Saturday, we have a week off where we can get some practices in. It has been a good performance, especially (Wednesday) night against Kenton. They are a good basketball team. We are down going into the fourth quarter and we really stepped it up and to win by 11 and they never panicked. They played one possession at a time that we preach day in day out.”

Sheldon says their defense has been outstanding, but going to forward the have to start shooting a better percentage. “We have to start making some shots. We have seen every defense that you can imagine. (Wednesday) night we saw 2-3 zone, 1-2-2, man to man, box and one, presses and we have seen a lot of things. We just have to make some shots, that is a big thing moving forward. Our defensive effort has been prenominal. Opening night to hold (Crestline) to 23 and (Wednesday) night Kenton is a very explosive offense and we hold them to 42. So, on the offensive end it is just getting the ball in their hands, that’s a big thing. I have been happy with our defense. A big part of our defense is our physicalness. Our guys are physical and that stuff from the football field and the weight room transfers over to the basketball court. That has been the thing that has led us the first two nights the defensive end,” he said.

Buckeye (2-1) lost its first game of the season on Tuesday night, falling to South Central (63-58) in a non-conference game.

Sheldon says they play solid defense and have an terrific player in Tyler Sanderson. “It’s a good basketball team. I have seen them live in person. They played South Central down to the wire, who is one of the better teams in the Firelands, the other night at South Central. It’s a tie game with two to go. They are well coached by Tom Howell. It is a rival Saturday night with 602. Their kids will be jacked. Their kids have been at our games, their coaches have been here, there are no secrets. The thing about Buckeye is it starts with the (Tyler) Sanderson kid. He is off to a great start and they defend. That is a credit to coach Howell and coach Moyer over there. They put defensive game plans together and we are going to have to execute on the offensive end. You start league play Saturday night and that is always a big part. The good thing is it’s in North Robinson. It is nice to be home come Saturday night,” said Sanderson.

Published 12/02/22

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Colonel Crawford Must Defend

Colonel Crawford will be at home in North Robinson for Buckeye Central in a battle between early season unbeatens in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference play on Friday night.

The Lady Eagles (5-0) thrashed Crestview (44-10) in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

First year coach Zac Bauer says they have just done everything that he has asked. “I couldn’t be happier with the way our kids have played. It is a credit to them that they have elected to have good attitudes and bought into what we are trying to do. They have come out and executed the game play every night. That is all credit to them,” said Bauer.

Bauer says defense has been their calling card this year. “We have been really good on defense. On nights when we don’t shoot it really well. We only scored 44 and we didn’t shoot it very well on Tuesday night. We knew it starts with defense and that is what we have preached to our kids all year. They have bought into that concept and gotten the job done,” he said.

Buckeye Central (3-0) beat Riverdale (41-24) on Monday night in a non-league game. They have won the last two and three of the last five “N10” girls’ basketball titles.

Bauer says they are used to playing in big games and have been successful in a lot of those. “Buckeye Central is a good team. They are well coached. They have been very successful for years. I think anytime you get to play a league opponent, especially this year in our conference, you are going to get everybody’s best shot and it is going to be a competitive game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “I hope we can come out and play our best against a very good opponent, who has tasted success and has seen some big games and big environments and is an experienced team. I hope that we can rise to the challenge be our best.”

To win, Bauer says, again it is going to be about defense for them, and not turning the ball over. “It is going to have to start with defense and we are going to have to get stops. They have some good offensive players, who are very skilled and we are going to have to make them make shots over two hands and make things difficult for them anyway way we can. Offensively, we are going to have to take care of the ball and be strong and be fundamental and not let them turn defense into offense,” said Bauer.

Published 12/02/22

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Colonel Crawford Putting Things Together

Colonel Crawford has won the last two Northern 10 boys’ basketball titles, but this year they must replace a lot lost to graduation.

Coach David Sheldon says they have had limited practices with their full group so far. “We have had them for four days. That is a good thing. We are used to that with the success we have had over the years in football leading into basketball. So, this isn’t anything new being here for the past 17 years our kids know our system. The biggest thing is getting them into basketball shape form football shape. It is just a totally different condition with the way the games are played. Our guys know our system, it is just getting us fine tuned and all of the skills you need to sharpen up before we open up in week,” he said.

They open the season next Monday at Crestline, then host Kenton on Wednesday and play their first “N10” game at home against Buckeye Central on December 3.

Sheldon says bring only on starter back in Braxton Baker (12.1 ppg), but they have of kids that have grown up in their system. “We bring one starter in Braxton Baker back, but we lost two All-Ohioans in Studer and Valentine and two other starters. We lost a lot off a very good team last year. We have two other kids that played off the bench a little in Derek Horsley, who will move now to the point guard position and Jacob Maddy, a post player. So, realistically there are only three kids that played last year and only one was a starter,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “It is a new basketball team, that’s for sure when we take the floor, but they have all been in our system. We are going to start all juniors and seniors. It’s not like they are young kids, they are upperclassmen that we are putting on the floor. They have paid their dues in our program. We are very fortunate to have kids that understand sometimes you don’t play right away. This is the time that we talk about leaving their mark on the Colonel Crawford basketball program here.”

Sheldon says they aren’t going to make drastic changes to what they do just some tweaks to their system. “Every year it’s a change based on personnel. It is not like we run the same offense every year. Are there things that we do? Yes, but there are things that we tweak too. Sometimes we are more motion, sometimes more sets. It just depends on personnel that you have. These guys have grown up in our system and they understand the expectations of putting on a Colonel Crawford jersey. It is high expectations every year with the success we have had over the years. These guys are excited to get going. They came in last Wednesday when we finally go them all. They know we have got down to business every night we get in the gym because whether you like it or not, we open up in a week and they are looking forward to the opportunity to compete night in and night out,” said Sheldon.

Published 11/22/22

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Colonel Crawford Opens With Northmor

Colonel Crawford tips-off the girls’ basketball season on Friday night by making the short trip to Northmor to face the Lady Golden Knights in a non-conference match-up.

First year coach Zac Bauer says with everything that has been given to them, the girls have gotten better this month. “We have shown a lot of improvement in our preseason. With me being new, it’s my first year, there are a lot of terminology changes, philosophical changes. I think we have seen some improvement through our four scrimmages we have had. We ended pretty strong last Thursday. I have talked to all of our kids and they seem a little more natural, a little more comfortable with what we are trying to do. That is encouraging to get feedback from them too because it is hard to tell sometimes until you see it live or talk to the kids one on one,” said Bauer.

Bauer says there have been a lot of terminology changes that the players are trying to get used to this year. “Offensively, I like to run some motion offense, five around zero, four around one, pass the ball and screen. I am not a big over dribble guy. It is different from what they have done in the past. Not that what there was anything wrong with they did before, bit it is just different from the way I have learned and coached and been taught. The way we talk about things terminology wise has been so foreign because it is almost like a different language,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “It took them all summer and coming into the fall to get used they way I phrase things and they way we talk about things. Defensively, we play a lot of man to man and we want to take teams first options away. We want to be a sound, fundamental team on both ends, I think everybody will say the same thing. We are trying not to overcomplicate in our first year. We want to do three or four things well and not 25 average.”

Bauer says they look for Northmor to try and push the tempo of the game on them Friday night. “Northmor is going to come out and play hard. They like to play fast and change the tempo. They have some good athletes on the floor for them that have played some varsity before. I would expect it to be a good opener for them. I think we are going to see a lot of people in the stands. People are excited to watch basketball. We are expecting a challenge (Friday) night. We hope to answer and show our best on our first night as well,” he said.

Published 11/18/22

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Colonel Crawford Must Contain Columbus Grove Speed

Colonel Crawford challenges Columbus Grove on Saturday night in a division VI regional semifinal at the University of Findlay.

The winner will play either Crestview or Columbia for a regional title next week.

They ended Carey’s 26 game winning streak by beating Blue Devils (21-14) last Friday.

Coach Jake Bruner says it was a great game. “Our kids played extremely hard from the beginning to the end. It was a barnburner. I thought our kids, like I said, gave great effort the entire game. When you give that kind of effort from the first play to the last play, because it came down to that. It was great for us that we were able to come up with a victory in a place like Carey,” he said.

Micah Thomas scored with just over 3:00 to play in the game to give the Eagles the lead and they held Carey on fourth down inside their own 20 to get the win.

Bruner feels special teams were a big factor. “Obviously, defensively we played a really good game. Offensively, our first possession we scored on a big play. We scored with three minuets left to go. Our special teams were really good too because field position was really big in the game. We talked last week about winning the battle up front on both sides of the ball and we did that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “The turnovers were even, I think we both had one. I thought we got the better of the kicking game from a field position standpoint. Up front really had to be the difference because they are a really big football team up front.”

Colonel Crawford (10-2) meets Columbus Grove (10-2) on Saturday. The Bulldogs beat Northwestern, the co-champion of the Wayne County Athletic League, (34-22) in their regional quarterfinal.

Bruner says this a great football program with a couple of really outstanding defensive players. “Listen they were 10-0 last year. It seems like they are in the playoffs at this level every year. They always have great offense and they play great defense this year. In their conference they have the defensive player of the year and then last year another kid was defensive player of the year. So, they have quite the players on their football team. Year in and year out they are a traditional powerhouse. So, we know we are going to have our hands full and we are excited for the opportunity,” he said.

To be able to move the ball and score against the Bulldogs, Bruner says they have to be patient and strike for a couple of big plays. “We are going to have to be patient. They have athletes, they do a great job, they have been here before. We are going to have to be patient offensively and take care of the football and just do what we have done all season. We have played some good football teams this year and we just have to keep doing what we are doing. We have to execute up front, take care of the football, and try and get a big play here and there. Big plays matter in this game too. We are going to have to make some big plays,” said Bruner.

On defense, Bruner says they have to contain the Bulldogs speed and limit the big play. “They have tremendous speed and not just in the skilled positions. They are going to be on turf and they have some guys that can really go. We are going to have to limit the big play. We have got to make them drive the football. They are a balanced team. They can run it. They have multiple kids, different backs. The one thing that stands out to me is their speed. We have to be able to contain that speed and not let big plays put us in a bad situation in the game,” said Bruner.

Published 11/09/22

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Colonel Crawford and Carey Meet Again

Northern 10 Athletic Conference foes Colonel Crawford and Carey face off at Carey in division VI regional quarterfinal on Friday night.

The Eagles (9-2) blew out Margaretta (49-14) in their playoff opener.

Coach Jake Bruner says they put together a very good effort. “We told our guys it was the beginning of a new season. Take it one week at a time. We were really concerned about Margaretta, obviously, their record speaks for itself and they have some really good football players. We felt like we played pretty well, but we have got room to grow. It was a great win at home for us,” he said.

Micah Thomas scored five TD’s in the game for the Eagles.

On September 23, Carey (11-0), who went on to claim the conference title, beat Colonel Crawford (7-3) in North Robinson.

Bruner says both teams are different now. “I think you see growth from both teams. You see how they have changed and how they have done different things. Both of us get to see each other all 10 weeks (on film) and getting to watch the playoff game. They are watching all of their games and we are watching all of theirs. Both teams have changed a little bit. Both teams have matured in different areas and do different things. It was great to see how they have done things and how we have done things. They are a greatly coach team and a lot of talent on Carey. So, that is why they are in the position they are in,” said Bruner.

Bruner agrees that both teams want to run the football and he says this will be a different kind of game than was the first matchup. “I think both teams want to run the football, both teams are really physical, both teams have really good defenses from the score of the last game. To compare this game to the last game probably isn’t fair either. I don’t think if coach (Jonathan) Mershman and I sat at a table before the first game we would say it would end up 7-3. That sounds more like the 1978 game between Carey and Colonel Crawford than 2022,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “I think it speaks volumes for both teams that both kids on both sides play awful hard. That is a great program there and we respect the heck out of what they do and how they do it. They are in our league every year. We know every time we play Carey it is that way.”

Bruner say they are going to have to play well in all aspects of the game in order to come out of Carey with a win. “In a playoff game, every point is going to matter. Every field goal is going to matter. I think in the last game we had two missed field goals in that 7-3 loss. Every point is going to matter, every big play is going to matter, who takes care of the football, who wins the line of scrimmage. There are a lot of factors that are going to be important Friday night,” he said.

Published 11/03/22

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Crawford Must Avoid Mistakes

Colonel Crawford will be at home for Margaretta, out of the River Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, on Friday night for a first round playoff game in division VI.

The Eagles (8-2) take a three game winning streak into the game and coach Jake Bruner says they are playing with confidence. “We are confident and we are excited for the new season as it is in football now. After the regular season, the playoffs are their own new season with expansion of everything. Obviously, we are excited and excited to be at home and play an opponent that we haven’t played before,” he said.

They have won three playoff games over the last two seasons and Bruner says that experience in the postseason should help them. “The last two years we have some kids that have played on those teams and some of them played a lot and some of them played a little bit and some were just role players. It’s good for us that we have a little experience, I think that will help us in dealing with the highs and lows in a playoff game because it is going to be great football game Friday night. When you get into the playoffs you are playing good opponents,” said Bruner.

These are a pair of (8-2) teams in an eight-nine game that should be competitive. The Polar Bears are coming off a (43-16) win over Fremont St. Joe in a River Division game last Saturday.

Bruner describes them as a well rounded team on offense with size. “Number one, they are similar to us in the fact that they have good speed, they have a nice quarterback, they have got some receivers and they run the ball well. They are bigger than we are, so their physicality and their size is a concern for us. They have a lot of good players,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Coach (Gary) Quisno is a hall of famer being at Oak Harbor and Perkins, so they are well coached. We know that those guys know what they are doing. We know we will get their best effort Friday night.”

Bruner says they have to be the team that makes less mistakes on Friday night in order to be successful. “We are going to have to take care of the football. We are going to have to be the more physical football team and we are going to have to make the fewest mistakes. In our two losses, not a tremendous amount of mistakes, but against Upper Sandusky we fumbled the ball and a couple of key mistakes against Carey and that is the difference in the five points in those games. We know the margin of error gets a lot tighter as hopefully we climb the rope in the playoffs,” said Bruner.

Published 10/26/22

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Colonel Crawford Plays Rival Buckeye Central

Colonel Crawford, headed to the division VI playoffs next week, hosts rival Buckeye Central in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

The Eagles (7-2,4-2) smoked Mohawk (48-6) last Friday night in “N10” play.

It was (28-0) before all the fans had their seats and coach Jake Bruner says it was good effort on both sides. “We felt good about our performance and how our kids came out and played right away and got off to a good start, so we were happy with that,” he said.

With the postseason pending, Bruner feels they are stating to peak as a football team. “We talk about it every day at getting better at things we point out. We have to tighten up things. We hope we are, we think we are, but sometimes you just don’t know until you are there,” said Bruner.

Buckeye Central (3-6,0-6) lost in a close one to Bucyrus (37-34) last Friday night in “N10” play.

Bruner says the Bucks will show up and play hard and they are going to have to be ready and play well if they are going to win. “Number one, they are a much better team that they were a year ago. Chad Jensen has done a great job and they started 3-0. They lost a close one last week to Bucyrus. It is a rival game for us down 602. We knew we are going to get their best effort,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “It is not out of our minds a couple of years ago, we went over to Buckeye Central and they were beating us at halftime. It wasn’t that far away. We know how hard they will play against us and are a big rival for us.”

Published 10/20/22

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Colonel Crawford Gets Ready for Talented Mohawk

Two teams that share third place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference play each other on Friday night as Colonel Crawford plays host to Mohawk in North Robinson.

Last week, the Eagles broke a two game losing streak by thumping Wynford (49-7) in conference play.

Coach Jake Bruner was happy. “Obviously, when you beat your rival you feel good about it. I thought our kids played really hard. We knew we were going to get their best effort. They did a great job against us. It was a great game for us and just happy to get the victory at Wynford,” he said.

Bruner says they put together a good performance because Wynford is pretty good. “They have some really good players. Their schedule with Otsego and Lucas, they had played some really tough opponents with Carey and some of the teams in our league. They have some really good players and we felt we had to do some things against them and we were able to do that, but give them a lot of credit they have some nice players and that coach is doing a great job,” said Bruner.

Colonel Crawford (6-2,3-2) is at home for Mohawk (3-5,3-2) on Friday night.

On Friday, the Warriors kicked a field goal with :50 left to take the lead on Seneca East, but the Tigers would put a drive together and scored with :01 to play for the (34-31) win.

Bruner says Mohawk is better than a three win team. “That was a crazy game to watch. Obviously, Seneca East is a good team too. The (Zaiden) Fry kid from Mohawk is just outstanding. He is arguably one of the better players in the “N10” this year and they have some other players as well. They are kind of similar to Wynford in a sense that they started out the year against really good opponents that they lost to in close games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “They have done a good job week in and week out. Mohawk, their kids run to the ball, they hit, they are very physical and they give us a tough game every year. We know we will be in for a tough one on Friday night.”

Fry is a division one college athlete and Bruner he does a lot of things for Mohawk. “He put on different displays this year against different teams that have been amazing. He can throw it, he can run it, he plays great defense, he is a great return man, and he punts the ball sometimes for them. He can just do so many things. Obviously, he is a great pole vaulter. I think he is headed to Iowa for pole vaulting. He is just an extraordinary athlete,” he said.

Published 10/10/22

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Crawford Expects War with Wynford

Colonel Crawford tries to get back in the winning column as they travel to Wynford to meet the Royals Friday night in a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

Last Friday, the Eagles were upset by Upper Sandusky (30-29) in overtime in a conference game.

Coach Jake Bruner says they didn’t slam the door when they had the chance. “We just didn’t put the nail in the coffin against a really good Upper Sandusky team that has a lot of seniors. We let them hang around and when you turn the ball over you can’t get that third score to go up 21 points. With the great offense that they have and great quarterback and receivers we put ourselves in a tough predicament,” said Bruner.

With two losses in a row, Crawford needs a win badly. Bruner has confidence they will play well. “Our kids have been great. They are very disappointed in themselves. We all have to look at each other in the mirror and gather up. I have confidence in our group. We have had a great week of practice and hopefully, we can gain something from this,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (5-2,2-2) plays at Wynford (2-5,2-2) on Friday night. The Royals beat Buckeye Central (35-15) last week.

Bruner says he knows it will a tough, four quarter game. “Wynford always has athletes and they play a tough non-league schedule. It is the exact opposite of us. They have won two in a row. They have some confidence. They have some really good football players on their team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Looking at some of the teams they have played in Otsego and Lucas, some very good football teams, so their record is a little deceiving. Wynford, Colonel Crawford is a rivalry. At the end of the day, it is kind of like Ohio State and Michigan, you throw those records out. We know we are going to get their best effort Friday night at their place and it will be a war.”

Wynford likes to run the football and Bruner says they have the personnel to do it well. “They have some really big players form a size standpoint and they have some really good players with the Skidmore kid and then they have three really good backs and a nice quarterback. So, we are concerned and we know we are going to get their best effort on Friday night and we have to go to Wynford. The last couple of years have been our years, but before then they had quite the run on us. We know it is going to be a heck of a football game,” said Bruner.

Published 10/06/22

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Colonel Crawford Ready to Respond

Colonel Crawford needs to get back on track after its first loss of the season when they host Upper Sandusky in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference football game on Friday night.

They lost last week (7-3) to Carey to drop out of a share of first place in the conference.

Coach Jake Bruner says he is proud of his team. “We are very proud of our kids and how they played from the standpoint of their effort and their emotions and taking on a really good football team in Carey. Obviously, there were some things we didn’t do execution wise, but it wasn’t because of lack of effort or desire. Our kids played well against a very good team, but unfortunately came up short,” said Bruner.

What has made Bruner even happier is the way his kids have reacted to the loss to Carey. “I think you have to Carey some credit. I think our defense showed to be really, really good. It was two old school football teams going at it. Good in the trenches, big up front. It was just an interesting game back and forth. They come out and throw a pick and then we come right back and throw an interception,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “It is one of those games with high stakes and emotion that sometimes you do some things you don’t normally do. I am proud of how our kids responded to Friday night. All they have done is come back ready to work.”

Colonel Crawford (5-1,2-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, entertains Upper Sandusky (2-4,1-2) on Friday night. The Rams lost (28-7) to Mohawk last week.

Kaden Holman leads the “N10” in passing yards (1,313) and Bruner says the Rams can score points in a hurry. “I watch them offensively and I say what a great quarterback and a great group of receivers. They have a lot of skilled players and a lot of skill, a lot of speed and I see size and they are much improved on defense. I told our kids that they are a very scary team. I see a lot of talent over there and the ability to score quickly. That makes me very concerned about Friday night,” he said.

Published 9/28/22

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Colonel Crawford has to be Great

A pair of unbeatens lock horns in what might be the championship game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this season as Colonel Crawford hosts the Carey Blue Devils in North Robinson on Friday night.

There are also one, two in the region 22 of division VI.

Last week, the Eagles (5-0,2-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, blanked Seneca East (42-0) running for 227 yards and holding the Tigers to just 145 total yards.

Coach Jake Bruner says they were pretty good. “We were pretty happy with our performance. If you look at the whole picture of course there were spots. As coaches we are never pleased. We feel like we are improving and that’s important,” he said.

Carey (5-0,2-0), #1 in our poll, blasted Buckeye Central (48-7) last Friday. They ran for 222 yards and held the Bucks to 158 total.

They are the defending division VI state champs. Bruner says they are different, but at the same time the same. “They are a different team, but they are unique in their own self. They are not the same team as they were last year, they are different, but they are really good. They are big up front, they play a lot of players, they have a lot of skilled athletes, they have a great quarterback, they have a great running back, their defense does a great job and there are well coached and they do a great job on special teams. They are the whole package. There is a reason they are ranked in the state by a lot of different people right now,” said Bruner.

Bruner says in games like this mistakes in the special teams and turnovers are huge in determining the outcome. “We always talk about turnovers. We always talk about special teams. You have to tackle. You have to do those fundamental things. We have to be in the game. It is going to be a heck of a football game. It’s two great teams. We know when they come to town they have been there and done that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They had a long season last year. A lot of these guys got to play a lot of football. They lost some guys to graduation, but a lot these kids played in a different role at times with this team. We know they are a heck of the football team and we have a huge challenge ahead of us.”

This game is going to be in an intense spotlight, but Bruner say their approach has to be the same as it has been for the previous five weeks. “We approach every week the same way. We are trying to get better with what we do. Carey has to do what they do and I think that’s what makes great football teams. We are hoping we have improved since last week and we are going to continue to get better and we will see it on the field on Friday night,” he said.

Published 9/22/22

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Colonel Crawford Faces Big, Athletic Seneca East

Colonel Crawford, winner of its first four and not really challenged in any of those games, pays a visit to suburban Attica to meet the Seneca East Tigers in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

The Eagles (4-0,1-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, overwhelmed Bucyrus (63-12) in their “N10” opener last week.

Coach Jake Bruner says they started the game with the right attitude. “Last week, I said we were upset with how we started against East Knox and how we finished. We made that a point of emphasis and I thought our kids did a great job coming out there and they started and finished that game very well. We were able to put some quick scores on the board and get a comfortable lead. I am very happy with the way we played,” said Bruner.

In the win over Bucyrus, six different Eagles scored touchdowns.

Bruner says they have a lot of guys that can do things. “We are kind of running back by committee. We have three guys that carry the ball. Obviously, our quarterback is another one that carries the ball as well. We can throw, we have multiple receivers. So, we feel really good about our balance and we hope that continues,” he said.

Seneca East rallied to beat Upper Sandusky (41-34) in league play last week when Blake Foos found Austin Perry for a late score.

Bruner says the Tigers (3-1,1-0) are blessed with a lot of athletes. “I was really impressed last week, Upper Sandusky is kind of offensively been a juggernaut at the start of the year. Seneca East got behind 14-0 and clawed right back in it and got a big win. They have a lot of athletes,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “Their quarterback, another (Blake) Foos, it seems like there have been Foos’s there for the last 20 years. He is just a great athlete, running, throwing, they have skilled guys, and they are big. I was just really impressed watching them. We are going to have our hands full Friday night going to Attica.”

Seneca East has rallied in the fourth quarter in each of its wins.

Bruner says you have to the pedal down against them. “It’s impressive for Ed Phillips and the Seneca East Tigers. They got behind Northwood and came back in thrilling fashion in week one, put it to Fostoria, and then did the same thing to Upper Sandusky, coming back and beating them. They couldn’t rally against Willard, but it was a heck of a football game. So, we are going to have our hands full. They have a great offense, they always do a great job with their offense. They throw the ball well, they run the ball well. They have big players,” said Bruner.

Published 9/12/22

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Colonel Crawford Begins “N10” Play at Bucyrus

Colonel Crawford was the runner-up in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference last season and they play their first conference game of this season on Friday night at next door neighbor Bucyrus.

They belted East Knox (37-7) in a non-conference game last Friday.

Coach Jake Bruner says they showed some improvement, but he was not pleased with their consistency for 48 minutes. “In some areas we got better. I felt we did except for the start of the game and the end of the game. I didn’t like the way we finished the game and I didn’t like the way we started the game. The road trip must have taken a little bit out of us. We did make improvements from week two to week three,” he said.

Bucyrus (1-2) lost (27-7) to Northmor last Friday in non-conference action.

Bruner says the Redmen have some playmakers. “I think they are definitely improved. They have a tremendous quarterback and dangerous skilled athletes. One of their linemen on the offensive and defensive lines really sicks out,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “That was a 7-7 game in the third quarter on Friday night against Northmor and Northmor is a heck of a football team. They are much improved. Tim Plumley is doing an excellent job. We will get their best effort on Friday night.”

Colonel Crawford (3-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, has done an excellent job on defense. They have only allowed two scores over the last two weeks.

Bruner says that must make Bucyrus drive the ball. “We are going to have to limit the big play. Malachi Bayless, their quarterback, has a tremendous arm. He can throw the ball vertically and have the receivers to catch it. We can’t give up the big play. We have to tackle well in space. We have to be able to do what we do offensively, be balanced and run the ball and throw the ball and do those things,” said Bruner.

He adds if they are to compete for a conference title, a win on Friday night is pretty much a must. “To this point I have felt really good about our preparation from week to week. Obviously, now we are in league play and we just want to get off to a fast start just like you did week one,” he said.

Published 9/06/22

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Still More Consistency for Eagles

Colonel Crawford takes its act to East Knox on Friday night for a non-conference matchup with the Bulldogs.

A (42-3) win over Kansas Lakota last week gave Crawford a (2-0) record on the season.

Coach Jake Bruner says they are happy with what they have seen so far, but understand they are far from a finished product. “We feel good about the effort our kids are giving and the fire that they are playing with. Obviously, we have a big test on Friday night in going to East Knox. It’s a great environment there. They play really good football there, they are very physical,” he said.

Bruner says they have done some good things, but they need to be more consistent in their play. “Number one consistency. We felt like there were times Friday night that even though we did some really good things and we were really happy with some things we did, but there were times that we were really complacent both offensively and defensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “We just have to shore up some things. It’s week one to week two improvement and week two to week three improvement is our goal and that is what we are trying to get to.”

East Knox (1-1) lost (35-0) to talented Crestview last week.

However, Bruner says this is a very physical team that does a good job running the ball. “I am just really impressed by their physicality. They have a great system. Even though they have had a coaching change like we have this year, their change is very consistent to what they have done. We have gotten to see them over the years. They do a great job of running the football and playing great defense. Their kids hustle and get to the ball and they like contact. We are going to get our money’s worth Friday night,” said Bruner.

This is likely the case with most football games, but perhaps enhanced in this case. Bruner says a big key is control of the point of attack. “For us it has to be the line of scrimmage. They play a 3-5 defense, which makes it very difficult to run inside. They played a really good Crestview team, Friday night. Honestly, even their coaches would say they probably weren’t happy with their performance. The game kind of got away from them with a blocked punt early and some turnovers. We are going to get their best Friday night and we have our hands full,” said Bruner.

Published 9/01/22

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Crawford to Face Better Defense

Colonel Crawford takes the field Friday night in North Robinson as they host the Lakota Raiders in a non-conference game.

The Eagles bludgeoned Riverdale (54-22) in their opener last week.

Coach Jake Bruner says their defense was tremendous. “I was really happy with how physical our kids played and how hard they played. Obviously, the first game we made some mistakes like everybody does, but I liked our desire and the effort was there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “I was really happy with our defense because I really thought that the Riverdale offense, specifically their quarterback and their receivers, are very talented. I really felt like we would be challenged defensively. Our defensive coaches put a great plan together and our kids executed it.”

Crawford has had a great run of success. They graduated quite a few players from last year, but Bruner says they were able to reload. “We graduated some really talented players the last two years. It’s a credit to our kids. We had some young kids that played a lot of minutes on Friday night and we had some kids that were veterans do that. It’s fun to have that combination and that leadership and it is fun to see kids grow. We have some good players too,” he said.

Lakota (1-0) downed Monroeville (21-7) last Friday in their first game.

Bruner says they will face a better defense this week. “They are a lot like us. They had a great year last year. I think they were 7-4 last year. Really a great group, they have some good kids returning. They are a lot like Riverdale from the standpoint offensively that they have a lot of weapons. They have a lot speed at the skilled positions, a nice running back, a nice quarterback. I think defensively they are better than Riverdale. I am concerned about their speed and athleticism,” said Bruner.

A key to containing kids with speed, according to Bruner, is tackle them before that get in top gear. “To tackle them before they get going would be the best way to handle that. They do so many things vertically and underneath and they let their athletes play in space. We are just worried about keeping people in front of us and making tackles and hopefully we can win the line of scrimmage,” he said.

Published 8/24/22

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Crawford Plays Big Play Riverdale

Colonel Crawford visits Riverdale on Friday night, the opening night of the 2022 high school football season.

The Eagles were the runners up to state champion Carey in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference last year.

Coach Jake Bruner says this year’s group has worked extremely hard. “I thought our kids worked really hard. I thought we got a lot accomplished. It never feels like it is enough because were in game week and holy moly we are playing Friday for wins and losses. It was a successful camp and the kids worked really hard this summer and we had good attendance. We have great kids and great parents. Those kids have been really dedicated and I have been really proud of our guys,” he said.

Bruner says these kids are all you could ask for in terms of leadership. “Not football related, but our senior guys and we have 16 seniors and they are just a bunch of great kids to work with every day. They are great people. They treat kids right, they work hard, they are coachable, respectful, they want to win and this is important to them and they like each other. I have been in coaching for a long time and this is one of the better senior groups that I have had just form a coachability standpoint. They aren’t the most talented kids I have every coached, but they are great to be around every day,” said Bruner.

Riverdale was (3-7) last year and Crawford routed them (55-7) in last year’s first game.

However, Bruner says that this year’s Falcons have a very explosive offense that can do a lot of things. “We just started playing them last year and they have their program going now. They have three or four receivers, a running back, and a quarterback that just scare us to death,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “I think he might have had 150 yards rushing and 200 yards passing Friday night in a scrimmage. They are just a big play offense. They throw it, they are not afraid to roll out and run, they are not afraid to run up the middle. Their big play ability really scares us.”

Published 8/15/22

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Colonel Crawford Doing Good Things

Colonel Crawford is in a year of transition with its football program after the passing of former coach Ryan Teglovic in the off season.

The Eagles have dedicated this season to Teglovic’s memory.

Jake Bruner, a former assistant is now the head coach, and he says this year’s group has been putting in the effort required to be a good football team. “We have been really happy with their effort. We have some experienced guys and some youth guys that we are trying to bring along,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “The season is on us a little quicker this year being a week earlier. So, we kind of feel the pressure to get ready and the same time we are excited for Saturday when we get chance to hit someone else.”

Crawford will scrimmage two very good programs in Edison on Saturday and Hopewell-Loudon next Friday, both on the road, and then open the season on the road too at Riverdale on August 19.

Bruner says he and the players are really looking forward to Saturday. “You want to see how your kids are going to compete against others and see it on film and see where you are at compared to where you think you were at. Practice is one thing, but when you are going against another team with a different philosophy and a different scheme and get to see how your kids react to that adversity and see what kind of kids you have,” said Bruner.

The Eagles finished second in the “N10” last year behind eventual division VI state champion Carey and they have been consistent winners over the last decade.

Bruner says their kids know what it takes, but they have to keep striving to improve. “Our kids do a great job. We have great parents, we have great kids that work extremely hard, so we are very fortunate. Staying on top is just has hard to do as climbing and get on top. We are just trying to work every day and get better and keep those attitudes and our kids have do a great job with that,” he said.

Published 8/05/22

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Colonel Crawford Beats Crestview

Colonel Crawford is a step away from returning to the division III district tournament as they beat Crestview (6-2) a sectional semifinal game at Crestview on Thursday evening.

They travel to Genoa on Friday for a chance to earn a ticket to the districts.

They gave the ball to Brennan Hamilton on Thursday and coach Dan Gorbett says he wasn’t at his best, but he made some big pitches when he had to against the Cougars. “Brennan struggled a little bit at times, but he got the big out when we needed it. In one inning he walked three batters, but they didn’t get any runs in that inning. They had threatened two or three times early and we were able to shut them down with no runs. So, Brennan struggled, but when his back was against the wall, he made the big pitch,” said Gorbett.

Gorbett adds that they were able to get some key hits, but also do some fundamental things in order to get on the scoreboard. “We had a big inning. We were up 2-0 and we scored four. We have kind of struggled with guys on base. Just not move them around. (Thursday) we had hits and walks, moving up on passed balls. A good inning where you are scoring on a like a ground ball. We had some big hits in the bottom the order,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night after the win, “A little bit of everything. Really pleased with our offense. We did strikeout a lot, but we got clutch hits that we have kind of been lacking throughout the year.”

Colonel Crawford (9-13) plays at Genoa, a (20-0) winner over Bucyrus on Thursday, in a sectional final.

Gorbett says again fundamentals are going to be key for the Eagles. “We have had some struggles in some of those things throughout the year. The whole lesson was, okay, when we get to tournament time, we can’t do that kind of stuff. We have got to clean it up and not make those fundamental mistakes. That is the key to winning a tight game,” he said.

Published 5/20/22

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Crawford Gets Past Carey

Brennan Hamilton threw a one-hitter and Colonel Crawford edged Carey (2-1) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference baseball game played in Carey on Thursday evening.

Coach Dan Gorbett says Hamilton was at the top of his game against the Blue Devils. “We had great pitching by Brennan Hamilton. He had all four of his pitches going, kept them off balance. He had a no hitter going until one out in the seventh inning. The first three innings were 1-2-3, 1-2-3, 1-2-3, so he was outstanding as was the Carey pitcher, their fullback (Jordan Vallejo) on their state championship football team. He throws pretty hard and is a very good pitcher too,” said Gorbett.

Hamilton was able to throw all four his pitches for strikes on Thursday. Gorbett says really good high school pitchers have a least thee pitches they can consistently throw for strikes and get hitters out. “The ones that are really good have at least three. I would say for most kids it is fastball and curve. Hamilton has a cutter and a changeup. He was throwing them all for a strike,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “A lot of kids say they have a pitch, but if you can’t throw it for a strike you don’t have that pitch. That is why Drayton Burkhart last year was so outstanding because he could throw all of his pitches for a strike and that is tough on a high school hitter.”

The Eagles (6-7,4-5) found a way to get two runs on Thursday and needed them both.

Gorbett says the first one was without a hit. “We got on via an error, stole second, wild pitch to third and they tied to pick him off and it was a bad throw, that was our first run. The Feichtner and McKibben had doubles to score our other run. So, we earned one and one we manufactured and it helped us a lot,” he said.

Published 4/29/22

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Colonel Crawford Continues to Roll

Colonel Crawford blanked Wynford (12-0) on Wednesday in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game played at Wynford.

The win keeps the Lady Eagles (13-2,8-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com softball coaches poll in the small school division, is a share of first place with Carey, who beat Bucyrus (14-4) on Wednesday.

Now, Crawford had just beaten Wynford (11-1) on Tuesday, but coach Sarah Fraser says they came into the game with good focus. “We were pretty focused. We talked about how the same situation happened when they played Mohawk. They lost to Mohawk the first game and came back and beat them the second game. We really tried to focus in and make sure that wasn’t our fate this week, so we did well,” she said.

Crawford has relied on its pitching and defense. Other than losses to Lexington of the Ohio Cardinal Conference, the Lady Eagles have only allowed more than one run twice, and that was in two wins over Wayne County Athletic Conference leader Hillsdale.

Fraser says against Wynford they were solid. “(Tuesday) Lauren (Frietchen) had one strikeout, which is very uncharacteristic for her. She averages eight, nine, 10 strikeouts a game. So, our defense was impactable (Tuesday) with no errors. We go it done,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Then again (Wednesday) I think she did have eight or nine strikeouts, but defensively we also had to make plays. When those things are hitting on all cylinders, we got another shutout so that was great.”

Colonel Crawford began to build its lead a little more in the later innings Wednesday. Fraser says they started to loosen up. “It was 4-0 going into the fourth inning. Our team has a bad habit of pressing and trying to be perfect and going into that inning we talked about lighting up a little bit and have fun. I don’t care if you have to cheer like you are an 8-U team. Just lighten up and have fun and that’s when we broke it all open,” said Fraser.

Published 4/28/22

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Seneca East Edges Colonel Crawford

Aiden Hines outdueled Brennan Hamilton and Seneca East got past Colonel Crawford (1-0) in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action on Wednesday evening in North Robinson.

They both now trail Wynford and Buckeye Central by a game in the conference standings.

Coach Rick Bowerman says they did what they had to do to win. “It was a fun game. As a baseball guy those are always fun to watch and be a part of. We did what we needed to do to win,” he said.

Hines and Hamilton both went the distance for their teams.

Bowerman says it was a close play at the plate that made the difference in the game. “Both teams had great pitching. Each of us only had three hits. We were able to scratch out a run there in the third with a base hit and a stolen base. We had a guy on first and they tried to turn two and the foot was a little bit off the bag,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “We were aggressive trying to score from second as they were trying to turn two and a bang, bang play at the plate and we are safe and that was all of the scoring.”

It was Tigers catcher Jake Bowerman that scored the deciding run.

Crawford coach Dan Gorbett says it was really a tremendous game. “Both pitchers were outstanding (Wednesday) night. Hines pitched out of some jams. We had some chances, but fell short. We will come back (Thursday) a better team,” said Gorbett.

Crawford is supposed to play at Bucyrus on Thursday. Then Crawford and Seneca East are scheduled to meet again Friday outside of Attica. Well, that is if Mother Nature allows.

Seneca East did make three errors, but Bowerman says their infield of Caden Fritz, Cooper Skeel and Keegan Shoup were up to the challenge more times than not on Wednesday. “Our defense came through. I looked through our book and we had 13 assists by our infielders, so there were a lot of ground balls and we made the plays we needed to make,” said Bowerman.

Bowerman says the league is going to be a meatgrinder. “We talked in the preseason as coaches the league winner could have three or four losses and it is starting play our just like that,” he said.

Published 4/21/22

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Colonel Crawford Softball Wins Again

Colonel Crawford remained unbeaten and in a share of first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference after a (7-0) win over Bucyrus on Thursday evening.

They share first place with Mohawk and Carey.

Coach Sarah Fraser says it has been the same formula. “Defense did great (Thursday) night. We got timely hits when we needed them. Lauren Frietchen came out on her birthday and pitched us another shutout. So, everything we could ask for,” said Fraser.

Frietchen has been nearly untouchable this year.

Fraser says her confidence is through the roof. “She has been very, very consistent. She is kind of a new girl this year. She is digging in and she is going to work. I think she really believes now that the defense has her back. It’s a totally different team this year, which is great,” she said.

Offensively, Fraser says sometimes it takes them a while to get the engine started, but once they do, they have been able to score some runs. “It always takes us a couple of innings to get going. We will get a run here and there. Once we string those hits together and get it going, we are pretty good. We are alright, so that is great,” she said.

The Lady Eagles (8-0,3-0) play Ohio Cardinal Conference powerhouse Lexington on Saturday and have “N10” games with Carey, Seneca East, and Bucyrus next week. Hopefully, they are able to play all of those.

That has not been the case so far due to the weather, but Fraser says they have been focused. “We had to cancel a game to get a league game in (Thursday). We had to reschedule with Northmor in non-conference to get a game in this week. Even (Wednesday) we didn’t cancel until right at 2:45 I think it was. So, we had to really quicky revert to from game mentality to practice mentality,” she told Swankonsports.com after the win on Thursday, “In a perfect world they should be the same, but we all know how kids are and unfortunately it doesn’t translate all of the time. We have been going on the fly and they have been pretty good at adapting so far.”

Published 4/15/22

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Crawford Outscores Bucyrus

Colonel Crawford is in a tie for the lead in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference after beating Bucyrus (14-8) on Thursday night in North Robinson.

The Eagles, Wynford and Buckeye Central all have one loss in league play so far.

Coach Dan Gorbett says they got some key hits from the bottom part of their lineup against the Redmen. “We had some guys in the bottom of the order really come through with outstanding games. It was Caleb Christman’s first start and he went two for three and had four RBI at the bottom of the order and that was huge. Anthony Hill is hitting over .400 now and he has really been a pleasant surprise for us,” said Gorbett.

Crawford (4-3,2-1) has won four its last five games and Gorbett says they are starting to find their footing a little bit. “We had a big win against Mt. Gilead on Tuesday, beat them 6-0. We were really good in that game against a quality opponent. (Thursday) night our pitching was not as sharp as they have been in other games, but they got out of some jams. They left the bases loaded and we were able to get 14 runs and pull the game out,” said Gorbett.

They are supposed to play Carey and Seneca East twice in conference games next week.

They have already had five games cancelled this year and Gorbett says you have to maintain your mental focus if you are going to be successful. “We talked about that when the forecast was bad because I have had teams that have come out of that lull and just take off and play well and I have had teams where everything just goes south,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win Thursday, “It is all about mental toughness and handling all of the stuff that happens. You can’t let it bother you. If the weather is good, you play and you have to be focused and be ready to get the job done.”

Published 4/15/22

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Late Rally Gives Crawford Win Over Buckeye

Colonel Crawford scored twice in the top of the seventh inning and they rallied to beat Buckeye Central (5-3) in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference opener for both schools on Monday evening in New Washington.

The Eagles scored when Carson Feichtner doubled and Cyler Hoepf delivered an RBI single. Another run scored when Brennan Hamilton crossed home on a force play.

Colonel Crawford (2-2,1-0) tied at (3-3) in the fifth on RBI by Mason Studer and Feichtner.

Coach Dan Gorbett says they got very good performances from a lot of guys. “We were up and then we were down, we tied it and then we were able to score two runs in the top of the seventh and pulled it out. We got great pitching from Parker Ketterman. He went the distance on like 82 pitches. He only struck out two, but he kept them off balance and got the job done,” said Gorbett.

Ketterman gave up only five hits, walked three and struck out two to get the win.

The Eagles made only one error and Gorbett says that was a big improvement from the opening week. “We did a really good job defensively. Much better than last week. Hopefully, this is a game where we turned the corner and start playing better. We have been a little sloppy at the beginning here. We played really well (Monday),” he said.

Buckeye (2-2,0-1) had built a (3-1) lead through four on RBI hits by Graham Geissman with two and Alex Kanney with another.

The two teams are scheduled to play again on Wednesday, this time in North Robinson, in an “N10” rematch.

Gorbett says they didn’t play well last week, but Monday night you could see a difference in their approach to the game. “The confidence, you could just see it on their faces. We were mentally ready (Monday),” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “You could just see a difference in their eyes, their whole attitude. Really proud of how our leaders stepped up, we are better let’s get it done.”

Published 4/05/22

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Crawford Tops Riverdale

Colonel Crawford downed Riverdale (6-1) in a non-conference softball game on Wednesday evening.

Coach Sarah Fraser says they got an outstanding performance in the circle from Lauren Frietchen and the defense was pretty good too. “We were struggling with our timing in our hitting and that is just something that is going to come with the more games that we play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Once again Lauren (Frieychen) was phenomenal. She had 11 strikeouts and no walks and on defense we had no errors. So, on that side of things you can’t ask for anything more.”

In many ways Wednesday’s win was a carbon copy of Tuesday’s (9-1) win over Plymouth, according to Fraser. “That is two games in a row that she has had 11 strikeouts and no walks and we have had no errors. So, when that happens that makes a huge difference in what could have been a loss and it made it a win,” she said.

Colonel Crawford returns to action on Thursday against a solid Northmor team. They play a doubleheader against another traditional power like them in Hillsdale on Saturday. Then begin Northern 10 Athletic Conference play against Buckeye Central next week.

Fraser says they have to focus on getting better. “There is always room to improve and no matter how good your start is there are always things we want to focus on and concentrate on and get better. That’s what we are doing, still working and grinding,” said Fraser.

Published 3/31/22

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Colonel Crawford Looking For Answers

Colonel Crawford won the outright Northern 10 Athletic Conference title last season and advanced to the district final, this year, however, is going to be more of a process.

Coach Dan Gorbett says with injuries and they are still trying to put together what their opening day lineup could be like. “We have had a lot of ups and downs. We have had the injury bug and our starting, freshmen, third baseman and shortstop blew out his knee in football. There have been holdups in getting the brace so he can rehab and he finally got it (Tuesday), three weeks late. We were hoping to have him April 1 but is just now going to start rehab and that will take several weeks. Our catcher has a bad elbow, so it is looking like he is not going to be able to catch this year, so we are trying to figure out how we are going to plug those holes and rotate people,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “So, it is really a process. Usually by this time you have a pretty good idea what you want to do and we are not quite there yet. We are going to be moving pieces around here probably though the first two weeks of the season.”

What might help the Eagles is Mason Studer, the division III district player of the year in basketball, is out for baseball for the first time at the high school level. It’s hoped he can be a difference in terms of making things happen and his leadership.

The Eagles start the season at Lucasville Valley, in southern Ohio, on Saturday. On April 4 and 6, they open “N10” play against Buckeye Central.

Gorbett says scrimmages and early season games are going to be important to try and determine who gets on the field. “We have gotten our first three scrimmages in. I know they are calling for bad weather this weekend. We will see if that actually happens. Next week we have some tough non-league games. We are going to need all of those to figure out who plays where. We may be moving people around all year long. When this person pitches, we have to move another person to cover that position. Rotating a lot more than I have in the past,” said Gorbett.

Gorbett believes this team can hit, but they haven’t developed that consistency yet. “In scrimmages, we have really been up and down. There are times when we have looked good, make good swings and times when we have just had bad at bats. I told the team after the scrimmage (Tuesday), I believe we can be a solid hitting team and the talent is there. A lot of them I think are pressing, trying too hard. I think once we get a couple of hits and it falls together, I think that is an area where we could be a pretty solid team,” he said.

Published 3/23/22

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Bruner Takes Over Colonel Crawford Football

Jake Bruner, for head coach at Bucyrus, and Colonel Crawford assistant, officially becomes head football coach at Crawford.

He takes over for Ryan Teglovic, who resigned due to his health.

Bruner, currently the High School Principal, will become athletic director. David Sheldon will move to the position of Treasurer of the Colonel Crawford Schools and remain head basketball coach.

This all pending board action on March 28.

“We wanted consistency for the players and the staff. So, when Coach Teglovic stepped down, we knew we had to have the next man up mentality. Coach Teglovic will always be our coach as we still see him daily, and hopefully at some practices and games. Change is always hard and coach Bruner, a 1997 CC alumni who played for Mike Cauley, knows he will not try to be Coach Teglovic, but he will honor the values and beliefs that Coach Teg exuded for the past fourteen years at CC,” said Sheldon.

Bruner was a head coach at Bucyrus form 2005 to 2011, compiling a record of (42-28). During his time, he led the Redmen to first nine win season in 16 years and the most wins in a three, four, five, and six win stretch since the program began in 1896.

He became an assistant coach at Colonel Crawford in 2013. After coaching defensive backs, quarterbacks and offensive linemen, he has been the offensive coordinator the last four years. Last year the Eagles had schools records for total points, rushing yards and total offense.

“Every CC player and Coach in our program was hoping Coach Teg would be coming back this year as we watched his resilience, his sacrifice his toughness during the season last year. However, all the players and the coaches knew he was fighting for something bigger than himself. Our team will focus on Ryan Scott Teglovic daily as we have decided to honor him and his struggle with pancreatic cancer. We saw his resilience, his sacrifice, and his toughness and those things are emphasized in what we want our football team to be on and off the field. R.S.T. will be our motto this season as we support his fight,” said Bruner.

Published 3/22/22

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Colonel Crawford Has Pieces and Parts

Colonel Crawford is focused on having a better season this year than last and that is showing in their preseason workouts.

Coach Sarah Fraser says they definitely have some goals in mind. “They have been coming in since day one and working very hard. The impression is they are hungry,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “They have a little sour taste in their mouths as far as the “N10” and district semis go from last year. So, they are definitely hungry for a better season this year.”

Fraser says they have a little bit of a chip on their shoulder and that can be a good thing. “It makes them work that much harder. We have four seniors that have basically started since they were freshmen. So, they know this is it. They are working really hard and being great leaders,” she said.

They open the season at home against Plymouth on March 28. They begin play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference with Buckeye Central on April 4 and 6.

Pitching is very important in softball and Fraser believes they are going to have some quality arms. “We have Lauren Frietchen back. She was our number one last year. I think she had 12 or 13 wins. We have a good freshman in too as a number two this season and that will help. That will take some pressure off Alivia Studer and just allow her to hit and track down balls in centerfield, so that’s good,” said Fraser.

Published 3/16/22

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Colonel Crawford Outlasts Harvest Prep in Regional

Seniors Mason Studer and Carter Valentine both scored 19 points and unbeaten Colonel Crawford held off Harvest Prep (54-45) in a division III regional semifinal on Wednesday night at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University.

They play Ottawa-Glandorf (23-2), who was a (61-56) winner over Pemberville Eastwood in the second semifinal on Wednesday night, on Saturday at 1 PM for the regional title.

Crawford built a (43-26) lead after three quarters, but Warriors cut it to as little as four with 1:22 left before the Eagles put it away by making seven of eight free throws in the final minute.

Coach David Sheldon says his players fought through the tremendous pressure from Harvest Prep in a very physical fourth quarter. “That’s a very good basketball team. That is a very good program. They have a historical program and we have seen their success at the state tournament. We made some turnovers, that is the bottom line. We got a little careless with the ball at times and when we were getting inside, we weren’t finishing. They came down and made some big shots against us. You know a team like that is going to make a run. There was a lot of time left,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “We had a timeout and I said guys this is where we run through the wall. You have to be tough and strong with the ball. You have to get up to the free throw line and make shots. I thought our guys fought through the run and didn’t panic. We knew they had the athletes and we just hung in there and the big credit is to our guard play.”

Colonel Crawford has won 290 games since Sheldon took the head coaching job before the 2006-2007 season, but Thursday night marked the first time they had won at the regional level.

Studer says it felt good to be part of such a historic win. “Huge for sure. Growing up and being part of a program that has so much success and finally getting to be part of that is very, very special. I can’t bring that into words about how blessed I am. Blessed by God, blessed by my family, blessed by this community. You look out there that is the loudest game I have played in front of. It means so much,” he said.

Studer was named Wednesday as the Northwest District co-player of the year in division III.

Studer and Nolan McKibben both hit three pointers in the first 3:11 of the game to give the Eagles a (6-0) lead to start the game, but Harvest Prep caught them at (8-8) at the end of the first quarter.

Valentine made his first field goal at the 7:47 mark of the second quarter to put the Eagles up (10-8) and they began to lengthen the lead, going up by as many 12 at (22-10) after a deep Valentine three with 3:00 to play in the half. They led (26-16) at the intermission.

Two hoops by Studer, one a three, and another by Valentine made it (33-18) Eagles with 5:17 to play in the third quarter. Braxton Baker and Valentine drilled back to back threes giving the Eagles a (41-22) advantage with 3:05 to play in the quarter. It was (43-26) after three.

Sheldon says they played some great defense and he got outstanding play from Studer, Valentine and Baker to build that lead. “We are very good defensively. We were locked in. We knew we had gap help. We have guarded all year and given up less than 40 points a game. This team knows that is where you win. I felt we did that. My two All-Ohioans stepped up on the big stage. Mason Studer and Carter Valentine were outstanding. There is no one I’m more happy for than Carter Valentine and they way he stepped up because he had a tough district tournament and he really stepped up (Wednesday) night and of course Mason and Braxton. Once again, we put three guys in double figures. Braxton Baker makes big shots and makes free throws at the end,” said Sheldon.

Valentine (17.6 ppg) was second team all-district he had 17 of his 19 in the middle two quarters and Sheldon says he wasn’t as tight as he had been in their two district games. “I said “CV” you’re pressing a little bit, just let it come to you and then he saw a couple go through the hoop. He is a talented player and there is a reason he is going to play college basketball. I thought he really stepped up on the big stage,” he told Swankonsports.com, “My floor general (Studer) had assist after assist. He was taking 32 minutes of pressure and was cramping at the end and then he stepped up and made free throws. When you get to this level you have to have mental and physical toughness and we talk about that. The outcome that we get is because of mental and physical toughness. We talk about one possession at a time and not getting rattled.”

Crawford had only six turnovers over the first three quarters, but they had seven as things got physical, maybe a little too physical, in the fourth quarter as Harvest Prep cut it to (48-44) with 1:22 left after a Adonus Abrams three with 1:22 remaining that capped a Warrior (18-5) run.

Baker, who finished with 10, connected on two critical one and ones and Studer added four three free throws put it away for the Eagles.

Sheldon says they were strong both mentally and physically when they had to be. “That’s a credit to our weight room. Mason Studer lives in the weight room. Our guys know how important it is because if you to a higher up level it gets more physical and you have to fight through it and our guys did that,” he said.

The Crawford coach believes they did a good job attacking Harvest Prep (20-4) most of the night. “We were just attacking. In transition we got good looks. A lot of times (Studer) breaks the first pressure and then there is help and you have shooters and layups. Our guys did a good job. We run a drill called “Carolina numbers, 11 man”. With their defensive pressure we had to attack. You know in the fourth quarter, you know a Sheldon, we are going to spread the floor a little bit and shoot free throws or make layups. We work on it all of the time in practice. These guys have done that their entire career. Fortunately, we got over the hump and got out of here with a win,” said Sheldon.

Published 3/10/22

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Colonel Crawford Meets Talented Harvest Prep

Unbeaten Colonel Crawford faces Canal Winchester Harvest Prep in a division III regional semifinal on Wednesday night at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University.

The winner plays either Ottawa-Glandorf or Pemberville Eastwood in the regional final on Saturday afternoon.

Crawford (25-0) rallied from 16 down to beat Western Reserve (53-51) in a district final on Saturday night at Norwalk.

The old cliché is the district final can be your toughest game because the opponent knows you so well, which was accentuated even more because it was Western, which has already been well documented. The regional opponents don’t know each other as well. Eagles coach David Sheldon agrees. “You look at our district year in and year out and we have great coaches that see you more often than when you get to a regional. I have said the last few years when you run motion offense you are going to get more our of it than you are your sets. When you get to a regional sometimes you get away with stuff more because they are not as familiar with your team,” he said.

Harvest Prep (20-3) beat North Union (46-42) in their district final last Friday at Ohio Dominican. Their losses come to Logan (44-41), Licking Heights (52-43) and Ottawa-Glandorf (63-61) at OG on February 5.

Sheldon says the Warriors are strong inside and outside. “They are a very good basketball team. They have three guys that average double figures and then a couple of guys from seven to nine. They have a post player that can go inside, out in the (Nyelle) Shaheed kid and then two really good guards with (Zyaun) Hutson and (Adonus) Abrams. So, they have good guard play and good post play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Defensively, they are going to want to put pressure on you. You have to handle their defensive pressure and we have seen defensive pressure several times this year. We are going to have to attack that. I think one of the keys is not having live ball turnovers that lead to shots for them in transition. With our schedule we have played against pressure like this.”

Colonel Crawford has played an ambitious schedule this year, which has included six division II schools. Sheldon says Harvest Prep reminds him somewhat over Waverly, a team that is in the regional in division II, that the Eagles beat (44-23) in the Smithville tournament on February 6. “They remind me of Waverly a little bit. Waverly had a really good post player and good guard play. They don’t have that stud guard like Waverly. Their guards are more balanced like Western Reserve, who we just played. It’s a combination of teams we have played throughout the year,” he said.

Colonel Crawford allows just under 40 points a game and has many times held teams as much as 25 points below their season average. “Our guys buy in every possession. We talk about one possession at a time. They know how important that defensive end of the floor is. I know our guys will be prepared and locked in for what we need to do possession by possession with these guys,” he said.

Colonel Crawford’s two leading scorers Mason Studer and Carter Valentine would have seen time in a regional semifinal on what turned out to be the last day of shortened 2020 season, so they have experience on the floor.

Plus, Sheldon says that his kids have experience playing in these kinds of facilities. “The thing about our guys is we have played all over the place in the summer. We have played at Cedar Point, so our guys won’t be bothered, it is just another basketball floor. I have guys that play “AAU” and played against great players in the off season and athletes, so our guys are just going to be locked in on what we need to do for 32 minutes,” said Sheldon.

Published 3/08/22

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Colonel Crawford Storms Back to Beat Western

I said Saturday morning I wasn’t rooting for anyone, which always the case, I just wanted a very good and the fourth quarter delivered.

Colonel Crawford (25-0) erased a 14-point fourth quarter deficit and beat Western Reserve (53-51) in the division III district final on Saturday night at Norwalk High School.

In fact, Crawford was still down by 12 (44-32) with 5:42 to play. Down nine (51-42) with 1:41 left, but outscored the Roughriders (11-0) the rest the way to capture their second regional title in three years. Western won it last year.

“We had to press they were up big. We did some 1-2-2 and then we went some finger twirl. We were able to get some turnovers and finally made some shots. That’s a credit to Western. They played great defense all night. I’m happy for our guys and our community,” said Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon.

The Eagles have not pressed a lot this year because they haven’t had to, but they were able to get some points with full court pressure on the Saturday.

On the same possession that Western Reserve point guard Jude Muenz hurt his knee, Carter Valentine drained a three to make (51-45) with 1:27 to go, Crawford point guard Mason Studer canned free throw and Valentine converted a steal into three point basket and then Studer nailed two more free throws after a Western turnover and suddenly it’s (51-50) with :51 on the clock. The Eagles forced another turnover and Studer found Carson Feichtner under the rim and after a pump fake, he laid it in and gave Colonel Crawford a (52-51) lead, but there were still 19 seconds on clock, more than another time for Western to design a play. Crawford tipped the ball away in lane and Braxton Baker made one of two free throws with 3.4 seconds left. Western got off a 35 footer at the horn, but it hit only glass.

Western Reserve coach Chris Sheldon says they had too many costly turnovers late in the game to win a district title. “I thought we kicked their butt all night. We dominated the game for 25 minutes. With a 1:50 to go and we are up eight. Jude gets hurt. They bury a three. On the ensuing possession we turn it over and they score again and just like that. In a matter of three possessions, it went from an eight point lead to one possession. We didn’t finish. We missed a couple of free throws, a couple of costly turnovers. When you are playing for a district title you can have live ball turnovers that lead to scores especially late in the game. That was ultimately our demise,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “The last possession we have it pretty much locked down and our backside guy gets caught staring and his guy sneaks under him and they lay it. We still have a chance we 19 seconds to go. The play is set up perfect to a “T” and we turn it over on the pass. Two of our best players go down with knee injuries. It is almost like it wasn’t in the cards.”

The pained expression of David Sheldon’s face was precursor as he said it was a great win for his kids, but it was tough on him to beat his younger brother in a game of this magnitude. “We are moving on but, it’s bittersweet for me. He’s my best friend. I’m happy for these guys because I love these guys, but I love those Western kids. We have grown up with them at Eastern Ohio (camp). Looking back, last June, Chris came down to our gym for an hour and we put an offense in that he ran with Skrata and Rowlinson. That’s what we have done all year with Valentine and Studer. We had some other guys hit threes. What we do we stole from Chris,” said David.

Chris says it wasn’t very easy to address the players after game, but he knows they will rebound from this disappointment. “I just feel awful for our kids. They laid their heart and soul out there and weren’t rewarded for it, but that’s what is great about basketball. You want the kids to grow up and lay their heart and soul out there to they wives, to their kids, to their profession and sometimes it is going to break your heart, but you have to get back up the next day and go invest again with the same amount of discipline, effort and enthusiasm that our kids showed (Saturday) night. Nobody expected us to win 20 in a row, play for a district title and have the number one team in state beat. If we play them again tomorrow we will kick their butt all over again, I promise you that,” Chris said.

Western Reserve (22-2) took control the game in the second quarter when they outscored Crawford (10-2) to lead (25-15) at the intermission. They had an (8-0) run in the third quarter including threes by Muenz and Jacob Jarrett to lead (38-22) with :50 left in the quarter.

Crawford only made three or four perimeter shots in the first three quarters, but in the crucial fourth they seemed to find their range. They made six big ones in the fourth quarter, two each by Studer, Valentine and Baker.

David Sheldon says they found some confidence. “It makes a difference once you get one. I thought we were pressing a little bit early on. We knew Western takes a lot of charges. We had eight turnovers in the first half and we only turn it over eight times a game. We made some shots in the fourth,” he said.

Western Reserve did a tremendous job on Studer and Valentine for three and half quarters as Studer had nine of his 11 in the fourth and Valentine had all seven of his in the final stanza.

Chris Sheldon says their was their goal to limit the Eagles two leading scorers. “We guard and I thought our defensive effort was just outstanding. Unfortunately, it broke down on that one possession and it cost us, but there were multiple plays to be had those two minutes prior to that possession and it spiraled and backfired for us. They are a great team. Some of their role players made some shots and that’s who we wanted to shoot the basketball against us. Going into (Saturday) night and you tell me it is a one possession game with us having a chance to tie or take the lead two possessions in a row with under a minute to go that’s all you can ask for,” said Chris.

Baker led Colonel Crawford with 12 points. Nolan McKibben had eight, including to two big threes in the third quarter. Derek Horsley kept his team in contact with seven first quarter points. Feichtner did a lot of the dirty work and finished up with eight for the night.

David Sheldon says those contributions were critical to their success. “Nolan McKibben, Horsley played well and so did Feichtner again. We knew they were going to take away Valentine and Studer, take away our best players. Jude Muenz was unbelievable. He put them on his back, I love that kid. I said Saturday morning that he and Mason Studer are the best two point guards around. He put them on his back for three quarters,” he said.

Muenz was tremendous and frankly was the best player on the floor for most of the night and he finished with a game high 19 points. Matt Jarrett, one of the Riders starters, left a knee injury with 2:33 to play in the second quarter and only returned briefly. His twin brother Jacob had nine makers, Chris Buchanan added seven, Camden Hankins six and Aiden Edwards and Cason Roe had five each.

Colonel Crawford advances to play Harvest Prep in a regional semifinal on Wednesday night at Bowling State University. Ottawa-Glandorf and Permberville Eastwood form the other semifinal.

Published 3/05/22

Crawford Plays Dynamic Elmwood

Unbeaten Colonel Crawford meets Elmwood in a division III district semifinal on Thursday night at Norwalk High School.

The winner meets either Western Reserve or Willard for the district title on Saturday night.

Crawford (23-0) blitzed Edison (63-27) on Friday night to claim a sectional title.

Coach David Sheldon says they did what was required to win the game. “Our defense was very solid and that led to offense. Once again, we shared the basketball with three guys in double figures and another with eight. So, we did what we needed to. That was a game with expected to win. It was goal number two with a sectional championship and advance to a district tournament this week,” he said.

Braxton Baker had 19, Carter Valentine 16, Mason Studer 14, and Derek Horsley eight for the Eagles in their win over Edison.

Elmwood (16-8) scored only eight points in the first half, but rallied to edge Oak Harbor (45-43) in overtime last Friday in a sectional final.

Sheldon says they have an outstanding scorer in Bryce Reynolds and they are going to be a physical basketball team. “It is a very good basketball team. They are led by a senior the (Bryce) Reynolds kid that has played since his freshmen year. He is averaging 22, 23 a game and he can flat our play and they have another point guard that is really good that is averaging 14, 15 a game. So, those two Reynolds and (Kade) Lentz are the key to their success offensively and then the guys around the play the roles and run good stuff, so once again we are going to have to come out and guard like we have shown throughout the year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Defensively, they play mainly man to man and they will mix in some 1-3-1 and 2-3 zone as well. They are hard nosed, tough kids. When you get to a district tournament everybody is good. There are 64 teams left in division III in the state of Ohio and when you get to this level you have to bring your “A” game every night out.”

Sheldon says they have to get Elmwood off their spots on offense and handle their physical play on defense. “The Reynolds kid, I saw him go for 38 in the semifinals against Crestview. He is very, very good. So, we have to play great team defense on him all night long. Offensively, they try and isolate him and they try and play to their strengths. They are very good trying to get shots to their strengths. Defensively, they are physical and you have to be able to deal with the physicalness they are going to bring on defensive end. You have to be ball strong and tough all night and attack them depending on what areas they give us that can lead to our strengths,” said Sheldon.

Published 3/01/22

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Colonel Crawford Opens Tournament Plays Against Edison

Unbeaten Colonel Crawford opens plays in the postseason tournament on Friday night as they play Edison in a division III sectional final at Monroeville High School.

Last year, they also won all of their regular season games, but lost in the district semis to Willard.

Coach David Sheldon says they must be focused. “It’s the old coach’s cliché everybody is 0-0 except Edison is now 1-0 already in the tournament. It was a good regular season, but I think we learned a lot from last year when we were disappointed in the way the tournament ended. This group came in Monday very locked in what we are trying to work on this week in practice as we focus on Wednesday and Thursday our attention on Edison for Friday night,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (22-0), #1 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, meets Edison (3-20), from the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, a (51-34) winner Tuesday night over Kansas Lakota in a semi.

Sheldon says Edison has a lot of youth and they play mostly zone. “First of all, seeing them in person on Tuesday night, I was impressed they are playing very hard for a team that has struggled record wise they play very hard. They play a lot of young kids, there are a lot of young kids out there. We are going to see 2-3 zone. They love to play zone defense and you have to attack that at the offensive end,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Defensively, we have to keep playing like we have the past 22 games and lock in one possession at a time. Our goal number two of the season is to win a sectional championship since we have already accomplished goal number one of a league championship. The kids are excited to play for another championship on Friday night.”

Colonel Crawford typically has gotten off to real good starts in games. Sheldon says they have to do that again Friday night. “I think one of the keys we talk about is getting off to a great start and we have done that throughout the year. That is the key, you have to set the tone early. We have to come out with a little fire in our eyes. We respect Edison, but we have to come out and get off to a good start of Friday night. That’s how you set the tone,” he said.

Published 2/24/22

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Colonel Crawford Plays Top Seed

Colonel Crawford will tangle with top seeded Margaretta in the division III district semifinals at Shelby High School on Thursday night.

The Lady Eagles got out to a good start in a sectional final Monday night at Old Fort and beat Huron (45-38) to win the sectional title.

Coach Kyle Fenner says that start was key for them. “We got off to a really good start. We hit some shots. We came up with some steals defensively. We were physical defensively. We got out to a 10-2 lead, which gave this kids confidence. I don’t think we gave that lead up,” she said.

Huron was able to cut it to four a couple times in the second half, but Fenner says each time they were able to respond and slam the door. “They came out in the second half and they changed their defense and we struggled for a couple of possessions. I think it got it back to four and it was back and forth then. We withstood their pressure. We told the kids they were going to come out and make a run and we withstood the run and hit some foul shots down at the end. It was a great night for us,” said Fenner.

Colonel Crawford (11-13) meets Margaretta (16-7) and outright champions of the Sandusky Bay Conference Bay Division on Thursday night. The Lady Polar Bears rocked Carey (56-34) on Monday for their sectional title.

The winner of Thursday night’s game will play either Upper Sandusky or Crestview for the district title on Saturday.

This is a repeat of a district semi from last year when Margaretta edged Crawford (55-54) in a game that came down to a controversial call at the end of the game. However, there are a number of personnel changes, especially for the Lady Eagles, who are a lot younger.

Fenner says it will be a tremendous challenge for them. “There is a lot good about them. They have the player of the year in the district in Kylie Leibacher and she is a great player. She is going to challenge us, she can put it on the floor, she can shoot the three, but she has parts that go with her,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “Devyne Eisenhaurer is big and strong and can do the same things. Eden Palomo on the outside can shoot it and is quick and can get the basket. So, it’s a task for us. We have put our game plan together and our kids will play hard and we will see.”

Published 2/22/22

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Crawford Look for Big Test From Upper

Colonel Crawford has already won the outright Northern 10 Athletic Conference title and that takes a little of the luster off Friday night’s game with rival Upper Sandusky, but just a little bit.

Crawford won the outright title by beating Seneca East (79-52) on Monday night.

Coach David Sheldon says they have had great focus on that goal. “I was happy with our performance. It was our third game in four days with that makeup. To close it out over the last four months our body of work it’s a credit to our guys. They just took it one game at a time. They never got too high off of a win and they just go to the next one. It’s a credit to the focus and leadership of a junior-senior team. I am happy for our guys to go back to back league champs outright it’s a great accomplishment. We still have a lot more work ahead of us as we go into the tournament. This week is a great, great game versus Upper Sandusky,” said Sheldon.

The Eagles have now won 52 straight regular season games and that is awesome consistency.

Sheldon says it begins with how they play defense. “I think that starts at the defensive end. Over 21 games we have played so far there were nights we didn’t shoot it really well, but every night we have been solid at the defensive end. We talk about defense wins championships because it is the one thing that you can control every night. Some nights you might not shoot it well, but you can guard and keep yourself in games. We have been fortunate to do that throughout this entire year,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (20-0,13-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays host to Upper Sandusky (14-7,11-2) on Friday night. The Eagles won the first time (64-53) on January 8.

Sheldon says they are a very good team with great offensive balance. “I think it is a very good basketball team. You look at the two programs. The Northern 10 has been in existence for eight years and Upper has won four of the league championships and Crawford has won three in boys’ basketball. They are runner-up by themselves this year. It is another great team that coach Winslow has put together,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “I think the impressive about them offensively is they have four guys that average nine or more points. So, you have to guard everybody on the floor. They are very good in their motion offense of reversing the basketball and getting good looks. They shoot well from three and then they have the (Trent) Beamer kid inside.”

Sheldon believes it will be a very good test against a team that is sound on defense. “This is a very good basketball team. I believe this a great ending game for both Upper and us heading into the tournament. We are both in the sectional championship next Friday with us both having the bye. The respect that we both have for each other and the way they play the game. On the defensive end they are very good in the man to man even though they are playing a little 2-3 zone this year as well. It’s a great test for our last game of the year,” he said.

Upper Sandusky did not well last weekend in losses to Carey (60-42) on Friday and Shelby (81-58) on Saturday, but Sheldon says they will ready for the Eagles. “I and guarantee they will come out with fire in their eyes. I’m sure coach Winslow has had a heck of week of practice preparing these guys. They didn’t have a game Monday, so they have been preparing all week. Upper Sandusky kids are competitors. So, we know they are going to come out and give it their best shot. It’s our last game in the “MAC” and it will be a great atmosphere with Upper’s community and our community here Friday night. It is a great way to end the regular season. What you are going to see is what high school sports are all about. So, we know it will be a tough challenge and it’s going to take 32 minutes of playing against a very good basketball team,” said Sheldon.

Published 2/18/22

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Teglovic Steps Down due to Health Reasons

Ryan Teglovic has stepped down after 14 seasons as the Colonel Crawford football coach due to health concerns.

He has been battling pancreatic cancer for the last year.

“Teg”, a South Central graduate, also coached football at his Alma Mater.

He led the Eagles to two conference titles, 2013 and 2020, and six appearances in the postseason playoffs. He won 64 percent of his games.

Teglovic says with his ongoing cancer treatments it would not be fair to the football program for him to remain its coach. “My wife and I had gone into Christmas break, like we do really every year, and talk about what do we for see for the next year? At that point in December, we were still thinking, hey, we are going to give this another run. Want to continue to do this, but as the new year began it just became apparent that because of the treatments that I am taking it is just not going to be feasible,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I am out in Baltimore every 20 days and when I am in Baltimore, I am there for eight days. So, that being the case with a potential of that running into next January. You can’t have a football coach that is there half of the time. It wasn’t something we are excited about doing, didn’t necessarily want to do, but for the good of the kids and the program here it is what needs to be done. I just need to step away for a while and hopefully Lord willing I will coach again.”

Like all top quality coaches, Teglovic puts the program and it kids before any personal objectives.

When Teglovic took the job in 2008, the Eagles had not won a football title since 1993 and only two since 1986.

He was able to turn around the program. “It was a lot of work from a lot of different people. This was year 14 for me. We ended hat stretch 93-53 and we had some success with championships and also some playoff appearances. It is everybody drawing together. We have a great administration here. I have had phenomenal assistant coaches past and present and kids with great families that are willing to work hard,” he said.

Teglovic says you remember the triumphs, but mostly you remember the people. “Obviously the first time we made the playoffs, first time we won a league, those kinds of things, you remember that. Last year, getting to coach my son. You remember those kids of things, absolutely, the big games. The biggest thing you take from it is the people, the relationships that you make with your coaches and with opposing coaches and with your players and the news media, that’s the big thing that you take away from it. It is a great fraternity to belong to and it is those relationships that you can’t replace,” said Teglovic.

Published 2/17/22

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Colonel Crawford Smothers Ontario

Colonel Crawford stretched its regular season winning streak to 52 games as they defeated the Ontario Warriors (49-39) in a non-conference game at the “O-rena” on Saturday night.

Ontario’s Josh Young scored with 5:01 to play in the first quarter to give the Warriors a (4-3) advantage, but Braxton Baker’s three on the next possession gave the Eagles the lead (6-4) and they never trailed again.

After Delbrugge basket with 2:54 to play in the half, Ontario cut the Crawford lead to three (19-16), but the Eagles responded with a (7-2) run to close the half, five of those points coming from point guard Mason Studer, to lead (26-18) at the break.

Colonel Crawford (20-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, opened the second half with another run, (11-2) this time, to take a (37-20) lead with 3:33 left in the third quarter after a Valentine old fashion three point play.

A three by Ontario’s Braxton Hall cut the Crawford lead to seven (45-38) with 4:05 to play, but the Eagles would not allow a field goal in the final four minutes to put it away.

Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon says they didn’t shoot it well, but they did make the hustle plays well and got the win. “We did a good job in transition. I think the impressive thing (Saturday) night was we go 3-17 from three, we didn’t shoot it well, but we got 11 offensive rebounds and we found a way to win by double figures. Our defense overall to hold them to 39. The (Darian) Delbrugge kid is a nice player. He has 10 in the first half and in the second half we really wanted to coddle him and they hit some threes, so credit Ontario there,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “This is only our second back to back. We have only had two back to backs, this and Lexington, because we are playing so may weekday games now. We didn’t shoot it well, but went and got on the glass and won by double figures. Happy to come away with a win. It is an honor to play on Balogh court, that’s my mentor, and a big reason why I’m successful. It’s an honor to come back over here and play here.”

The court is named in honor of Ontario’s hall of fame coach Joe Balogh, who retired after last season.

Ontario (8-13) has won four of its last five and coach Tim Mergel says they played some good basketball, but Colonel Crawford made the big plays when they had to. “A couple of plays here and there if we make them we get some momentum on our side. Give those guys credit, they made big plays. They are known to make big plays, they are veteran kids. They are a well coached group. They gave us fits all night defensively, but I thought our kids battled,” he said.

In 10 of their 20 games this season, Crawford has held their opponent to 40 points or less.

Sheldon says they had good defensive rotation on Saturday and were able to cut off some of the Warriors lanes to the rim and made them take tough shots. “That has been the foundation of our success is our defense. We talk about that is one thing you can control every night. There are going to be nights you don’t make shots. Defensively with our length and physicalness and I thought we had some very good rotation (Saturday) night. They really like to drive it and we had good backside rotation trying to make tough shots for them all night long,” he said.

Colonel Crawford missed some open perimeter shots, but Ontario got some hands in the face too.

Mergel says they let the Eagles get loose in the open floor too many times, but in the halfcourt that was a good as they have played defensively all year. “The first half killed us in transition. We took some bad shots which was the first pass for them in their transition. We turned it over a couple of times in the first half, which once again led to transition. Defensively in the halfcourt we were about as good as we have been all year,” he said.

Delbrugge led Ontario with 16 points, Carter Weaver had 10 and Hall nine for the Warriors.

Valentine had game high 19 for the Eagles, Studer added 15 and Baker had 10.

Sheldon says Valentine got some tough shots, but again they had some balance in the scoring column. “I thought he did a good job with his pull up jumper and then he got to the rim. There were a couple of times he was getting bumped, but he just finished through that. I thought again he had a great game having 19 points. Again, we put three guys in doubles. (Friday) night Braxton Baker goes for 24. He’s in doubles again and (Mason) Studer. It’s good when you have three guys in doubles. The big take away was we shoot about 34 percent from three on the year as a team. We didn’t shoot it well and we still come away with a win and it was never in doubt the whole night,” said Sheldon.

Published 2/12/22

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Colonel Crawford With Important League Matchup With Mohawk

Colonel Crawford, the leader in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, plays at home against third place Mohawk in league game on Friday night.

They play at Ontario, of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, on Saturday night.

Right now, they lead Upper Sandusky by a game, they play them next week, and Mohawk by three.

The Eagles beat division II Waverly (44-23) Sunday evening at the Smithville Invite.

Coach David Sheldon says it was a good test for them. “It was a great performance. They are a very good basketball team. We watched seven of their games including an overtime game against Newark, a division I team, Upper Arlington, and it was a close game. So, we knew this was a good basketball team. Our guys rose to the occasion. It was a defensive battle at both ends. It was a physical basketball game,” he told Swankonsports.com, “It reminded me of tournament style. That is why we picked up this game late in the year. It was a great test and we learned a lot about us defensively and offensively and we were fortunate to come away with a win. It was a great invite over there, vey well put on, and it was a great win for our basketball team.”

Colonel Crawford (18-0,11-0), #1 in the Swankonports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, hosts Mohawk (13-5,8-3) on Friday night.

In the first meeting, Crawford held Mohawk to five first half points and hammered them (57-34) on December 29.

Sheldon says they need to execute against that tough Mohawk zone. “The first time we played a really good first half, the second half it was basically and even battle, so this is a good basketball team. They are a three seed in a tough division four. It starts with the (A.J.) Hess kid averaging 18 a game. You know you are going to see a 2-3 zone, they play it very well. We have haven’t seen a lot of zone throughout the year. We are still only one game up, so there is a long haul through three league games to go to try to win a league championship. So, we have to lock in and focus one possession at a time come Friday night,” said Sheldon.

The Eagles come to Ontario on Saturday night.

Sheldon says the Warriors are improving and will provide a good test for them. “They have won three straight going into Wednesday night. This is a team that has improved throughout the year. Watching their Upper game, they shot very well. They have good shooters and they have a couple of bigs inside. Going over there this will be our sixth division II school we have played on the year. They are a big school. They have good guard play that can shoot threes with a couple of bigs inside. It will be a good non-league challenge and more preparation before we head into the tournament in a few weeks,” he said.

Published 2/10/22

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Colonel Crawford Expects Challenge form Wynford

Colonel Crawford plays at Wynford on Wednesday night in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game between two longtime rivals.

The Eagles (16-0,10-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, leads Upper Sandusky by a game in the conference standings.

Their consistent play continued last week as they downed Carey (69-43) in an “N10” game on Saturday night.

Coach David Sheldon says they have been playing well on both ends of the court every night. “It’s a credit to our guys. We just go game after game. Even after wins we are trying to learn from mistakes we are making during those games. It starts on the defensive end. With our size and physicality, length and athleticism we have been very fortunate to play good defense night in and night out. Last week was probably our best week offensively the whole year. We are just getting better at sharing the ball. We have multiple weapons,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Last Saturday, we had four guys in double figures and that makes a big difference when you can spread the wealth. Our guys have the chemistry of playing together. It is just a team that goes one game at a time. The thing about this team is they don’t get too high. It’s like, okay, here we go, we are going to go play again. Now, we have to head over Wednesday night to Wynford.”

Wynford (4-10,3-6) hosts Crawford on Wednesday night in a game that has been moved up with the JV game starting now starting at 5 PM in order to avoid possible weather concerns.

Colonel Crawford won the first game (67-51) on December 22.

Sheldon says the Royals coming off a (68-61) win at Bucyrus on Saturday night are improved. “They have definitely grown and the (Jaron) Filliater kid is really good. He has put up big numbers all year. He has played a lot of basketball over the years at Wynford. They are coming off a big win this past Saturday against Bucyrus at Bucyrus. The other kid is the (Sam) McMillan kid, their post player. He really hurt us the first time inside. So, they are two bigs and they can both go on the outside and they have good guard play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “It is going to be a challenge going on the road to Wynford, another county team. We are in the last month, so you have to look forward every night you get an opportunity to play somebody and we are looking forward to going over to Wynford on Wednesday night.”

Filliater averages 16.7 points per game and Sheldon says he can be a handful. “He is a great player and last Saturday he had 36 against Bucyrus. The thing about him is he can shoot the three. He shoots 39 percent from behind the line, he can put it on the floor, he is a great athlete and a fierce competitor. So, it is not going to take one guy, it’s going to take multiple guys. That is our team defense that we talk about. It’s not one guy, it is five guys on the floor guarding the entire team and taking guys away. It will definitely be a challenge, he is an explosive scorer in many ways,” he said.

Published 2/02/22

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Crawford Must Have Intensity

Colonel Crawford, the leader in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, plays host to the very dangerous Carey Blue Devils in North Robinson on Saturday night.

Right now, the Eagles lead Upper Sandusky by one, Mohawk by two, and Carey by three in the conference standings.

On Tuesday night, the Eagles buried Crestview (78-40) in a non-conference game.

Coach David Sheldon says they played outstanding on both ends of the court. “I was very pleased because we played a complete game. Defensively we responded. After last Saturday we weren’t real happy with our defensive effort and it was addressed when we got together as a team. I thought we came out and guarded really well and held them to 40 points and they have some good guard and play and a couple of good posts inside. Offensively, we did a great job of sharing the ball. We spread it around and had three guys in double figures and shot it really well from outside. When we make the extra pass with the shooters we have a on the floor it makes us dangerous. We were able to get out in transition because we got defensive stops. So, I was very pleased with our effort on Tuesday night,” said Sheldon.

Speaking of passing the ball, senior Mason Studer broke the Colonel Crawford career assist record on Tuesday night.

Colonel Crawford (15-0,9-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at home for Carey (7-6,5-3) on Saturday night. They just played last week with the Eagles winning (61-45) at Carey.

Sheldon calls them dangerous. “I said from day one that this team was going to be very dangerous at the end of the year. Getting a late start because of their state championship in football this team has gotten better and better. People forget this team last year was in the regional with many of the same pieces back. It is a very good basketball team. Since we played hem last Wednesday, they have come out and won by 25 and 37. The thing that impresses me about them is they are so balanced. All of them can play. They have different things that they bring to the table,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They are very athletic, they are physical and they are tough kids. So, it is going to be a challenge and a great test for us on Saturday night here at Crawford. This is a team that can compete for a league championship. Unfortunately, they got a late start, but now they are playing their best basketball and this is going to be a very good basketball team come tournament time in that division IV district they are in.”

Sheldon says Carey will play very hard and they have to match that intensity. “They are athletic, they are physical, and they have good skill. They have kids that can shoot it, kids that can post, kids that can drive, they are good on the offensive glass because of their toughness. The thing about Carey kids is they play so hard. It doesn’t matter if it is football, basketball or probably a game outside. These kids bring every night. So, we have to make sure we match their intensity and the energy for 32 minutes,” he said.

Published 1/28/22

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Crawford Faces Tough Trip to Carey

Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader Colonel Crawford faces Carey for the first time this season, at Carey, on Wednesday night.

It is a makeup from earlier in the year due to Carey’s season beginning a month late after winning a state football championship.

Crawford coach David Sheldon feels the Blue Devils (5-5,3-2) are starting to show their potential. “I really feel like they are getting their basketball legs down. They are getting their jump shots down. You look over the last week and they have three wins, a one point loss to Bluffton, who is 11-1, and a four-point loss to Liberty-Benton, who is 11-3. We knew going into the season that this is a very good basketball team and I really feel they are primed and getting into basketball shape after that great football playoff run,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They just put athletes at every spot on the floor. They are physical kids that are athletes, they have shooters and drivers and a little bit of everything. It is something where you have to guard everybody. They are a tough matchup night in and night out.”

Crawford is a very physical and they are an athletic team.

Sheldon says Carey is too. “I think they match the physicality and athletic ability at all five spots on the floor. You have teams that have it on two or three spots, but they can match it on all five spots and it makes it a tough matchup. They play man-to-man defense. They run their motion and a few sets very well. This is a team has played a lot of basketball. A lot of these guys were in that regional loss to the state runner up in Columbus Grove last year. All of these guys played, so it is going to be a battle. It is going to be a weeknight going up to Carey. We have to rise to the challenge to try and keep a hold of first place in the league, which is our number one goal every year,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (12-0,7-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, has won all of its games so far this season.

Sheldon says to beat Carey they have to have solid defensive transition, rebound the ball and avoid a bunch of turnovers. “I think one thing is we have to stop their transition. They are very good in transition when their athletes get out and run they are very good. Second, it is very similar to last Saturday, we have to keep them off the offensive glass. They are very good at getting second shots. Carey kids play so hard and you have to match the intensity. You have to take care of the basketball at the offensive end because of the way they guard people you have to make good decisions every time down the basketball floor,” he said.

Published 1/19/22

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Defense Leads Colonel Crawford Past Lexington

Mason Studer scored 19 points and Colonel Crawford outrebounded a bigger Lexington as the Eagles downed the Minutemen (51-38) in a non-conference game played Saturday night at Mac Morrison Gym in North Robinson.

It was a back and forth game in first half with four times and three lead changes in a low scoring, physical game that you would expect in the postseason tournament. Studer gave the Eagles an (18-16) halftime advantage with an old fashion three point play with :46 seconds left until the intermission.

Then in the second half, Crawford got out in transition a little more and earned some breathing space.

A (9-3) run over the first 4:23 of the third quarter gave Crawford a (27-19) lead with 3:37 remaining in the quarter after consecutive hoops by Braxton Baker. It was (31-23) Crawford after three quarters.

The Eagles (12-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches in the smalls school division, took their first double digit lead at (41-30) with 4:32 to play on a three from the right wing by Baker. The led by as many as 12 at (42-30) after a Carson Feichtner free throw with 3:38 on the clock.

Crawford was able to close it out by making six of seven free throws over the final 1:19 of the game.

Lexington ended up shooting 41% of the game (19 of 46), but they were not able to take full advantage of their height during the game.

Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon felt they played solid, physical defense. “I thought we really did a good job with the physicality trying to bump them off spots. They run so many great sets. (Coach) Scott (Hamilton) runs good stuff. One of the things we wanted to do was bump them off spots. We sort of sagged in our man-to-man defense. To hold the (Hudson) Moore kid to only two points is phenomenal. Forup is very good player and he had 14. I thought our guys that guard the post with Carson Feichtner, Jake Maddy, and (Carter) Valentine did a great job and then Mason Studer, we were having run at them ever once in a while they put it on the floor. In first half, that’s what kept us in the game,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “That first half was like a district tournament. It was tough to get shots, we stayed in it, and then offensively we were able to run in the second half and we got good stuff were able to extend it.”

The Eagles didn’t not shoot nearly as well as they normally do, just 32% on the night from the field and made only two threes.

Lexington coach Scott Hamilton was happy with their defense, but he says they left a lot of points on the table. “I just told the guys in the locker room that if you told me we were going to hold then to 2-21 from the three point line we would have won by 12. I thought we had a lot of close looks that didn’t fall. I don’t know if that was a little bit of exhaustion for (Friday) night and a tough conference game. We had a lot of close shots that we just couldn’t knock down and that might have made the difference for us going down the stretch,” he said.

Sheldon said before the game he was concerned about the Minutemen getting on the offensive glass, but they held Lexington to 13 offensive boards and actually won the rebound battle 35-30. Carter Valentine had 13 boards, 11 on the defensive glass.

“I saw then against Mt. Vernon and in the first half have double figure offensive rebounds. We worked all week. We did check outs and after box outs because that size we don’t see. They do a great job, Scott’s teams always crash the glass and just fly. We did a good job of checking, going to get it in traffic and being strong,” said Sheldon.

Hamilton agrees it was a physical game and he told his players they had to fight though that. “It looked like the assignment was every time they we got the ball into Forup, Studer was going to come down and double team. We had told Baden that when he comes, you just have to find the open man really quick and move it around the perimeter. I thought we did that a couple of times and then finally when we realized that we were not going to get a lot of whistles with some of the contact we just told him to be a man inside and take it and go to the rim,” he told Swankonsports.com, “He did it a couple times late and got to the line for a couple of free throws. Like I said, I thought we had a couple of open looks that we just didn’t knock down that would have made a difference for us. When you play the number two team in the state you have to expect something special.”

In addition to Studer, Valentine added 14 points, 12 coming in the second half, Baker had nine and Maddy eight for the Eagles.

Baden Forup has 14 points and 13 rebounds the for the Minutemen. Elijah Hudson added seven points and Caden Eichler six.

However, it was Studer that controlled the game. He had the ball in his hand all night and he handled Lexington’s defensive pressure.

Sheldon says he has very high basketball intelligence and he plays with intensity and leadership. “He is a warrior. I tell people he reminds me of a small Aaron Kraft that we saw at Ohio State. He had five offensive rebounds (Saturday) night at 5’10”, he just throws his body everywhere. He can score, he creates for other guys. He is the leader of this team. The other guys follow him and want to match that intensity night in and night out,” he said.

Hamilton says Studer makes everyone around him better. “I think Studer dominates the game with his ballhandling and what he can create. It wasn’t so much the scoring, but I think he had 12 at halftime, but just what he does. He creates for everyone to get one or two shots. I thought we did a decent job on some of their guys. Just what he did with the ball in his hands was pretty special. That is a four-year varsity guy. I looked it up just out of my own curiosity. Since he has been playing, they have gone 70-7 in their four regular seasons. That’s pretty special, he has logged some pretty good varsity minutes,” said Hamilton.

It was a good test and a great win for them, but Sheldon says they must keep everything in perspective. “It’s one win, but I think we got to see what it’s like to play in a district tournament with the physicalness. It was very well officiated. It was a state tournament crew that let you play just like a district tournament game and we showed that we can match that. We still have a long way to go, but it’s a good win versus a very good program in Lexington. We will enjoy it (Saturday) night and (Sunday), but then we have a big one next Wednesday, we have to go on the road to Carey, who has been playing very well this week,” said Sheldon.

Published 1/15/22

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Colonel Crawford Alone in First

After a big win at Upper Sandusky on Saturday night, the Colonel Crawford Eagles have first place to themselves in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference heading into a home game with Buckeye Central on Friday night in North Robinson.

They play at home against Ohio Cardinal Conference leader Lexington on Saturday night.

Crawford went on a (17-0) run in the first half and went on to down Upper Sandusky (64-53) on Saturday night.

It was that early run fueled unselfish play that coach David Sheldon says led to that win. “To go over there with great program that Upper Sandusky has that coach (Jeff) Winslow has put together. I think the key to the game was we made a run at the end of the first quarter and into the second and were able to extend the lead to about 18 points. We did a great job of sharing the basketball. A lot of that credit goes to (Mason) Studer and (Carter) Valentine because people are trying to take them away and they are creating for others out there. Braxton Baker and Nolan McKibben we get 12 points out of our posts on Saturday. We were able to get stops. We were able to score and stop. The second half Upper came out and played great and made runs and we were fortunate to get a win on the road, a big conference win, against a very good basketball team.”

Sheldon says they played some excellent defense. “Our challenge Saturday night is I think Upper has one the legitimate best post players in the league in (Trent) Beamer. Carson Feichtner and Jacob Maddy did a great job of limiting his touches and being physical and getting him off the box and that was huge. We contested their shooters because they have great shooters. The game before against Marion Harding they got 14 threes. Our guys have bought into that end of the floor and they know how important that is,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (10-0,6-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, hosts Buckeye Central (3-7,2-4) on Friday night. The Eagles won the first meeting (54-42) on December 4.

Sheldon says the Bucks will play tough defense. “First of all, it is a coach (Tom) Howell team and they play good man to man defense. The first time over there it wasn’t easy. We were able to win by double figures but we were never able to break away. It is a team that has played a lot of teams tough in our league. You look at Mohawk and the Upper game. So, it will be a challenge for sure playing the second round. The good thing is it is at our place. We know this is a team that will be prepared and we have to have a good week of practice preparing for the weekend,” said Sheldon.

Lexington (10-2), #1 in our large school poll, has been have a tremendous season. Sheldon says they will be a tough matchup. “They are huge. Wow! They are big. They have 6’7”, 6’7”, 6’3”, 6’3”. Their two post players aren’t just tall they are big kids. It’s a very good basketball team. Coach (Scott) Hamilton I think does a great job over there. They run good stuff. They are going to guard you and it will be a challenge Saturday night. That is a great non-league for us. That is the type of team you see in the district, the regional tournament in our division because of their size and what you see. The most important thing is Friday night with Buckeye trying to chalk another one off for the number one goal of trying to get a league championship, but we will look forward to that challenge on Saturday. They are huge and they create a lot of problems. I know our guys will be excited when that comes Saturday night,” said Sheldon.

Published 1/10/22

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Crawford and Upper for First Place

Colonel Crawford and Upper Sandusky share first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and they meet Saturday night at Upper to determine the who takes the lead to the second half of the round robin.

In a tune up Wednesday, the Eagles buried winless New London (77-20) in a non-conference game.

Coach David Sheldon says it was a chance to get on the floor. “We got off to a great start and got to play a lot of guys. We didn’t get to play since last Wednesday, so having 10 days off before Saturday, you want to have a non-league game in there. We were able to get a non-league game when we scheduled last year. We got everybody in just in the flow of the game. We know the most important game this week is Saturday night against a very good Upper Sandusky team,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (9-0,5-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, travels to Upper Sandusky (8-2,6-0), a winner of their last eight.

Sheldon says this is an Upper team that does a lot of the same things as teams in the past, except the play a little more zone. “It is just another reload for coach Winslow. It is a very good basketball team. They have a very good post player, they have shooters around them and other guys that play their roles. They run their freelance motion offense very well and they move the ball. They play hardnosed man to man defense. One thing you are seeing a little more is they are throwing in a little 2-3 zone. In their 2-3 zone it is more of a matchup with man principals. They are doing all of the things that have been successful for many years,” said Sheldon.

It promises to be a close, hard fought, game that comes down to the end. Sheldon says it will be determined by a couple of plays. “When you are playing a great team like Upper and we have been successful as well this year it is going to come down to kids making plays, that’s what it is going to come down to. We are going to be very well prepared. We have known each other for so long with the battles we have had over the years it is going to come down to which kids make plays. It is the little things and the toughness and all of that stuff,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “I am very, very impressed with Upper and they just keep getting better and better. With unbeatens in the league it is going to come down to who makes plays on both ends of the floor. You have to take care of the basketball, you have to value the basketball in every possession. In games like this that is so important.”

Sheldon says it’s a tough place to play, but they look forward to it. “It is going to be a great atmosphere, that is what high school basketball is all about. We missed out on that last year with the attendance restrictions. It will be standing room only. This is what kids work in the off season for to play in front of crowds like this and compete for 32 minutes,” he said.

Published 1/07/22

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Colonel Crawford Rewarded

Colonel Crawford broke a five game losing streak with a win on Tuesday night and now they head for Upper Sandusky for a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

They beat Western Reserve (44-18) in a non-conference game.

Coach Kyle Fenner says they got some shots to fall. “It was a nice win (Tuesday) night. We shot the ball really well. Made I think five or six threes. It was a good night for us. It had been a while. It hadn't been due a lack of effort. We had a lot of close games. The kids kept working through it all. I’m glad we could come away with a win,” she said.

Fenner says not just a win to add to their total, but also a big boost to them mentally. “I said to my husband, who is my assistant coach, that these kids have worked really hard and it has kind been a little bit mental,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We have played well against some good teams and just haven’t been able to get over the hump. It was good for those kids (Tuesday) night and hopefully we go to Upper and play well and get a victory up there Friday night.”

Colonel Crawford (5-6,1-5) takes its act to Upper Sandusky (8-4,4-2) on Friday night. In their last game the Lady Rams lost to Bellevue (46-37) last Thursday in a non-conference game.

Fenner says Upper has some talent that plays together well as a team. “Well, they have a nice blend of some older kids that have been around for a while in Jenna Kurtz and Kaidence Iles and Grace Vent. Those kids are juniors and seniors and they have played since they were freshmen. Then they have got these three freshmen that are really good. They have meshed together really well this year. So, it will be a challenge to go up to Upper,” said Fenner.

Published 1/06/22

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Colonel Crawford Must Attack Zone

Colonel Crawford faces a stiff test as they travel to Mohawk to take on the Warriors in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Wednesday night.

Crawford shares first in the conference with Upper Sandusky and Carey, who play each other Wednesday, a game in front of Mohawk.

Last week, the Eagles (7-0,4-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, struggled a little early, but put Wynford away (67-51) in the second half.

Coach David Sheldon says eventually they got it going. “In the first half we tried pressing them and Wynford didn’t turn it over, they did a good job with the press. It was a night we didn’t shoot it real well. We got good looks the first half and they just didn’t go. The second half we really shot it well and were able to extend the lead. We got Wynford’s best shot and to still come out and win by 15-20 is a good “W”. Right now, we are getting everybody’s best shot because of the success we have had over the last several years,” he said.

Mohawk (7-2,4-1) beat Seneca East (54-36) last week in their “N10” game.

Sheldon says and excellent player in A.J. Hess (16.4 ppg, 10.5 rpg) and they play an outstanding 2-3 zone. “It starts with A.J. Hess, he has played since his freshmen year. We knew he was the one piece back. They have had kids step up and shoot it well and played very well at the offensive end. So, they have had other guys that they have put puzzle pieces together and playing well offensively. Defensively, they have the staple 2-3 zone that they play as well as anybody on our schedule. It’s a zone you don’t see much. You have to really attack the paint even though it is a zone and look to get great shots. They do a good job of getting hands on balls. This is a good basketball team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “It’s a program that Paul Dunn has done a great job building over the years. They have just reloaded, so this is going to be a tough road game and we are getting into the heart of the schedule with Upper the following week. You knew that with the way the schedule is working out. It will be a tough road game (Wednesday) night over Christmas break. You have to lock in. We talk about going on the road being a business trip taking care of business one possession at a time.”

Sheldon says a key is they have to get into the lane and break down that zone and get good shots. “You can attack and score in the paint and get better shots for your shooters. We have got a lot of shooters on the floor that can shoot the three. So, when you get paint touches it is better than just trying to reverse it around the outside. So, we have to make sure we attack and we have to be ball strong. They create a lot of turnovers out of that zone. We have been fortunate not to turn it over a lot this year, but to be honest this is the first time we are going to see zone. We haven’t seen zone all year. So, it will be a challenge come Wednesday night,” said Sheldon.

Published 12/29/21

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Colonel Crawford Winning With Defense

Colonel Crawford, the co-leader in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, is at home for rival Wynford on Wednesday night in a conference game.

They share the top spot with Upper Sandusky.

The Eagles (6-0,3-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, outscored Seneca East (86-63) in “N10” play on Saturday night.

Coach David Sheldon says they got on top by a bunch early in the game and again played great defense. “We got off to a great start after the first quarter we were up 30-6. I applaud our team, they did a great job on Isaac Mason. He is averaging 33 points a game and in the first half and we held him to nine. He shoots a lot of shots. He shot 23 times in the game. We kept him off the free throw line and caused him to turn it over. Our guys did a great job, it was a team effort because he is a really good player. That was the key, the start that we got off to and just held onto it the rest of the night and got a good win in the league,” said Sheldon.

Defense has been a cornerstone to the Crawford program and Sheldon says this season these kids are really locked in. “We are physical and we are long at all of the positions on the floor. It has been the staple of our program for a long time to guard people at the defensive end. This group has really bought into it from the get go. You look at what we have done night and night out,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “That’s got to continue because we have some very good teams coming up and it is going to be a challenge. I always say the defensive end of the floor you can control every night. There are going to be nights you don’t make shots, but that defensive end of the floor you can control every night out.”

It has been tough for Wynford to get it going this season. The Royals (0-4,0-3) lost two “N10” games last weekend as Bucyrus beat them at Wynford for the first time since 1967 when Lyndon Johnson was still President, (67-62) and then Mohawk throttled them (64-39) on Saturday.

Sheldon says they need to very good in transition defense. “The (Jaron) Filliater kid is a good player. He has played a long time over there. They like to get out and run, they get up and down, so you have to stop them in transition. They have some young kids as well. They like to shoot the three. It is Wynford-Crawford and it will be a great atmosphere in North Robinson with everybody home for the holiday. I know our guys will be looking forward to the opportunity to play again before Christmas,” he said.

Published 12/21/21

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Colonel Crawford Taking Steps

Colonel Crawford, off to an excellent start to the season, plays at home against Seneca East in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Saturday night.

They destroyed Bucyrus (68-22) in an “N10” game last Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says a good week of practice paid off. “We had a great week of practice leading up. I look back and we only had two weeks of practice out of football and we just didn’t want to go too hard getting legs back and then we played those four games. Last week was the first full week that we got up and down and did a lot of drills and I felt we made some progress and I thought it showed last Saturday. We came right out of the gate and played well and it was a step forward. That is what you want to be making in December. You need to take steps forward week by week as you are progressing as a basketball team. You don’t want to be playing your best basketball in December, that comes at the end of February. So, it was a good week,” said Sheldon.

Three times this year opponents have failed to score 30 points on the Eagles. Sheldon says they believe defense is important. “We have pretty good length and we are very physical. When you have length and physicalness that helps you at the defensive end. Our guys have bought into how important that end of the floor is. We have to take to heart every night out,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (5-0,2-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at home against Seneca East (2-2,0-1) on Saturday night. The Tigers feel to Upper Sandusky (57-53) in a conference game in Saturday.

Sheldon says Isaac Mason is a beast. “It starts with Isaac Mason, he is averaging 33 points a game. He is really good. He is averaging double figure rebounds and almost seven assists. He is a really good player. He can score multiple ways. He is very good at getting to the foul line. Anybody that averages 33 points a game we will have our hands full and it’s going to take a group effort. He has some other kids around him,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “The thing that impressed me watching them through four games is they play extremely hard. They are going to come over here and it is going to be a dogfight and they are going to play extremely hard for 32 minutes. You look back to last week and they are down double figures going into the fourth against Upper and then they have a shot at then to tie it. So, it’s going to be a tough matchup and we ae looking forward to the opportunity come Saturday night.”

Published 12/16/21

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Colonel Crawford Has to be Ready to Play

Colonel Crawford has to get back in step as they travel to Crestview for a non-conference girls’ basketball game on Tuesday night.

They had a rough outing in falling (48-38) to Carey in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

Coach Kyle Fenner says they were sluggish early in the game and it cost them. “We didn’t start off very well. We got behind 11-0 before we started to show up and compete. You definitely can’t do that against a good Carey team and especially on the road and have a chance to win,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “We played a pretty good second half. We outscored them by six or seven points. It was just disappointing with the way we started and hopefully we are going to learn from that and make adjustments to that.”

Fenner says especially their younger kids have to realize what kind of consistent effort is required at the varsity level. “We have gotten off to good starts and been pretty competitive. For whatever reason we just didn’t show up with a competitive attitude. I know we are still playing some young kids. You have to be an athlete and you have to step on the floor and compete and if you don’t do that at the varsity level that is going to happen,” she said.

Crawford (4-2) plays at Crestview (3-4) on Tuesday night. The Lady Cougars are coming off a (44-16) win over Western Reserve in a Firelands Conference game on Saturday night.

Fenner believes they will show them a lot of full court pressure. “They are really, really quick. They are aggressive. They don’t have much size, but they have a lot of heart. They play hard. They are going to pressure us 94 feet (Tuesday) night. We are going to have to handle that pressure and be physical with them. It will be a challenge for us,” said Fenner.

Published 12/14/21

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Colonel Crawford Has Things to Do

Colonel Crawford is unbeaten on the season, but there is still a lot of room for improvement.

They are at home for Bucyrus in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action on Saturday night.

They won their conference opener (54-42) over Buckeye Central last Saturday, but really didn’t play that well for four quarters.

Coach David Sheldon says they have things to work on. “We had a great start. We had a good first quarter. Hats off to Buckeye. I had seen all of their games and they played a really good game. It was a night we didn’t shoot the ball very well. It was one of those nights and you are going to have those. Credit Buckeye, they hit several threes on us as well. We had a lot of breakdowns,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We had a long film session this week even through you are 4-0 and got a win you have to look at details. There are a lot of areas early in the season that we still have to get better as a basketball team.”

Sheldon says they need better ball movement on offense and on defense they have to move more too. “Offensively, I think we have to move the ball. The ball sticks sometimes. You talk about moving it so you can get a great shot instead of a good shot. Defensively, better rotations. There are different things we have to work on, so we are not late to spots on cutters, on penetration. So, just a lot of the details offensively and defensively and those are a few we have to get better at,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (4-0,1-0) hosts Bucyrus (1-1,0-1) on Saturday night. Bucyrus lost its first “N10” game (57-46) to Mohawk last Saturday.

Sheldon this is a veteran team with some quality guards. “It’s a team that returns six lettermen from last year. They played Mohawk close last Saturday. So, it’s a basketball team with a lot of experience. They have some good guard play. It’s a rivalry Bucyrus-Crawford, anytime it is a Crawford County team. I think the one thing is with the success we have had we are getting everybody’s best shot. We know they are going to come over here with a win under their belt already, so it will be a tough matchup on Saturday night,” said Sheldon.

On Saturday night, Sheldon says the top priority is to play better. “The one thing we have worried about this week is Colonel Crawford. Like I said, we have to get better in a lot of areas. We have had some tough practices leading up to Saturday with having a whole week. We played four games in 10 days and it has been nice having a whole week of practice leading up to this Saturday,” he said.

Published 12/10/21

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Colonel Crawford Must Handle Buckeye Pressure

Colonel Crawford meets Buckeye Central in a key early season matchup in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference between unbeaten teams on Friday night in New Washington.

The Lady Eagles have strung together wins over Northmor (49-38), New London (43-18) and Plymouth (57-34) to start the season.

Coach Kyle Fenner says they are happy, but not satisfied. “I mean we are pleased. We have done what we needed to do. We have won three games and we have played pretty well in those games. Obviously, there are things we have to work on and get better and we have done that. Our kids have been pretty focused during the start here,” she said.

Buckeye Central owns wins over Willard (58-29), Crestview (63-16) and Riverdale (55-43) so far this year.

Fenner says they have a tremendous point guard in Emily Siesel, who does everything well. “Emily Siesel makes them really, really good. She has been playing varsity since she was a freshman. She is their point guard this year and she is really, really hard to guard. She can shoot the three. She can put it on the floor and attack,” Fenner told Swankonsports.com in Tuesday evening, “She is really, really good defensively. She has quick hands, she understands the game and makes a lot great reads defensively. So, we have our hands full just trying to control her. She has parts around her who are really good athletically and have been around for the last year or two and have some varsity experience.”

Siesel has 34 points and 15 assists Monday night against Riverdale.

Now, if Siesel gives the ball up on a possession, Fenner says they don’t want her to get it back, but that is easier said than done. “If she gives it up, we don’t want her to get in back, but she really understands the game. She understands how to get herself open. I watched her play (Monday) night and they tried to trap her at the end of the game and they couldn’t even trap her. She is quick and is athletic and can just handle the basketball, so it’s tough,” said Fenner.

Fenner says the real key for them is to handle the Buckeye Central defense. She says they can’t have a bunch of turnovers. “We have talked about the last two of three days. We cannot turn the basketball over. If we turn it over once, we have to let go and go on. We can’t compound it by turning it over two, three, four times and giving them bad turnovers where they are just getting layups. The key to the game is us handing the basketball,” she said.

Published 12/01/21

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Crawford Pleased, but Work Still to do

Colonel Crawford won its first games and will play a third non-conference game at Northmor on Tuesday night before opening Northern 10 Athletic Conference action at Buckeye Central on Saturday night.

The Eagles (2-0) beat Crestline (52-28) last Wednesday and Kenton (76-48) on Saturday night.

Coach David Sheldon says he thinks they did a lot of good things. “It was a good start when you are putting new kids on the floor that haven’t played varsity basketball last year, so it was good to get a couple of games under our belt and very happy with the start that we got. Offensively, shared the basketball and defensively were very solid with 28 points and 48 points in the two outings. So, it was a good start and we have one more non-league before we open up league. I try to schedule that to have three non-leagues before we open up league. We have a tough road game on Tuesday night over at Northmor that is a very good team,” said Sheldon.

However, Sheldon says they still have to get better. He says they need to make sure that are doing all they can to rebound the ball. “I think the main thing is we have to make sure we are focusing on rebounding. I have said that from the get go in losing a four year post player in Chase Walker we have to make sure we are rebounding the ball at the defensive and offensive end in getting second shots and holding the opponent to one shot. I think that is a major focus that we just have to have in the back of our mind at all times when we are on the floor,” he said.

Northmor (1-0) beat Marion Pleasant (55-42) in their first game last Wednesday.

Sheldon says they have quality guard play and are playing with a lot of confidence this season. “They return four starters back. They got a great win opening night last Wednesday against Pleasant, a double figure win. They have good guards in (Graesin) Cass, (Grant) Bentley and (Logan) Mariotti, so you have three guards there that can really play. Coach Tackett has done a good job of defining roles around them with their other guys. So, it a good basketball team playing with a lot of confidence and a lot of energy. Watching them they are very good in transition. They get out and run very, very well and they are going to play hard nosed man to man defense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “It will be a challenge, it will be a great environment Tuesday night over at Northmor. That is a great community that supports. I think it is good to get a road game early to see how our guys are going to react. You have to take a business like approach when you go on the road.”

Published 11/29/21

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Colonel Crawford Improving Their Stuff

Colonel Crawford opens the season next week and they have three games in the first week of the season, so they are working hard to get ready for the campaign.

Coach Dave Sheldon says they are trying to get into basketball shape. “We have had our kids for six days after the great football season that we had. They came in running. We are just trying to get into basketball shape. It’s totally different conditioning. Our kid’s focus every day in practice has been very good and I think that is a big thing when you have a short preseason you have to lock in every day and take advantage when you are in the gym for practice. We are going to get a couple of scrimmages in before we open up Wednesday night with Crestline next week,” he said.

Crawford was outright champion in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference last season and returns “N10” player of the year in Carter Valentine and outstanding point guard Mason Studer, but Sheldon says they have a lot to replace too. “We lose a four year letterman in the big post player Chase Walker, who is probably one of the best post players I have had the opportunity to coach in my 16 years here at Crawford. We also lost three role players in our other post player in Brock Ritzhaupt and then two shooters in Drayton Burkhart and Mason McKibben. We are fortunate enough to bring four lettermen back and a JV team that was successful. So, it is sort of gluing the pieces together. Every year you try to do that and depending on personnel what you are going to do offensively, defensively. We have had to make some adjustments not having Chase around,” said Sheldon.

Sheldon says they have to be aware of what the opponent is going to do, but first on the list to make sure they are good at what they do. “I think the main thing is we have top worry about Colonel Crawford right now going into next Wednesday. With only having two weeks of a preseason with our whole team that is the main thing. We have got to work on our execution at the offensive end. Defensively, going and reviewing what we need to do at that end of the floor,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “When you look at Crestline, they are going to come over here and play hard and play very good man to man defense. They are going to try and deny you. They have several key contributors from last year back. I think when you go into the first three games, they are all non-league games for us, we need to worry about Colonel Crawford and making sure we are trying to be the best we can be when it comes to game one.”

Crestline comes to Mac Morrison Gym next Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, and Sheldon says the Bulldogs will be a challenge. “They have three guards back in Hall, Lusk and Shade and they have two post players that are pretty athletic as well. Everybody is excited to play the first game. It is nice that we get to open up in our house and it’s nice to have fans back compared to what we had last year in the COVID year. It will be a nice atmosphere the night before Thanksgiving. Crestline will definitely come over here and give us good production with what they do. Tyler (Sanders) always has those guys playing hard. Like I said, going into that game we need to worry about Colonel Crawford and doing what we need to do to get ready for the regular season because you are sort of going on the fly only having two scrimmages compared to five like some people with the late start. So, we have a lot of work to do, I can tell you that and our guys are up for the challenge hopefully,” said Sheldon.

Published 11/19/21

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Colonel Crawford Meets Talented Northmor

Colonel Crawford opens the girls’ basketball season with two games this weekend. They play at home against Northmor on Friday night and at New London on Saturday night, both in non-conference play.

Coach Kyle Fenner, who has been though a lot of preseasons, says her group is about as ready as they can be. “We have had five really good scrimmages. The kids have worked really hard in those scrimmages and in practice. We have had a really good tape and scouter (Tuesday) on Northmor and we feel like we will be ready. Our kids will go out and play hard. We might not have everything that we want to have in, but we are going to play hard and battle and we will go on from there,” said Fenner.

Fenner says your never get in all of the stuff you want to before you start the season and she adds that their athleticism we cover some of that. “I think it was a little bit easier last year when we had five seniors and a junior that had been around a lot, a little bit longer. We have some sophomores that we are going to mix in this year. We don’t have quite as much in this year as we did last year, but that will come play hard. Our kids are competitive and they are athletic and they will battle,” she said.

Northmor, of the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference, comes to Mac Morrison Gym on Friday night to open the season.

Fenner says they have talented players and they are going to be physical. She says that have to match that physicality. “They are led by Lexi Wenger, who has played on their varsity for four years. She is a really good player, so we expect a lot out of her. We have a challenge guarding her. Regan Swihart is another girl that has played varsity for a while,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “So, those two are really good players. Their kids are going to play hard and are going to get into you and defend you and be physical with you and we have got to being willing to match that Friday night.”

Published 11/17/21

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Colonel Crawford Young, but Athletic

Colonel Crawford won 15 games and qualified for the district tournament last year, but they did loose quite a bit to graduation.

However, the cupboard is not bare. They return a three-year starter at point guard and have some athletes.

Coach Kyle Fenner says it is going to be a fun year. “We lost last year a great group of five seniors who are going to be hard to replace. We are luckly enough to have our point guard back in Kaylyn Risner, who has been our point guard staring for us since she was a freshman. We will rely heavily on her, she has a lot of experience. Mal Plesac comes back. She had a great district game for us and has worked really hard on her game. The other upperclassman we have is Corin Feik, who is going to play in the post,” she told Swankonsports.com Tuesday evening, “After that we are going to mix in probably five or six sophomores, who played on our JV team last year and had a really successful JV team. Those kids are athletes and they are coachable. So, we are going to have some upperclassmen and we are going to mix in some young kids. They have been fun. They have been easy to coach and we have gotten off to a good start. We are going to learn game by game and hopefully improve as the season goes on.”

They open the season on November 19 at home against Northmor in non-conference play, but before that Fenner says scrimmages are going to be vital for them this year. “They are really, really important to us. The thing about these sophomores is they are competitive. We have watched a lot of film and they ask a lot of questions. They are competitors and they are athletic. We feel as the season goes on, we are going to be able to do a lot of different things with them because they are so competitive and athletic. The scrimmages are going to be important that they can get out there and get as many reps at varsity speed,” said Fenner.

With the younger players, Fenner says the game will slow down for them as they get more time on the floor. “I tell them all of the time, listen, you cannot take a break. Your mind especially can’t take a break in a varsity game because it is just going to move really fast. We are trying to play fast too. They have done well. They get frustrated here and there, but they are coming,” she said.

Published 11/10/21

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Colonel Crawford with Big Challenge

Colonel Crawford is over at Crestview for one of the more interesting playoff matchups of the weekend. The Eagles play the Cougars in a division VI regional quarterfinal.

Crestview is the champion of the Firelands Conference and Colonel Crawford the runner-up in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

The Eagles (10-1) overwhelmed Cardinal Stritch (50-0) last week.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they did a lot of good things. “For our first round playoff game we will definitely take that. When you feel like you played solid in all three phases that’s a good thing. Now, we watched film (Monday) night and there are a couple of things to work on this week among ourselves and on top of that be working to plan a scheme against what we are going to see against Crestview this week. It’s a tough week coming up and we are excited about the preparation for that,” he said.

Crestview (11-0) likewise had an easy time with Northwood in their first playoff game winning (42-7) at home.

Teglovic says the Cougars are just an outstanding team. “Not just 11-0, but the margin of victory that they have won a good portion of their games by, so an impressive team. They are fourth in the state for a reason. Defensively, it is a defense that you don’t see very often. It’s a 3-3 stack, but it has a little different flavor to it. Their outside backers are stacked tightly on their defensive ends, so that presents some new issues for you, some new thoughts in terms of your scheme and that kind of thing. They do a good jog of freeing up their free safety, who is also their running back. He is an unbelievable football player. He actually leads their team in tackles and it’s not because he is making tackles 20 yards down the field. He’s a safety and he is making plays at the line of scrimmage. He is really difficult to account for,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Then offensively, it is a very fundamentally sound scheme of power off tackle type stuff, little bit of stretch and counter, those kinds of things. Overall, they are going to pound you with the football with the running back that they have that is extremely good. Then they are going hit you with the play action. The quarterback does a good job. He is very efficient in the passing game, he doesn’t turn it over. He is well over 1,000 yards and he has some speed at the receiver position too. So, they run the football, but they have the ability to throw the ball as well. So, it is a very sound football team all of the way around and it will be a good challenge.”

With Crestview’s 3-3 stack, Teglovic says they are going to have to work hard to develop a way the get the Cougar defenders blocked. “You have to be able to be inventive, while still staying within your scheme. We have a very rules oriented offense. You have to be able to think outside the box and be inventive, while still trying to stay true to your rules and stay true to yourself, so you don’t put your kids at a disadvantage by confusing them. So, that is a fine line in there. That is certainly going to be one of the things we are working on this week,” said Teglovic.

Crestview quarterback Hayden Kuhn does a tremendous job running the Cougar offense, according to Teglovic. “I think he does a great job. A good running game is a quarterback’s best friend. You could say that for our quarterback and certainly good say that for their quarterback as well. That doesn’t mean he is not a great player because he is. He makes really good plays, makes really good reads. He protects the football, which is one of the keys that you want at that quarterback position. He understands the offense and where the ball needs to go. He does a really good job of performing his role on their team,” he said.

Published 11/03/21

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Colonel Crawford Hosts Athletic Cardinal Stritch

Colonel Crawford will be at home Saturday night for a first round playoff game in division VI against the Cardinal Stritch Cardinals.

The Eagles (9-1), #5 in the final Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, hammered a solid Seneca East team (45-13) last Friday.= in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they played well in all areas of the game. “I thought all three phases looked pretty good and Seneca East is a good football team. I really like their quarterback. I think he is a tough gritty player, hardnosed. You are talking about a program that has won a lot of games the last few years. So, to come out with a big win against a team that has a great senior class and to play as well as what we did. Obviously, we have some work to do. We need to correct some mistakes from last week, but overall, it was a good game,” he said.

Running back Lincoln Mollenkopf added three more TD runs last week. He has 32 for the season to go along with 2,165 yards. He averages 10.2 yards per carry.

Cardinal Stritch (5-3) lost last week (49-48) to Northwood. In half of their games this year they have scored more than 40 points.

Teglovic says they have an electric quarterback. “They have one of the most athletic quarterbacks that we have seen. He can throw it and he throws it well, but we are more concerned about him running the football. He is explosive and he can beat you even when there is not a lot of blocking up front. He can make a move and he is gone,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We are going to have to do a good job of being gap sound and make sure we break out feet down and do a good job of tackling because he is an extremely explosive athlete. He has a pretty good running back in the backfield with him as well. So, that is the big thing that concerns us this week. We are going to have to work hard tackling in the open field.”

Teglovic says the quarterback does a number of different things and he can hurt you with his feet in different ways. “They will run a quarterback counter and zone read type stuff with him, more designed type stuff and he is dangerous on those things, but he is just as dangerous when the play breaks down. He gets out on his own and makes things happen. So, a little bit of both,” he said.

Published 10/27/21

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Physicality the Key for Crawford

Colonel Crawford plays host to Seneca East on Friday night in their final Northern 10 Athletic Conference game of the season.

There is a lot at stake for the Eagles as they must have a win for a chance to share the “N10” title with Carey, they trail of the Blue Devils by a game, and perhaps host a first round playoff game in division VI. Right now, they stand ninth and the top eight are home week one.

Last week, they buried Bucyrus (42-0) in a conference game, but coach Ryan Teglovic says they certainly have some things to clean up. “I feel like our kids have been pretty business like in the way they have handled things. It was nice to get the win. I said Friday night that there were some things that we just did not do well. We have work on those things this week. We will start here (Monday) getting guys in here and have an offensive practice. Obviously, the pre-snap penalties and those kinds of things will be high on the list. Fumbled snaps and that kind of thing. It was one of those things where we continue to play good football and have a huge one coming up this Friday night,” said Teglovic.

Colonel Crawford (8-1,5-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, entertains Seneca East (6-3,4-2) on Friday night in North Robinson. The Tigers are coming off a (40-7) win over Upper Sandusky last week.

Teglovic says they have two very explosive backs in the backfield. “At first glance probably the thing that stands out to me the most is they have two thousand yard backs right now. We are not even through the regular season. Their quarterback Gavin Hargis and their running back Jessie Beckman have over a thousand yards. They are both high yards per carry, around eight yards per carry kind of guys. So, they are two explosive athletes in the backfield at the same time and that puts a lot of stress on our defense. We have to make sure we take away the big play,” he said.

Hargis ran for 222 yards and four touchdowns last week against Upper.

Of course, the Eagles have the top rusher in the conference in Lincoln Mollenkopf, who had 360 yards and three scores last week against Bucyrus. He has over 1,900 yards and 29 TD’s on the year.

Teglovic says they have to win the battle up front. “We have to continue to play well up front. Offensive and defensive lines are going to be critical. We have to execute well on the offensive line. We have to stand up to the physicality on our defensive line. They are big,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “They are one of the bigger teams that we play, especially their center and their guards are particularly big at 250, 260, so good sized dudes. We are going to have to make sure we can establish ourselves along the line of scrimmage to have an opportunity to win.”

Published 10/19/21

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Colonel Crawford Needs Focus

Colonel Crawford, a game back in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference race, plays host to the Bucyrus Redmen in a conference game on Friday night.

They trail Carey by a game will need the Blue Devils to lose to either Wynford or Buckeye Central to have a chance at sharing the conference title.

They smoked Buckeye (76-0) last week.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they were able to keep their focus despite the lopsided score. “I told our kids afterwards I thought they were really business like in what they did. Sometimes you will go out there and you will score a bunch of points and you will have a lopsided game and that kind of thing, but you come away feeling like you didn’t do things very well and we weren’t very focused and that kind of a thing. We came out of that game feeling like we played well and continued to get better offensively and defensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We didn’t turn the ball over. Offensively, we had very few penalties. Defensively, we only gave up eight yards rushing. Our special teams were locked in. We were ten for ten in extra points, just a variety of different things that pointed to the fact that we have a lot of points on the scoreboard here, but are we playing pretty solid football? I thought our guys just did a good job staying business like.”

Colonel Crawford (7-1,4-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, is at home for Bucyrus (2-6,1-4) on Friday night. The Redmen lost (27-0) to Mohawk last week.

Teglovic says it has kind of been the best of times and the worst of times for the Redmen this year. “They have been kind of different team at different times. I think the Seneca East game is one that scares me the most. That game is like 13-13 with three minutes left in the first half. Seneca East puts one on late in the second quarter there right before halftime to go up by a touchdown and they go onto roll and win. That shows the kind of things they can do when they put things together. Against Wynford they played very well, hard, very tough, and Wynford scored about four or five touchdowns in a five minute stretch and just put the thing away and quickly. Their quarterback is a nice player, especially for a young kid,” said Teglovic.

On defense in specific, again, Bucyrus has shown flashes of what they can do. “If you look at the Northmor game if you go back to non-league stuff. They played very well defensively against Northmor. The (Bryant) Phiefer kid is a good linebacker doing a very nice job there. They have one of their guys in the back end that has 75 tackles and they are playing pretty well. There is a guy up front that is in the league numbers as far as sacks and tackles for loss. So, they have got some guys over there on defense that can cause you some problems. It’s a game where we have to come out and execute well, especially in the first quarter. It seems like our guys are locked in this week and hopefully they will do that,” he said.

Published 10/15/21

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Colonel Crawford Has to be Better

Colonel Crawford, a game back in the race in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, plays up State Route 602 against longtime rival Buckeye Central on Friday night in a conference game.

They beat Mohawk (42-14) last week, but coach Ryan Teglovic says, frankly, they didn’t play very well. “We did enough good things to win the game and we are grateful for that. Our guys know we didn’t play our best football. I didn’t think we were that focused all last week in general. We have addressed that, talked about that and hopefully things get a little better this week. I told our kids on Saturday morning, there is one NFL football team all-time that went undefeated and played a pretty good game every time they went out on Sunday afternoon, so you are going to have those on occasion, but you can’t string too many of them together. We have to bounce back here and have a good, focused week,” said Teglovic.

Lincoln Mollenkopf had three TD runs last week. He has 1,375 yards rushing and 23 touchdowns this season, both conference highs.

Teglovic says the goal this week in practice is to get better as a football team. “If you can focus on the fact that is not even who you play on Friday night. It’s about yourself. It’s about you continuing to make the improvement you need to make on Friday night. That is what we have always tried to focus in on. We want to be better and now it is week eight and we want to better than we were week one, week two, etc. That’s the focus and hopefully we will get back to that this week,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (6-1,3-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, is at Buckeye Central (2-5,0-4) on Friday night. The Bucks lost (35-0) to Bucyrus last week.

Teglovic says they must be aware of the Bucks passing game and do their best to control it. “I like their quarterback the (Derex) Dean kid. He is a nice player. He has given them the ability to throw the football a lot better than they have had in years. He is playing pretty good football, especially for a sophomore. He has some guys on the outside that he can throw the football to as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They have a little bit of size up front. They played Upper Sandusky I thought pretty well. They have had some spots where they have played well. They have had some injuries and other things too that have hurt them. We are going to have to slow down their passing game. We have to play a lot better fundamentally sound football ourselves this week.”

Published 10/06/21

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Crawford Keeps Position

Colonel Crawford remains a game behind Carey in the race in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

They hammered rival Wynford (48-21) last week in conference action.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they were very good on both sides of the ball. “Offensively we never punted the football, so every time we had the ball we scored. That is a tremendous feat for a team when you play a program like Wynford. Offensively, we were very efficient. We rushed for about 400 yards or just shy of it. Just felt like we were clicking pretty well there. Defensively, we did what we needed to do. They have some big weapons on that offensive side of the football. We were able to at least slow them up and I felt like do some good things there. Maybe slow down the running game and force them into throwing the football,” said Teglovic.

Lincoln Mollenkopf ran for 253 yards last week against Wynford and he has 1,122 yards for the season.

Teglovic says that run game has been working well all season. “We have been able to run the ball efficiently. We have the leading back in the league right now in Lincoln Mollenkopf. He is averaging right around 10 yards a carry. The offensive line has been extremely efficient in making good calls on their rules to do what we need to do there. We have been able to pass the football as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “Kam Lohr has been very good in the pass game with over 600 yards in six games. He has made throws when we have needed to make throws. We will get tested this week. Mohawk is always a good rush defense. They play a great 3-4 scheme. Their kids play it all of the way through and they know it and they do it very well.”

Colonel Crawford (5-1,2-1), #4 in the Swnakonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, is at Mohawk (2-4,1-2) on Friday night. The Warriors scored on a Garvin Barth TD run with less than a minute to play to beat Seneca East (20-14) last week.

Teglovic says they are improving. “That was a hug win for them against Seneca East last week. They are starting to get healthy with the (Gavin) Barth kid back and linebacker and he is a three year starter at linebacker and he is very good there. He is also one of their better running backs. He has missed a couple of games here as of late and it has really hurt them when he is out. He was back against Seneca East and I thought he had a heck of a game. They are getting healthier overall. Getting those young kids that they have been playing some experience. I think they are playing their best football right now,” said Teglovic.

A game behind Carey, having already lost to the Blue Devils, Teglovic says they have to keep winning. “We have to take care of business every week. There is nothing we can control with what happens with Carey, but we can control what we can control. What we have to do is continue to go out there every week and play our best football because we want to make sure we take care of our opportunities on our end. This is a big week for us,” he said.

Published 9/28/21

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Kicking Game Big in Colonel Crawford-Wynford Game

Colonel Crawford hosts Wynford in a big game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Friday night in North Robinson.

The Eagles (4-1,1-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, trail Wynford, and Carey and Seneca East, by a game in the conference standings.

The scored 41 points in the second half last week in beating Upper Sandusky (60-19) in a conference game.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they got some momentum in the third quarter. “It was one of those games where you felt if you could just get a stop or two in there that was were generating enough offense that eventually you could get going. It was tight for a while, tight at halftime, but we were able to come out after half and get a score. Actually, we returned the opening kick for a touchdown, but that got called back. We did score a few plays later, then we got a stop and another score. After that, things just kind of rolled for us. Credit Upper Sandusky, especially early on. I think their quarterback is a very good player and does a nice job. I think they have one of the better receivers in the league as well, so credit them early on for doing a very good job offensively,” said Teglovic.

Wynford (3-2,2-0) blitzed Buckeye Central (70-8) last week, leading (28-0) after the first quarter.

Teglovic says they have a lot of weapons, including the special teams, which have come up big for the Royals. “There is talent there. The senior class that they have has had a lot, a lot of success. So, they are putting some of those pieces together. Their quarterback is one of the leading quarterbacks in our league. He has thrown 10 touchdowns and only one pick. He has a 66% passing percentage right now. Anytime you talking about a guy with those kind of numbers that is a dangerous individual. Obviously, he has a couple of receivers that do a great job for him as well. I think they are the number two pass offensive in the league, so that is going to get a lot of our focus because they are very good at that. They are going to be solid defensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They are really good in the special teams too. Carey has a unbelievable kicker, but so does Wynford. If they get an opportunity, they can pin you deep. The guy can also kick field goals, so he is a tremendous weapon as well.”

The big play is a big part of the high school football and Teglovic says they have to eliminate those this week. “We have to eliminate big plays from their side of the football. Make them drive the football, make them work, and not give easy ones. I think that is one of the huge keys and that goes for special teams as well. They do a lot of things special teams wise, a lot of fakes, onside kicks, pooch kicks, those kinds of things. The guys have to be really, really locked in when you are playing a Wynford team they are going to do a lot of those things. A lot of it is mental. If your guys can stay locked in, recognize formations, and do those kinds of things, you have a much better opportunity to win,” he said.

Published 9/23/21

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Colonel Crawford Defense to be Tested

Colonel Crawford attempts to bounce back after loss last week to Carey as they play at Upper Sandusky in an Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

Last week, they dropped their first conference game in more than year when Carey beat them (35-17) last Friday.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says it seemed they were deep in their own end of the field much of the night. “I thought overall it was a field position game. They did an excellent job of field position. My hat is off to their kicker. You don’t say that a lot in high school, but that kid was phenomenal. He put us in some pretty tough positions. I just felt we were on the other end of the field position all night. We gave them the ball twice inside their own 30, which didn’t help us, but take nothing away from Carey, they are a phenomenal football team,” he told Swankonsports.com, “They are big and physical as any team I have ever seen up front. They have a couple of playmakers on the backend as well, so take nothing from them. I thought our kids hung in well the first half and we just continued to get behind that field position game and it caught up with us.”

Yes, they did take a loss, but Teglovic says they have to understand there are still six conference games to play this fall. “We talked about this even before the game. This is week four guys, this game is obviously big because we are playing Carey who is a phenomenal team and a phenomenal program, but it is week four and our hope is that we are not playing our best football on week four. So, we are going to continue to get better and we have a good test this week with Upper Sandusky, who I think is a much improved football team and we are going to have to do things well to get back on the right track this week,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (3-1,0-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Upper Sandusky (2-2,1-0) on Friday night. The Rams beat Mohawk (27-13) in their conference opener.

Teglovic says they are led by a very good young quarterback in Kaden Holman. “Their quarterback is a young kid, a sophomore, but he is having a heck of a year. You are talking over 800 yards through four games, the kid is doing something right. He spreads it around too. He has four receivers with over a dozen catches, so it is not just one guy you can key in on. They are playing good football and they are going to test our backend. We thought going into the year that was kind of the strength of our team in general. So, we are going to see that this week. We hope that that holds up, but those guys are going to get a great test this week,” said Teglovic.

Published 9/16/21

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Colonel Crawford Meets Carey in Big One

Last year, Colonel Crawford beat Carey in the first game of the COVID season and that propelled them to a conference championship. They hope for the same thing this week when they travel to Carey to face the Blue Devils in the first Northern 10 Athletic Conference game of the season on Friday night.

Coach Ryan Teglovic is battling pancreatic cancer and money will raised at the game for research.

On week three, in their final non-conference game of the season, the Eagles (3-0,0-0), #1 in the first Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, scored 10 times in burying Cardington (65-6) last Friday.

Teglovic says they played well in all areas and most importantly got better. “In all three phases of the game I thought there were some good things. The big thing was I think there was a little bit of improvement from the week before. We will need that kind of improvement this week because we play, in my opinion, one of the better teams in the area, one of the better teams in our region, in region 22. So, the Carey Blue Devils are good and we have to go over there in a tough environment and will have to be ready to play,” he said.

Carey (2-1,0-0) bombed Toledo Waite (51-6) last week.

Teglovic says they are very experienced and talented all over the field. “They have a lot of kids back that have played three years. I think it probably starts on their offensive line. They are big up front. They have five starters back from last year off a very good football team. They have a heck of a defensive line too. That defensive line, a lot of those guys don’t play on the offensive line, so they can two platoon those linemen a little bit to stay fresh. They are very physical and that doesn’t mean they don’t have guys on the back end too,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “(Derek) Lonsway and (Bryce) Conti are two kids that can go the distance at any point, which makes them very dangerous. (Jordan) Vallejo has become a tough physical runner. They have really one of the best linebackers in the area in (Landen) Kemerley. They can do it in a variety of ways, but I think their experience is one of the big things.”

Lonsway leads the Blue Devils in rushing yards this season with 315 and Vallejo has scored seven times. Crawford running back Lincoln Mollenkopf isn’t too bad either. He has rushed for 510 yards, second in the “N10”, and has tallied a conference best 11 TD’s.

Teglovic says they have to win the physical battle and stop the big play. “Obviously, you have to establish the line of scrimmage, especially against a team that has that many starters back up front and that kind of good size and coming from a program that likes to play physical football. That is a tough, hard nosed community. They have a great football tradition over there. The community prides itself at being tough, blue collar type individuals. We are going to have to button up the chin strap and play good, hard, physical football and still try and limit the big plays from their couple of really good athletes,” said Teglovic.

Published 9/08/21

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Colonel Crawford Continues Solid Play

Colorado Crawford, the defending Northern 10 Athletic Conference champion, plays its final non-conference game of the year at home Friday night as they entertain the Cardington Pirates, of the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference.

The Eagles (2-0) downed Smithville (49-14) last week.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says the defensive line was outstanding against the Smithies. “I was especially proud, I thought our defensive line played as well as they had been and that was probably one our most inexperienced units. To see them hold up against a fairly good sized and physical offensive line. I think we limited the opposition to right around 100 yards. Anytime you do that you defensive line is playing pretty well. It was a good performance to get our second win. Now, we start getting ready for Cardington,” he said.

Cardington (1-1) got a blocked kick late in the game that led to a score and beat Marion Elgin (20-16) last week.

Teglovic calls the Pirates dangerous because of the athleticism. “They beat a pretty decent Elgin team, who was in a battle with Galion week one. Week one the lost to Fairbanks, but it wasn’t a blow out at all, it was 17-0 and Fairbanks is a pretty solid team. So, they have some talent and some experience,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They have a couple of running backs who are juniors who are brothers whop have played for a couple of years. They have a quarterback that is about 6’3”, 215 and has been playing for a while, so he is a nice player as well. They challenge you a little bit with some of their athletes. We are going to have to make sure we keep guys under control and takeaway big plays.”

Teglovic says a key to their success has been eliminating the big play, and they will have to continue to do that, plus control the point of attack to have success against Cardington. “To force a team, a bunch of 17-year olds to drive a 70 yard field for nine, 10 plays, that’s what you want to do. There are not a lot of teams out there that can do that. So, if we can eliminate those big plays again, I think it’s a game that we can take advantage in special teams, we did that last week as well. Establish the offensive line and be balanced on our side of the ball, those will be big things for us,” said Teglovic.

Published 9/01/21

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Colonel Crawford Locks Horns With Smithville

Colonel Crawford takes its act to Smithville to meet the Smithies in a non-conference football game on Friday night that promises to be a physical one.

Last week, Crawford kicked off the season with a (55-7) win over Riverdale in their home opener.

Lincoln Mollenkopf ran for over 200 yards last week and coach Ryan Teglovic they played a solid overall game against Riverdale. “It was nice to get win in the opener. I thought we played pretty well in all three aspects, but certainly there are plenty of things to work on. We talked about those things on Saturday and hopefully we can continue to make those improvements this week because Smithville is a very good football team that plays in the very good league. They are big and physical and we are going to have our hands full,” he said.

Smithville rallied to beat Tuslaw (20-13) in their game.

Teglovic says the Smithies are going to try and pound it at them. “It is an old school wing-T football team. They are really kind of similar to us offensively. They are mostly a four man front, but they will play some nickel stuff with the three man front. They are big up front, very physical,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They have a 200 pound running back, who I have been very impressed with. He had a heck of a game last week against Tulsaw. So, they are coming in 1-0 and we have to go to Smithville. It’s a battle of 1-0 teams and it should be an exciting game.”

Jacob Hatfield ran 110 yards and two scores in the win over Tulaw.

Teglovic looks for a good game that will won and lost at the point of attack. He also feels they can make some plays in the special teams, which could be a boost to the Eagles. “Whoever can control that line of scrimmage is going to have a good opportunity to win that football game. I also think that is a game like this turnovers become a key. I think special teams this week is going to be a key. We have made that be a real emphasis to our kids. We have our special team practice (Wednesday) night and we are going to have to have a good one there. So, hopefully that is a situation that we can take advantage of,” said Teglovic.

Published 8/26/21

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Crawford Must Defend Spread

Colonel Crawford is at home in North Robinson for the Riverdale Falcons in non-conference play on Friday night.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says when you play week one there will always be some kinks to iron out, but his kids are ready for something for real. “You are going to have bugs to work our week one whether you have got two weeks, four weeks or anywhere in between. So, let’s get this thing started. The kids are ready to go. We are going to have to have improvements we have to make anyway, so let’s get out there and get after it and see what happens week one,” he said.

It’s a different opener for the Eagles than in past years. Teglovic says they expect to see a lot of the spread offense from the Falcons. “Riverdale has a new coach is Sam Petrie. He actually coached with coach (Britton) Devier at Willard, so we are little bit familiar with him. I know of him, don’t know him well. He is a spread guy at heart. He ran that system over there with coach Devier. We know they are going to be a spread team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “The quarterback is pretty decent, pretty athletic. I like the running back that they have as well. When they go empty, they will spilt him out. They have a good defensive end, I think he is a pretty tough kid. They are a 4-4 base looks like, cover three type team. An old “NCC” matchup here Friday night, looking forward to it.”

Like any pass game, Teglovic says they can’t get beat deep, but he adds they also must be conscious of the of the screens that Riverdale is going to mix into its attack. “We can’t give up big plays. You can’t allow people behind you. Make those guys work and don’t give up the big play, get off the field on third down. A lot spread teams anymore it is as much being able to stop the quick screen game. They take those quick screens whether it be a jailbreak or smoke or bubble, something like that and turns those into big plays based on just blocking a few guys on the edge. Those are the things that scare you as much as anything with a spread team. We are not a spread team, so it is not something we see everyday in practice,” said Teglovic.

Published 8/20/21

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Colonel Crawford Reloading

Colonel Crawford enjoyed an outstanding season a year ago with a Northern 10 Athletic Conference title and a one-point loss in a regional final.

This year the Eagles hope to field another strong team.

Coach Ryan Teglovic, who is recovering nicely from a health scare, says this summer was good for them as they got things accomplished without stretching kids too much. “Our main goal for our kids in the summertime is to get to weightlifting three days a week, especially our upperclassmen do a great job of that, our juniors and seniors. If they aren’t there, we know where they are at, taking a week’s vacation, they are at Eastern Ohio Basketball Camp or something like that. We have got plenty of days with two a days practice and all of those things. I don’t want everything in by week one anyway. We want to build progressively as we go. We didn’t use anymore camp days or contact days than what we ever do. We may take a position group out after weights for 10 minutes or something like that and work with kids because they are already there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Kids are stretched in so many directions. I like to see our kids playing multiple sports, so a lot of times our kids are lifting weights from 7-9 and then they are going up to the gym and shooting baskets and they may have a baseball game that night as well, so it doesn’t give them a lot of time to work or just hang out by the pool. The days we have we want our kids there when they can be, but we are not going to try and overschedule things either.”

Although the Eagles graduated some talented players, Teglovic says they return some talent too and he expects to be competitive again this fall. “We feel like we have a good number of kids coming back. We have about five starters back offensively and six defensively and have some other kids that have played. So, it is not like those five or six guys that weren’t starting last year have zero experience. So, we feel like we have some experience back. Our quarterback is going to be knew and that is always big. He is going to have to get better quick, but he has done a great job so far. Some of the guys are inexperienced, but I think they are getting better every day. Most of the rest of those spots we have some experience, so hopefully we are going to be able to compete again this year,” said Teglovic.

When it comes to defending the conference title, Teglovic says the rest of the league is going to make that very difficult. “We feel like we can compete, but it is going to be a great league and it’s going to be tough. Carey two years ago when these seniors were sophomores, they made it to the regional final and about six of those guys were starting as sophomores, so that is a pretty good group over there. They have everybody back up front on their offensive side of the ball. Those guys are going to be tough and we have them right out of the gate in our first league game. The Wynfords, the Seneca Easts and the Mohawks are really good and Bucyrus and Buckeye will be a little bit better as well. You have to come to play every week,” he said.

Published 8/06/21

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Edison Edges Colonel Crawford in Extra Innings

Edison scored twice in the top of the eighth inning then retired Colonel Crawford with bases loaded in the bottom half to come away with a (6-5) win in the division III district final played on Saturday afternoon in Shelby.

The Chargers got a back to back hits from Blake Simon and Clint Finnen off Crawford starter Cade Hamilton to start the eighth inning. Brennen Hamilton then replaced his older brother on the mound and he failed to make the play on a bunt attempt by Xander Danner and threw down the rightfield line, allowing Blake Simon to score the go ahead run. Thomas Simon followed with an RBI single to make it (6-4) Edison.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Eagles (25-3), got a leadoff walk from Mason McKibben and single by Brock Ritzhaupt, but Edison reliver Joey Pannell got Cyler Hoepf on a force out and struck out Miccah Thomas. He then walked Nolan McKibben and Cade Hamilton to force in a run and make it (6-5) with the bases still loaded. However, for the second game in a row, Pannell got the biggest out of the game when he induced a ground ball to shortstop from Carson Feichtner.

Edison coach Sean Hoover says his team kept battling. “We got down early 3-0 and we just came in an we fought hard. I don’t know if it was some of the other action in that inning that made them refocus. They really seemed to be focused and we got one back. We just kind of chipped away and we had a lot of good at bats. You want your team to come out and realize that this is a game between really good teams and things are going to go back and forth all of the time,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “If you keep battling, I have been in enough of these, that strange things happen sometimes. You don’t want to get too high or too low. We did a great job of coming out and getting the job done.”

Colonel Crawford scored three times in the third inning on a double by Thomas, and RBI single by Nolan McKibben, who then scored on error. Then Finnen tried to throw Cade Hamilton out at the plate on a slow chop by Feichtner rather than making an easier throw to first to retire the side and Hamilton was called safe.

Edison got one back in the top of the fourth on an RBI single by Luke Bissell. They tied the game (3-3) in the sixth when Danner and Thomas Simon reached on errors and Noah Smith connected on a two run single.

Edison took a (4-3) lead in the sixth on a hit by Blake Simon, a passed ball, a balk and a RBI single by Finnen. Crawford would tie in the bottom of the sixth on a single by Brennan Hamilton, a sacrifice by Mason McKibben and a RBI single by Hoepf.

The Eagles loaded them in the bottom of the seventh with nobody out and failed to score when Drayton Burkhart and Brennan Hamilton strut out and a runner was retired in a rundown between third and home on a failed suicide squeeze.

Hoover says they were able to escape a couple of times. “We got out of a couple of jams and I not really sure how we got out of them. We managed to keep them off the board a couple of times with guys on base and not many outs on the board. Maybe with the bases loaded and nobody out (in the seventh). That was big and we kind of carried the momentum into the next inning. We got a bloop and an even shorter bloop and strung a couple of hits together and got some guys in,” said Hoover.

Colonel Crawford coach Dan Gorbett identified the bases loaded and not out situation in the seventh when they didn’t score as a key. “That’s when we loaded the bases and couldn’t score. It just seemed like couldn’t get that big hit, ground out or sac fly. They were able to get a couple of hits that just fell in. They are all hits, I’m not berating them for that. They seemed to get the bat on the ball and get the runs in and we couldn’t do that. We had opportunities,” said Gorbett.

Thomas also tagged out at home to end the fifth in what appeared to be a steal attempt.

The Eagles also made four errors, three of them at key moments and Gorbett says you can’t do that in district finals and expect to win. “Our defense was horrible (Saturday). We have talked about at tournament time you have to play good defense. They were bad errors. They are routine plays that we were making errors on. If you want to win a championship, you just can’t do that,” he said.

Thomas Simon has been Edison’s ace all season, but he was not available after throwing 125 pitches in beating Margaretta (3-1) in Thursday’s semifinal.

Hoover says Blake Simon and Pennell did an outstanding job. “Blake (Simon) did a great job out there and Joe Pennell came in and did an awesome job at the end in closing the game out. Maybe not as quick as he closed the game out on Thursday. He was a little more nervous this time. We have all of those young guys that we have had to depend on. Thomas (Simon) obviously doesn’t throw every single day. They have been put in some big spots in other games already this year. I think that helped them keep their composure and throw pitches when they needed to,” said Hoover.

Crawford left nine runners in scoring position in the game. Gorbett says the didn’t get the key hits and Edison did. “It’s a good program and they battled and won. We had the bases loaded and no outs and don’t score and they do the same thing and get a couple in. They made it happen and we didn’t,” he said.

Published 5/29/21

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Colonel Crawford Trims Genoa; Moves on

Drayton Burkhart was dominate again for the Colonel Crawford Eagles on Thursday afternoon as he allowed no earned runs on five hits and Crawford downed Genoa (4-2) in a division III district semifinal at Shelby High School.

They return to Shelby Saturday afternoon to face Edison, a (3-1) winner over Margaretta Thursday, for the district title.

Genoa loaded the bases in the first, but Burkhart got a strikeout to end the threat. He also stranded runners on second in the third, fourth, and fifth, before the Comets broke through for a couple unearned runs in the sixth.

Coach Dan Gorbett calls him a warrior. “That kinds of describes him his entire career. I just feel they way he pitches and he competes. The look he gives me when I say, hey, can you make it all seven tonight? It’s like get out of my face coach, that’s a stupid comment, and I just kind of laugh, and say okay, and I’ll go back to the dugout. That’s what he did against Oak Harbor too. I thought he had pretty good stuff (Thursday). Against Oak Harbor he was always in trouble. He just battled and got outs when he needed it,” said Gorbett.

Genoa stranded seven runners in scoring position and coach Gary Nissen says they just couldn’t get the big hit. “You never know when that is going to happen, especially in high school ball. It could have been just as easy that that one goes 10 feet farther and drops and it is 4-3. I am proud of our guys, they came out and played hard. We just didn’t get those hits to fall when we needed them, that’s all,” he said.

The Eagles (25-2) got on the board in the third when Mica Thomas walked and was sacrificed to second by Nolan McKibben. The Comets then intentionally walked Cade Hamilton. Carson Feichtner then responded with a two run hit.

Then in the fifth, Hamilton walked and Feichtner doubled down the leftfield line to score him. Burkhart then scored Feichtner with an single up the middle.

Gorbett says in the postseason you have to get clutch hits. “I was hoping to get an extra one there in that safety squeeze and that didn’t quite workout. When you play good teams anytime you can squeeze runs here and there that is what you want to do. They did the right thing not pitching to Cade and then Fiechner came up huge. He is a great hitter too. Those were big plays there,” he said.

Gorbett says he isn’t surprised that Genoa walked Hamilton. “That has happened throughout the year. Cade is such a disciplined hitter, so he has 30 some walks. If you don’t throw him a strike, he is going to be on first and probably steal second, so it is kind of like a double. He understands some games he is going to be able to hit and sometimes he has to help the team in other ways,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Speaking of Cade, is that a great catch there by the fence. I didn’t think anybody could get that. That was an outstanding play on his part. Getting that first out of the last inning is so important.”

Genoa again would get two runners on board in the seventh, so that circus play by Hamilton was key.

Again, the Eagles stole a couple of bases Thursday, they were picked off once too, but Gorbett says they want to stay aggressive. “Mica, I saw him leaning in that first inning and that kid had a nice pickoff move, so my hat is off to them. You have to go to your strengths and that’s what we try to do,” he said.

Published 5/28/21

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Colonel Crawford Ready for Tournament

Colonel Crawford got back on the winning path on Monday evening in beating Upper Sandusky (9-6) in their final game before tournament play.

Coach Dan Gorbett says they hit the ball very well, especially senior Cade Hamilton. “That included two double plays where we hit line drives and they doubled us off the bases. One of those situations when there wasn’t a whole lot you could do about it. There were two rallies that ended that way,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “Cade Hamilton hit a two run bomb. We were up 7-1 and they closed it to 7-6 and with two out he hit a two-run homer that went deep into the farmer’s field. It was a shot. He also had a double and a base hit. He had a great night for us.”

Colonel Crawford (23-2), #1 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the small school division, lost a pair of (5-1) games to Shelby, #1 in our large school poll, and talented Norwalk last week.

The Eagles are the top seed in their district in division III and will play either Oak Harbor or Bucyrus in a sectional final on Thursday.

Gorbett says he believes they are prepared as best they can be for the second season. “That is a tough one to answer because sometimes you just look sloppy. There is no answer to it. Then come tournament time the kids turn it on and play their best game. I am going to answer yes, we are ready because we have been working hard all year to be ready. Two years ago, we made a nice tournament run and those kids remember that an want to do it again,” said Gorbett.

Colonel Crawford made to the regionals in 2019, the last year we had tournament baseball, and Gorbett says they have six guys that played on that team. “I am hoping that tournament experience is a big factor come Thursday. A lot of times you have a bunch of young kids and don’t know what to expect. I think six of the guys out there played in those tournament games two years ago. I’m hoping that is a big benefit for us,” he said.

Published 5/18/21

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Colonel Crawford Stays Unbeaten

Colonel Crawford has played 20 baseball games this year and they have won them all, including Thursday when they beat Ridgedale (10-0) in a Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference game.

Last week, they won an undisputed “N10” title and coach Dan Gorbett says they were able to extend what has been a tremendous year in athletics at Colonel Crawford. “That was our number one goal. Football had won it, basketball had won it, that is pretty unique that you win all three main sports. We have four kids that play football, basketball and baseball on the team, so that tells you a lot about those kids. It was pretty nice getting that clinched ahead of time,” he said.

Gorbett, who has been assistant football coach as well over his long and successful career, believes there is a great benefit to playing multiple sports. “The number one key in any sport, and especially baseball, is confidence and belief in yourself and handling adversity and failure. You can’t practice those things. You can’t work on those things in the off season. You have to experience and live it. So, I always tell our kids two outs in the bottom of the seventh is no different being on the foul line with two seconds left and you have to hit those,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “Being in competition makes you a better football, basketball, baseball player, etc. It’s a shame that so many kids are specializing in sports. I love when I see in Facebook these athletes were multi-sport athletes. Tom Brady, you can name just a bunch of outstanding players that play more than one sport. So, I think that is very, very important.”

Pitching has been the number one reason for the success of the Eagles (20-0,15-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the small school division, this year. Cade Hamilton and Drayton Burkkart both have ERA’s under two for the season and they have combined to be (16-0) for the year.

Gorbett says sometimes he is baffled why they aren’t noticed more, but they just go about their business. “Drayton Burkhart was outstanding (Thursday). He and Cade Hamilton have had outstanding careers on the mound and they are both hitting well too. Last week, the biggest secret in area sports Cade Hamilton threw a no hitter and hits for the cycle in one week and nobody knows that. I thought that was definitely player of the week credentials and nothing. We just keep plugging away quietly doing our thing and the kids are having a great time and that is all that’s important,” said Gorbett.

Published 5/07/21

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Colonel Crawford Wins on Rare Play

Colonel Crawford kept a two game cushion in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference with a dramatic, come from behind, (5-4) win over Seneca East on Monday evening in North Robinson.

The Eagles lead Wynford, who beat Carey (13-5) on Monday, by two games, while Seneca East falls three games back.

The game was tied (2-2) after four innings and the Eagles scored on a groundout by Carson Feichtner in the fifth to take (3-2) lead. Seneca East responded with two in the top of the sixth on an RBI single by Caden Fritz, who later scored on a passed ball to make it (4-3) Tigers.

Crawford tied it in the bottom of the seventh on an RBI hit by Micah Thomas. They loaded the bases with one out with a walk to Cade Hamilton and Feichtner was hit by a pitch. That set the stage for the final play where Brock Ritzhaupt popped out in foul play, but Thomas tagged an scored on a ball hit 40 feet because no one covered home.

Colonel Crawford coach Dan Gorbett says it was the strangest plays he has been involved in though his hall of fame career. “The number nine hitter Caleb Lohr came up and worked a walk, so that was huge getting the leadoff runner on base and now we have the top of the order. Then they had a ball in the dirt and he was able to get to second. Then our freshman third baseball Micah Thomas got a hit to score him, he had two hits (Monday) night, he had an outstanding game. He advanced on the throw home and we bunt over to third. (With the bases loaded) it was a unique ending to a game with a pop fly in front of the first base dugout that the first baseman catches and the catcher went after it too and nobody is coving home and we scored on an F-3 pop fly, you don’t hear that too often,” said Gorbett.

Seneca East coach Rick Bowerman says they did some good things at the plate, but they allowed the Eagles to have some runs they probably shouldn’t have had. “The game was a battle between two good teams. Crawford’s starting pitcher, Cade Hamilton, struggled a little in the first two innings, so they brought in probably the league’s best pitcher, Drayton Burkhart. I thought we put up a lot of good at bats against him, getting seven hits and three runs. All three runs they scored before the seventh, I thought we could have prevented,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “We let them score on a steal of home with two outs in a first and third situation, outfielders not communicating on where the fence is and we don’t catch a fly ball that turns into a double and an unearned run off an error. You can’t make those little mistakes and beat a great team like Colonel Crawford. Then letting them walk it off on a pop foul to the first basemen, that hurts!”

After Seneca East (9-7,7-3) had taken the lead in the sixth, Gorbett says they got a critical defensive play to stem the tide. “There was a huge play in the sixth inning. They had already scored two and after a base hit to centerfield, Mason McKibben gunned him down at home plate and the ball was right on home plate and Brandon Britt caught it and just put the tag on. When looking at the scheme of things, that was a huge out,” he said.

Bowerman believes they can learn from the loss. “Kudos to Colonel Crawford, there is a reason they are undefeated. Our pitcher, Turner Bridgford, pitched a heck of a game, he battled all game long. I am really proud of how we battled (Monday) night, especially after falling to them 12-1 on Friday. We will learn from our mistakes and strive to get better,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (17-0,12-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the small school division, has also won a game this year when they didn’t get a hit.

Gorbett says they are able to find a way. “I know that is another overused coaching cliché, but there is a lot of truth to that. We usually play good defense, but we were a little shaky (Monday) night and we had opportunities to break the game open, but you have to credit their pitcher, he made the plays and we left some guys stranded,” he said.

Published 4/27/21

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Colonel Crawford Beats Wynford; Stays One Back

Colonel Crawford belted Wynford (10-2) on Thursday evening and the Lady Eagles kept themselves right in the race in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

They are a game behind Bucyrus, tied with Mohawk for second place in the standings.

Coach Sarah Fraser says they had to battle the elements too on Thursday, but they found a way. “We started out kind of slow. Hitting the ball in the air obviously wasn’t going anywhere because of the wind, so we made adjustments and started hitting line drives and made them make plays and we came out ahead,” she said.

Fraser says she was coaching the kids that a day like Thursday was not the best environment to hits home runs. “I think I said down and hard about 2,000 times (Thursday) night. We have been really working on that just as a team in general because we have a pretty hard swinging for the fence team,” she told Swankonsports.com after the win, “You try to get the mental approach a little different instead of visioning the ball going over the fence we are trying to get them to visioning it going through the fence. So, that definitely came into play (Thursday) night for sure.”

In fact, the Lady Eagles Alivia Studer leads the “N10” in homers so far this season.

Colonel Crawford (13-2,9-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com softball coaches poll in the small school division, lost for the first time last Friday when Mohawk beat them (4-1) in a conference game.

Fraser believes they have reacted quite well to that loss and have came back this week and played well. “It definitely took a bit out of us. Last week was a tough week. We had six game in the week but the Friday Mohawk loss we were only halfway through our six games. So, we were mentally and physically exhausted an then we came back and beat a tough Lexington team on Saturday in our second game. It took a bit of mental readjusting and a day off to physically recuperate from last week,” said Fraser.

Published 4/23/21

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Colonel Crawford Grabs Lead

Colonel Crawford railed form a five run deficit to beat Wynford (12-7) Monday evening and take first place to themselves in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

The Royals scored two runs in the top of the first on two hit batsmen, a perfect bunt for a single by Cody Taylor and RBI ground outs by Cainen Allen and Grant McGuire. They added runs scoring hits by Leyton Appleby, Taylor and Spencer Miller to make it (5-0) after an inning and half.

Crawford coach Dan Gorbett says that put his unbeaten team in an unfamiliar position. “We got down 5-0 and I told the kids we have never been in this situation this year, how are we going to respond? I said we can’t expect to get five runs in an inning, we just have to chip away,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “Seven and eight got base hit and nine got a ground ball to get them in. That bottom of the order picked us up there. From that point on it was like everybody started hitting all of the way through the lineup. I thought that was kind of the key, the guys that aren’t supposed to hit picked it up and got us going. We had our backs to the wall and did a nice job coming back. They are good team, they really are, they put the bat on the ball. It will be a tough game Wednesday with them.”

After leaving the bases loaded in the first without scoring, the Eagles got two in their half of the second on a single by Brennan Hamilton, an RBI double by Mason McKibben and an RBI ground out by Caleb Lohr, as numbers seven, eight and nine got them started.

Crawford would take the lead (6-5) with a four spot in the bottom of the fourth with RBI hits by Cade Hamilton, Carson Feichtner, two other runs scored on errors.

The Eagles weren’t done, they got four more in the fifth to take a (10-5) lead on a run scoring hit by freshman Micah Thomas, a sacrifice fly by Feichtner, and a couple more errors.

It became (12-5) in the sixth on back to back singles by Thomas and Cade Hamilton and a sac fly by Brock Ritzhaupt.

Wynford scored a couple in the top of the seventh on hits by Miller and Allen and a RBI double by Dylon Robinson.

Thomas and Cade Hamilton both had four hits on the day. “Micah has really been coming on strong, he had a great game. Cade, they put that shift on, and he put that bunt down there and he had that hit down the line, so he had a really good game,” said Gorbett.

Wynford starter Sam Collene got out of two bases loaded jams and stuck out four Eagles in the first three innings, but coach Tom Smith says beginning in the fourth he got the ball over the middle of the plate. “The strike zone was really tight and his pitch count got up early and when you have to start throwing the ball over the plate they are going to hit you. He just got tired there in the fifth inning and they hit him, they put the ball in play,” said Smith.

Collene gave up 10 hits in going four innings, facing three batters in the fifth.

Drayton Burkhart earned his sixth victory against no losses this year on Monday in going the distance. However, the Royals did reach him for 10 hits on the day. “We were facing the best pitcher in the league and we scored seven runs against him. I think we are good going forward. We have been hitting all year. We are leading the league in batting average and second in runs scored. We have been hitting the ball, so to coming and hit the best pitcher in the league like that. We are hitting the ball fine, the offense is fine,” said Smith.

Burkhart allowed only five hits, three in the seventh, in the final five innings on Monday and Gorbett says he pitched better as the game went on. “I have never seen him hit two batters in a season and he hit two in an inning. He said his hands were slippery and it was a slider and it kind of slipped out of his hands. They scored two runs and the ball never left the infield. So, he had that slow start and the came back and got a couple of more on him. Once we battled back, he picked it up and notch and really finished strong,” said Gorbett.

Colonel Crawford (13-0,9-0), #2 in the first Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll of the season in the small school division, plays at Wynford (11-5,8-1) on Wednesday, if the weather allows. Gorbett says it will be important for them to maintain their slim lead in the conference. “One game at a time. I know that is a cliché, but that was our cheer, 1-0. This will be nice to enjoy tonight, but we have to think of one game leading them because they are just one game behind. That will be a big game,” he said.

Seneca East, who beat Bucyrus (16-0) on Monday, also tails Crawford by a game.

Smith says they want to win at home, just like the Eagles did. “I mean it’s another game, right? Obviously, we want to get a spilt with them. They defended their home field, so we want to come back and defend ours next game,” he said.

Published 4/20/21

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Colonel Crawford Faces Mohawk in Big One

Colonel Crawford shares first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference softball standings with Bucyrus, a game in front of Mohawk, at nearly the halfway mark of the conference schedule.

The Lady Eagles (10-0,7-0) beat Mohawk (6-5) on Wednesday in Sycamore and will host them at Chuck Huggins Field in the rematch on Friday in North Robinson.

Crawford beat New London (13-4) in a non-conference game on Thursday evening.

They are unbeaten on the season overall and coach Sarah Fraser says they have had great consistency so far this year. “That is one thing we have been hammering in. We really make a conscious effort to expect every team is going to be the best team we are ever going to play. So, that definitely helps with the tough schedule,” she told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We have six games this week, after (Thursday) night we are only halfway through. It is definitely grueling for spring sports.”

It’s more of an offensive game that is ever has been, but pitching is still the key in softball and Fraser believes they have two very successful pitchers. “We are fortunate to have our ace in Lauren Frietchen, who has won six big games for us this year and our number two girl Alivia Studer, who was number one two years ago, she pitched (Thursday) night and picked up her fourth win. So, we have been very fortunate to have a very good one, two punch,” she said.

Going into this week, Frietchen had an ERA of 1.13, second on the conference. Studer is also the Lady Eagles leader in home runs and RBI. Mohawk’s Aubrie Harper leads the “N10” in batting average and RBI.

Having won the first game with Mohawk (9-1,4-1), Fraser hopes the home field gives her team a little edge. “I am glad we went up there (Wednesday) and got the win on their turf, so we can bring them to our field. I think the home field advantage will help a little bit, but it’s Mohawk. They are an amazing team and we have got to dig in and play,” she said.

Fraser also played for Colonel Crawford, and very successful it should be added, and she says being at home in North Robinson makes you more comfortable. “As a player I always did. I think a lot of it is you are playing for the people that don’t go to all of the away games. You are playing for that community that really supports you. There is just something about being on Chuck Huggins Field period. So, I hope that will play in our favor,” said Fraser.

Published 4/16/21

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Colonel Crawford Maintains a Share of “N10” Lead

Colonel Crawford stays in first place after recording two victories over Carey in Northern 10 Athletic Conference baseball on Monday and they did it was only two hits over the two games.

In the game that was completed from Friday, Carey’s Ian Yeater threw a no hitter, but the Eagles scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings as the Blue Devils had three errors and won (2-1) behind Drayton Burkhart.

Crawford coach Dan Gorbett says he has never really been through game like that has he has been a coach for a lot of years. He says the goal is to win and that is what they did. “That’s the bottom line. When you win a game with no hits, I don’t think that has happened to me in 30 years as a head coach, but I’ll take it. He just kept us off balance. We didn’t strike out much, he just changed speeds and is a good pitcher even though he doesn’t have that blazing fastball, he did a good job against us,” he said.

Burkhart permitted only four hits and struck out 10 on in game one.

In the second game, the Eagles (8-0,6-0) beat Carey (14-2) and they got only two hits in that game. However, Carey pitchers walked 12 Crawford batters.

Gorbett says they found it tough to get in any rhythm at the plate, but they did what they had to win the game. “We had some sac flies and we did some good things. They were kind of out of pitchers. So, when you get a game where you walk two batters in a row and there are not a lot of strikes being thrown it can be hard to get in your hitting grove,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We had good pitching and great defense in both games and found some ways to score some runs and win and that is the bottom line.”

The Eagles only had one error over the two games.

Colonel Crawford, Wynford and Seneca East all have no losses in the conference so far, the Eagles have played six league games, Wynford five and Seneca East three. Wynford plays Bucyrus and Seneca East hosts Ridgedale in “N10” games on Tuesday, they were rained out on Monday.

Crawford returns to conference play on Wednesday against Mohawk.

Burkhart has won all four of his starts this season, three in conference games against Buckeye Central, Upper Sandusky and Carey, and leads the “N10” in strikeouts.

Gorbett says they have gotten outstanding pitching this spring, including Monday. “Drayton Burkhart came back (Monday) to pitch and he was really sharp. All of his pitches where going. In game two, the Hamilton bothers both pitched well. Cade started and we pulled him, so he would be eligible for Wednesday. His little brother (Brennan) came in and did an outstanding job. So, our pitching was outstanding (Monday),” said Gorbett.

Published 4/13/21

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Colonel Crawford is Unbeaten

Colonel Crawford has gotten off to a fast start to the season and right now they share the lead in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference with Bucyrus and Mohawk.

They play Carey on Friday and Monday and then Mohawk in two games next week in conference play.

Coach Sarah Fraser says she has a bunch of hard workers this spring and that is key. “We are pretty good at every position and ultimately the girls they come in and work. They don’t take any team lightly. They think whatever team we play that night is best team in the area, that’s how they view things. They are workers, they want to be the best and that has definitely helped us along the way,” she said.

The Lady Eagles reached double figures in runs in beating Upper Sandusky twice this week (11-10) and (10-0) and they beat Buckeye Central (19-1), that’s a lot of runs.

Fraser says they have a lot of depth in their batting order. “We are pretty solid one through nine and we have some good speed. We have some great slappers and bunters and we have five, six, seven girls that can hit for power. So, we are very well rounded as far as everything goes. Years ago, when I played it was definitely a base hit game. Whoever had the most base hits scored the most runs or who could put the bunt down and it’s a lot different these days for sure,” said Fraser.

Now, with the meat of their conference schedule remaining, things are going to get tougher for the Lady Eagles. Fraser says they need to continue to get better, especially on defense. “I think defensively we are really going to get tested with Carey coming up and Mohawk and Bucyrus, we have Riverdale coming up and Ridgedale all of the games we have coming up we are definitely going to be defensively tested, so I think we really need to zone in and tune in to our defense and make plays when they need to be made,” she told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We get up in a game and it is easy to relax on defense and have an error here or there, so we really need to focus in and make the plays 100 percent when we need to make them.”

Published 4/09/21

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Colonel Crawford Takes Apart Upper

Colonel Crawford kept its share of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference lead as they torched Upper Sandusky (14-1) in a conference game on Wednesday at Upper.

The Eagles, Wynford, Mohawk and Seneca East are all unbeaten early in the season.

Colonel Crawford (6-0,4-0) plays Carey on Friday in their next “N10” contest.

On Wednesday, Cade Hamilton got the start for the Eagles and coach Dan Gorbett says he was in command. “Cade Hamilton has really made some big jumps from the mound. He was outstanding (Wednesday), four hits and two of them were infield hits, he had eight strikeouts in four innings. We brought in Jake Hoffman to pitch the fifth inning. He had all of his pitches and I think he had one walk, so really happy with is performance,” he said.

When they got in the batter’s box, Gorbett says they have had the best game hitting the ball they have had all spring. “Offensively, early in the season, we were leaving a lot of guys on base and (Wednesday) we were getting key hits, sac flies real good discipline at the plate, we had a lot of walks. With two strikes, we were fouling off those borderline pitches and we would get ball four. Offensively, this was as good as we have looked all year. One through nine we were making things happen,” said Gorbett.

Gorbett has said all season that this team is capable to breaking out offensively and he says that is clearly starting to happen. “I could see the confidence is their eyes when they come up to home plate a little bit more relaxed. I kept telling them hitting is contagious, once we start going, we will be fine and that’s what has happened the last two games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “We actually went down 4-2 and then we came back with like seven rungs in the next inning. That was the first time we were down all year and I was glad to see how we responded. We didn’t like it and went up there and hit the ball and scored seven runs.”

Crawford also plays two against Mohawk next week and Gorbett says they have to continue to hit the ball like they did on Wednesday. “I think we have been counting on our pitching and our defense has been solid. It is hard to put into words, we didn’t have that grit and desire of let’s go get it when it came to scoring runs and offense. I think we have turned the corner there. Hopefully, we can stay hot as (Wednesday) we really looked good,” he said.

Published 4/08/21

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Colonel Crawford Edges Buckeye in “N10” Opener

Drayton Burkhart outdueled Alex Kanney as Colonel Crawford go past Buckeye Central (2-1) in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play on Wednesday evening in New Washington.

Both starters were tremendous, both going the distance. Burkhart allowed only three hits and struck out 10. Kanney walked none and fanned six, permitting seven hits.

Colonel Crawford coach Dan Gorbett says it was a great game featuring two aces. “Two years ago, it seemed like it seemed like Drayton, we never got a whole lot of runs for him and we had a lot of close games and a lot of that is you are facing another good pitcher. (Wednesday) night the kid from Buckeye Central threw a very nice game. He had no walks. We had guys in scoring position and he got out of it. Same with Drayton, twice he had guys in scoring position and he was able to get that third out. It was just a well played game, no errors, everybody battling, it was always a good game when you play Buckeye Central,” said Gorbett.

Buckeye Central (0-4,0-1) has lost three one run games in their first four. Coach Chad Jensen says they know they have potential, they just have to get over the hump. “Our kids played their hearts out. Alex Kanney pitched a heck of a game and our kids never quit. We were down 2-0 in the sixth and Alex doubled and Casey Geissman doubled him in to cut it to one. We had the tying run on in the seventh. We have lost three games by one run, so we are close, but not quite there yet. We are going to keep working to get better,” he said.

The game was scoreless until the fourth inning when Cade Hamilton tripled and scored on a wild pitch. The Eagles second run scored on an RBI hit by Carson Feichtner in the sixth.

Gorbett says they had to show some mental toughness to push a couple runs across against Kanney. “We started out the game with three straight strikeouts and I was like, okay, that usually never happens. Actually, we went one, two, three… one, two, three… one, two, three the first three innings and then we got back to the top of the lineup and we scored our first run,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “With two outs, Cade Hamilton hit a triple and scored on a wild pitch. He mowed us down the first three innings and we hung in there and it’s hard to do that you have to have that mental toughness to hang in there and finally get some runs.”

Gorbett says there was outstanding defense played by both sides too. “Both catchers did a good job. I said he scored on a wild pitch, but it was great base running by Cade Hamilton. The ball like skipped up in the air and just landed outside the dirt and he saw that up in the air and he is fast and he got in there before the pitcher could get there and the catcher didn’t know if he should sprint and tag him or throw and he snuck in there. So, it was really a case of good base running because he kept the ball in front of him. Defensively, our centerfielder made two very good catches that off the bat looked like they were going to be doubles. The defense is so important and under reported,” said Gorbett.

The second game between the “602” rivals will be played Saturday afternoon in North Robinson. It was scheduled for Thursday, but moved due to cold weather.

Published 4/01/21

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Colonel Crawford Looking for Pitchers

Colonel Crawford was expecting to have a very good season in 2020, the high school baseball season that wasn’t, and they should have a pretty good team again this year.

Hall of fame coach Dan Gorbett says they have a level of experience that a lot of other teams don’t have. “We lost a couple of really good players from the 2020 team, but we still have back four guys that lettered as freshmen and two other guys that will be three year lettermen this year. For a year where since we skipped a year a lot of teams will have no varsity experience, we will have players with varsity experience,” said Gorbett.

Experience is often and big plus, but Gorbett says they have not played to the level that he would have hoped quite yet. “It hasn’t showed itself in our scrimmages so far. We are struggling to find our way might now. I guess that’s why you have scrimmages. We have two tough ones with Galion (Tuesday) and Clear Fork on Wednesday. So, we will see where we are at,” he said.

The Eagles play Old Fort on Saturday and Plymouth on Monday in non-conference games to open the season. They first two games in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference will be next Tuesday and Wednesday against Buckeye Central.

Gorbett says they have been able to make the plays in the field, but right now they aren’t hitting. “Defensively we have looked good both in scrimmages and in practice. I think we are going to be a solid defensive team. I thought we would be a much better hitting team that what we have shown. I was talking to the team (Monday) we just need to work harder at it. A lot of times with hitting when it starts it just explodes and you get on a roll. So, hopefully that is where we are at, but so far we have not consistently hit the ball very well, so we need to get better there,” said Gorbett.

Gorbett is confident in a couple of starting pitchers, but he says they are still looking to add some depth to the rotation. “Our first two pitchers have looked strong, but I have only pitched them an inning or two in both scrimmages trying to find three, four, five and six and that has been a struggle,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We have eight kids fighting for those spots and it keeps switching around. In the league you need at least three pitchers. You have your two number ones, but you also need somebody to close and when you have rainouts you need that number three. So, we are still trying to find those people.”

3/23/21

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Willard Hammers Unbeaten Colonel Crawford

After the season they have had it must have felt a little bit like the “Little Bighorn” to the Colonel Crawford Eagles. The Willard Flashes did not ambush them with arrows, but instead with basketballs repeatedly falling through the net.

Trey Paxton buried five three pointers in the first quarter as the Flashes ran to a (23-8) lead and the rout of the previously unbeaten Eagles was on, which included a running clock in the second half, in a (70-48) win in a division III district semifinal on Thursday night at Shelby High School.

They will play Western Reserve for a district title Saturday afternoon. The Roughriders beat Crestview (87-53) in the second semifinal.

Willard coach Joe Bedingfield says they made a lot of shots early and that gave them some confidence. “I thought when you are hitting shots early on it gives a little more confidence. I thought we did a pretty decent job early on of keeping them off the offensive glass and it got us going in transition quite a bit all year really. We did a nice job early on of spacing the floor. That was something we talked about playing with space and pace. I thought Colonel Crawford did such a good job last year of clogging the lane. When you can spread them out a little bit, we could see we were having a little bit of success and other teams had some success against them with that. I thought our kids did a nice job of being patient and looking for gaps,” said Bedingfield.

Willard repeatedly scored in transition and Bedingfield says that is something they have been doing all year. “That is normally how we play. The game plan is not to be set oriented and more space and pace in transition to try and draw Walker out of the lane a little bit more than we did in the past and I thought it really helped early on,” he said.

Myles Pinkston finished with a game high 22 for the Flashes, may of his in transition or on straight line drives to the basket. Paxton had 19.

The second quarter didn’t get any better for the Eagles. Jake Cok’s three with 3:21 left in the half put Willard up 22 at (37-15) and the lead grew to as many as 28 at (43-15) on a Pinkston goal with :17 seconds left in the half.

It cracked the 35 point margin in the second half triggering the running clock.

Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon says the Flashes attacked the game and his kids didn’t. “The bottom line is they were the aggressor form the start and we weren’t. We settled a lot early. Hats off to them. Paxton, we new he had great range. He comes out and hits five threes the first quarter. We didn’t keep them off he offensive glass. We settled at the other end. The one guy that attacked for us was Chase. He was to the foul line 15 times and they beat the heck out of him all night and he kept going and going. Their two players Pinkston and Paxton stepped up in a big game,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “That’s what it comes down to, who is going to step up and those two carried them early and often. By halftime it was out of hand I’ll be honest with you. That is a very good basketball team we knew going in. It’s a tough one to end on, but in basketball that happens. They came out aggressive and they shot lights out. We didn’t guard and we weren’t aggressive at all.”

Chase Walker led the Eagles with 18 points.

Paxton was the one that kept the pressure on Crawford early for his threes, a couple from 25 feet. Bedingfield says he had the green light. “He had a game like that against Margaretta that won us a league championship. We were down 13 there in that game in the third quarter. When Trey feels it, you have got to let him go. I know that would drive a lot of coaches nuts, but it’s a players game and players have got to go win the game. Coaches get a lot of blame when they lose and too much praise when they win. There is no doubt about that. The kids came out ready to play and hit some shots,” he said.

Sheldon says they tried to stop Paxton from getting the ball, but it didn’t work. “The only thing differently we did was we tried to trap their ball screens because he was hitting threes from everywhere. We tried to put Valentine on him with our length, but we didn’t get it contested and he hit big shots for them. I have seen that all year with all of the films you watch. Their big player stepped up in a big game,” he said.

Before the game, Bedingfield called rebounding the basketball the biggest key of the game and the Flashes won that battle too (36-22) by my count, 10 of them on the offensive glass.

Bedingfield says that accomplished a goal. “Our goal is 58 percent of all rebounds and we keep track of that. When we are 58 percent or above on offensive and defensive rebounds it usually equates to a win for us. If you look at our board in our locker room that is a major stat that we keep. We try to harp on that. Colonel Crawford is such an excellent basketball team that had an excellent season. They are kind of reminiscent of what we were last year. Our kids came in and played loose. We talked about coming in an playing loose. They have such a good program. They have been very successful. We try and model a lot of things after that program because Dave and Nate and those guys do such a good job. They have a good core coming back next year and they are going to be tough again. I thought our kids were ready for the challenge,” said Bedingfield.

Published 3/05/21

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Colonel Crawford Faces Willard in Districts

Undefeated Colonel Crawford, of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, locks horns with Willard, the winner of the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, in a division III district semifinal on Thursday night at Shelby High School.

The second game features Western Reserve, the Firelands Conference champ, against fellow conference member Crestview.

Colonel Crawford won the district last season and coach David Sheldon says they have been here before, but so have the rest of the teams. “It has been like that throughout the entire year. Our guys have been through these situations before, but three of the four teams in this district have been in this situation. Look at Willard with their tradition of success, Western Reserve, and Crestview know with John Kurtz turning that program around. All of the teams over there besides Crestview until the new coaching change have been in this. Yeah, we are used to being in this district tournament, but so are the other good teams in this tournament,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (23-0), the outright winner of the “N10”, plays Willard (18-5) in the first semifinal, which tips at 5:30. The Eagles hammered Van Buren (78-44) in their sectional final, their starters didn’t play in the second half. Meanwhile, Willard beat Elmwood (61-45) to win theirs.

Sheldon says the Flashes are obviously very good. “It is a very good basketball team. They have played a very good schedule. They have won their league for a third year in a row. They are very well coached with two of my good friends in coach Bedingfield and coach Hirschy. They have an overall good team. They have multiple options that can score and they defend. It is going to be a grind, but that is what you expect to the district tournament come this time of year,” he said.

Willard likes to push the pace of the, but Sheldon says they do too. “They are very good at getting out and running. They are good in the open floor. They have multiple guys that can do stuff in the open floor, but we like a to get out too, so this should be a fun game for fan to watch,” he told Swankonsports.com, “It is going to come down to they are going to be prepared. Our kids will be prepared and it comes down to kids making plays. That is what it always comes down to when you get to a district tournament.”

Sheldon says this one is going to come down to the end. “That is what is should be when you have good teams. You look at Willard and they are 18-5, that’s a heck of a record with a very good schedule and you look at the success that we have had. It is two good programs traditionally. Their coaches have done at outstanding job. I have the upmost respect for all of the programs in this district tournament and it is going to be a battle no matter who you play during a district tournament and that’s how it should be,” he said.

Published 3/04/21

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Crawford Looking for Quick Start

Colonel Crawford, the top seed in the division III district, will be at home Friday night for Van Buren in a sectional final.

The winner advances to play either Willard or Elmwood in the district semis in Shelby next Thursday.

The Eagles (22-0) completed just their second undefeated regular season in school history with a (71-55) win over Clear Fork last Saturday afternoon.

Coach David Sheldon says they are ready for the second season. “Tournament time is always a special time of the year and we are looking forward to playing for a sectional championship Friday night, it’s our goal number two of the year. We have had a good week of preparation. We found out who we were playing on Wednesday night. Now, we make the grind and make a quick turnaround from Wednesday to Friday on Van Buren,” said Sheldon.

With semifinals not until Wednesday, Sheldon says practice early in the week focused on general principals. “You are looking at some stuff that both teams do throughout those practices. So, you look at some of the stuff they do offensively and defensively and prepare for both a little bit, but not real detailed and then Thursday it is really detailed on the opponent Van Buren,” he said.

Van Buren (3-20) edged Wynford (44-43) on Wednesday night in a semifinal. They come out of the Blanchard Valley Conference.

Sheldon says they a couple of kids that stand out. “First of all, they got a tournament win, so they have a win under their belt. They have a nice post player in (Andrew) Schroeder kid and a good guard, shooter in the (Landon) Miller kid. It is a team that is young, they play no seniors, it’s a young team. They have gotten better as the year has gone on,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “They got a big win over Kalida, who was 16-5 at the time late in the year. Seeing them in person against Wynford they play extremely hard for coach (Tyler) Niekamp. We have to make sure we set the tempo where we need it and create turnovers with our defense, so we can get out and run offensively.”

Being the favorite in the game, Sheldon says they want to establish control early on. “I think it is key to get off to a good start, but it is one possession at a time and hopefully you can string stops. Our defense has been very effective this year and that is going to be a key again Friday night playing against Van Buren,” he said.

Published 2/26/02

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Colonel Crawford Meets Margaretta in Districts

Colonel Crawford, of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, an upset winner in the sectional final last Saturday, takes on Margaretta in a division III district semifinal on Thursday night at Shelby High School.

The other semi has Willard playing Carey in another “SBC” Bay versus “N10” game.

Last Saturday, the Lady Eagles downed the second seed in the district in state ranked Hopewell-Loudon (33-29) to advance.

Coach Kyle Fenner says defense was the difference for them. “It was a good game, our kids really played together, played hard, and we defended. In the game plan we intended to double team Makayla Elmore and control their guards and we did a great job with that all night long. For the most part kept them off the glass. It was just a great night and I was happy for our seniors. It was nice to win a championship,” said Fenner.

Elmore, who is headed to play at Clemson, is the district six coaches association player of the year in division III.

Fenner says they did an outstanding job of quicky doubling her. “We tried to front her and get some backside help from whoever was on the backside. Our guards were pretty quick to the basketball and they got some strips when they got in there. We were kind of lucky they didn’t shoot it very well. That always kind of helps too,” she said.

Margaretta (18-4) punished Bucyrus (87-7) in a sectional semi and then beat Wynford, also of the “N10”, (78-55) in a sectional final in Castalia on Saturday night.

Fenner says this is a team that has a lot of weapons and can light up the scoreboard. “They score a lot of points and they have multiple parts. The (Kylie) Liebacher girl is really good and their point guard Elliana Schaefer is really good, but they have parts around them,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “If they get in the lane or post you up they have kids on the outside that can make shots. They are quick and they are aggressive. It is going to be a test for us. We have got to handle the basketball and we have to keep them off the glass.”

The Lady Eagles (15-9) are again going to count on their defense. Fenner says they have to keep the athletic Margaretta girls in front of them. “We have to play great gap help defense. Just look to control our player. Keep our player in front of us. We have to finish it with a box out we have to keep them off the glass,” she said.

Published 2/24/21

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Colonel Crawford Tangles With Edison

Colonel Crawford, of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, opens the postseason with a division III first round tournament game against Edison, of the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference, on Thursday night in North Robinson.

The “N10” was a very good league this year with the top five teams in the conference, including the Lady Eagles (13-9), going (20-5) in non-conference play.

Coach Kyle Fenner believes that helps their team. “We have played in a very good conference this year. Probably one of the best conferences in the state. We have played Buckeye Central twice, we have played Seneca East twice, Carey twice, Wynford twice, and we have played Shelby in our non-league schedule too. So, we have played some really great teams,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “You hope those help you along the way. Edison is a great team, so hopefully we can fall back on our schedule.”

Tournament experience, and how to handle the one and done pressure, can be big in, especially a tight game. Fenner say they have some of that, but so does Edison. “It is important and we have five seniors that are tournament tested and Kaylyn Risner, a junior, who has played for us since she was a freshman, so we have tournament experience. That’s a good thing, but Edison has it too. They have five seniors too and four of them in the starting lineup. So, we told our kids (Tuesday) when we talked to them they are senior dominated too, so we have to be ready to go,” she said.

Edison (12-8) and the third place team in the Bay Division has a lot of talent. Fenner says mostly their point guard. “They present a lot of challenge. They are led by a very good point guard in Aliyah Caporini, who averages 15, 16 points per game. She is extremely athletic and quick. She was voted last Sunday first team all district. She runs their team and kind of makes them go. So, we have a great challenge of trying to keep her in front of us,” said Fenner.

Published 2/17/21

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Eagles Finish Regular Season with Northmor, Clear Fork

Colonel Crawford wants to finish the regular season unbeaten and they will do that if they beat Northmor and Clear Fork this week.

If the weather does not allow the Northmor game to be played on Tuesday it will be played on Wednesday. The Clear Fork game is Saturday. Both games are in North Robinson.

The Eagles torched two Northern 10 Athletic Conference opponents in Bucyrus (82-37) and Ridgedale (81-34) to finish the conference undefeated last weekend.

Coach David Sheldon says it was a pair of business trips. “To go back to back on the road and get convincing wins was a good showing by our guys because after winning the league championship the weekend before they just came back and went to work and we took care of business like we needed to on the road. It was good at you get to win number 20 with one week to play until we start our second season when we all start 0-0,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (20-0) hosts Northmor (3-14) in what is a homecoming of sorts. The Golden Knights beat Highland (54-47) last Friday in a game in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference.

Sheldon says Northmor will play hard and has some skill. “When you look at Northmor, they have a had a lot of success over the years with some of those special groups. A new head coach was is a former player of mine, I must be getting old, he played on our first regional team in 2009 in Blade Tackett. It is a neat part of coaching when you see some of your former guys now in the possession and being successful. It will be neat to have Blade come back home and he is going to be excited and have those kids fired up,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “The one thing when I have watched Northmor several times on film their kids are playing very hard. They have some really good guards that can shoot it and put it on the floor. They run the dribble drive three around two and have some big kids inside. So, it is going to be a challenge because we are getting everybody’s best shot right now with the success that we have had this year.”

Clear Fork (7-13) plays at Crawford on Saturday afternoon. The Colts are coming off a (52-34) win over Mansfield Madison on Saturday night.

Sheldon says the Colts are physical. “They are coming off a big win last week then they beat Madison by around 20. You look at their scores, they have played with a very tough schedule. They play a lot of people tough. They are going to be a physical basketball team coming over. They have good size and good guard play. It works our good because Clear Fork and us do not play until the following Friday in the tournament, so it will be a very good test for us the last game of the season versus a very well coached team. I think coach (Steven) Bechtel dos a great job over there,” he said.

In an interview last Friday night, we ask Sheldon to comment on the health issues of football coach Ryan Teglovic, who is fighting pancreatic cancer. “It has been a tough month when we got the news. He is a man of faith. He is a great football coach, but he is a better person. His strength is in the Lord and he is fighting every day and going through the chemotherapy already. He is still coming to school when he feels good. The one thing about “Teg” is he is going to fight, he has his whole life. He was a great player at South Central as a multi sport athlete and now a successful coaching career and a unbelievable father and person. His faith is so strong and he is good hands and hopefully we can beat this thing taking it one day at a time. Our community has really stepped up and helped that entire family with anything we can do with food, finical, and that is what makes Colonel Crawford special, we step up when one of our is going through a tough situation,” said Sheldon.

Published 2/16/21

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Colonel Crawford has New Goal

Colone Crawford is the undisputed champion of the Northern10 Athletic Conference and the number one seed in its division III district, but there are other things to accomplish.

They play two conference road games this week with Bucyrus on Friday and Ridgedale on Saturday.

They earned that outright title with wins over Wynford (83-38) and Seneca East (69-48) last week.

Coach David Sheldon says that was goal one. “It is just a credit to our guys to go one game at a time over a long season from the beginning of November until mid-February. They took a one game approach. We were fortunate to string some wins together and to win it outright the first weekend of February when there were still four league games to go. It’s a credit to our players in the way they bought in with we have done on the basketball floor over the course of a season,” he said.

Now, there is a chance to finish the regular season unbeaten and Sheldon says that’s what they have in mind. “Our goal number one was a league championship. Of course, goal number two is a sectional championship, but I told them now you are chasing history,” he told Swankosports.com on Thursday afternoon, “There has only been one team in Colonel Crawford history to go undefeated and that was 1962-63, a team that went 18-0. So, we are already 18-0 and now you try and get to 19-0 this Friday. We talk all of the time how is this team going to leave its mark on the Colonel Crawford basketball program and this group definitely has. Now, they can leave a bigger mark as we finish up the regular season.”

Colonel Crawford (18-0,14-0), #1 in the Swankonports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, makes the short trip to Bucyrus (4-14,2-11) on Friday night. The Redmen beat Galion (47-45) on Tuesday and took talented Mohawk to end Saturday before losing (51-49) to the Warriors.

Sheldon says they have to control tempo. “This is a team that is playing a lot better. If you look at last weekend against Seneca East and Mohawk, they went down to the wire. They have good guard play and spread the floor out. They have some quickness and very good guard play. So, you have to make sure you have good defensive discipline. We need to turn it into an up and down game. With them being disciplined at the offensive end, we have to be disciplined at the defensive end and capitalize at the offensive end on every possession,” he said.

Ridgedale (3-15,2-10) hosts the Eagles on Saturday night.

In the first meeting it was (81-29) Eagles on January 9, but Sheldon says they have had great focus this year. “Anytime is a double league weekend, and we have to go on the road, to Ridgedale, which is a tough place to play. So, our eggs are in the basket for Bucyrus and then Saturday morning we will look at Ridgedale. We have a chance this weekend to get to 20 wins and that would be a great accomplishment by the second weekend of February. This group is just focused, it doesn’t matter if it is a game or it is Monday or Tuesday in practice. They have been really locked in and we have to continue that as we head into the postseason in a couple of weeks,” said Sheldon.

Published 2/12/21

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Colonel Crawford Can Win “N10” Outright

With wins over Wynford and Seneca East this weekend, the Colonel Crawford Eagles will secure their first conference title in six years.

They lead both Mohawk and Upper Sandusky by two games in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference standings.

They put themselves in great position last Saturday by smothering Mohawk (53-38) to pad that cushion.

Coach David Sheldon says again it boiled down to defense for the Eagles. “Over the last two weeks we went through the gauntlet with three of the top teams on paper in our league with Upper, Carey and Mohawk. To go on the road last Saturday was a great win. I think the staple of this basketball team has been our defense. Over the last three games to hold Upper to 42, Carey to 32 and then Mohawk to 38 when those teams are averaging over 60 points a game. I think that’s what did it again on the road,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Offensively in the first half, credit Mohawk with their 2-3 zone and we didn’t make some shots, but in the second half our offense started to take off and we continued the defensive effort, not just the first, but the second half as well. So, it was a good win and you move forward and you put yourself a step closer to a league championship, which we haven’t done since the 2014-15 year.”

Colonel Crawford (16-0,12-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Wynford (3-11,2-9) on Friday night. The Royals have had some issues and have not played since a (77-39) loss to Carey on January 25. Crawford beat them (70-45) on December 19.

It is marks one of Crawford’s longest rivals and Sheldon knows they are going to be fired up to play them. “We know that coach (Steve) Mohr is going to have them prepared. We have to go over to their place and we have never played in their new gym. The thing is with the success we are having everybody is going to get up to play us right now to finish the regular season. So, we have to bring it every night. We have seen that throughout the year we are going to get everybody’s best shot. Wynford has had some injuries as of late, but I know they are getting guys back. Those kids are going to come out and compete hard. It will be a tough road game and it always has been a great rivalry over the years,” he said.

Seneca East (9-7,5-6) gave the Eagles a tough game first time round before losing (64-60) on December 30.

Sheldon says they can put guys on the floor that can score. “This is a very good basketball team. They have four guards that can flat out score. Coach (Mike) Powers is doing a great job letting them play. They get up and down. They play fast and then they have two athletic posts inside that they rotate. With those four really good guards they can score the basketball. The first time we had a tough time stopping them offensively and it was a close game at their place. It is a good game for us Saturday night when Seneca East comes over. Our goal now is to lock up a league championship. The goal is to win it outright. We have put ourselves in a good position, but you can’t stumble along the way to win an “N10” championship for this year,” said Sheldon.

The Crawford coach says league titles should be cherished because they are very hard to earn. “I think a league title is really tough to win because you have to maintain it over a 16 game schedule in our league with nine league teams. We have won nine straight sectional championships, but that is one or two games. A league championship is tough mark of the course of the season, especially when you look at the some of the great teams in our league with Mohawk with 12 wins, Upper with 10, and Carey with 11, it is a very challenging league. Seneca East is right behind them with nine wins. So, it is a credit to this group of guys. It is a tightknit group that has really bought into both ends of the floor and what needs to be done successfully. They are locked in, they have high goals. When you are lead by seniors and juniors. With the success we have had they are just trying to carry it on and win a league championship for the first time in six years,” said Sheldon.

Published 2/03/21

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It’s Hammer Time for Crawford

Colonel Crawford has a two game lead in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference standings over Mohawk and Upper Sandusky and they have a chance drop the hammer on Saturday night as they play at Mohawk.

They pushed Carey three games back with a (45-32) win at home against the Blue Devils last Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says they had to be tough and they were. “Especially on the defensive end to see what we did. It was a battle and they are very athletic and strong and they presented problems. We still don’t have our post player 100 percent in Chase Walker and he fought through it. He said, coach I can rebound, I can defend, but I don’t know if I can score. We toughed it out at the end of January to get that win and it’s big because it is one of the better teams in our conference if you look at their record. So, I was proud of our guys, especially coming off the big win Thursday against Upper to follow it up Saturday. This time of year you look at round one and we only beat them by three and to get a 13-point win, you like to see than kind of improvement,” said Sheldon.

Unbeaten on the season, this it is a team getting it done at both ends and Sheldon says their offensive execution has been improving. “Our defense has been solid all year, but our offensive end has gotten so much better. We knew the three with Valentine, Studer and Walker, but our other guys have stepped up and played roles and they are scoring in ways that they can,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I just think it makes you tougher to guard, especially when teams are trying to take away those three we have guys stepping up and making shots, which is a total team effort and it is a credit to all eight guys that we play night in and night out.”

Colonel Crawford (15-0,11-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays over at Mohawk (12-3,8-2) on Saturday night. The Warriors have won nine of their last 10, including a (59-41) win against Buckeye Central on Saturday.

The Eagles won the first meeting (56-53) in North Robinson on December 18.

Sheldon says they have good versatility on offense and play a very effective 2-3 zone. “It’s a very good basketball team. They have five guys that can make threes, they have five guys that can put it on the floor, they are a tough match up. I have always said Paul Dunn has installed a great 2-3 match up zone that they play night in and night out like nobody else around that we play against. So, it’s a good basketball team. We have to go on the road and the first time it was only a three-point game. It is definitely going to be a challenge when you look at Mohawk,” he said.

It’s either a two game lead on the field or Mohawk closes to one. Sheldon says they realize the importance of this game. “Mohawk is definitely playing to stay in the race. Our league schedule is very top heavy with some of the better teams. When you look at us having to play Upper, Carey and Mohawk all in a row. This is a three game stretch that is a gauntlet that we went through early in the season. Here it is Saturday night, so they are playing for a lot, we are trying to win an outright league title, so it’s a big game for us as well. So, we are looking forward to the opportunity to play and it will be a challenge,” said Sheldon.

Published 1/27/21

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Colonel Crawford Tangles With Seneca East

Colonel Crawford will be at home in North Robinson for Seneca East in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference girls’ basketball game on Tuesday night.

The Lady Eagles have won four their last six, but they did lose (53-40) to Wynford on Friday night in their last game.

Coach Kyle Fenner says they have the ability to do a lot of good things and play well, but they must be more consistent. “There are times that we play that we are really good. We can get our fast break going. We can get on defense going. We can shoot the ball really well,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “There are times when that doesn’t happen. We just have to learn to be more consistent and do it 32 minutes a night. When we do that, we could be really good. We just have to figure out how to do it all of the time.”

Colonel Crawford (9-6,7-5) plays hosts to Seneca East (9-4,6-3) on Tuesday night. It’s the first meeting of the season between the two squads. The Lady Tigers beat Bucyrus (73-11) on Friday and Wynford (39-25) on Saturday.

Fenner says they have good players all over the court. “Seneca East is really, really good. They have guards. Jessica Bowerman is one of the best guards in our league. Makenna Depinet is really good. Then they have the two bigs inside in Alexis Hicks an Amelia Boes, and they are just really, really good too. We are going to have to be at the top of our game. We are going to have to handle their ball pressure. We are going to have to be really physical with them,” said Fenner.

Bowerman (12.5 ppg) is the third leading scorer in the conference.

Now, Seneca East has played some low scoring games this year, but Fenner feels they will push the pace against them. “We are expecting them to come with full court pressure and half court pressure. They like to get the ball off the glass and run it up and down the floor. I don’t think they are going to try and slow it down against us,” she said.

Colonel Crawford’s leading scorer Allison Teglovic is the daughter football coach Ryan Teglovic, who a couple of weeks ago was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and is undergoing treatment. Swankonsports.com offers prayers to the entire Teglovic family for a speedy recovery and encourages all of our readers to do the same.

Published 1/26/20

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Colonel Crawford Tries to Protect Lead

Colonel Crawford leads the Northern 10 Athletic Conference standings by a game over Upper Sandusky and they host the Rams in a huge conference game Thursday night in North Robinson.

Crawford is playing excellent basketball as is evidenced by their (91-31) destruction of Buckeye Central in an “N10” game on Saturday night.

It was an all around effort on both ends, according to coach David Sheldon. “Offensively and defensively we really played well. We put five guys in double figures and a sixth guy had eight points. All eight guys contributed all night defensively to hold them to 31 points. So, it was just an all around good effort by our team because that is a much improved Buckeye team like I talked about last week. So, we were happy with our performance to go on the road and do what we did it was a good start to the second round,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (13-0,9-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at home for Upper Sandusky (10-4,8-1), #5 in the large school poll, on Thursday night. The Rams beat Mohawk (63-47) on Friday and Wynford (56-44) on Saturday in conference games as part of a four game winning streak.

The Eagles won the first meeting (70-44) on December 10, but Sheldon says this is a better Upper team they are facing this time. “They have two of the premiere bigs in the league with (Trent) Beamer (14.4 ppg) and (Gavin) Carey (16.4 ppg) and then they have great shooters around them, especially the (Cade) Adams kid (14.8 ppg). I think this is a totally different team than we played back in December,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They were shut down in the preseason, in November, with quarantine and all of that and Adams was hobbling with a bad ankle. This is a very good basketball team. They have a tradition that coach (Jeff) Winslow has begun over there and they are continuing it. It’s going to be a war. It’s like I said a very good basketball team and it is going to be a challenge come Thursday night.”

With the two big kids, Sheldon says the Rams are running some different things they will have to defend on Thursday. “He is running a lot more of high-low. In the past they ran their freelance and he is still running freelance, but they are looking to utilize their two big who are averaging double figures, but they have good guards around them as well that can hurt you too. It is a complete basketball team and we have the upmost respect for them. It is definitely going to be a battle,” he said.

A win for Colonel Crawford would give them a two game lead in the conference standings, but Sheldon says it’s too early to be talking about titles. “We have put ourselves in a good spot, but so has Upper Sandusky. They have ran the table since we have played them and they are playing for a league championship as well. You still have teams a game or two back as well. It is only game two of the second round, so this thing is far from being over. It’s an important basketball game. You have two good programs in Upper Sandusky and Colonel Crawford,” he said.

Published 1/20/21

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Colonel Crawford Plays Confident Buckeye Central

Northern Ten Athletic Conference leader Colonel Crawford plays at Buckeye Central on Saturday night in a conference game.

So far, the Eagles have won all 12 of their games and coach David Sheldon says they have had great focus this season. “With the start we have got off to we have had great focus every day in practice. This is a big stretch coming up. We have got four of the top teams in our league in the next four games over the next two and half weeks. So, I think our guys are locked in. We always say you don’t win a league championship in the first round, but you can put yourself in a good situation and we have put ourselves there after playing everybody once. Now, we are the hunted and we know we are going to get everybody’s best shot starting this Saturday with a very, very good Buckeye Central team. I think it is probably the most improved team in our league with what they are doing on the floor this year,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (12-0,8-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays up the road at Buckeye Central (5-6,3-4) on Saturday night. The Eagles won the first game (61-42) on December 5 in North Robinson.

Sheldon says they Bucks believe in what they are doing. “I just think they are playing with a lot confidence. They have five guys averaging over seven points, some eight to 11. They have really bought into the culture of Tom Howell. It was a young group last year and now they are a little bit veteran and those kids have played varsity basketball and they are really buying in,” he toild Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “This is a tough game going over to Buckeye. They played Mohawk to a one point game. They were up on Carey until late and it was a five point game. They have played everybody tough and right there with a couple of minutes to go. I just think they have a lot of confidence and when kids have confidence that goes a long way on the basketball floor with what they are doing throughout this year.”

Buckeye tends to want to play at a more deliberate pace and Sheldon says they want to force tempo a little more. However, they are comfortable in the half court too. “The nice thing about our team is we can play both ways. Yeah, we want to play at a quick pace, but we also play in the half court if we don’t have something when we get out in transition. So, we definitely want to turn up the pace, but we can play the other way. We have shown that throughout the year that we can play both ways depending on the opponents we play. We definitely want to play at a quick pace with the scoring and the different things. I think what we have learned over the last few weeks is we have other guys step up other than Carter Valentine, Mason Studer and Chase Walker and that’s been a big thing. Over the Christmas break we have other guys make shots on the offensive end and that has been good. Plus, we have been able to maintain our good defense that we have been playing,” said Sheldon.

Published 1/14/21

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Colonel Crawford Faces First Place Buckeye Central

Colonel Crawford travels up Route 602 Friday night to meet unbeaten Buckeye Central in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference girls’ basketball game.

Buckeye leads the league standings, while Crawford stands in a share of third two games back.

After some COVID issues in Mid-December, the Lady Eagles won two of their three games during the holidays.

Coach Kyle Fenner thinks they came through those two weeks in pretty good shape. “We came through as well as we could. We got a really good win to start the holidays off over Wynford, which is always good. We got some games cancelled. Seneca East went into quarantine the day that we were supposed to play them, so we picked up Shelby and played Shelby at their place, which we got beat and beat up a little bit, but it was a good game for us and the speed of the game is going to help us out as they year goes on,” she told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We played a really pretty good Ridgedale team on Saturday and came out of that game victorious. So, it was a pretty good holiday, but with COVID you just never know if you are going to get to play or what is going to happen, so you kind of hang in there and take it day to day.”

Colonel Crawford (5-2,3-2) plays at Buckeye Central (9-0,8-0) on Friday night. Buckeye’s last two games are off the charts. They beat a petty good Carey team (77-31) on Saturday and a not so good Bucyrus team (79-11) on Tuesday night.

Fenner says their personnel jumps off the charts. “They have everything. They have three guards in Taylor Ratliff, Claudia Pifher, an Emily Siesel who are really, really good. They can score in a lot of ways, they can shoot the three, they can put it on the floor and attack, so they are hard to guard. They have (Julia) Evak inside. They have just got other role players that can just make shots. You concentrate so much on the guards that those kids are good enough to just stand and make shots. It’s a hard matchup, they are a really good team,” said Fenner.

Pifer leads the “N10” in scoring (18.9 ppg) and Ratliff, their senior leader, gets (12.8 ppg) this year.

The first time these two played on December 1 in North Robinson, Buckeye won (56-45) in what was the first conference game of the season for both.

All season, but especially over the last couple games, Buckeye Central has scored points in bunches. Fenner says they can’t allow that to happen on Friday night. “The other thing that they do really well is they really get up and guard you. They play great defense and they get up in your face and they challenge you to handle the basketball and put the ball on the floor and to make good decisions and to score with it. We have to make sure we handle that and don’t turn the ball over and take good shots and we have to make some shots too,” she said.

Published 1/08/21

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Colonel Crawford Must be at its Best

Colonel Crawford leads the basketball standings in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference as we head for the halfway marker and they play at home against Ridgedale on Saturday night.

On Tuesday night, they downed Plymouth (64-43) in a non-conference game.

Considering all of the factors, coach David Sheldon says it was a solid performance. “We got off to a great start, got out double figures, then went through a little lull, and then picked up again. It was a week night game and we are back in school full time and on the road and to go over and get a 20 some point win, that’s a good night. I am proud of my guys. We have been fortunate. If you look at the Mansfield area we have probably played as many games as anybody getting 11 in. You are in the dog days of January, I always call them, in the mist of COVID. Now we jump back into league play come Saturday night.” he said.

The Eagles lead both Upper Sandusky and Mohawk by a game in the standings and Sheldon says they have to keep their focus. “This is the last game of the first round. You always say you don’t win a league championship in the first round of play, but you put yourself in good position. So far, we have put ourselves in a good position,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “This is the last one in the league in the first round. There are a lot of great teams that we had close games with the first time and it is not going to be an easy haul. Our number one goal every night is to take care of whoever is next. Ridgedale is the next in line. That is a very important game come Saturday night.”

Colonel Crawford (11-0,7-0) entertains Ridgedale (2-7,1-5) on Saturday night. The Rockets lost to Buckeye Central (53-41) last Saturday.

Sheldon says Ridgedale has some experience and elements that make up a good team. “They have good size inside. With (Michael) Burns and (Alec) Gordon they have good size inside at 6’4” and 6’4” and then they have the (Adam) Beard kid that can shoot it. They have four returners that started last year for them. They have had an up and down season so far. I think the one thing is with the success that we have gotten off to we are getting everybody’s best shot. So, with everybody we play we have to bring it every night because we are getting everybody’s best shot whoever we are playing no matter what is says on their jerseys,” said Sheldon.

Published 1/07/21

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First Place Colonel Crawford Takes on Seneca East

Colonel Crawford is the only unbeaten team in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play this year and they return to league action on Wednesday night with a visit to Seneca East to try and tame the Tigers.

Right now, the Eagles lead both Upper Sandusky and Mohawk by a game in the standings. They have beaten both of those teams in first round games.

Last week, they downed Clyde (60-51) in a non-conference game.

Coach David Sheldon says it was a big win against a bigger school. “It was a good non-league win, that was a very good opponent and we got a nice lead and they made a run, which all good teams do, but we withstood the run and then had a very good fourth quarter. It’s a solid win because they have five guys on the floor that can play. It’s a very good basketball game, very well coached and it was a good win before Christmas. So, I was very pleased with our guys. You like to be challenged with some of those non-league games and that was a very good one against a very good Clyde team on last Wednesday night,” he said.

Carter Valentine leads the “N10” in scoring this year, but Mason Studer and Chase Walker are also double figure scorers for the Eagles.

Sheldon says that balance and team chemistry have been big keys to their success. “We have three guys averaging double figures and we have had other guys step up and have six, eight, 10 points in a game and that is a good thing to have. The good thing is we have some bigs and some guards, so depending on how teams look to approach us we try and attack to see what the best advantage is. The great thing about this basketball team is the togetherness. They just want to win. It doesn’t matter who scores, they just want to win. That’s the key to team sports, they just want to go out and compete and win every night we take the floor. We have been fortunate so far with our unselfishness night in and night out,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (8-0,5-0) plays at Seneca East (4-2,2-2) on Wednesday night. The Tigers buried Bucyrus (78-49) last Saturday. Mike Powers, a former Wynford assistant, is his first year as the head coach.

Sheldon says the Tigers can score points. “They are very good offensively. They have three guards averaging double figures. Their guard play is very, very good. They get out and run. They run the floor really hard and they shoot it very well. They shoot 38 percent behind the three point line,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “They have a lot of weapons, so we are going to have to guard them in transition and in the half court because they are very good. This is a very good senior class that has come through and been good an playing extremely hard for coach Powers.”

Sheldon adds that when you are in first place you are going to get everybody’s best. “So, it’s going to be a challenge going on the road. You are back into league play. We have put ourselves in good position so far in the first half of the first round. Every night out there is an “X” on your back right now with where we have positioned ourselves. So, it’s going to be a tough battle, but we are looking forward to going out and competing against Seneca East on Wednesday night,” he said.

Published 12/30/20

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Colonel Crawford to be Tested by Clyde

Colonel Crawford faces one of its biggest challenges yet this season as they host division II Clyde of the Lake Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference on Wednesday night in a non-conference game.

It was a tremendous weekend for the Eagles as they beat Mohawk (56-53) on Friday and Wynford (70-45) on Saturday to take first place to themselves in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

Coach David Sheldon says those were big wins for his ballclub. “Friday night was a dogfight that is a very good Mohawk team as you could see on Saturday night they went on the road, back to back road games, and won at Carey by double figures. It was a great win for us, it was a game of runs back and forth, and we were fortunate enough to make the last run and come away with a good win against a senior dominated with the three really good guards,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Saturday, you don’t want a let down and we got off to great start against Wynford and I thought our defense caused some offense. Anytime you can get back to back league wins early in the season that is a good start in the long haul of a league schedule.”

Colonel Crawford (7-0) hosts Clyde (2-1) on Wednesday night. The Fliers earned a (56-50) win over Sandusky in Lake Division play on Saturday night.

Sheldon says this is an athletic team with a tremendous amount of toughness. “This is a very good basketball team coming down here Wednesday night. You look at their guards with (Jaden) Cook and (Shane) Holman, they are very, very good and they have other guys around them in the (Brady) Wilson kid, and (Caden) Berger and the (Grant) McMaster kid inside. The word in Johnny Marshall is coming back, that’s what we keep hearing, who is a great athlete that they put on the floor. When you think of Clyde, you think of tough kids. You think of that great football program that Ryan Carter has going on, these are tough kids. So, it is going to be a great non-league test to see how we match our toughness versus a good Clyde team. They have very good skill with their players,” said Sheldon.

This is a game that Colonel Crawford just picked up last week and Sheldon says these are the kind of non-conference games they want to play. “These are the kind of games that you want non-league. I always say non-leagues prepare you for district tournaments if you schedule really good teams and this is what we want to see what we have to do to get better against a really good basketball team. I know our kids are excited to play a very good team that’s very well coached. Watching Clyde they run good stuff offensively and defensively, so we are looking forward to getting a chance to play again before Christmas,” he said.

Published 12/23/20

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Colonel Crawford Off to Solid Start

Colonel Crawford has won its first five games of the season, including two big ones last week, and they face a tough double weekend on Friday and Saturday in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play with Mohawk and Wynford.

Last week, they belted to Upper Sandusky (70-44) on Thursday and got past Carey (53-50) on Saturday, both on the road.

Coach David Sheldon says to be able to go on the road like that and get two wins was huge for them. “Saturday was a very good win for us. That is a very good Carey basketball team and on the road up there and they are tough kids. I was really happy with the way we came out and played. It was a close game at the end and we were able to pull it out, so it was a good road win. I compare last week to like a district tournament going Thursday-Saturday on the road to two very good programs in Upper Sandusky and Carey. So, it was a good start to the season, but we have a long haul to go. You have to move on to the next game now,” he said.

Sheldon says they have played very well on both ends of the floor during the first five games. “I think number one is the defensive end. We have been very good at the defensive end, half court defense and what we want to do game to game depending on who we are playing. Our physicalness on the basketball floor has helped with the way we guard people and that is where it starts,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “Offensively, we have had great production from three guys in Chase Walker, Carter Valentine, and Mason Studer, and our role players around them have hit some big shots throughout the last couple of games as well. Guys have bought in. The togetherness and understand what we want to do every possession offensively has been good. We have no selfishness, we know what our roles are and we define that every year. We are big in defining roles and we have had guys step up and buy in at the varsity level with guys to replace from last year.”

Colonel Crawford (5-0,3-0) entertains Mohawk (3-1,2-0) in “N10” play on Friday night. The Warriors edged Buckeye Central (43-42) on Saturday night, they share of the conference lead with the Eagles. Mohawk beat Riverdale (64-58) in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

Sheldon says they have great guard play. “It’s a good basketball team. They have a lot back from last year. Last year, we had a two point game. It starts with their three guards in (Austin) Tusing, (Tyler) Hayman, and (Landan) Snyder. Then they have the 6’4” kid (A.J.) Hess, who is very good for a sophomore. He can step out and shoot the three and he can put it on the floor. It’s a very good offensive basketball team. At the defensive end they are a staple of a 2-3 zone. They play it as good as anybody we play on our schedule. They play a very good 2-3 zone, they are very active in it. You have to be able to attack the zone on the offensive end,” said Sheldon.

Wynford (0-1,0-0) plays at Colonel Crawford on Saturday night in conference play. The Royals has been on quarantine and return to action on Friday night against Ridgedale.

Sheldon reminds that this is an experienced team. “You look at the Wynford roster they have lot back. Of course, they lost an All-Ohioan, and one of the best ever to play at Wynford, in Josh Crall, but they have a lot of varsity experience. When you look at (Dustin) Brady, (Jaron) Filliater, (James) Schiefer, (Gavin) Burris, those are four guys that played a lot of basketball. You know they are going to be well coached with coach (Steve) Mohr. They are going to be chomping at the bit to play. They have played Old Fort and the night before us they play Ridgedale. So, it is always a rival, Wynford-Crawford, and you know it will be a good basketball game when they come over here Saturday night,” said Sheldon.

Published 12/16/20

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Crawford Plays Good Again Upper

Colonel Crawford travels to Upper Sandusky for a key early season battle in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Thursday night.

These have been the most consistent programs in the “N10”.

The Eagles (3-0,1-0) beat Buckeye Central (61-42) last Saturday in their conference opener.

Coach David Sheldon says they got things going in the second half. “Credit Buckeye for playing a really good half and in the second half we defended a lot better and we got off to a great offensive start as well. We are just happy to get three games in at this point never knowing what tomorrow is going to bring as you see daily with games right now,” he said.

With the COVID-19 pandemic being such a major factor in this basketball season, Sheldon says they are just pleased to be playing. “We are just happy to go in the gym whether it is practice or game you just control what you can control. You never know what tomorrow is going to bring currently with the situation that we are in. Our guys have done a good job of keeping focused on the things we can control and that’s all you can do right now. You have to be able to adjust on the fly,” he said.

Colonel Crawford plays another tough team on the road on Saturday when they travel to Carey.

Upper Sandusky (1-0,0-0) beat Galion (64-47) last Wednesday in non-league action in their only game this tear so far.

Sheldon says this is just another solid Upper basketball team that defends really well. “We have got to see them once because they were in quarantine and stuff in the preseason then they lost some games. When you look at Upper the thing that sticks out is they defend you. Coach Winslow’s defensive scheme is the same they are going to pressure you full court, they are going to get into you in the half court, and they have two really good bigs on the inside with (Trent) Beamer and (Gavin) Carey and the (Cade) Adams kid shoots the lights out of it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “It is a very good basketball team. They have developed a tradition over there and it is going to be a tough contest on the road on Thursday night.”

With the presence of the big kids this year, Sheldon says Upper has adjusted the way they run their offense a little bit. “They have always posted people up, they have had great athletes over there over the years and they have posted people and they definitely look to utilize the bigs. At times they will go three around two, which they haven’t done in the past, but they are doing that because they have two bigs. So, it’s a very good basketball team and they have shooters around the bigs as well. It’s a program that over the last several years has been the top of the “N10”, so we have our hands full going on the road Thursday night,” said Sheldon.

Published 12/10/20

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Colonel Crawford With Big One Against Carey

Two of the contenders in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference face off on Tuesday night as the Colonel Crawford Lady Eagles host Carey in a conference game.

Crawford (3-1,1-1) beat Upper Sandusky (48-36) last Friday.

They were behind by three after the first quarter, but coach Kyle Fenner says they started to put thing together in the second quarter. “It is always a tough place for us to go up there and play, so it was nice to go up there and get a win. They were really, really physical. They are a physical team, they are a big team. We didn’t play very well in the first quarter, but we kind of got it together and got on a little run through the second and third quarters. We were happy to get out of there and get a win,” she said.

Allison Teglovic had 18 in the win for the Lady Eagles.

Carey (1-0) is coming off a two week quarantine, but they return almost everybody form a team that went (17-8) last year and appeared in the district tournament.

Fenner says they are especially good in the post. “We know that everybody is coming back for them. They only lost one girl off the bench. Their entire starting lineup is back. They are pretty big, they are physical, they are athletic, they have two really good posts in Sadie Arend, who was first team all league last year, and Avarie Stewart is another really good post for them. We have our work cut out for us, we have to be at the top of our game (Tuesday) night,” said Fenner.

To win on Tuesday night, Fenner says her kids must compete on the boards, make some outside shots and feature more balanced scoring than they have been getting. “We need to control the glass. We have to keep their bigs off the glass. Our guards have to help out with that. We need to run and get some points in transition. The other thing that is important for us too is we have to make some shots,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “We lost to Buckeye Central in a big game. We didn’t shoot it very well from behind the arch. I think it is important (Tuesday) night that we make some shots. We have to get scoring from everybody. It can’t just come from one or two people. Everybody has got to contribute some shots.”

Published 12/08/20

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Colonel Crawford Faces New Look Buckeye Central

Colonel Crawford embarks on its Northern 10 Athletic Conference schedule on Saturday night when they host Buckeye Central on at Mac Morrison Gymnasium.

Last time out, the Eagles rallied in the fourth quarter to beat Western Reserve (43-39) in a non-conference game.

Trailing for most of the game, the Eagles took the lead in the final minute of contest. Coach David Sheldon says they just made more shots against tough defense in that final stanza. “We made some shots in the fourth quarter. A lot of that credit goes to Western Reserve, they played great defense. They are very good defenders, they lock you down. It’s hard to run stuff against them and a lot of that goes to them. Fortunately, last Saturday night we made some shots in the fourth quarter and we were able to come out on top,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (2-0,0-0) is at home for Buckeye Central (1-1,0-0) on Saturday night. The Bucks beat Plymouth (50-46) last Friday and lost to Crestline (49-39) on Saturday.

Buckeye has a new coach in Tom Howell and Sheldon believes he and the players are still getting used to each other a little bit. “It’s a transition. You have a new coach in Tom Howell, who has been a very successful coach over the years. I have the upmost respect for what he did at New London for many years. I think it is tough for a new coach, he is implementing a new system. He didn’t get a summer to play against other people,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “I got to see them play twice against Plymouth and Crestline and they are playing really hard. You see a lot of things you saw from New London kids when Tom was there. They have a lot of kids returning from last year. It’s always a rival, 602, with Colonel Crawford and Buckeye, and we are just looking forward to the opportunity to get out there and compete again.”

Sheldon says when you play against a Tom Howell coached team you are going to see a lot of different looks on defense. “He changes up defenses. He will go man to man, they will play 2-3 zone, they will go 1-3-1, he throws a lot of different looks at you. Tom has always been a one to change up defenses depending on what you see each time down the floor,” he said.

Published 12/02/20

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Colonel Crawford Tougher in Win

Score the first fight for the older brother, but there may be more, and the next one may come in the division III tournament this season.

Elder brother David’s Colonel Crawford Eagles rallied to beat younger brother Chris’s Western Reserve Roughriders (43-39) in a non-conference boys’ basketball game on Saturday night in North Robinson.

“I feel really bad for (Chris) and his team. I have been on that bus going home after a loss and it’s not easy,” said the 44-year-old David Sheldon.

Trailing (23-12) at the half, junior point guard Mason Studer scored 15 of his game high 17 points in the second half and Drayton Burkhart nailed two three pointers in the fourth quarter to rally the Eagles (2-0) to the win.

Burkhart’s three form the right wing with :58 left gave Crawford its first lead (41-39) since it was (2-0) in the early moments of the game. Chase Walker after blocking a shot and muscling in a tough rebound on the Western possession canned two free throws close it out.

David Sheldon believes in was the defensive end that turned the tide for his team. “It doesn’t help when your point guard picks up two fouls and we got out of sync early with the two charge calls, which were great calls. In the first half physically we got knocked off spots, and I was disappointed because this is a physical basketball team. At halftime we talked about we have to be willing to put the ball on the floor. The big two (John) Skrada and (Luke) Rowlinson are all district, great players, going to play in college and in the second half I thought Studer and “C.V.” (Carter Valentine) really stepped up and made big plays and I thought defensively did a great job. They took a lot of shots and we just wanted to challenge them they are so good. I know they have 12 each, but to make them make shots over us all night. I’m just proud of our kids, we are down 14, 15 at one time, down 12, and we talk about, and that great program over there, talks about one possession at a time and we just got stops. We talk about stop, score, stop a lot and we got stops the second half and finally put the ball in the basket and we go from 12 points to 43 and we made some shots in the second half,” said David.

Western Reserve led by as many as 15 in the first half (23-9) but let it slip away. Chris Sheldon, three years younger than his brother, says they got nervous when the game was there to be won. “They are tougher physically and mentally. Our best player goes 5-20. You can’t be the best player on the floor and go 5-20, I don’t care what they are doing to you defensively. I thought outside of John Skrada, he was the only one willing to make a play. We had role players that were scared and nervous in the moment. We look at their role players and they stepped up and hit big shot after big shot after big shot. You talk about mental toughness, their point guard Studer had the ball to the fount of the rim anytime he wanted it and when he didn’t score, he got to the free throw line. The big kid Chase Walker just said nobody is going to box me out and I am going to go get it off the glass all night long and then he steps up an ices the game with 1.8 to go,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “So, the bottom line is they were way tougher than us mentally more so than anything else. You have an opportunity with a double digit lead that is not supposed to happen. Their kids didn’t quit and our kids started to question their ability to seal the deal and when you start to do that, it starts to unravel, and the momentum swings like that, you get beat.”

Skrada and Rowlinson both had 12 to the lead the Roughriders (1-1) in the scoring column, but only three of Rowlinson’s total came after halftime.

The Eagles are trying to replace two all-state players from last year and David Sheldon says this was kind of a grand opening for this group of players. “This is the first big game this group has played in. When you lose two All-Ohioans, two 1,000 point scorers, you have guys that averaged five, six, and the big guy fellow inside. Western did a great job on Chase (Walker), they were doubling him. The thing about Chase is he never lost his composure and was a great passer out of the post for us and that is the sign of a good player. He trusted him teammates and the bottom line the second half we made shots,” he said.

Chris Sheldon feels it was a night for Rowlinson, Skrada and Jude Muenz to carry the team and that didn’t happen. “We really only have three guys back. With our two other letter winners still hurt from football, Skrada rose to the occasion. Muenz was solid, but was in foul trouble all night an obviously him fouling out that hammered us a bit. Sometimes you win or lose because of your players, your best players play really well you win, your best players don’t play well you lose. Our best player, he would like this one back. The good thing is it is game two and it is not for a district championship. So, we are going to be able to walk away and learn a lot from this and we are going to find out the next time we get to play them in a district tournament whether or not we can answer the bell and seal the deal better than we did this time,” he said.

Studer seemed to be involved in every important play in that pivotal fourth quarter when the Eagles outscored the Riders (20-8) whether it scoring on the outside, the inside or getting the ball into the hands of a teammate. “Mason Studer is a tough kid let me tell you, he is hard nosed, tough, will run throw a wall. I think I yelled at him a little bit the first quarter and he is one of the toughest competitors that I have ever coached. He is tough in practice, just like he is on game night. He is tough on players around him, he wants to make everybody great, and he wants to be a leader. I thought the second half he willed us and “CV” hits some shots too. I’ll tell you Drayton Burkhart hits a big three for us. He can shoot it. He shot it terrible our first game and on Thanksgiving night he is in here shooting in the gym. We had guys in here Thanksgiving night, they said, coach we have go to get in here and shoot. We have been dealing with the football playoff run and the quarantines. He hit the shot to give us the lead. That’s a role player making some big shots,” said David.

Walker, who was the division VI district defensive player of the year this fall for the Eagle football team that the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and lost only one game, had 10 points and 11 rebounds.

David Sheldon says Walker was determined to be a difference maker on the defensive end when it counted most. “You look at that least possession and there is 37 seconds and we making it tough on Skrada and Rowlinson and they take a tough shot and Chase just says I am going to go get this rebound and then the big fellow makes two free throws to ice it at the end. When Chase steps between the lines he is going to go after it. He had some big rebounds all night. He ended up with 10 points and he gets double figures getting double teamed and pushed. Chase is a four year letterman and you expect that,” he said.

The Roughriders had a chance to tie it or take the lead after Burkhart’s three, but Chris Sheldon says they didn’t execute and worse than that they let game lie in the balance in fourth quarter rather than slamming the door. “We were trying to run a set from the out of bounds and we were trying to get an isolation for John. They read it well. They run the same damn play, we have the same coaches. They collapsed on it. We were supposed to get into some motion action off of that and we sort of froze. Again, you either make a play or you don’t make a play. Our kids have been through that same set a million times into a motion look. At the end of the day we still got a wide open layup to tie it and we missed it. Their role player steps up and make a three to take the lead and our guy misses a layup to tie it. Those are the little nuances in the game of basketball that are the difference between a win and a loss when you have two good teams playing each other,” he told Swankonsports.com, “The disappointing factor besides the way we didn’t finish in the fourth is we really worked hard to build a lead and we weren’t able to sustain it that’s where we really lost the game besides the last minute, minute and half of the game when we have the lead and turn it over. They hit a three and we miss a lefthanded layup. That sequence was the difference in the outcome of the game that everybody is going to see, but when you have a 13 point lead you can’t lose that.”

A key moment was the timeout between the third and fourth quarter after David Sheldon had jumped off the ground three or four times in apparent rage after Western Reserve closed the quarter with a rebound basket at the horn to take an eight point (31-23) lead.

He says his kids knew what had to happen. “We talk about this in the locker room, people see me on Friday nights, and it’s all love for these kids and they know it. I thought we did a poor job all night keeping them off the offensive glass. We did not do a good job at all in that. I came over to the bench after going a little crazy and the kids said we have to rebound it better and then they did in the fourth. We just kept cutting it. I was just proud of us playing it one possession at a time and you find a way late in the game. That’s a great basketball team, it’s a great program, it’s a team I root for every night. Tonight, was about kids competing with each other,” said David.

Published 11/28/20

Colonel Crawford Wants to Compete

Colonel Crawford is eager to get the boys’ basketball season started and they will do so on Wednesday night at Crestline in a non-conference game.

Then in a game made possible only by the basketball gods, they host Western Reserve on Saturday night in what will be the first game ever between the Sheldon brothers, well a game where they are both the head coach of basketball teams because I’m sure there have been other games over the years.

Crawford coach David Sheldon says they just want to start competing in games. “I think we are in the same boat. We have all had kids quarantined, players and teams. I have tried to stay positive. You tell the kids they get a chance to go out and compete on Wednesday night and that is ultimately what you want to do. That was what we have addressed to our kids. I still think back to when all of this started last March and then they cancelled all spring sports. Remind these guys you get a chance to compete, which those seniors last year in the spring would have loved to. We are as ready as we are going to be. It could change tomorrow. You just have to understand with what we are going through there are a lot of things out of our control,” said Sheldon.

On Tuesday, the OHSAA stood behind the governor in saying all games until the end of the calendar year should have only parents, or no one, in the stands.

Sheldon says he feels Crestline will put a competitive team on the floor. “First of all, they are coming off a good season with a winning record. Coach (Tyler) Sanders has them buying into his program. It starts with Reed Noblet and they have two very good guards and then the Clark kid inside. So, it is definitely going to be a test opening up. There are just so many unknowns right now having limited scrimmages and not having your team together. You hope we go out and compete. The good thing is with the tradition we have, and the years established, it is not like we are putting new stuff in. This is stuff our kids have run all of the way down the road, so hopefully we come out and compete and they are ready to play a game,” he said.

As for the Western Reserve game, Sheldon says it a chance to see how they measure up against a very good team. “Western lost a game and we lost a game because of teams cancelling. Only COVID could allow us to play a game I’ll tell you that right now. I have been against this over the years, but because of COVID we just wanted to give our kids a chance to play. You look at that game and on paper Western Reserve is the best team in our district tournament with the amount of people coming back. So, this is a great test for our program,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday evening, “We are going to see where we are and how we matchup with probably the best team on paper in Western. I look at it this way, these are two great non-league programs playing to start the season. You look at next Tuesday in college basketball, you have Michigan State and Duke playing and Kentucky and Kansas. Traditionally Western Reserve and Colonel Crawford have been good programs. You have nothing to lose and go out and compete and we are going to give it our best shot against a very good basketball team.”

Published 11/25/20

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Colonel Crawford Matches up with Northmor in Opener

Colonel Crawford opens the girls’ basketball season on the road at Northmor of the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference on Friday night in non-conference play.

This certainly has the potential to be a very good season for the Lady Eagles as they return experience and talent.

Coach Kyle Fenner says that experience will pay dividends this season in the year of COVID-19. “It is a real plus. Our kids have been in our system for three, four years now and they know what we expect. They know we expect them to rebound the ball and play defense and we are going to try and run, so that is a plus and our kids know what we want from them,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “It has been a little bit of a challenge each day you go into practice and you hope all of your kids are there and so far we have been pretty lucky with that.”

Of course, there has been, and still is, much trepidation over the fact is there going to be a season or not? The word from Columbus is state government will not stand in the way, at least that is what the thought is this week. Those decisions will lie in the hands of local officials.

Fenner says her girls are really eager to play. “Our kids are really, really excited. Like I said before, they missed all summer. These kids have worked really hard. We have a group of five seniors and some juniors that have really worked together for this season. They were disappointed they didn’t get a chance to do their summer stuff and go away to camp. They are really excited to just be on the floor and play basketball together,” she said.

Fenner has always been a coach that has emphasized defense and she says they will need to play very well on that end against Northmor on Friday night. “We expect them to play really, really hard. They were always a physical team. They are led by two juniors in Lexi Wenger and Reagan Swihart. Those girls both go about 5’9” and they are really physical players, they can shoot the three, they can put it on the floor. They are going to be a challenge for us defensively. It’s starts with them. We are going to have to stop them and limit their touches and make everything they do hard,” said Fenner.

Published 11/19/20

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Colonel Crawford With Some Pieces

Colonel Crawford is finding its way through this preseason carefully like everybody else in the State of Ohio and the Eagles just want to play basketball.

They are scheduled to begin their season on November 25, the day before Thanksgiving, at Crestline in non-conference play. Their game at home against Kenton on November 28 has already been postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Coach David Sheldon, also the school’s athletic director, says he hopes they will be able to have a basketball season. “There is just so much uncertainly right now like we had since last March. I talked to our guys hat this all started last March. On a Monday we had 800 to 1,000 tickets sold and then on Tuesday they told us we could have 150 people at our regional game up at “BG.” We are still in this and we were fortunate to get through fall sports with minor hiccups, but adversity is going to hit you and we have faced that already with our team with the cases rising and contact tracing rules with kids getting quarantined because of being around somebody. It’s like life, you are going to face some adversity and this is a tough time we are going through, but everyday we can get in the gym with the kids we have we are making to most of it and enjoy the game basketball,” said Sheldon.

Sheldon adds that you always face adversity in any season, but no more than they have, and will face, this year. “We had a scrimmage this past Saturday and four of our top varsity guys were out because of a injury or the quarantine and you just have to have guys step up and deal with it. Like I said this is like life and this is probably the most adversity these kids are going to hit in a long time in the middle of a pandemic, the first one in 100 years. I am just trying to stay positive with them when we are in the gym. I think it’s good for kids to be able to outlet with the game of basketball in the gym. You don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring, so you just take it one day at a time right now and that is all you can do,” he said.

The Eagles have won 241 games for Sheldon over 14 years, so they are used to success. They won the division III district title last season and he says they have a lot of potential this year. “Our kids came in running. We gave them some time off with the great football run will had. They came in on a Friday and they have had a great attitude when they are in the gym. Last week, we lost some due to the quarantine rules, but the attitude hasn’t changed no matter who we put on the floor our kids love being together. We always talk about a brotherhood,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “I think that is good them being together when we are in the gym. We definitely see some good things. We return four guys from our team last year that had significant playing time and we are just trying to put pieces together right now in a challenging preseason.”

Published 11/17/20

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Colonel Crawford Experienced and Talented

It looks like girls’ basketball in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference should be pretty good again this year and the Colonel Crawford Lady Eagles should be right in the thick of it.

Now, you are still in the COVID-19 crisis, which is not going away, and that makes things hard to predict.

Coach Kyle Fenner has been through a lot of seasons and she says they are going forward believing the season is going to start in a week and half and that is all you can do. “You just have to approach it and we go to practice every day. We have a practice plan and we work hard and there is no other way to approach it. Until they tell us differently, that is exactly what we are going to do,” she said.

Fenner says with what the last eight months have been like her kids are just pumped up to be given a chance to play basketball and it shows in the way they have been going after it. “Our kids have high energy right now. I think a lot of that comes because they are just happy to be on the basketball floor. We missed pretty much the whole summer and just getting a chance to play and be around their friends and compete and they are playing hard. I think when you get something taken from you, you learn maybe we better get after this because we never know when it can be taken again. So, we are seeing a lot of high energy. The kids are playing well, they are having fun. We are enjoying right now going into the gym,” said Fenner.

The Lady Eagles are scheduled to start the season November 20 at Northmor in a non-conference game. Their first “N10” would be at home December 1 against rival Buckeye Central.

Colonel Crawford was among a group of five or six teams in the “N10” that had pretty good seasons a year ago. She says they have a lot back and have added some depth, which should lead to a very good season. “We are excited about this year. We have got five seniors, all of whom have experience, four of them have experience since they were freshmen. Five of them have letters for at least two years and we have a junior that has started at the point guard spot for three years now,” she told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We have experience back and we are excited about it. The thing we are excited about too is we have some young kids in another junior and three sophomores off the bench and this could be a pretty deep team. So, we are excited about it.”

Published 11/11/20

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Colonel Crawford Must Contain Explosive Fairview

Colonel Crawford plays at home against Sherwood Fairview on Saturday night in a regional semifinal in division VI in North Robinson.

Both are unbeaten on the season.

The Eagles (8-0) got past Liberty Center (34-28) in overtime in a regional quarterfinal last week. They were leading (28-14) until Liberty Center scored twice in overtime to tie the game, but they were able to make the plays in the extra period to come up with the win.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says his kids reacted well to the pressure. “It’s a nice feeling when you get late in the game and things are on the line you feel like you have guys that have been there before and you know that they can overcome and they can still get things done in high pressure situations when the game is on the line. I am very proud of players and coaches and the way they have responded to everything this year,” he said.

Caleb Lohr intercepted a pass on Liberty Center’s overtime drive and then Tristan Cross scored on a one-yard run for the deciding touchdown.

Teglovic says that play by Lohr was critical. “It’s a big play for a lot of different reasons. Number one, in the fourth quarter they start throwing the ball on us a little bit we had shut down there run fairly consistently, our guys did a great job of that. They went lefthanded and they started playing pretty well that way. The quarterback is a nice player, so they were gaining some confidence in the in their passing game. It was helpful for us to go in there and Caleb Lohr just made a heck of a play to get us the football back,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “Not only that, even if he knocks that thing down it puts them in a fourth down situation, but they have a heck of a kicker, so they probably go up three and that puts a little more pressure on the offense because they have to score at that point. The pick was huge, it gives us the momentum back and a couple of plays later our offense got the job done and put it in the end zone.”

Fairview (8-0) got a late field goal to beat Northwood (38-36) last week in their quarterfinal.

Teglovic says they have a tremendous amount of offensive firepower. “They run a spread offense and about 50 percent of the time they only have a quarterback in the backfield. They do have a good running back when they put him back there, #47. When the quarterback is the only guy back there, he is a phenomenal runner himself. He was a very good wide receiver last year and they moved him to quarterback this year. So, not only can he throw it, he runs it very well. They have a lot of athletes out on the edge that they can get the ball to and they are pretty big up front as well,” said Teglovic.

When it comes to keys, Teglovic says they can not allow the big play. “We would like to make them work and that’s easier said than done. We would like to take away the big play. Their offense is based on big plays. They make a lot of plays of 40 yards plus. We would like to make them work. We would like to make them run the ball offensively a little bit, kind of wear on them a little bit. We have to make sure we can do those two things if we want a chance to win,” he said.

Published 10/29/20

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Colonel Crawford Battles Liberty Center

Colonel Crawford, unbeaten on the season, will be at home Saturday night for a regional quarterfinal game in division VI against the Liberty Center Tigers.

After the bye week, the Eagles (7-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, blasted “N10” rival Seneca East (44-6) in a second round game.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they were ready to play. “I felt like we got off to a good start offensively and defensively. We were able to put 14 points up in the first quarter. Felt like we played pretty clean, I think we had one penalty in the first quarter. Overall, all three phases of the game pretty clean. I felt our guys were pretty locked in, especially after having a week bye,” he said.

The Eagles ran for 371 yards in the game last week and forced four Seneca East turnovers.

Liberty Center (6-2) beat Western Reserve, out of the Firelands Conference, last Saturday (42-18) in a second round game. The Tigers have won their last six games. Their only losses with the first two weeks against solid teams in unbeaten Archbold (30-16) and Wauseon (42-25) a division IV school.

Teglovic says have a great run game and a defense that presents a lot of problems. “Well, they have the leading rusher in their league, which is obviously a very good league. I think he has scored the most points in their league. His name is Max Phillips, he is 5’11” about 205 and can move. He is like tackling a bowling ball, he is good. Up front they get off the football and they are physical. That doesn’t mean they can’t pass it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “They do a great job in the play action passing game. Their quarterback is really accurate, very poised. So, all the way around they are a good football team. Defensively, they run a lot of different fronts. They throw a lot of different things at your offensive line. So, we are going to have to have a great week of preparation.”

Tristan Cross is the leading rusher in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

Both teams want to run it and Teglovic predicts a physical battle up front. “It is going to test us physically. They do a pretty good job with their schemes as well. We are going to have to be very sound squeezing down blocks and making guys run sideways. We have done a pretty good job of that this year and we are going to have to do a really good job of that this week,” he said.

This not the first time these teams have played. Liberty Center edged Colonel Crawford (28-20) in a regional quarterfinal in 2016.

The Eagles have played outstanding football this year and Teglovic says now they are going to have to turn it up even more. “If you look in our region and there are eight team left and if we would have gone by the Eitel points those would have been the eight top teams in our region. So, there are good football teams left. As I told our guys we can beat anybody, but anybody can beat us from this point out. So, you have to make sure you lock in and focus on every play,” said Teglovic.

Published 10/21/20

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Colonel Crawford Has to Contain the Big Play

Colonel Crawford is unbeaten and the champion of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and they play host to Seneca East, a member of the same league, in a second round playoff game in division VI on Saturday night in North Robinson.

Now, this gets complicated here. The Eagles (6-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, and Tigers didn’t play a regular season game due to the reduced schedule, however, this a playoff game, and can not be counted in those standings.

With the second seed in the region, Colonel Crawford had a bye last week and did not play. Coach Ryan Teglovic says he is not a fan of the bye, but it was something they dealt with. “It was different, yeah, I’m not sure I’m a fan of it, but it was something that we had to do, so we practiced. We gave the kids a little bit of a lightened load practice wise, but we met all five nights last week. We got some things accomplished, I didn’t feel like it was a great week overall, but I feel like this week has been much better, the focus is good, and I feel like this week we have had a good week of practice,” he said.

Seneca East (4-3) produced a fourth quarter rally to beat Delta (32-28) in a first round game last week.

Teglovic says they are more healthy and they have been improved as a football team over the last couple of weeks. “It is the one team in our league that we haven’t played. It is not something that we have experienced before, but now we are going to get a chance to play each other here in the second round of the playoffs. I feel like they are playing their best football of the year. They have got an offensive lineman back and they have got the Foos kid back a couple of weeks ago, feel like he is playing good football. They had a nice game last week against Delta. So, we are going to have our hands full,” said Teglovic.

There are going to be a couple of pretty good running backs in this game as Colonel Crawford’s Tristan Cross leads the conference is rushing, while Jesse Beckman of Seneca East is second.

Teglovic says it is there job to contain Beckman. “They spread the field and do a lot of different stuff, but it comes down to you have to stop their athletes, you have to stop big plays, #21 the Beckman kid is the second leading rusher in the league. He has good speed. We have done a pretty good job this year of corralling backs at the line of scrimmage and not letting them get their shoulders downhill. We have to make sure we do that with this guy and not let him get out in the open,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “We have to limit the big plays in the passing game, they have some weapons there too. The Hargis kid has had a good first year at quarterback. The Bischoff kid #20 is right there with the league leaders in regards to receptions. They have some big play guys. We have to make them work, make them drive, and take away the big play.”

The Tigers had allowed some points in the middle of the season, but Teglovic says they are clearly improved on that side of the ball. “I think the addition of Foos coming back has certainly helped them. Anytime you get a 220 pound linebacker that can run a little bit back in your lineup you are automatically going to be a little better defensively. #72 the Snook kid is one of the best linebackers in the league. He is 250 plus and can move. He has been playing there, he is a three year starter and he is only a junior. Being a three year starter on team that has had a lot of success over the last four, five years, says something,” he said.

Published 10/16/20

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Another Quick Start Required for Crawford

Unbeaten Colonel Crawford, the Northern 10 Athletic Conference leader, plays at Bucyrus against the winless Redmen on Friday night in “N10” action.

Last week, the Eagles (5-0,5-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, pounded rival Buckeye Central (56-8) in a conference game, to give them a one game lead over Wynford and Carey, who play each other Friday, in the conference standings with game to play before the playoffs begin.

They scored four touchdowns in the first quarter, Carson Feichtner returned an interception for a score, one of two defensive touchdowns on the night for the Eagles.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says that’s what they needed to start the game. “You certainly don’t bank on getting a couple of defensive touchdowns. That really propelled us. We moved the ball as well when we had the ball. So, we got off to a great start and just kind of continued that throughout the game. It’s going to be important to do the same thing this Friday,” said Teglovic.

Tristan Cross finished with 126 yards rushing and three scores for the Eagles. He leads the conference in rushing yards this season with 640.

The Eagles are about in the middle of the pack in the conference in defense this season, but Teglovic says they have come up big when they have had to this year. “They have played very well. Two weeks ago, we play a very good Mohawk team and they hold them to one score on offense, so obviously they played very well. The Wynford game they gave up some points, but when we needed to get crucial stops at the end of the game, we were able to do that,” he said.

Bucyrus (0-5,0-5) got drilled last week (64-7) by Mohawk in a conference game. They have averaged less than a score a game and only 83 yards of total offense. They have surrendered 57 points a game and almost 450 total yards. They have given almost 300 yards per game on the ground.

Teglovic says they must keep their focus. “We have to go over there for one. We have to go on the road and go to Bucyrus and these are close communities. They will come out and play hard and it’s going to be important that we start fast. If we do, we will have some good opportunities,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “I think it’s extremely important that we get off to a good start. They have some big kids. I like their quarterback, he is just a freshman. #1 Randy Banks is an exceptional athlete, he can make plays.”

Published 9/29/20

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Colonel Crawford Focused on Buckeye

Colonel Crawford holds a one game lead over both Wynford and Carey with just two games left before the playoffs as they host Buckeye Central in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night in North Robinson.

It appears a win would give them at least a share of the “N10” title, but under state guidelines they would have the opportunity to play Seneca East after the playoffs are finished for both teams. However, there are no specific plans for that game and it appears unlikely.

Last week, they beat a good Mohawk team as Cade Hamilton scored with 57 seconds left to give the Eagles a (20-14) win. Mohawk had just tied the game with a TD and two-point conversion.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they have been a fourth quarter football team this year. “It’s nice to see, the last couple of years we have struggled to kind of finish the deal in those games. This year, I think our experience has helped us a little bit and we have won the big games in the fourth quarter. So, proud of our guys for putting ourselves in a good position, but we have a big one this week. If we win this week, we have an opportunity to win an “N10” title, so big game for us,” he said.

Crawford (4-0,4-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, had also rallied to beat Wynford and held off Carey in the fourth quarter for wins early this season.

With Buckeye Central and Bucyrus, with a combined one win, left before the playoffs Teglovic says they have to remain focused. “That’s key and it is tough for adults let alone 17-year-old kids to keep showing up every week and keep focused on the end goal and just day after day trying to get better. I was pretty pleased with our practice (Tuesday) night. I thought the practice (Tuesday) night was better than a lot of the practices we had last week. So, I think we are healing up a little bit and the kids were locked in pretty focused,” said Teglovic.

Buckeye Central (1-3,1-3) broke a 35-game losing streak with a (54-10) destruction of Bucyrus last week.

Teglovic says they will be dealing with a team that has an injection of confidence. “They have to be excited, they not only won, but they won big. They had a fairly competitive game with Seneca East week one, a couple touchdown game there. They are getting better. Coach (Chad) Jensen has instituted a scheme there offensively, they are going to pound the ball. They are big up front, very disciplined,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday afternoon, “They do what they need to do, they continue to get better every week and fix mistakes. It’s a team that is on the rise. It is also a team we were only up on 13-6 at halftime last year. It is not one we can take for granted, it’s one where we have to go in there ready to play.”

Buckeye Central had two running backs in Kolin Rowlinson (193) and Mason Brown (123) that ran for over 100 yards last week against Bucyrus. Teglovic says there is no doubt they want to pound the ball. “Not only is that a great offense, but it’s a great defense as well. Teams like that get their offense on the field and get three or fours yards at a crack and slow the game down and make the game a shorter game that puts more pressure on your offense. It’s a great game plan, it’s a great formula. It’s been used for a longtime and they do a very good job of it. I’m not saying they can’t throw the ball. They have a boot package that they use and use very effectively. They want to pound the football and shorten the game,” said Teglovic.

Published 9/24/20

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Colonel Crawford Tries to Defend “N10” Lead Against Mohawk

Colonel Crawford owns a one game lead in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference over Carey, Mohawk, Seneca East, and Wynford. They are at home for Mohawk on Friday night in another big game in the conference.

They rallied from two scores down to beat Wynford (36-35) last week in a thriller.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says the kids kept their focus. “Being down by a couple of touchdowns with a little over 10 minutes left and our guys haven’t won over at Wynford since 1996, for them to just go at it and make plays. I thought our mental state of mind was just good in terms of not panicking and we just hung together as a team and kept playing. So, just very proud of them,” he said.

Cade Hamilton scored on a nine-yard run with 3:24 left in the game and the Eagles gambled and went for two and Lincoln Malenkopf got into the left corner of the end zone.

Mohawk drilled Seneca East (43-14) last week to stay in the conference race.

Teglovic says this is a veteran team and is a defense that gets to the ball quickly. “Their defense is exceptional. I think it is one of the fastest defenses that I have seen in a while. They play a base 3-4 and they play it very well. They are very fundamental. They have a lot of returners, especially on the back end, and few guys up front as well. Offensively, hey are extremely balanced. They can run it, they can throw it, they have good running backs, receivers, a couple of them back from last year. It is an exceptional football team. It is going to be another great “N10” test,” said Teglovic.

Mohawk ran for 364 yards last week against Seneca East, but they can throw it too. Teglovic says quarterback Landen Snyder does an excellent job running that offense. “Their quarterback for me is where it starts because he can do both. He is leading the league in rushing right now. He might be averaging double digits per carry. He is an explosive player,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “He has the (Jesse) Leeth kid at running back that is also very explosive. The (Mason) Danner kid at running back is big and physical. The (Tyler) Hayman kid at receiver and #15 (Skyler Williams) at receiver, they have had great years already. They are a lot like us, they have a lot of weapons and you can’t zero in on one guy. You just better go out and execute the game plan, locked in, and focused.”

Crawford also beat Carey (16-7) in a close game and Teglovic thinks this one is going to come down to the end too. “I feel like it is going to be one of those kinds of games. You have got to make sure you win the turnover battle and you are very solid in special teams. Those are things I feel we have done pretty good job with this year, which kind of put us over the hump a little bit. We have to do those things again this week,” he said.

Published 9/17/20

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Colonel Crawford Has to Win Some Matchups

Colonel Crawford travels to Wynford for a big game with the Royals in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action on Friday night.

The two teams share the conference lead with Seneca East.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says he was pretty happy with what they did last week in a (54-19) win over Upper Sandusky, it was win number 100 in Teglovic’s career including Crawford and South Central. “I was pleased overall. We moved the ball, I think we had over 600 yards of total offense. Anytime you can do that you have to be pleased with the way the offense played. We had a few too many penalties, but I liked the fact that when we got then we were aggressive. We do need to sure up on those things. Defensively, I thought we played pretty well. We got hit in the pass game a couple of times. I felt overall the kids executed the game plan and did what the coaches asked them to do for the week. So, I felt there was improvement and obviously we are going to need to improve again this week,” said Teglovic.

Wynford (2-0,2-0) beat Buckeye Central handily (46-8) last week,

They had two backs with more than 100 yards rushing and quarterback Dustin Brady tossed four touchdown passes.

Teglovic says they have a lot of playmakers they will need to try and defend. “Their big play potential is something that scares you as a coach. Their quarterback is a veteran quarterback that has started for three years. He thinks well, he moves well. He is a big tall kid that can throw really well. When you have experience like that at the quarterback position regardless of what you have around you, you are going to have a pretty good team. They have some very good guys around him as well. Cody Taylor is coming back and he is an unbelievable football player as well and they have receivers out there on the edge. We will have our work cut out for us defensively and offensively as well,” said Teglovic.

On defense, Wynford has only given up two scores and those were likely when backups were in and the game was out of control.

Teglovic says they have to win some battles with the Wynford defensive backs. “They are athletic and they are a complement to their offense. They can man you up and keep seven guys in the box. They have some guys on the back end that can cover any of the guys that you have. So, if they can cover your guys and keep seven guys in the box it’s tough. Anybody would have trouble moving the ball on somebody if their backend can cover your guys and they can keep seven or eight in the box and stop the run,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, “We have to be able to take advantage of some things. We have to be much more sound in the way we block our schemes. We have to do a better job of stopping Cody Taylor and Brady than we did last year.”

This game will likely have a big influence on who wins the conference title and Teglovic says they can’t wait to be part of it. “We feel we have had one those already against Carey. It was a fun game and I thought our kids responded really well, played hard and just enjoyed themselves. I think even more so this year these are the fun ones because you didn’t know if you were going to get to play at all. Not only do you get to play, but you are the third game into your conference schedule and playing a heck of a program and a conference rival,” he said.

Published 9/09/20

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Colonel Crawford Not Taking Upper Lightly

Colonel Crawford, fresh off a very good win over Carey, travels to Upper Sandusky for a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

It a battle between two experienced teams, Colonel Crawford edged Carey (16-7) last week.

Coach Ryan Teglovic calls the win very satisfying. “We are excited about it. Just happy for our seniors, who have seen those kind of close games go the other way the last couple of years and they were able to keep fighting and keep punching and get one of those to go on their side. To start the year with that kind of quality opponent and to go out and get a win that was a big lift for our kids,” he said.

Mohawk hammered Upper Sandusky (42-0) last week, but Teglovic knows Mohawk is very good and says Upper has some kids that can play, especially on offense. “Mohawk is a really good football team that they played last week, so I don’t know that I would put a whole lot of stock in that final score. It was 14-0 at halftime. I know that Upper has some kids out there. They have four offensive linemen back from last year’s team. Their quarterback doesn’t have a lot of experience, but he is a tall, big kid with a good arm and he looked pretty good at times. They have a nice receiver and they have the running back, back form last year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “So, I think they are going to continue to get better, put things together, and so it is not one that we can take lightly. We have an opportunity to go there and hopefully get another win. We have to make sure we take advantage and play well and continue to improve.”

After a very good effort last week, Teglovic says the Eagles can’t stand still. He says they must continue to get better and that starts this week. “We need to do a better job in the red zone. Offensively, there are some things we can do. I think our communication can be better. Our take offs from the edge could be a little better. Defensively, handling the cutbacks. There are a lot of things that we need to continue to work at. We want to get a little bit better. It was nice to get off to a good start, now we have to have improvement,” said Teglovic.

Published 9/03/20

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Colonel Crawford and Carey in Good Matchup

In one of four games to kick off the Northern 10 Athletic Conference season, the Colonel Crawford Eagles host the Carey Blue Devils in North Robinson on Friday night in what shapes up as a pretty good game.

The other “N10” games have Wynford at Bucyrus, Buckeye Central hosting Seneca East and Mohawk at home for Upper Sandusky.

Crawford coach Ryan Teglovic says starting with a league game right off the bat may not be what you want, but they are just excited to play football. “It is not an ideal situation, but we are thankful to be playing football. It is nice to have those three non-league games at the beginning of your schedule. All football games mean something because in the past you had to win to get into the playoffs. There was that opportunity to get better over those first three games and try to get to that league schedule and make some improvements seeing some film. That is out this year, but we are all in the same boat,” he said.

As far as the Eagles are concerned, Teglovic says he loves their enthusiasm and approach and they have some talent returning. “We have been really happy. We started lifting in early June once we were cleared to go into that phase one. Our kids were ready. They were tired of being at home. They did a tremendous job this summer, our coaches, not just our football staff, just all of our coaches in athletics, of having to space kids out and put kids in groups and that kind of thing. We had a tremendous turnout this summer not just from our kids, but our coaches,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday afternoon, “I thought they worked extremely hard. We have had a good camp. The kids have done well. We have returned a few starters, so we were able to get going a little quicker with things. We have a good number of kids out there working. A number of returners and we are excited to get the seasons started.”

Carey won three playoff games last year and Teglovic says they are going to be very good and a big challenge for them. “They are a regional final team from last year and a school that has a tremendous amount of tradition and history. Carey is not just a great football team, but a great football program and I don’t expect anything different from them this year. They return eight starters on both sides of the ball both from their skilled positions and their lines. They are really similar to us. We return about eight starters on both sides of the ball. I think it’s going to be a great game. I think it is the kind of thing people have been waiting to see for a long time. High school sports are competitive and action packed. I think it’s going to be a good game,” said Teglovic.

Published 8/28/20

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Only Conference Games for Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford is preparing for the football season whatever that may be. Right now, that appears to be a six game regular season begging the last weekend of August.

The OHSAA plan would still need to be approved by Governor Mike DeWine and includes playoffs for everyone beginning week seven.

Veteran Colonel Crawford coach Ryan Teglovic says this has been a new experience for everyone and frustrating in many cases. “It’s all new. Certainly, we have never been here before. It seems like a lot people don’t want to make decisions. In the meantime, these kids are out here and they are working hard and they are expecting some answers and some direction, so it frustrating for them,” he said.

The Northern 10 Athletic Conference has approved an all conference games schedule. Teglovic says while that is not perfect, they will be very happy to just get on the field. “We are going to go with games four through nine in conference, A.D.’s have agreed to that. I think that is probably the best way to do it for us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday afternoon, “I think most schools are going to head in that direction and with all conference games. It is not as good as 10 games, don’t get me wrong, we certainly want to play 10 games, but if this is a situation and what we have to do to get on the field then we are more than willing and more than happy to do it. It still hasn’t been approved yet by the governor, so we are kind of in limbo and here we are in week two of practice.”

Colonel Crawford would open the season on August 28 at home against Carey, followed by games at Upper Sandusky, at Wynford, at home against Mohawk, at home against Buckeye Central and at Bucyrus.

Teglovic says the Eagles preparation so far has been great and all he could ask for. “They have been great. We got to start back up in June with summer workouts. Kids worked extremely hard. We had our best numbers ever in the weight room. That is not just football, that is the entire district, girls and boys. Practice has been very good. We had six days in last week and we will have our seventh practice here (Monday) night. Our numbers are really good. The kids are hungry and ready to play,” said Teglovic.

Published 8/11/20

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Colonel Crawford Coach Holds Out Hope

Colonel Crawford baseball coach Dan Gorbett has been through a lot of seasons, but non like this.

This was supposed to be the opening week for high school baseball, but no games were played today at it looks like none will be for at least a month.

Gorbett says it’s been frustrating. “For me, I put the schedule on my Apple watch. Every morning I look down and see what game we are playing today, but we are not playing a game and it’s kind of depressing. I’m not smart enough to go back and delate all of that and I keep hoping that we will get part of the season. So, we will have to wait and see,” he said.

Monday, Governor Mike DeWine said schools would be closed until May 1 and although there has not been an official announcement from the OHSAA it would seem to be unlikely there would be spring sports until there were classes held in buildings.

Gorbett says everything points to a very good season for the Eagles, if there is a season. “We have everybody back. We had no seniors last year. So, that is kind of disappointing. In theory this could have been one of the better teams in Colonel Crawford history and then this has to happen, but in the scheme of things with people dying you try and keep it all in prospective. As a coach, and for your seniors especially, it is still very disappointing. I am still hoping,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “I know there is an idea that they are talking about if it goes all of the way to May possibly have a week of practice, a week of games, and then the tournament, you lose, your season is over. So, I’m hanging on that that is a possibility. That hasn’t been decided, but I know that that idea has been floated out there. They are talking about doing something like that if the conditions are that we can do that.”

If there can be a limited baseball season, Gorbett says that would be better than nothing. “It is not ideal, but if they could just do something limited. I am going to guess if schools are not opened they are not going to let us do that. Being in school, being outside, people talk about germs being on the baseball it is going to be a concern at that time. So, I don’t know, we will have to wait and see. The federal order ends April 30. If things are getting better. Obviously, if that curve is not flattened, then it’s not looking good,” said Gorbett.

Published 3/31/20

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Trail of Tears Ends for Colonel Crawford

A (15-2) run to start the game and a (8-1) run to start the third quarter propelled Ottawa-Glandorf to a (66-34) win over Colonel Crawford in a division III regional semifinal at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University on Wednesday night.

O-G (25-1) will face Evergreen for a regional title on Saturday night.

Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon says they were at a size disadvantage and that was tough to deal with. “First of all, that is an unbelievable team. It is a historic program that I have grown up watching and respecting all of the years winning division II, division III state championships. It’s a factory. Coach McGlaughlin does a great job and I have the upmost respect for him and his father. It is a program in Northwest Ohio that everybody strives to get to, so hats off to O-G. Coming into (Wednesday) night we knew we were at a size disadvantage and we tried to take away their size. Blevins is a heck of a shooter and hit threes,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “They just wear you down the whole night with their pressure. As I look at the stats we had 15 turnovers and a lot of times that turns into scores for them. That is sort of what you have to fight through when you play O-G. They have a chance to win the whole thing, I’ll be honest with you, they are that good. They have and shooters and they are very well coached.”

Sheldon said before the game they had to control the tempo of the game and for the most part, outside of the second quarter, they did not.

Ottawa-Glandorf coach Tyson McGlaughlin says they wanted pick up the pace and they were successful. “We are all about tempo. We needed to contest shots. We needed to get the tempo where we needed to and then we needed to rebound the basketball. I think we kind of put a checkmark on all of those. This guy right here had the clamps down on their point guard and that is a heck of a player for Colonel Crawford and he just never got a good look. I think that just kind of disrupted their flow and their rhythm. I think the points we got in transition where because of some hurried shots,” said McGlaughlin.

The Eagles shot just 32 percent from the field and The Titans won the battle of the boards 25-22.

6’7” Own Nichols opened the scoring with a three the Titans made three threes in the first quarter in taking a (20-9) lead. Sheldon says they had to pick their poison. “They hit three threes in the first quarter. The second quarter they only got five points. We stopped their transition game and we didn’t turn the ball over in the second quarter. Then in the second half they made a big run and we turned the ball over a little too much in the third quarter and it got a little out of hand. They only had five offensive rebounds on the night. Last Saturday, they had 23 against Wayne Trace. I thought we did a good job of keeping them off the glass, but they also shot over 50 percent from the field. When you have shooters and bigs that makes you very good and they are just so athletic,” said Sheldon.

Crawford go it back to a seven point deficit (20-13) with 5:02 to play in the half after a Gavin Feichner score, but Sheldon says they couldn’t do enough on offense to really make it a game. “We got good looks. I look at the stat sheet and Fenner and Feichner got the most shots and that’s who we want shooting. They are our 1,000 point scorers who have led us to 81 wins in four years an four straight district finals and a regional appearance. So, we got it to who we wanted and if I to do it again tomorrow the same guys would get shots for us,” said Sheldon.

Fenner and Feichner led the Eagles with seven points a piece.

It was an 11 point game at the half (25-14) but Sheldon says that third quarter where they were outscored (22-7) killed them. “I said guys we have them right where we want them, four or five possessions. We just had to have it at 10 going into the fourth and then in the third quarter we let it get away with the turnovers,” he said.

Colonel Crawford has been bigger than most of the teams they have played this season, but not Wednesday night and Sheldon says that made it tough on them. “It’s tough, you can’t emulate that I practice with 6’7”, 6’7”, 6’6” and every time you went up inside, you went over big people. I’ll be honest, we haven’t seen that all year. That is what makes them a special team and ranked number two in the State of Ohio and their only loss to Shawnee,” he said.

Brennen Blevins led Ottawa-Glandorf is 23 points, while Nichols added 13.

Colonel Crawford will graduate three kids that played four years of varsity basketball for them. Sheldon says it was a tough locker room. “What a run with my three captains Jordan Fenner, Gavin Feichner and Reis Walker. They got over the hump this year. Last two, three years we have been division IV and move up to division III. It has been a heck of a ride. They have kept the bar high with the fourth appearance in the last 14 years in a regional. There is nothing to be ashamed of. This is so hard to get to, even to a district final and to get to four straight and a regional it is a special, special class. My two other seniors were along for the ride. This is always the toughest year to have three, four year lettermen. You never have that. They are just great young men. They have been great leaders and won the most games in school history. They have kept the bar high with what we expect with Colonel Crawford basketball in getting to 10 straight districts, nine district finals and four regionals. These guys have continued tradition. It is going be hard to say goodbye. A lo of tears after (Wednesday) night for coach Sheldon because you lose a lot of sons,” said Sheldon.

Published 3/12/20

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Colonel Crawford Has to Rebound, Handle the Ball

Colonel Crawford takes on Ottawa-Glandorf on Wednesday night at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University in a regional semifinal in division III.

The Eagles (24-3) finally got over the hurdle when they beat Pemberville Eastwood (37-30) to win a district title last week.

Coach David Sheldon is very proud of his team, especially their seniors. “All year we have talked about it, and especially when we go to the tournament, what is your mark on Colonel Crawford basketball going to be? This group of seniors, Reis Walker, Gavin Feichtner, and Jordan Fenner have won 81 games in four years at the varsity level, but the big mark was now we are playing in a regional tournament and getting over that hump after three straight years of district finals getting a district championship. The mental and physical approach has been fantastic and that was evident last week in the entire district tournament,” said Sheldon.

Ottawa-Glandorf (24-1) finished second, a game behind Lima Shawnee, a division II regional qualifier, in the tough Western Buckeye Conference. They beat Wayne Trace (69-44) last Saturday at Lima Senior High School in a district final.

Sheldon says this is a program that expects to win. “It is a fantastic basketball team. We have the upmost respect for them. The are ranked number 2 in the State of Ohio. It’s a program. Everybody strives to get a program like Ottawa-Glandorf and we feel like we have started a program in the past 14 years getting to 10 districts and now four regionals. So, it’s a very good program and tradition, but I know our guys are up for the challenge. You look at last week, everybody in the media, even our fans and outsiders, were picking Willard, number seven in the state to beat us. I know our guys mentally and physically will be ready to go,” said Sheldon.

The Titans are a physical team with size and they also get up in you defensively, according to Sheldon. “When you look at their basketball team, they have tremendous size. They are 6’6”, 6’6”, and 6’5” and it’s a team that brings a lot of pressure defensively throughout the entire night,” he said.

The Crawford coach says his kids will not back down from the physicalness that Ottawa-Glandorf will bring. “I know our two Walker boys are street fighters. If I was going into a street fight, I would bring them and they will come out swinging come Wednesday night. We showed that last week in a very physical district tournament. I have all of the confidence in our guys because they are going to come out and be swinging blow for blow,” said Sheldon.

Sheldon says in his opinion, they must avoid a bunch of turnovers that lead to Titan scores, contain their fast break and keep them off the offensive glass. “I think there are three keys in the game come Wednesday night. First of all, we have got to handle their defensive pressure. They are going to go full court with different presses and even in the half court they are going to press you, so we have got to handle that. We can’t allow easy baskets,” he told Swankonsports.com, “Second of all, we have got to stop their transition points. They are very good at getting out in transition and running the floor. Third, because of their size, we have got to keep them off the offensive glass. We can’t just go out there and turn this into a volleyball match. We have got to be physical and using bodies to make sure we keep them off the glass.”

Ottawa-Glandorf reminds Sheldon somewhat of Upper Sandusky. He says they have to control the tempo of the game and make it interesting in the fourth quarter. “I would compare them with Upper except for a little more size. We want to hang around until the fourth quarter, that’s the key. Our guys have shown that. You look at Upper the last two years. We spilt with them last season. This season the first game is a five point game and the second game Upper played very well, they are in the division II regional. So, our guys I know are up for the challenge. We have got to have this game in the 50’s and not in the 80’s like O-G wants it. You have got to attack their pressure and score, but they have got to be great shots not just good shots all night long. You have got to be mentally and physically tough for 32 minutes come Wednesday night at B-G,” said Sheldon.

Due to actins take by Ohio Governor Mike DeWine to prevent the anticipated spread of the coronavirus, ticket sales for this game will be extremely limited.

The Ohio High School Athletic Association released the following statement, “Beginning Wednesday, student-athletes on the participating school tournament roster (players and cheerleaders) can designate four family members to purchase a ticket for the game. Coaches for that team can each designate two family members to purchase tickets. School administrators and the bus drive each receive one free ticket for themselves and a guest. Each regional site will work with the participating schools regarding its team list and ticket sales process, which will be cash only at entry.”

Published 3/11/20

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Colonel Crawford Back in Regionals

Jordan Fenner scored 19 points and Colonel Crawford advanced to the regional tournament for the first time since 2013 as they downed Pemberville Eastwood (37-30) in a division III district final on Thursday night at Norwalk High School.

They will play either Ottawa-Glandorf or Wayne Trace in the regional semis next Wednesday at Bowling Green State University.

Coach David Sheldon says it is hard to beat the feeling after winning a district tournament. “I couldn’t be more proud of my three captains Reis Walker, Gavin Feichtner, and Jordan Fenner. This is our fourth straight one and they have been playing since they were freshmen. We have been through adversity through the four years and those three have stuck together with Colonel Crawford. What a way to send them to the sweet 16 heading to “BG” next week. I’m happy for all of our guys. They have just been locked in defensively. Getting the most wins in school history (Thursday) night with 23 total wins and winning the district championship. It is so hard to even get to this game. People don’t understand that. In my 14 years, the first three times we got to the regional and then we went four more and didn’t get there. To get back there I’m happy for our kids and our community,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford held Eastwood to 12 points through three quarters of the game and Sheldon says defense was the story for them on Thursday night. “We have always said defense wins championships. We have done hat the whole tournament long starting with the two sectional games, Tuesday against a very good Willard team and then (Thursday) night. In the tournament it is a grind possession by possession. It is so hard to come by baskets. I thought our guys fought through it. It was a rough first half and in the second half we really got off to a good start,” he said.

Eastwood lead (5-4) after the first quarter, but Crawford would take a (12-10) lead into halftime.

Colonel Crawford would score the first nine points of the third quarter and take a (21-10) lead after a Fenner three with 3:10 to play in the quarter. Another Fenner three-pointer with 2:24 to play in the third made it (24-12) and the Eagles took that lead into the final quarter.

Sheldon says finally in the third quarter they were able to get something going on offense. “In the first half we weren’t very good on offense, I’ll be honest. They did a good job of digging on our posts, they were digging and digging and we couldn’t get it into the post. In the beginning of the second half is where we extended it. We made some free throws, not enough. Could have been double figures, but we made enough to win,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Jordan Fenner, there is a reason he is a first team All-Northwest District. He stepped up and made big shots. You look at that kid and he is our third all-time leading scorer. He lives in the gym. This for all of the young kids wearing Colonel Crawford colors. This is what you do it for, a chance to play in the district final and move on. We are the first team to go to the Sweet 16, everybody else plays Friday or Saturday. We will have a challenge next week. We are going to enjoy it for two days before that other district final on Saturday.”

Another Fenner basket put Crawford up (26-14) with 6:06 to play, but Eastwood came screaming back cut it two three (27-24) with 1:45 to play in the game after two free throws by Jacob Meyer, but they could get no closer.

It was a physical ballgame with only eight total free throws shot before the last two minutes of the game. Sheldon says the referees let the players decide the outcome. “That’s what you want, you want kids making plays at this time of year. That was a great officiated game. They let you play and that’s what it is about. I think that is an advantage for us because we have been in all these district games and they know you are not going to get cheep ones. I thought our guys played through it. Just happy, I can’t stress enough that it’s so tough to get here. It is special, special, special,” he said.

Published 3/06/20

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Colonel Crawford Must be Mentally Tough

Colonel Crawford is back in another district final and this time they play Pemberville Eastwood in division III on Thursday night at Norwalk High School.

A win would give the Eagles their first regional tournament berth since 2013.

Crawford has lost district finals in five of the last six years.

On Tuesday night, they outlasted Willard (59-55) in a semifinal played at Norwalk.

Gavin Feichtner connected on four three pointers in the first half and scored 14 of team high 16 points in the first two quarters.

Coach Davis Sheldon felt their start, they led (15-9) after the first quarter and (32-22) at the half, was crucial for them. “I thought the start was really good getting a lead. Gavin came out and shot it very well from the perimeter. Then we started to attack the rim the second half and got a lot of shots around the rim. I think it all started with our defense. I was proud of our guys, that’s a very good basketball team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We guarded very well overall. The second half Willard makes a run, which all great teams do. We knew they were going to. They came back in several games throughout the year and we withstood that run and made free throws down the stretch. We are happy to advance and get to play in another district final come Thursday night.”

The Eagles (22-3) were able to limit Willard’s fast break opportunities and Sheldon feels that and rebounding paved the way to a win. “We did a great job in defensive transition. They are so good in the open floor. They have multiple guys that can do stuff in the open floor. In the first half, looking at our unofficial stats, they had zero offensive rebounds the first half. I thought that was another big key. Now, in the second half they did get on the glass and got a few put backs. I thought overall we did a great job with the two keys I talked about going into the game, limiting their transition and keeping them off the offensive glass,” said Sheldon.

Eastwood (18-6) hung on to beat Western Reserve (52-50) in overtime to advance to Thursday night. They tied for third place in the Northern Buckeye Conference.

Sheldon says they are athletic and can put the ball on the floor and get to the basket. “They are a very good basketball team. We have played them over the years in other district tournaments at Ashland University. The one thing that sticks out is they have good athletes. They put it on the floor well, they have a few shooters and they are long. So, it’s a very good basketball team. When you get to a district final you are always going to play a good team. There are only 32 teams left in the State of Ohio. We have got to bring energy and mental toughness again for 32 minutes Thursday night.” he said.

Sheldon has taken a lot of teams into the district finals over years and he knows what they have to do to win. “It comes down to kids making plays and (Tuesday) night we were fortunate enough to make enough plays. I think you have to be very tough physically and mentally in a district final. I have talked all tournament long that every possession is important. You have to be able to limit turnovers. Take advantage of ways we can attack them. It comes down to you have to guard them defensively. I always say defense wins championships and we have to come out and play good defense like we have been the last couple of weeks,” he said.

Published 3/05/20

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Crawford Tangles with Willard in Districts

It’s Colonel Crawford versus Willard and a matchup of 20 plus win teams on Tuesday night in a division III district semifinal at Norwalk High School.

The game has been moved up a half an hour to a 5:45 PM tipoff to allow Willard fans to travel to Mansfield to watch the Lady Flashes play in a regional semifinal.

The second game at Norwalk on Tuesday night has Western Reserve playing Pemberville Eastwood. The district final is Thursday night at Norwalk.

Colonel Crawford (21-3) beat Elmwood (45-27) in a sectional final, meanwhile, Willard bounced Crestview (60-28) on Friday night in games played at Hopewell-Loudon High School.

Willard (21-2) is the co-champion of the Bay Division of the Sandusky Bay Conference.

Crawford coach David Sheldon says the Flashes are talented and have a lot of tournament experience. “You look at Willard and they are as advertised. They are the number one seed, #1 in the Swank poll, they have won their league, and number seven in the statewide poll. So, this is a very good basketball team. They are the defending district champs from this district last year. So, we have the upmost respect for them. They have been very successful and it starts with the great coaching,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Joe (Bedingfield) and (Dave) Hirschy are two of the best in the business an great friends to our staff. It’s a unique situation going against some of the brothers in the coaching fraternity. We are looking forward to the challenge. Our guys have been in district tournaments before and they know what this is like, so this isn’t new. For Willard, this isn’t new for them. They have been in this situation. So, it is going to be a challenge but we are looking forward to the opportunity to play in a district tournament Tuesday night.”

Willard is lead by district 6 player of the year Cooper Parrott (21.0 PPG) and first team all district selection Terry Baldridge (17.9 PPG,) but Sheldon says they have other guys that can play too. “(Parrott) is a two time district 6 player of the year and well deserved. Cooper is a very good player, he can score it and he can pass it. The (Terry) Baldridge kid is a tough guard. He is a double, double kind of guy. I think the thing that goes unknown is their other guys. Myles (Pinkston) is a very good rebounder and slasher and great defender. Then the (Trey) Paxton kid can shoot it and Dawson and Adelman are very good role players within their system. So, it’s a very good basketball team all of the way around when you look at Willard up and down their personnel,” he said.

Sheldon says the Flashes are very good at running the fast break and getting on the offensive boards and they will need to contain them in those two areas if they are going to win. “I think you have to stop their transition offense. They are very good in transition and you have to keep them off the offensive glass. They have great length and athleticism. So, those are two major keys stopping their transition game and keeping them off the glass. We have to make sure we take care of the basketball and execute at the offensive end. In a district tournament when you are playing great teams every possession is important. They are going to know our stuff. We know there stuff. When it comes down to this level after being in so many districts over the years, it comes down to kids making plays. That’s what it is about. We are looking forward to the opportunity and the challenge come Tuesday night,” said Sheldon.

Published 3/03/20

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Colonel Crawford Going for Another Sectional Title

Colonel Crawford takes on Elmwood in a division III sectional final game at Hopewell-Loudon High School on Friday night.

If they win, it will be the Eagles (20-3) ninth straight sectional title.

They beat Kansas Lakota (60-25) on Wednesday night in a sectional semifinal.

Coach David Sheldon says they took care of business. “I am proud of our guys. We got right out of the gate an got on them. We got to play all 15 guys on our roster in the tournament. It was a good win. You move on and now we get a chance to play for a championship on Friday night,” he said.

Sheldon says his team has a lot of tournament experience and that is a plus. “You look at all five of our starters. They all played in the district final last year. The three seniors have played in three straight district finals. So, you have to think at this time of year the experience and the importance of every possession in tournament basketball and the details involved in the game helps when you have had experience,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “We have a locked in group right now. I know no matter what happens in this tournament run they are prepared and they are taking it serious and they are locked in wanting to go one game at a time throughout this whole tournament.”

Elmwood (11-12) beat Woodmore (57-43) on Thursday night in their sectional semi at Hopewell-Loudon.

Sheldon says they have some size and one excellent shooter. “It is a very good basketball team. They are 6’2”, 6’3” across the board. They have a Reynolds kid at guard that can really shoot the lights out, a really good guard, that averages double figures. They are a very physical basketball team defensively and it is going to be a good test. Their league is a very good league. If you look at their league every team is playing in a sectional final except Woodmore, who they beat (Thursday) night, and Lake. So, they have played good basketball and competitive teams. So, it’s going to be a battle for 32 minutes. We are just looking for the opportunity to play for a championship,” said Sheldon.

The Crawford coach says they have not played a team quite like this so far this season. “I think it is just a little bit different. They have some players that remind me of players we have played against this year, but not necessarily one team on our schedule. Watching several films and seeing them in person a few times,” he said.

Published 2/28/20

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Colonel Crawford Focused

Colonel Crawford continues to play outstanding basketball as they prepare for the upcoming boys’ basketball postseason, which starts next week.

They play their final regular season game at Buckeye Central in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

On Saturday night, the Eagles won their ninth straight game in beating Northmor (40-34) in a non-conference game.

Coach David Sheldon says that game was good tournament preparation for them. “It was a great game prior to the tournament. They just came off winning their league championship on Friday and we knew it was going to a battle. It was a team that matched our size with 6’6”, 6’5”, 6’4”. It was a defensive battle. It remained me of some tournament games over the years where every possession it was tough to score at both ends. In the first half we got out in transition and caused some turnovers and got the lead. Just like good teams do they made a run and we never lost the lead. We found a way to win at the end. It was a great game, very physical, just like tournament games. It was a good test for us going into the tournament a week and half from now,” said Sheldon.

Crawford (18-3,13-2) takes the bus up route 602 on Saturday to play Buckeye Central (3-17,2-13) on Friday night. The Bucks got their biggest win of the season on Saturday night as they drilled Bucyrus (71-44) in a “N10” game.

The Eagles won their first meeting with the Bucks (62-38) on January 11.

Sheldon says they want to continue their momentum. “They got a decisive over 20 point win. It was a good win for them last weekend. Their two post players are playing really well. They have good size inside. It is always a big rivalry when you go down 602. So, hopefully we can cap off the season with a “W,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We have talked to our guys that there have only been two other teams since 1965 to win 19 regular season games at Crawford. Being out of the league race we have a chance to win 19 games and that would be a great accomplishment before we head into the tournament. Our guys have really been locked in the last month. That focus comes from our senior leadership. You rely on those guys that have been through the tournament over the years and it has been fantastic. We will be excited to play come Friday night as we finish up the regular season.”

Sheldon says they really don’t want this game to have a tempo like Saturday night. He says they want to play faster. “Buckeye Central is more half court and we have to try and get the tempo up whether it is in the full court or the half court with our defensive pressure. We want to get it up and down. There is definitely a contrast in styles and we will see which style comes out on top on Friday night,” he said.

Published 2/18/20

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Colonel Crawford Faces Northmor in Good non-league Game

Colonel Crawford is getting ready for the stretch drive toward the postseason tournament, which begins in two weeks.

They travel to Northmor on Saturday night for a non-conference game between two second place teams, Colonel Crawford in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and the Golden Knights in the Knox Morrow Athletic Conference.

Crawford won two “N10” games last week in beating Bucyrus (78-42) on Friday and Ridgedale (57-34) on Saturday.

They have won eight straight games and coach David Sheldon says they continue to play very well. “At the end of January, this first of February, you want to be getting better as a basketball team and I think we have done that. I think the defense has been solid, but on the offensive end we have been putting three, four guys in double figures every night. I think that is a key when you are heading into the tournament, so it is not a one or two man show,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “So, I have been very happy with the unselfishness with us making extra passes and the offensive end. That’s what you want at this time of the year to keep getting better. We know we are out of the league race and we got a good seed and you are playing to get better before you tip off the tournament of Wednesday, February 26.”

Colonel Crawford plays Kansas Lakota at Hopewell-Loudon in first round game in division III.

Colonel Crawford has shown the ability this season to score from the perimeter or in the paint and Sheldon says that makes them harder to guard. “I think last week was a perfect example. Versus New London we hit 11 threes and then the next time we only hit four threes. We can pound it inside depending on our matchup. That’s good, it makes you multi dimensional instead of relying all on three or all on the post. We are fortunate to have that balance inside and out on a nightly basis,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (17-3) is at Northmor (12-6) on Saturday night. The Golden Knights beat Fredericktown (48-45) in a “KMAC” game on Friday night.

Sheldon says Northmor is an excellent team and will provide them with the kind of test they are looking for. “Once again they are having a winning year. This is a great non-league and it has been for many years. They have great size. It starts with the (Blake) Miller kid. He has been playing since their good groups when he was a freshman and he is a senior now. He is a load, he can go inside and he can go outside. He has good size around him and good players with (Hunter) Mariotti, (Logan) Randolph, and (Kooper) Keen. So, it is a very solid basketball team. We have to go on the road and this is a great non-league game for us to play them prior to getting in the tournament. It’s a good basketball team and it will be a challenge come Saturday night,” said Sheldon.

Published 2/12/20

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Crawford Continuing to Build

Colonel Crawford will be at home for two games in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this weekend with Bucyrus on Friday and Ridgedale coming in on Saturday.

On Tuesday night, the Eagles, winners of their last six, beat New London (62-31) in a non-conference game.

Coach David Sheldon was really happy with the way they attacked the New London zone. “I thought we showed some growth (Tuesday) night. New London came out and played us in a zone due to our size advantage. We came out and hit 11 threes on the night. So, we really shot it well with multiple guys. It wasn’t one or two guys. We came out and shot well against somebody playing zone trying to take away our size. So, I thought they was a good growth for this basketball team. Once again we have three or four guys in double figures. I think that is key for us going down the stretch into the tournament. It is not one, two guys, you have multiple guys scoring. So, we hare happy with that. Credit New London, those kids play hard. I really think coach (Dane) Held is doing a good job. He is a Tommy Howell guy coming from that system. Our guys rose to the occasion,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (15-3,11-2) plays host to Bucyrus (2-15,2-10) on Friday night. The Redmen lost (78-47) to Mohawk last Saturday in a conference game. Crawford smoked the Redmen (110-40) on December 27.

Sheldon says they have to be focused on getting better as a team. “When you play teams that in round one you won by a nice advantage, you just have to go back to work. I think the thing is you have to worry about Colonel Crawford and what we have to get better at. This is our last home weekend and this is a special group of seniors that we have. You look at Gavin Feichtner, Reis Walker and Jordan Fenner winning 74 games over the last four years at the varsity level this will be a special moment with our last two home games with these three guys,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We have to be ready to go against Bucyrus. The (Lucas) Kozinski kid is playing really well for them. He did not play at the beginning of the year and he is a good player for them. We have to worry about Colonel Crawford getting better in all aspects of the game and take advantage and enjoy our last two home games at the “MAC.”

As far as getting better as a team, Sheldon says they still have a lot of work to do. “Defensive positioning, being in the right spots, not just on the ball. Completing possessions with no second shots. Offensively being fluent, being fundamental. The big thing is with our team is we just want to keep making the extra pass. When you see three, four guys in double figures each night we have to share the basketball. (Tuesday) night they tried to take our bigs away by playing a packed in zone. With having an inside and outside game, we can sort of pick our poison, that’s the ways we look at it, depending on how people approach us defensively,” he said.

Published 2/06/20

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Colonel Crawford Travels to Carey

Colonel Crawford plays at Carey on Wednesday night as they meet the Blue Devils in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game for the second time in less than two weeks.

They beat them in North Robinson (65-44) on January 18.

They also beat arch rival Wynford (52-41) at home on Saturday night in a conference game. It was their tenth win in their last 12 games.

Coach David Sheldon says they did a tremendous job on the N10’s leading scorer in Josh Crall, limiting him to 14 points. “I was very pleased with our defensive effort against an unbelievable player like Josh Crall. He is probably going to be the leading scorer in Wynford school history. I felt we made him work for every shot,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “That is a credit to Reis Walker and Carter Valentine who had that assignment and then our other guys because it take a full team effort because Josh is so good at getting in the lane then getting to the foul line. So, it was a tremendous defensive effort. That was a good win for us because that is a very good basketball team who has won 11 games already. I was pleased with our effort Saturday night.”

Colonel Crawford (12-3,9-2) plays at Carey (8-6,6-4) on Wednesday night. The Blue Devils have lost their last three, all to good teams in Crawford, conference leader Upper Sandusky (58-43) on Thursday and rival Mohawk (66-64) on Saturday.

Sheldon says this is still a very good team. “It’s a very good basketball team. They have had a tough stretch of some very good basketball teams they have played. We played them a week and half ago, so it’s a quick turnaround. It starts the big fellow inside (Hayden) Stone, but they have got some shooters around him too that have made shots throughout the year. So, this will be a challenge. We have top go on the road on a Wednesday night. This is a big game for us to keep winning games before the tournament seeding in about two weeks,” said Sheldon.

Stone (20.6 PPG,10.7 RPG) is headed to Findlay to play college basketball and Sheldon says they must do their best to contain him without losing Carey’s other players. “He is a strong physical kid, we don’t have that. We do have size at the other positions on the floor, where we try to take advantage of that. He is a force to be reckoned with and there is a reason he is going to be going to college and playing basketball for free. He definitely is a dominate post player and has been for four years in our league. You have to respect the other guys too because they have got guys that have hit threes and have shot it well throughout the year,” he said.

Published 1/28/20

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Fourth Quarter Surge Lifts Colonel Crawford over Wynford

Colonel Crawford spurted at the right time Saturday night and the Eagles beat arch rival Wynford (52-41) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game at Mac Morrison Gym in North Robinson.

Wynford took an early (9-4) lead on a Josh Crall three pointer with 3:47 left in the first quarter leading to a Crawford time out. The Eagles would score 10 of the next 14 points to a take a (14-13) lead with :47 left in the first period.

The Eagles (12-3,9-2) never trailed again.

Wynford cut it to (39-37) with 7:31 left in the contest on a Gavin Leffler goal, the Eagles would go on an (8-0) run, including threes by senior Jordan Fenner and sophomore Mason Studer. They never lead by less than six the rest of the way.

Coach David Sheldon says those spurts were critical. “We get off to a slow start. They get up 9-4 and we call time out. Then we make a run and extend it to eight at the half. Wynford is a very good team and they make a run in the third quarter. We talked about in the quarter we have to get off to a great start and we really did and extended the lead and hit some big shots and got the lead and then we spread the floor and held it the last three minutes,” said Sheldon.

Wynford coach Steve Mohr says they have shown this year they can compete in big games, but they have not been able to win them. “What (Saturday) night showed is we are not good enough to be league champions. We contended, we just aren’t good enough to be league champions. We still have a lot to play for. We will learn from this game. The bottom line is we just sent to the line way too much. I’m not complaining about the officiating. We just sent them to the line way too much. We fouled shooters, we fouled people on the offensive glass. We had it to four or six there in third and we had some turnovers that really stopped us from having any opportunity,” said Mohr.

Fenner scored his 1,000 th career point against Mohawk on Thursday night and he was tremendous for the Eagles against Wynford with a game high 24 points, 19 coming in the first three quarters.

Sheldon says he hit crucial shot after crucial shot for them. “Jordan Fenner was really good (Saturday) night. I am glad to have the 1,000 points out of the way. He hit big shots. The first half we isolated him a lot, just one on one. His pull up jumper getting to the rim is as good as anybody’s. Jordan hit big shots in a big game,” he said.

Defense is a major factor for Crawford as they held Wynford to their lowest offensive output of the season. Sheldon says they were able to slow down the N10’s leading scorer in Josh Crall. “To hold Josh Crall, who is one of the better players in the area, to 14 points. He is averaging 26 a game. It was a phenomenal job,” he told Swankpnsports.com after the game, “It was our guys on the ball, but we really wanted to gap help on him because if he gets in the lane he is so good at getting to the rim or getting to the foul line. I thought our guys did a phenomenal job on him and keeping him out of the lane. Josh is a really good player.”

Crall still led Wynford with those 14 makers.

Mohr says the didn’t have good movement to get open shots. “I think we stood too much. I don’t think we stepped back to the ball when they were hedging so much on the screens and at times doubling Josh. Our screeners have to step back,” he said.

Wynford (11-5,9-3) drops three games behind Upper Sandusky in the “N10” and Mohr says they are not as experienced is this kind of game as are the Eagles. “That’s an experienced basketball team. The thing coming into this game was we haven’t been in big games like this yet. That was a big factor the first time and I think that was a big factor for them this time. When it got tight, they were able to make the plays to keep the lead and pull away. Hopefully, we become a better team as a result of it,” said Mohr.

Upper Sandusky beat Ridgedale (66-49), Mohawk edged Carey (66-64) and Bucyrus downed Seneca East (62-57) in other “N10” games on Saturday night.

Published 1/25/20

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Colonel Crawford Recovers; Faces Two More Tough Ones

Colonel Crawford certainly had an up and down weekend last week and they face two tough games again this week in play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

Upper Sandusky took leads of 10-2, 15-2, and then 25-6 after the first quarter on their way to a route of the Eagles (69-40) last Friday.

Coach David Sheldon says they just got behind by too much too early against a very good team. “Hats off to Upper, they came out and played a very, very good first quarter and we struggled. I thought Upper was much more aggressive on both ends of the floor than us. We got off to a terrible start and it just snowballed in that first quarter. I give our guys credit, they came out and played with pride in the second, third and fourth quarter. We hung with them, but you just can’t get down to a good team in the first quarter like that. We didn’t even bring it up the next morning. That game is done and over with and you move on,” said Sheldon.

Then on Saturday night the Eagles rallied and they hammered Carey (65-44) in a conference game. Sheldon says they were much more aggressive against the Blue Devils. “The big statement was we wanted to be the aggressor on Saturday night and we came out and did that. We took a 10 point lead after the first against Carey and then were up 18 at the half. Hats off to my guys because that was a humbling experience Friday night. We came back and dealt with adversity and really were a lot more aggressive on Saturday night against a very good Carey basketball team. It is sort of like life. Life isn’t always fair there are ups and downs and you try and teach kids a lessons through the game of basketball. I think a lesson was learned this past weekend,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (10-3,7-2) plays at Mohawk (9-6,5-4) on Thursday night in “N10” play. The Warriors have won six of their last seven, including a (69-55) win over Buckeye Central on Saturday night. Crawford won a close won (64-62) on December 14.

Sheldon says Mohawk has found more scorers and they play pretty good defense. “It is definitely a team that is good. They are 9-6 overall when you look at their record. The have five guys that can put it on the floor, they have five guys that can shoot it, but they don’t have a true back to the basket post player. They do a great job defensively in the full court changing up presses back to their 2-3 zone. We had our hands full the first time at home winning by two, so it’s going to be a tough road matchup. It is a team that has gotten better over the course of the year. I think Paul Dunn does a great job up there. We just have to make sure we come out with a business like approach, take it to the road and try and execute on both ends of the floor,” said Sheldon.

Traditional rival Wynford (10-4,8-2) comes calling on Saturday night. The Eagles won the first time (55-54) on December 20. Sheldon says Wynford has added some offensive punch around Josh Crall. “Similar to Mohawk, we only win by one over at their place earlier in the year. It starts with Josh Crall, one of the best players in the entire area. He is vey, very good and they have had other guys around him averaging five, six, seven points, so they have had some other guys step up this year and that is why they have 10 wins going into this week,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We will focus on them come Friday after we play Mohawk Thursday night. It is not a back to back, we will have a day and then a morning to prepare for Wynford. This is the toughest stretch of our season with five games with Upper, Carey, Mohawk, Wynford and then Carey again. So, this is an important stretch as you prepare for tournament seeding. We are getting closer and closer and playing good basketball teams in this five game stretch.”

Published 1/21/20

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Colonel Crawford Has to Make Shots

To have any chance to win the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title this season Colonel Crawford has to win Friday night at Upper Sandusky.

They trail the Rams by one in the conference standings, having lost to them in early December.

Last week, they beat Ridgedale (50-28) and Buckeye Central (62-38) in “N10” games.

Coach David Sheldon says hey have executed well. “We have played some really good first halves and got some big leads and were able to play a lot of kids the second half. It all goes back to December 7 when we lost to Upper Sandusky. We talked when you talk this league you have got to bear down and take care of business every night to even have January 17 mean anything and be in a league race. I am proud of our guys, we have had some close games along the way and at least we gave put ourselves with an opportunity to get back in the league race Friday night when we go to Upper Sandusky,” he said.

Upper Sandusky (11-1,7-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, owns an 11-game winning streak. Sheldon says the Rams are physical on defense and have a great transition game. “First of all, I think this is a team that has gotten better over the course of the year. From when we played them in early December until the middle of January this is a team that has gotten better. It starts with their defensive pressure. They are very good defensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I think the thing that people don’t realize is it is a physical basketball team. They are very physical and their defense leads to offense. You have got to take care of the basketball. Second of all, everything starts with their transition game. I think you have to value the basketball, so you don’t turn it over and it leads to layups. You have to take great shots because a missed shot that is a bad shot can lead to their transition.”

Upper pretty consistently will have four guys in double figures and Sheldon says they have a lot of options. “When you look at their personnel, they are able to score in many different ways because they have multiple options on this basketball team. We have the upmost respect, it is a very good basketball team. We are looking forward to still being in the race in the second round. That is where you want to be at this time of year. We have a challenge in front of us, but at least we have this opportunity in front of us on Friday night at Upper,” he said.

Limiting the Rams transition run outs is going to be huge for Colonel Crawford. Sheldon says they can’t allow a lot of easy opportunities. “I think the last two years. You look at last year when we spilt with them and even the first game this year it was a low scoring game possession to possession. I think you have to do that because they are so explosive in the transition. You look at their win against Shelby, which is a very good transition team. That was an up and down game and Upper thrives in that kind of game. Our guys bought into what we think we need to do to put ourselves with an opportunity to win a basketball game in the fourth quarter,” said Sheldon.

Upper beat Colonel Crawford (9-2,6-1) the first time they played (50-45) on December 7.

It is probably going to be close at the end again if history is any predicter. Sheldon says the winner will be the one that makes clutch plays at the end. “I look at the first game and we have to make shots. The first game we shot 29 percent from the field and lose by five to them. So, we have to make shots and a lot of that is Upper’s very good defense. We have to be clicking on all cylinders. When there are two very good basketball teams playing it is going to come down to, we each know each other well, what kids make plays on Friday night,” said Sheldon.

Published 1/16/20

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Crawford and Ridgedale with Different Styles

Colonel Crawford and Ridgedale are light years apart in terms of tempo and the team that controls that will have a good chance of winning when the two teams play at Ridgedale on Wednesday night.

Currently, Crawford is in a share of second place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference with Wynford and Carey, game behind Upper Sandusky.

The Eagles hammered Plymouth (70-42) in a non-conference game on Saturday night and coach David Sheldon says they were sharp. “I thought we played a wonderful first half. We were up 24 at halftime and in the second half we got to play a lot of guys and work on some different things. So, we had a great start to the game. We played very good defense, I think we gave up 19 at the half, its was 43-19, so I was happy with our performance and now we move back into league play. These are the days in January where you start to separate teams in conferences, so this a big month of January with a lot of league games,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (7-2,4-1) visits Ridgedale (3-5,1-3) on Wednesday night. The Rockets lost (52-51) in overtime to Ridgemont in a game played in Knightstown, Indiana on Saturday night in non-conference action.

Sheldon says the Rockets have a solid starting lineup and they are a team that is going to want to slow them down. “First of all, the last two games they have played very well. They won at Cardington and they played Ridgemont to overtime this past week, who only has one loss on the year. Ridgedale is a team that wants to control the pace. They do a lot of things and are very patient offensively. You have to be disciplined defensively and we want to get more of an up and down tempo. We have to make sure to be disciplined defensively because they will take 45 to a minute off the clock for they even shoot it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “It is a team that really likes to control the tempo and we have to try and get it in our tempo and I think that is a big thing. They have the Lust kid and he is a very talented kid that has played for a long time over there. They have good skill. Their first five are very, very good. It is a different night with a Wednesday away game and we have to take a business like approach going on the road Wednesday night.”

When playing against a team like Ridgedale, Sheldon says when you have the ball you must value it because there will likely be less chances to score. “You have to value every possession because in a game where a team is going to try and control the tempo like them you have to make sure offensively that you value every possession because their might not be as many possessions throughout the entire game, so both ends of the floor you have to make sure you value the ball on the offensive end and defensively being disciplined. We have to apply some defensive pressure to try and make them play a little faster than they are used to,” he said.

Published 1/08/20

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Important Practice Week for Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford is a good team that needs to get better and that is what this week is all about.

They play Plymouth in a non-conference game on Saturday night.

They beat Bucyrus (110-40) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night, but lost (56-51) to Lexington on Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says Saturday was a game they could have won. “I’ll be honest we don’t get into moral victories, we were pretty disappointed Saturday night. We got off to a great start, had an eight point lead with two to go in the first half. Credit Lexington, they make a run and take a one point lead into half. We come out the third quarter and they score fourth straight times. I was a little disappointed at the end of the second and the first part of the third because I really thought that is where we lost the basketball game. We just weren’t very efficient on the offensive end. Defensively, has some break downs,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Lexington runs a lot of good stuff and we didn’t handle screens and gave up a lot of points in the paint. We fought back at the end and just came up a little short to a very good team. There is a reason Lexington is 6-2. It’s a good non-league game for us, but it is one we thought we could get and we didn’t come through and that’s a credit to Lexington and the way they have played on Saturday night.”

With seniors with experience in the lineup, Sheldon says they should know what they have to do. He says they need to work on some things this week. “I don’t see as much of a learning experience right now when you have the amount of lettermen that we have back. Those are some of the games that you have go to get. That is the disappointing thing. With the better teams that we feel we need to compete with we haven’t gotten over the hump yet. I am going to be completely honest. That is what we are challenging our guys with this week. This a great week. We have a whole week of practice where the first three days we are going to worry about Colonel Crawford and then turn our attention to our non-league opponent. We definitely have to get better in different areas to get to goals that we want to succeed throughout this season and into tournaments,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (6-2) plays host to Plymouth (4-4) on Saturday night. The Big Red is coming off a (46-25) loss to New London last week in a Firelands Conference game. After a good start they have lost four of their last five.

Sheldon says their focus is on containing guard Walker Elliot. “It starts with Walker Elliot. He is very good. He is a great three sport athlete over there. He is quick and he can shoot it. He is a phenomenal athlete and basketball player. He is a fierce competitor. That is the number one thing with Plymouth and what they do at the offensive end runs through him. Defensively, we just have to make sure we try and contain him and the Bebee kid around him shooting it well. The beginning of the week with not having any school we are focusing a lot on things we have to clean up and then at the end of the week we will turn towards Plymouth,” he said.

Published 12/31/19

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Colonel Crawford Plays Improved Bucyrus

Colonel Crawford, a game back in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, makes the short trip to Bucyrus to take on the Redmen on Friday night in a conference game.

The Eagles had a good weekend last weekend, beating Wynford (55-54) and Seneca East (88-51) on Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon was pleased. “I was very happy the weekend before Christmas to go on the road two games, Friday and Saturday, our first back to back. I was happy with our guys. Friday was a heck of a basketball game over at the “House of Trills” and Wynford is a very good basketball team, you saw the next night when they beat Carey. So, when you get two wins on the road. It was a good weekend and now we are back at it with a Friday-Saturday right after Christmas,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (5-1,3-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Bucyrus (0-6,0-4) on Friday night. Bucyrus lost to Seneca East (80-44) and Mohawk (77-64) last weekend.

Sheldon says with the addition of a player they are clearly better. “This is a better basketball game than the first fivw games because they have the (Lucas) Kozinski kid back, who was suspended. They where up at half last week against Mohawk. We had a close game with Mohawk a few weeks ago,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “This is a better basketball team because the Kozinski kid is really good. His first night he goes for 25. It’s always a rivalry when you go over to Bucyrus, so we have got to be ready to go with a business like attitude going on the road to Bucyrus.”

Sheldon has been part of Crawford County basketball for more than a quarter of a century and he understands what a win would mean to Bucyrus. “Bucyrus gets fired up to play county schools. They always do. I think they are getting used the system of a new coach. We have got to make sure we come out with energy and passion right from the get go when you go over to Bucyrus because of their excitement to play Colonel Crawford,” he said.

Lexington (4-2) comes to Colonel Crawford on Saturday. Sheldon says this is the kind of test they need. “Lexington has won four in a row. They are playing very well right now. The Berry kid was out with an injury. They have great size inside and they have good guard play. The Spears kid has been playing very well for them. Scott Hamilton does a great job. Everybody knows they lost that great senior class. They are a program with a tradition of success and they have reloaded and they are playing good basketball. This is very good non-league game for us. These are the kind you want on your schedule playing a very good division II team getting you ready down the road for a sectional district tournament. We are looking forward to that matchup on Saturday, but our first order is Bucyrus, the league game on Friday night,” said Sheldon.

Published 12/27/19

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Crawford With a Must Win at Wynford

Colonel Crawford with a loss in “N10” play a couple of weeks ago to Upper Sandusky can ill afford another as they travel to rival Wynford on Friday night for a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.

They kept themselves in the conference race, a game behind Wynford and Upper Sandusky, with a big win (64-62) over Mohawk last Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says they made plays at both ends in the fourth quarter to secure the win. “We had to grind one out. Hats off to Mohawk, they came in and played a very good offensive game. Watching all of their games that is the best they have played offensively. They shot it well, the (Austin) Tusing kid really took over the second half. Credit our guys we played one possession at a time and it gave us a chance to win in the end. We made good execution of our last possession to win the game. In a long year sometimes you have to grind some games out and that’s what we had to do. Mohawk played a very good game and we were very fortunate to get out there with a “W” last Saturday night,” said Sheldon.

The Crawford coach says he has confidence in his kids and they have confidence in themselves in clutch situations. “With six lettermen back we have been tight games throughout the course of their careers. When you look at their face in timeouts there was no panic. We were fortunate enough to get some stops in the end in the fourth quarter to give ourselves a chance to win a basketball game. So, I definitely think it helps having the experience of being in those situations over the years,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (3-1,1-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at rival Wynford (4-1,3-0) on Friday night. The Royals enjoy a four game winning streak, including two “N10” wins last week over Bucyrus (65-41) on Thursday and over Ridgedale (56-41) on Saturday.

Josh Crall is the leading scorer in the conference (24.4 PPG) and Sheldon says their focus has to start with him. “Well, they are playing very well. It starts with Josh Crall, he is one of the premier guards in our area. He is very talented. He has a chance to be the all time leading scorer in Wynford history and I have seen and grown up with many greats in that program. So, he is very special player and he is a tough guard. I think it starts with him, but they have other guys that are starting to step it up around him and making shots. That’s what makes them very good. If other guys are making shots for Wynford they are going to be a tough out because of Josh’s ability to take over games,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They are playing with a lot of confidence they have won four straight. We have to go to the “House of Thrills” and it is always a tough place to play. So, we have got to take a business approach going over there and know what we have to do to stay in the game and get a win on the road against a very good opponent early in the season. It’s a crucial game with us already dropping a league game and Wynford being in first place by themselves this is a crucial game in this league. You hate to say this in December, but this is a very crucial game. Hopefully, our guys rise to the challenge.”

Wynford does not have any other double figure scorers, but Sheldon says they have other kids that are dangerous and that makes for some difficult decisions on defense. “Josh is very good. It seems like he has been there forever. He’s a four year letterman. He is a talented. It is not going be one guy it is going to be multiple guys throughout the night on him. We have to hope the other guys don’t step up, but they have the capabilities of doing that and we know that. We will see how the game progresses and make adjustments throughout the game,” he said.

Published 12/20/19

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Crawford with Tough Defensive Assignment With Seneca East

Colonel Crawford, in a share of first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference with Buckeye Central, hosts Seneca East, a game back, in a big conference game on Tuesday night in North Robinson.

The Lady Eagles upended Wynford (50-42) on Friday night to maintain their share of the lead.

Coach Kyle Fenner says they played pretty well last week, but she knows they can be better. “It probably was. It was a great atmosphere for us to go over there and battle against them. It’s a county rivalry for us. We played pretty well. We didn’t play as well as I think we can play. I know we turned it over more that we should have. So, it was a good win, but there are things we have to get better on too,” she said.

The N10’s leading scorer in Allison Teglovic had 14 points to help pace Crawford to that win.

Improvement is something her players are dedicated to, according to Fenner. “I’ll tell you what, you can never stop working. You can never stop watching tape and preparing because there are so many good coaches and good players in our league and the area. We know we have got to get better. We know we turned the ball over too many times. There were some points that we felt we left out on the floor, we just missed easy shots. We just have to keep cleaning things up. We will do that, our kids are competitors and they work hard,” said Fenner.

Colonel Crawford (6-0,4-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at home for Seneca East (4-2,3-1) on Tuesday night. The Lady Tigers rocked Bucyrus (83-16) in their last game on Friday.

Fenner says they have very good players on the perimeter and inside, beginning with last year’s player of the year. “There is a lot of good about Seneca East. They are led by the reining “N10” player of the year in Jessica Bowerman, who is athletic and quick and can jump and shoot it and take it to the basket and shoot the three. She makes them really, really good, but then they are big down in the post with Alexis Hicks and (Amelia) Boes girl,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “So, it is going to be a challenge for us (Tuesday) night to hopefully control Bowerman, you are not going to stop her, you just have to control her, and then we have to do what we can do with those two big, physical posts and keep them off the glass.”

Published 12/17/19

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Colonel Crawford Has to Get in Paint

Colonel Crawford is down, but they are certainly not out.

They lost their Northern 10 Athletic Conference opener to Upper Sandusky (50-45) on Saturday night. They play host to Mohawk on Saturday night.

Coach David Sheldon says they were not aggressive enough offensively against Upper. “It was a great environment, very good high school basketball game. I thought offensively we really struggled for three quarters. We were pretty passive, not aggressive getting into the paint in our post, off our drive, we sort of settled a little bit and allowed the Upper Sandusky defense to dictate. Upper plays very good defense, very aggressive, and I thought they controlled us at the offensive end. Defensively, overall I was pretty happy. Evan Young really took over the game. He has 25 of their 50 points. When you look at Evan Young he is a tough kid, always has been for four years and he played a very good offensive game. It was hard to come by points. It was a very physical basketball game, sort of like you see in the district tournament. Hats off to Upper, they came over and took one away from us at our place,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Now you are behind the eight ball. You have lost one already to a very good team, one of the favorites in our league in Upper Sandusky. They have six seniors, this has been a very good class for them. Every night out now we have to have a sense of urgency to make us play for something the second time we go to Upper. So, we put ourselves behind the eight ball. We spent an hour in the classroom trying to learn from this game. We have to make progress moving forward.”

Going forward Sheldon says they have to be better at getting the ball in the lane and that won’t be easy against Mohawk. “Getting the ball to the paint off the drive and to our post players. Our post players have to do a better job posting up as well and not getting pushed off blocks and that kind of thing and we have to do that. The thing about Mohawk is the play a very good 2-3 zone. So, we have to try and get it into the paint even though it is a zone. When you get it into the paint you create better shots from the outside as well. We have good shooters. Unfortunately, we didn’t shoot in the best last week, but we have got to get it inside, out and play that way. Mohawk runs a very good 2-3 zone. They are very coached by Paul Dunn. They were the champions last year in our league. It is not like we have an easy task in hand come Saturday night with Mohawk,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (2-1,0-1) plays at home against Mohawk (1-2,0-0) the defending champions in the “N10.” The Warriors lost (43-29) to Hopewell-Loudon in a non-conference game.

Sheldon says Mohawk lost some kids to graduation, but they still have a lot of bring to the table. “The (Austin) Tusing kid is the one starter back from last year’s team and he is a very good guard. He can shoot it, he can put it on the floor and their other players played on that championship team last year in (Hunter) Gottfried and (Landen) Snyder, so they have kids that have been part of a championship and expect to win. They shoot it well from the three point line and they are going to be a tough guard for us as well. So, it’s a good basketball team. The early part of this week we concentrated on Colonel Crawford and as we get to the end of the week then our focus will turn to Mohawk to get prepared for Saturday night,” he said.

Published 12/12/19

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Rebounds Important for Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford sets in a three way tie with Buckeye Central and Seneca East for first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

All three are 2-0 so far.

Crawford coach Kyle Fenner says they have done some good things, but there is still a long way to go. “We are really happy with the start. We feel like our kids have worked really hard in the off season. We have had some things go our way in the first part of the season,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We have told our kids that it is just a start and there are 18 more basketball games that we have to play, so we have to keep taking each day and each game one game, one practice at a time. We will approach it like that and hopefully come February we will be in the hunt for something.”

Despite the strong start to year, Fenner says the have to understand there is still a lot of improvement to make. “They have to realize that they still have to get better. I have some kids that are pretty down to earth and understand that we still make mistakes. We set down a lot and we go through our film and we point those mistakes out as long as we point other good things out too. We watch film and we go back and practice everyday and we try and get better on those things,” she said.

Colonel Crawford (4-0,2-0) is at home for Mohawk (0-2,0-1) on Tuesday night in “N10” action. The Lady Eagles beat Carey (43-35) on Friday meanwhile Mohawk lost (54-17) to Buckeye Central.

Fenner says they are going to have to rebound well in this game. “They are really, really scrappy. They are going to play hard and they are going to put the ball on the floor try to attack the glass. The one thing that they do really, really well is they crash the offensive glass. I know last year, especially when we went to Mohawk, we got beat on the glass and gave up too many offensive rebounds. They are going to be scrappy and we have to make sure that we keep them off the glass,” said Fenner.

Published 12/10/19

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Colonel Crawford Must Limit Upper Scoring Runs

Two of the best teams in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference lock horns on Saturday night as Colonel Crawford hosts Upper Sandusky.

Really it is the rivalry that has identified the “N10” in recent years.

The Eagles (2-0) beat Crestline (88-31) last Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, and then Kenton (60-44) last Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says they were able to play a lot of guys against Crestline and get them experience and played very well on both ends against Kenton. “It was a good start to get two non-league games in before we start league play. The night before Thanksgiving versus Crestline we played everybody on the bench and played very well, especially defensively. Then Saturday night, its was a good road test. Kenton has been a good basketball team that won 15 games last year with a lot of people back. It was a very physical contest, you know Kenton football. It was a great challenge for us and we rose to the occasion. It was a very good road win. I was happy with our guys. We really made the extra pass all night long and played pretty well defensively, especially against a very good guard that they had at the point guard position,” said Sheldon.

Upper Sandusky (2-1) comes in off an (81-35) destruction of Galion on Wednesday night.

The Rams have six seniors with a lot of varsity experience and Sheldon says their approach to the game has not changed. “It is a very good basketball team. They have had a great tradition the last several years having much success over there throughout our entire league, so it is a very good basketball team. You know what they are going to do. They do what they are going to do and they do it well. They are going to get out in transition. You have got to stop their transition game. Defensively, they put great ball pressure and denial pressure all night long defensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I think one of the keys with Upper is you have to stop their runs. They are very good at getting on runs and scoring a bunch in a hurry. That’s what they do and they do it well. So, it’s a very good basketball team. They have a lot of veterans back. They have had much success over the years at Upper. We are looking forward to the challenge. It’s a tough way to start your league against one of the best teams right out of the gate, but our guys are excited for Saturday night.”

Rebounding the basketball on both ends and defensive transition are both going to be huge for the Eagles, according to Sheldon. “They are athletic at all spots. We have to make sure we get to the offensive glass and keep them off the offensive glass. It doesn’t matter if they make or miss we have got to get back because they push the ball make or miss very well and they do a good job of pushing up the floor with the pass. Rebounding is definitely a key to some of their transition buckets. We have to make sure we play one possession at a time the way Colonel Crawford does. It is going to be a great atmosphere here in North Robinson. It will be a great crowd and that is what high school basketball is all about,” he said.

Published 12/06/19

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Colonel Crawford Opens Season Against Crestline

The Colonel Crawford Eagles are not going to wait until after Turkey Day to open the season, they are starting the day before Thanksgiving by hosting the Crestline Bulldogs in a non-conference game in North Robinson.

With a veteran group of players, coach David Sheldon says his kids are ready to get the season started. “It has been a tight preseason with the last Friday of football being the first day of practice and giving guys days off and then us opening the day before Thanksgiving, so it has not been a normal preseason for us. The good thing is when you have a veteran group, I think they are itching and ready to go. We have been through five scrimmages now and it is time to tip it for real. You are always nervous that first game with what is going to happen when the lights turn on,” said Sheldon.

You can never tell until the season begins and they tip it off for the first time, but Sheldon says he believes they have gotten better as a team. “I think we have gotten better and that is what you want to see out of preseason. We finished up our last one Saturday and there are still things we have to get better at. We are not where we need to be, I can tell you that. We are still a work in progress and you want to keep getting better every day throughout the entire season and finish up playing your best basketball of the year,” he said.

Crawford beat Crestline (64-40) in the sectional finals last season and Sheldon says they are going to be facing pretty much the same team on Wednesday night. “First of all their five starters are five lettermen that played against us last year in the sectional championship. It starts with the (Kaden) Ronk kid. In our sectional final last year he had 17 and he is very good. He has deep range, he can put it on the floor, he is very quick and athletic. He is good, but he has other guys around him that have varsity experience. So, this is a similar team with five lettermen back that they will start against us (Wednesday) night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I think Tyler Sanders has done a good job and has demanded a lot. He comes from a Kutz background. I have always had an upmost respect for John Kurtz when he was at Mansfield Christian. It is their opener, so they are going to be excited too. We are neighbors, five, ten minutes down the road. So, we know we are going to get a good test (Wednesday) night when Crestline comes over here.”

Published 11/27/19

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Colonel Crawford Ready for Friday

Colonel Crawford begins the season with two games on the opening weekend as they host Northmor on Friday and Plymouth on Saturday.

They won 15 games last year.

Coach Kyle Fenner says they showed good progression during the preseason this month. “We have had a pretty good preseason. Our kids have worked hard. We have improved for the most part as the scrimmages have gone on. We are tired of getting beat up by our own selves and scrimmaging and we are just looking forward to playing on Friday night,” she said.

Fenner has taken Colonel Crawford as far as state tournament in years gone by and has been through a lot of opening nights. She says you are ready, but a little nervous too. “It’s exciting, but you are little nervous too. You are going to be the uniform on for real on Friday night and it’s a little nerve racking. You are not sure as a coach how your kids are going to react,” she told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We have some veterans that I’m sure will react fine. Everybody has two or three kids that have never thrown it up in a varsity game. So, you are ready and excited, but you are also kind of nervous too.”

Om Friday night, Fenner expects Northmor to try and push the pace a little bit and she says they are going to have to be ready to deal with that. “I guarantee you we have opened up with Northmor for I think about the last 20 years. So, those kids are going to play hard, they are going to be aggressive, they have a really good point guard in the (Julianna) DiTullio girl and she is going to push the pace. We expect them to get up the floor and we will have to be ready to stop that,” said Fenner.

Published 11/21/19

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Colonel Crawford Basketball With Unfinished Business

Colonel Crawford has been one of the more successful boys’ basketball programs in the area, but there are things they haven’t gotten done in the last few years, that they are committed to doing this winter.

Like always, coach David Sheldon says, expectations are high in North Robinson. “Every year the expectations are high with our program. Coming off winning our eighth straight sectional championship and three straight district finals our guy know expectations are there and that is a good thing. The guys that are playing for us have been a part of that success and they know what it is like to put the Colonel Crawford jersey on. They guys are excited. We got our football guys back last Wednesday. I wanted them to take a few days off after season. It’s a tight turn around. We open up the night before Thanksgiving. So, we are two weeks away from opening up with the way the OHSAA calendar works. I’m happy with everybody being in the gym and it’s nice to have everybody together again,” he said.

They open the season on November 27 at home with Crestline.

The Eagles have not been able to win a conference championship since 2015 and have not won a district title since 2013. Sheldon says that is the goal this year. “The first day of practice I laid that out there. We have been successful, there are a lot of programs in the area that would love to have 58 wins on the last three years, but guys we haven’t got over that hurdle of winning the league championship and getting past the districts. I think it starts with practice. It’s everyday wanting to get better,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We have pushed our guys, we have three four year lettermen in Gavin Feichtner (16 ppg), Jordan Fenner (16 PPG), and Reese Walker (6 PPG) that have been through the wars and I think our seniors are pretty locked in and focused in knowing what we have done and what we haven’t done. We have talked a lot about that already this preseason. I would say unfinished business for what we want to achieve by the time those three graduate this year. This is their last hurrah.”

Sheldon says they also have some younger kids off a good JV team from last year that want to get on the floor. “Right now, we have 12 guys in the gym. We have split up. When we have our varsity kids in the gym practicing there is a lot of competition with those guys and then some of our freshmen and JV go at a different time. Just to get more reps, more like a college practice. Instead of having 20, 25 guys in the gym, we have narrowed it down during the preseason. Our JV’s won 15 last year, so it’s not like they had a bad year. We have guys fighting for positions. It helps when you have six lettermen back, but we have other guys. That’s a good thing. Everybody talks about this senior class and the success they have had, but we have good kids coming that are competing. Competition within your team is a good thing where guys aren’t locked in to where they are going to play, so that is a good thing to have,” said Sheldon.

Published 11/12/19

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Colonel Crawford Faces Physical, Talented Seneca East

Colonel Crawford hosts “N10” co-leader Seneca East in a football game in North Robinson on Friday night.

Last week, the Eagles dropped one (38-20) to county rival Bucyrus in a conference game.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says their slow start plagued them all night. “It got away in the first quarter. We were down 14-0 early that was basically a two touchdown margin at the end of the game. We were down two touchdowns with a couple of minutes left and we are deep in our territory and we went for it and they took over on downs and kicked a field goal from there. That two touchdown margin in the first quarter really held up. They hit a couple of big plays on us and we just weren’t able to overcome that. I thought after the first quarter we played pretty solid football against a pretty solid football team, but you can’t dig a whole against a team like that,” said Teglovic.

The Crawford coach says they didn’t turn it over last week, which was an improvement, but there were just too many big pays by Bucyrus. “The big thing was giving up a big play Friday night. Felt like we took care of a couple of issues and some more issues pop up. Friday night we didn’t turn the ball over and when you don’t turn the ball over you like your chances to win the football game. We didn’t have the fumbled snaps that we have had,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We really cleaned some things up offensively there that we haven’t been doing well and then we give up some big plays defensively. That is the nature of the game. We have to continue to brush up on those things offensively that we needed to do and started to do a better job of and contain the big play here this week and coming up on week 10 as well.”

Colonel Crawford (4-4,2-3) plays at home against Seneca East (7-1,4-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, on Friday night in league action.

Teglovic says the Tigers have the whole package with physcialness, athleticism and experience. “They have big play potential, but for them, for me, it starts up front. They are big and physical up front. They have four offensive linemen back. They go 240, 240 270, 270, and 225 up front. Those same guys that are on offensive play on the defensive line. They have a three year starter at quarterback, who is probably more like a four year starter at quarterback with the amount of playoff games that he has played in. So, when you have experience at the quarterback position like that and he is a pretty talented kid as well. To me, those things are going to be the keys,” he said.

Published 10/24/19

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Colonel Crawford Plays Improved Bucyrus

Colonel Crawford hosts Bucyrus in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game Friday night crucial for both sides.

They trail tri-leaders Seneca East, Carey and Wynford by one game in the standings.

The Eagles played a big second half in downing Buckeye Central (41-12) last week in a conference game.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they played with a little bit more intensity in the second half of the game. “I think coach Jensen is doing a good job with those guys. Their schemes are good. They had a great plan coming out. They have great size up front and they get on you and caused us a little bit of a problem in the first half. We fumbled some snaps and that kind of thing too, which is kind of indicative of some of the things that we have done. The second half I was really pleased with our guys. We executed well and we played with a little bit more passion, a little bit more motor and we were able to get a win,” said Teglovic.

Right now, Crawford stands number 13 in their division six computer region and Teglovic says they need to get a win this week. They might need to win all three of their remaining games to get in the top eight. “If you look at the numbers that is probably the case. I’m not sure that six won’t do it. A lot of things would have to happen. We have to beat Bucyrus and our guys have focus in on that. Bucyrus is a good football team. This league is playing out to be a pretty good league,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “When you look at what Carey did last week against Seneca East and also knowing that Bucyrus beat Carey. Mohawk has been right there in the mix with all of those guys too. We know about Wynford and Seneca East already. So, it’s a good league. It is going to be a three week fight here. We are going to have a big test this week against Bucyrus, who has really played pretty well this year.”

Colonel Crawford (4-3,2-2) hosts Bucyrus (3-4,2-2) on Friday night. The Redmen lost a tough one (20-13) to Mohawk last week when the Warriors scored in the final 30 seconds.

Teglovic describes them as an experienced team with quite a bit of talent. “Well, they have 13 seniors for one and that makes a major difference. I think that is the biggest number they have had in a while. They are not just seniors on the team, they are good football players. The (Andrew) Pifer kid, their linebacker, leads the league in tackles. He plays guard on the other side of the football and he is really good. Micha Graves is one the best linemen in the league offensively and defensively. He is at nose tackle on defense and he is really good there. He is a guard also on offense. I like their quarterback a lot. I think he is a great kid. He is a hard working kid and he has started at this position for a couple of years now. They have a couple of athletes on the edge too. They have quite a few players that can make plays. They have played very well at times this year,” said Teglovic.

Published 10/16/19

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Colonel Crawford Must Clean up Act

Colonel Crawford has some talent on the football field, but they can’t get out of their own way.

They turned it over four times last week in a (32-25) loss to Mohawk in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play.

They play at Buckeye Central on Friday night in the “Battle for 602” in a league game.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says it was a lot of friendly fire last week. “We turned to ball over three times and all three times that turnover ended up in a score for them. We were driving late in the game for the tying score and we turned it over again there. We shot ourselves in the football a few times. We didn’t run the ball extremely effectively. The other thing was we gave up a couple of big plays to them as well. All of those things being said we didn’t get the job done and we got out of Mohawk with a loss,” he said.

Teglovic says they continue to work on avoiding turnovers and they talk a lot about it. “We continue to preach that we have to win the turnover battle guys. We have to make sure that we have one more takeaway than they have. If we would have done that this week we would have been in good shape. So, we are just going to continue to talk about it and continue to stress making good choices and manage the game well and do those kinds of things. Like I said, defensively we gave up a couple of big plays too. Some of that is personnel we need to take a look at. Some of that is just making sure that we are focused for a full 48 minutes,” said Teglovic.

Colonel Crawford (3-3,1-2) will be at Buckeye Central (0-6,0-3) on Friday night. The Bucks lost (53-6) to Bucyrus last week.

They may be winning winless, but Teglovic says it is very clear that the Bucks are showing improvement. “As I watch film of those guys they have a scheme. They have a scheme offensively. They run some wing-T stuff and their kids know what they are doing. They are getting in the right spot. So, they are continuing to get better offensively. Defensively, they are a 4-4 with mostly cover three stuff. You can just tell that their kids are getting a little better each week,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I think coach Jensen has done a nice job of instituting his system, his program. I think his kids are buying into it and they continue to make improvement. I was just watching their Dalton film here (Thursday) and they are a pretty good 5-1 football team and at the end of the first quarter that game 0-0. So, these are kids that although they haven’t got a win they have been going out there every week and fighting. So, take your hats off to those guys. They also have some size, they are physical up front.”

Published 10/11/19

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Crawford Back to the Basics

Colonel Crawford is a good football team that got its lunch handed to it last week, plain and simple.

Wynford beat them (56-14) last Friday and they need to put it back to together as they travel to Mohawk for a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.

Coach Ryan Tgelovic says Wynford beat them in every way and they have a lot of things they need to clean up. “We got handled. It was a good, old fashion butt kicking. It is a tough one to take as a player, a tough one to take as a coach. We didn’t play well and credit certainly Wynford. They played very well. They found their run game against us. We had a lot of break downs fundamentally that we haven’t had in a while,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We really have to go back to the drawing board in regards to that. There are some fundamental things we need to do defensively and just some execution things that we need to do offensively this week. We have plenty to work on. The good thing about our kids is they see that and hopefully they are resilient enough and they pay attention and we can fix that stuff this week. This week we play another good football team.”

Teglovic says his players have been where they need to be mentally since that loss last Friday and he expects them to bounce back. “I think they will. You always worry about that because that is a tough thing for an adult let alone a 16, 17 year-old kid. I was pleased Saturday at films with their attention to what we were talking about and it seem as though they understood what things we needed to do better to compete in that game on Friday night. I was pleased with us again (Monday) night. Hopefully, that is a continuing process this week and we can get better and hopefully be better this Friday,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (4-2,1-1) is over at Mohawk to face the Warriors (2-4,0-2) on Friday night in “N10” play. Mohawk lost (31-6) to talented Seneca East last week in a conference game.

Teglovic says Mohawk is very good in what it does schematically on defense. “Defensively, they are always good. They have been good the last five or six years and probably longer than that since we have been playing them they are always a solid 3-4 defensive team. They teach the scheme very well. Their kids know the scheme and they are committed to it. That will be tough. We have to move the football against a very good defense,” he said.

Now, the Warriors have only scored one time on offense in each of the last three weeks. However, Teglovic says on film they appear to be getting more comfortable. “Offensively, they haven’t put it all together this year, but it looks like to me they are starting to get those pieces in place. They have a more athletic kid, number 3, at quarterback, who looks pretty good, he looks elusive. I think he is starting to find his own way over the last two or three games. They have a running back in the (Jesse) Leeth kid that I think is in the top three in the league leaders. Their offensive line is athletic, they can move a little bit. We hope they don’t put it together against us. We certainly have a long way to go on our own team and things we have to work on there. This is going to be a good football game and an important football game for us,” said Teglovic.

Published 10/02/19

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Big Plays May Determine Crawford-Wynford Game

Colonel Crawford entertains cross county rival Wynford in a game that again will be a big factor in who wins the Northern 10 Athletic Conference football title on Friday night.

Last week, the Eagles dominated the fourth quarter and took out Upper Sandusky (46-28) in a “N10” game. The Rams took a (28-27) lead in the second half, but Jordan Fenner returned the ensuing kickoff for a score and Crawford never looked back.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says it was a heck of an effort by his kids. “I am very proud of them. We talked Saturday morning about how much I apricated their efforts, especially with all of the adversity that they had gone through that week. I just felt like they gutted some things out. It might not have been our best execution ever, but it certainly was great effort. Anytime you can get that from your kids you are pretty happy. It put us in position to be 3-1 and now we have got a big game with Wynford this Friday night,” said Teglovic.

Wynford stomped on Buckeye Central (57-0) last week in their league opener.

Teglovic says as expected this is a solid Wynford football team. “They lost by a touchdown to Allen East, who is 4-0. They lost by a touchdown to Liberty-Benton, who is 3-1. We are talking about a Wynford team that could easily be 4-0 and this is a pretty good football team. We know it is going to be a good football game. They have a great football team and a great football program. I think our kids are excited about the challenge. Going to have a good week this week and get out three Friday night and take advantage of the opportunity,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (3-1,1-0) is at home for Wynford (2-2,1-0) on Friday night in North Robinson.

The Royals haven’t allowed a score in their last six quarters and Teglovic says this is a typically strong Wynford defense. “The Leffler kid, I think it starts with him. He is a returning starter from last year on the defensive line. They play him at tackle and they also play him at end, it looks like he has kind of settled in at end the last couple of weeks. He is a big kid, is physical, and has a great motor. He is one of the better D-linemen in our league. That is really where it starts with them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “I am really impressed with their defensive backs. They have good speed and athleticism. It is your typical Wynford defense. They have playmakers at all three levels of that defense. We are going to have our work cut out for us moving the ball.”

Wynford has shown some good balance this year, they ran for 268 and threw for 155 last week against Buckeye, and Teglovic says they are doing it out of some different sets. “I think they have thrown the ball a little bit more than they have in the past. You don’t see a lot of tight end sets with them, which is not usual. They have been a wing-T team forever. Not saying they aren’t still running some wing-T plays. They run counter and those kinds of things. It is a different Wynford offense. A lot of four wide receiver sets and doubles and trips. Not to say they never had those kinds of things in the past, but it is the majority of time without a tight end and it has been a long time since I have seen that,” said Teglovic.

Teglovic says this is a game that is going to come down to who makes more big plays on Friday. “It is a game often times depends on how you take care of the football. You can’t turn it over. We definitely have to be plus in the turnover category. Play solid special teams. Last year, they faked a punt on us and we have to make sure that we are solid in that kind of game. We want to make more big plays than what they do. They have the ability to make those big plays, so we have to limit those the best we can,” he said.

Published 9/24/19

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Crawford Must Contain Upper Quarterback

There seem to be a number of possible contenders for the Northern 10 Athletic Conference football title this year and we begin to sort that out Friday night with the beginning of league play.

Colonel Crawford starts conference play at Upper Sandusky.

The Eagles game last week didn’t end until after midnight due to lightning. They beat Cardington (46-14) in North Robinson.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says it isn’t easy for players to deal with the weather. “It is not an easy thing for those guys. I mean we waited two hours to play that second half. We got the first half in, had the lightning at halftime, and we are off the field for about two hours before we can go back out and start the second half. It tests your guys, tests their focus, and those kinds of things. Our guys did a pretty good job of coming out the second half and focusing back in,” he said.

The Crawford coach adds they did a lot of good things against Cardington, but they certainly weren’t perfect. “Obviously, there are things we can always fix. We gave up a deep ball in the first half that we would have not liked to have. Offensively a couple of mental mistakes that we have talked about and try and cut down on those this week. Overall, I thought we did some good things. I thought there were some plays that we ran offensively that is probably the best we have run them this year. The defense continues to be solid. We got a lot more of a look at special teams last week to improve there as well,” said Teglovic.

Colonel Crawford (2-1,0-0) is at Upper Sandusky (1-2,0-0) on Friday night in “N10” play. The Rams lost (42-0) to Galion last week in a game that went two quarters.

Mason Vent has returned to the gridiron at quarterback for the Rams after taking a year off and Teglovic says he can be a difference maker. “He started his sophomore year. I remember when we were over there two years ago and he is a phenomenal athlete. I think he is a heck of a basketball player as well. He moves well. He throws the ball well. He throws it great on the run. He is very elusive,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “You get him out in space he is going to be one of the best athletes on the field, there is no question about that. Our defense has to do a good job of containing him, staying in rush lanes, understanding scramble drill, once he gets out of the pocket what you do with those receivers, can’t be too fast and leave guys wide open behind them. He has some pretty good receivers too. He has the leading receiver in the league in (Diago) Cazares. He was good last year as a junior, he’s even better this year, and he has a couple of other guys that can go get it as well.”

Teglovic says winning that first league game is very important if you figure on being a contender. “That first one is very important, it is like the first one of the year. It is important to get off to the right start. We have to go on the road to do it. There is just a lot that goes into it. You find out a lot about your team and you find out a lot about the other league teams as well in that first week of league play,” he said.

Published 9/19/19

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Colonel Crawford Ready to Turn Momentum Around

There have been two shutouts on Colonel Crawford’s schedule so far this season, one positive, and one negative.

They lost (34-0) to North Union last week.

Coach Ryan Tgelovic says they certainly found some good things they did last week too against a very good football team. “You have to keep things as positive as you can after you get beat 34-0. You just have to try and find some positives there. We talked about the fact that we got beat at the point of attack and that is really what it came down to on offense and defense. There were a lot of things that we talked about that we did do well, even better than we did the week before,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We ran trap better than we did the week before. I thought we ran the football and were fairly aggressive. So, there were some good things that we did as well. We just ran up against a pretty good football team. We try to stay positive and we have to move on. We have to go out and try and get one this Friday.”

The Eagles play host to Cardington (0-2) in their final non-conference game of the season this week before heading into Northern 10 Athletic Conference play next week at Upper Sandusky.

Teglovic says this week is a good jumping off spot for them. “It is the springboard as you end your non-conference schedule. It is your last tune up. You want to kind of be hitting your stride after week three because the following week you start “N-10” play. It’s our last tune up before we head into a very good football league, so it is a really important week for us,” he said.

Cardington has been beaten by Plymouth (48-18) and Bucyrus (26-7) and might be without 1,000 yard rusher Mason Goers.

Still, Teglovic says the Pirates are not void of talent. “I think he is hurt. He didn’t play Friday versus Bucyrus. They were right there in the first half. Coach (Tim) Plumley is doing a good job there. He doesn’t have a lot of kids, but the kids he does have are playing hard. He has three or four really good football players. (Nick) Mcavoy, around a 270 pound offensive lineman, is tough to move and plays really hard. They have a good quarterback that is a sophomore and I have been impressed with him and some things that he has done, the defensive coordinator’s son, number 11 (Trey Brininger) is a very, very good athlete on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. They are just doing a good job there. He is going to continue to work at it. We are going to have to go in and definitely earn a win,” said Teglovic.

Published 9/11/19

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Colonel Crawford Still Needs to Get Better

Colonel Crawford smoked Mt. Gilead (31-0) on Friday night in their opening game season, but they still need to improve their play.

They travel to North Union for another non-conference game on Friday night.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says it was nice to see the players rewarded for their work in the preseason. “Coaches are often more interested in what they see on film and less interested probably in what they see on the scoreboard. It is always nice to get a win on week one. It is nice to get the guys out there and get them some reward for their effort and their work. Obviously, I thought we did some good things and lots of things that we need to continue to work on,” he said.

However, even after a blowout win like last week, Teglovic says there are bunch of things they need to improve. “Offensively in particular our pass protection needs to be better. I thought we ran the ball very affectively. We have some weapons in the passing game and we have to be able to utilize those and in order to do that our pass protection has to get better, picking us some “A” gap blitzes, we have to be more affective in that. Offensively, I think if we tighten up those two things this week we would be happy there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Labor Day, “Defensively, a couple of alignment issues out of a couple of formations in particular. If we can clean those couple of things up. Obviously, special teams we have some film on that and some things we can work on there now that we have seen some live action. We have got a lot to work on this week and we have a good team as we have to go to North Union and play on Friday night.”

North Union won their first game in convincing fashion as well. They blasted Fairbanks (53-20) to open the season.

Teglovic says the Wildcats have a lot of weapons. “They are physical. They are very big up front. Sometimes when you say guys are big up front hat doesn’t necessarily mean they can move, but these guys are big and they can move. They get off the ball very well and they are quick footed. So, they pose a tremendous problem both on the offensive and defensive line. Their skilled kids are very good as well. Their running back was over a 1,000 yards last year and he is back this year. They have another pretty good weapon back there at running back with some speed and he will also flank out. The quarterback is a first year guy, but he seems to be very athletic and he has thrown the ball well at times too. There are a lot of issues and we are going to have to play well this Friday,” said Teglovic.

Published 9/03/19

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Colonel Crawford Focusing on Self

Colonel Crawford, one the top level teams in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, kicks off the season on Friday night at home in North Robinson against Mt. Gilead Indians in non-conference play.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they are kicking down the stall as they get ready to play this week. “I think they are ready to go. There has been about an extra week. I think our kids focus has been pretty good and they are ready to play,” he said.

Mt. Gilead has a new coach in Phil Mauro. Teglovic says he a boatload of experience and brings that to a team that has some talent. “They have a new coach this year. Coach Mauro has taken the reins there. He has done a great job wherever he has gone. He has a lot of football games underneath is belt, so they have a really good experienced coach there. Their numbers are up. They are mid-40’s in numbers,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They are big and physical up front. Game one all of those kinds of things make you nervous. I’m not sure what we are going to get at quarterback. They have a couple of kids they have played there in the preseason. One is the kid that started for them last year and he throws it really well. Another kid that kind of a quicker kid and he doesn’t throw it badly. You always have those game one jitters based on a lot of unknowns.”

Mauro has also coached at Columbus DeSales, New Philadelphia, Massillon Jackson, Bloom-Carroll, Canal Winchester and Carrollton.

With a new coach there is always a question of what the team is going to do. Teglovic says in this case you concentrate even more on what you want to do and execute it better. “I think that is maybe the best thing about week one is the lack of good game film. In leu of knowing what the opponent might be doing and what you are going to see in special teams and those kinds of things. In leu of that it really does make you focus back in on what you are doing and try and improve that. That’s the most important part of a football team and a football season,” said Teglovic.

Published 8/30/19

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Colonel Crawford With a lot of Potential

Colonel Crawford appears to have the personnel to have a run at the title in the always good Northern 10 Athletic Conference this season, but they need to have the approach of getting better.

So far, this preseason, coach Ryan Teglovic says they have taken that to heart. “We certainly feel like we are getting better. This last week we had a few injuries we had to work through, but that allowed some backups to get in on Saturday and get some reps. We need to get those guys ready anyway, so that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for us there. I felt those guys got some good reps in. Hopefully, we get some guys healthy and get a few them back this week and just continue to make improvement and get ourselves ready for game one,” said Teglovic.

Crawford has more than 60 players on its football team and Teglovic believes they have some quality depth this season at a lot of the positions on both sides of the ball. “We think we have the luxury to have a quality back up at every spot. That is not taken for granted. There have been some years when I have not been able to do that. So, it is a good luxury to have. We are trying to get those guys in place. I would say for the most part on both sides of the ball except for one position on each side of the ball where we are trying to create that depth as we go. That is a huge importance, very rarely do you get through the season without anybody getting hurt,” he said.

Yes, the potential is there for this to be a good football season for the Eagles, but Teglovic says they have to keep their noses to the grindstone. “I told our guys (Monday) in watching film from Saturday that we still have lost of things to work on. I told them the best teams in our region, the best teams in our league, aren’t very good yet,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “You have an idea with who has talent coming back and that kind of thing, but good teams aren’t good right now. They are continuing to develop and get better every week and that’s how they develop into those great teams. I don’t know that in the last little bit that we have done that as well. We have got to better every week and that has to be the key.”

Published 8/20/19

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Colonel Crawford Downs Plymouth

Colonel Crawford Friday is going to attempt to do something they have not done since 1965 and that is win a district baseball title.

That is a long time. You know how I know that? That was the year I was born and I’m old.

The Eagles broke a (2-2) tie with three runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and they went on to beat Plymouth, the defending district champion, (6-3) in a division four district semifinal on Wednesday evening at Heise Park in Galion.

They play Mohawk for that elusive district title on Friday night at Galion. The Warriors beat Buckeye Central (4-0) in the first game on Wednesday.

Crawford scored single runs in the first and third innings to take a (2-0) lead. Third baseman Cade Hamilton scored both runs. He singled, stole a base, and scored on a ground ball in the first. Then he singled, stole second and scored on wild pitch in the third.

Plymouth got on the board with two in the fifth when Anthony Montgomery scored on a throwing error and on a RBI single by Camden Welch.

However, Colonel Crawford would bounce right back with three of their own in the bottom of the fifth when Hamilton tripled with one out and scored on a wild pitch. Gavin Feichtner doubled in shortstop Trevin Fairchild to make it (4-2) Eagles. Then after the based were loaded on two intentional walks Dylan Cooke walked with the bases loaded for the final run of the inning.

Coach Dan Gorbett says it was crucial for the to respond and they were able to do that. “(Tuesday) I told them in tournament play there is going to be adversity, something bad is going to happen. They are going to get a bunch of hits, we make errors, whatever. That is going to happen, the key is, how you respond to that. I repeated that in the huddle there and we came back and got three,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “They have shown that ability for a team with no seniors they have done a great job in clutch situations of getting it done. We are 6-3 in one run game and we have had like four other ones where it is tied in the seventh inning, so they have really done a great job of responding to pressure.”

Drayton Burkhart went the distance in getting the win for Colonel Crawford allowing six hits, walking one and striking out 10.

He was able to get out of that top of the fifth, stranding two runners and keeping the game tied.

Gorbett says he is a bulldog. “He is just a machine. He is fine no matter what. He is a real battler. His off speed stuff was not as good as it has been in the past, but because he is such a competitor, he found a way to get it done,” he said.

Plymouth would cut their deficit back to two on two throwing errors in the sixth.

Coach Jake Strayer says the baseball gods were not with them on Wednesday. “The ball just didn’t fall our way (Wednesday.) We put the ball in play, we made them make plays, they ball just didn’t fall our way. They had some hits when they needed them, timely hits, and it just didn’t fall our way,” he said.

Crawford would again respond though with one of their own in the bottom of the sixth when Fairchild walked, Gavin Feichtner singled and Daylen Balliet dropped a single over the third baseman’s head for the RBI.

Gorbett says that insurance run was pretty large. “We had a three run lead and they cut it to two and anytime the lead gets shortened it can be pretty scary, so that was nice adding that on. We have done a great job of doing that,” he said.

Crawford (21-7) will play Mohawk (19-6) on Friday at Galion. They split in Northern 10 Athletic Conference games this year.

Gorbett expects a good one. “We spilt with them in the regular season 1-0 and 9-0. They are a great team, well coached. It should be a dandy here Friday, so hopefully we get a good crowd here and we come out on top,” he said.

Published 5/23/19

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Colonel Crawford Gets Past Tiffin Calvert for Tournament Win

Drayton Burkhart won his ninth game of the season in his most important start of the year as Colonel Crawford downed Tiffin Calvert (5-2) in a division four tournament game on Thursday evening in North Robinson.

The Eagles (19-7) will play Plymouth in district semi at Galion High School next Wednesday. The Big Red edged Lucas (3-2) on Thursday.

Veteran coach Dan Gorbett says they did what they had to do to win and that is all that is important and this time of year. “Tiffin Calvert played a real good game. It was pretty close the whole game. We were actually down 2-1 at one point. We scored two in the fifth inning and tacked on an insurance run in the sixth. It was a good win for us,” he said.

Crawford will finish in second place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and they have played some outstanding baseball toward the end of the regular season.

However, Gorbett says that really doesn’t matter now. He says they have to focus on continuing to get better. “Like every other coach I guess that was last season, this is a new season and we need to continue getting better in the new season and peak at the right time,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win on Thursday night, “(Thursday) we hit the ball hard right at people and they played good defense and we were finally able to scratch out some runs in the later innings, but it was kind of a typical tournament game. We had no errors. I think a big key was no errors and Drayton Burkhart didn’t walk anybody. So, we didn’t give any free passes to them, they had to earn their two runs.”

Colonel Crawford beat Plymouth (4-3) on March 25, the first Monday of the regular season.

Gorbett expects a well pitched, low scoring game with the Big Red next week at Galion. “We did play each other. We beat them (4-3) earlier in the year. Of course, that is a long time ago. Neither team was throwing their number one pitcher, so that is a big difference there. They won 3-2 and we won 5-2, so I expect it to be a really close game. If we play good, solid baseball I think we have a chance of advancing,” he said.

Published 5/17/19

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Crawford Gets past Buckeye

Colonel Crawford scored three runs in the fifth and sixth innings combined and they beat Buckeye Central (6-3) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game play Monday evening in North Robinson.

Crawford scored three runs in the bottom of the second, but the Bucks responded with three of the their own in the top of the third.

Eagles coach Dan Gorbett says the Bucks played them tough, but they were able to come out on top. “We got up on them and then they came battling right back and tied it up. It was a nip and tuck game. We were able to get a run and go up 4-3 and then added two insurance runs in the sixth inning to give us some comfort,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “They got two on, they didn’t give up, we ended the game with a double play. We made some really good plays and there are some plays we need to work on.”

Crawford was able to get nine hits off of Buckeye ace Brady Biglin. Gorbett says they had a good approach at the plate. “He is tough. He has a good breaking ball and he has some zip on his fastball. We were able to put together some hits and some walks, I think he hit one or two batters. We did a good job of going opposite field on him. That was a big key for us,” he said.

Gorbett added that taking the ball the opposite way is something that have been working on all year. “We have had some kids struggle with that and some other guys have really come around. (Monday) we had two guys do that that have not been that successful with that do it, so hopefully they saw that success (Monday.) I tell them all of the time if it is inside pull it, but you don’t get that many inside pitchers, so you have to hit it where they pitch it. If it is outside, you have to take it that way,” he said.

Drayton Burkhart went the distance for the Eagles, striking out 10 and walking nobody. Gorbett says he has done a good job of throwing strikes this season. “That is one his strengths is not walking people. They hit the ball hard, we played good defense for the most part. That is kind of the game that he pitches. He will strike out quite a few. A big part of their inning was a dropped third strike and the guy gets on. That was a big key to them scoring three runs. They got a couple of legit hits there and before we know it, it is 3-3. He has done an outstanding job with year,” said Gorbett.

Published 5/07/19

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Colonel Crawford Downs Firelands Conference Leader

Colonel Crawford scored on a wild pitch in the top of the sixth inning and that proved to be the difference in the Eagles (3-2) win over South Central in a non-conference baseball game played on Thursday afternoon at Sports Force Park in Sandusky.

Brock Ritzhaupt scored from third on a wild pitch to give the Eagles the lead (3-2) in the sixth.

Crawford (12-6) took a (2-0) lead on a RBI single by Drayton Burkhart in the first and a sacrifice fly by Gavin Feichtner in the third. The Trojans cut it to (2-1) on a David Lamoreaux RBI single in the bottom of the fourth. They tied it at (2-2) when Curtis Fredricks scored on a throwing error by pitcher Daylen Balliett in the bottom of the fifth.

“It was a great non league game. It was just a great win. Another one run victory. We had some adversity there and we pulled it out. They made a great play the seventh inning. I was hoping to get that insurance run there. After yesterday that was a good bounce back game,” said Colonel Crawford coach Dan Gorbett.

South Central centerfielder Curtis Fredericks threw out Dylan Cooke at home to end the top of the seventh.

The Trojans stranded eight runners, five in the last three innings, and coach Ty Dendinger says they just didn’t execute when they had too. “Our pitchers went out there and gave up three runs. I expect to win the game giving up three runs almost every game with the talent that I have. We just couldn’t find a way to wait back on a pitch and go with the pitch,” he told Swankonsports.com after the loss, “That is something we practiced (Wednesday.) We didn’t get bunts down that was practiced (Wednesday.) Specific situations that we practiced that we don’t execute and that was the difference in the game.”

Being a non-conference game neither side threw they best pitchers, but Gorbett thought his guys in Balliett and Cade Hamilton, the winner, were very good as were Vanderpool and Evan Legg of South Central. “Same thing with South Central, obviously that is not their ace either. The pitchers did a great job and both teams played great defense. It was a good baseball game,” he said.

South Central (15-3) leads the Firelands Conference standings by a game of Norwalk St. Paul. Gorbett says he enjoys tough competition. “They are going to probably be the number one seed in their district. By playing good teams always makes you better. That is what we like to do it our non-league,” he said.

Published 4/26/19

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Crawford Gets Seneca East Again

Gavin Feichtner went the distance on the mound and the Colonel Crawford Eagles exploded for five runs in the sixth inning and they beat Seneca East (10-4) for the second day in a row.

The Tigers took the lead in the top of the first on an RBI single by Hunter Martin, but the Eagles responded with a three spot in their half of the first on an RBI hit by Daylen Balliet and a two run single by Trevin Fairchild.

Coach Dan Gorbett says it was important for them to get right on the scoreboard like they did. “I always like to get that first run and they did, but we were able to come right back. We had some situations where the bases got loaded. I liked the way we responded to adversity. Since we have been on this win streak, we have been doing a great job of when something goes bad, we come right back and make a play,” he said.

Seneca East (8-5,6-3) tied it up (3-3) in the second when a run scored on a Crawford error and run scoring hit by Turner Bridgford, but after that Feichtner settled down. “We probably have to have him throw more pitches. It seems to be me the last two outings he has gotten better in the later innings than the earlier innings,” Gorbett told Swankonsports.com after the game, “Once he started getting his off speed over that helped a lot too, that kept them off balance. That was a gutty performance by Gavin where he had a lot of pitches early and then had some 1-2-3 innings and was able to get the complete game in.”

Feichtner retired 14 of the 17 batters he faced in a stretch between the second and seventh inning.

Seneca East coach Rick Bowerman says they hit some balls hard, but their pitch selection wasn’t very good. “At times we hit the ball hard. It seemed like when we hit the ball hard we hit it right at a guy. Sometimes it gets a little bit mental. We are taking too many good pitches, not putting the bat on the balls we should swinging at and we are getting in a hole and then it is more on that two strike approach,” said Bowerman.

Colonel Crawford took a (5-3) lead in the fourth when Feichtner helped himself with a RBI double.

The Eagles put up a five spot in the sixth punctuated by RBI hits by pinch hitter Brock Ritzhaupt and leadoff hitter Cade Hamilton. The game was never in serious doubt thereafter.

Seneca East plays at conference leading Upper Sandusky (12-2,8-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the small school division, on Thursday and Bowerman says they need to mature in some spots and quickly. “That is what we just talked about with the guys. We are playing the last couple of games with our starting shortstop out, we have a sophomore filling in. I said you three sophomores on the infield, you aren’t sophomores any more. We are half way through the varsity season, you are veterans and you have to start playing like veterans,” he said.

Chase Foos did not play for the Tigers on Wednesday.

Colonel Crawford (10-4,7-3) winners of its last seven, plays Bucyrus (5-10,1-6) on Thursday.

Gorbett likes the direction they are going. “That was my speech to them from the first scrimmage to where we are now, I am just really proud of them having improved. I told them you just have to keep improving. We are not there yet, but I like where we are headed,” he said.

Published 4/18/19

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Colonel Crawford Edges Seneca East 1-0

Drayton Burkhart threw a shutout at Seneca East and Colonel Crawford downed the Tigers (1-0) in play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Tuesday evening.

Coach Dan Gorbett says Burkhart was terrific because Seneca East is pretty good with the bats and they also made some outstanding plays behind him in the field. “Drayton Burkhart, his slider, his curveball and fastball, he was spotting them where he wanted them and he pitched an outstanding game because they are a very good hitting team. We also played great defense and we had several people make outstanding plays,” he said.

Gorbett says Burkhart was consistently throwing first pitch strikes and he was keeping the Seneca East hitters off balance. “They are up there guessing and guessing wrong. The thing with his curveball and slider, I don’t think they know if it is going to break a lot like a curveball or break sharp. You can see their timing is way off on that,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “The key for him is he throws that first strike and then he throws his pitches anytime in the count, any place. He has picked up some velocity from last year. I think he is fast enough with that curve and slider he can shut down some good hitters.”

The Eagles (9-4,6-3) trail Upper Sandusky by three in the “N10” standings and if they don’t win the title, they have at least proven they can be spoilers. They play Seneca East (8-4,6-2) again on Wednesday, this time in North Robinson.

Gorbett says their defense has been getting a lot better, but their hitting, especially their clutch hitting, needs to improve. “We were pretty ugly early in the year. Now we are solid, we are making outstanding plays in the field, plays we weren’t making early in the year. I just think we have some confidence out there. We are relaxed. We had a lot of guys in scoring position (Tuesday) night and couldn’t get that big hit. That is still a concern. We need to keep getting better hitting. In their defense, Seneca East has a couple pitchers that are very good. We were facing a good pitcher,” said Gorbett.

Published 4/17/19

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Feichtner Leads Crawford Past Mohawk

Gavin Feichtner fired a one-hitter and Colonel Crawford beat Northern 10 co-leader Mohawk (9-0) on Monday, avenging an 11 inning loss to Warriors on Friday.

The loss dropped Mohawk (6-1,3-1) into a share of second place in the conference, a game behind Upper Sandusky, who bludgeoned Carey (17-2) on Monday.

Veteran coach Dan Gorbett says it was a quality win for the Eagles. “They had just swept South Central in a doubleheader on Saturday. They had beaten us 1-0 in 11 innings on Friday. So, that was a very big win for us,” he said.

Feichtner was in control on Monday night and Gorbett says their pitching has been very good over the first couple of weeks of the season. “Gavin Feichtner threw a one-hitter. Every time he takes the mound he is getting better. He is a basketball player, so he was a little bit slow out of the gate. Him and Drayton Burkhart, who is also a basketball player, are catching up and both of them in pitching the last two games have been outstanding,” said Gorbett.

Hitting and fielding the ball is where the Eagles (4-4,3-3) need the most improvement and Gorbett says they continue to see some bright spots in those areas. “(Mohawk) had a few errors, but we had some good at bats and put the ball in play and had good situational hitting. We only had one error (Monday) night and we had two on Friday, so that is finally starting to come around. Like I said, the pitching has been good. We just need to improve our hitting and I think we are getting there,” he said.

Wynford beat Ridgedale (10-2) and Seneca East downed Buckeye Central (11-1) in other games on Monday.

It seems to be a competitive league this year in the “N10” and Gorbett feels that there are a number of teams that have a chance to be on top here at the end of the regular season. “We have three league losses and we can’t really look at that. We just have to take one game at a time. That is what coach Glauer told the team and that was good advice,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “You just never know because Mohawk, Ridgedale, Seneca East, Upper Sandusky, I think us, any given day anything can happen. If you look at the scores in our league, that is kind of what has happened. We are just going to keep trying to grind and get better everyday and see where we end up at the end of the season.”

Published 4/09/19

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Burkhart Pitches Crawford Past Carey

Drake Burkhart, a sophomore, went the distance and Colonel Crawford beat Carey (8-2) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference baseball game on Monday in North Robinson.

Veteran coach Dan Gorbett, returning to his roots at Crawford this year, says it was a quality win for the Eagles. “It was our first league win of the year. They are the defending champs. They did lose a lot of letter winners from last year, but still felt good getting the win,” he said.

They had lost their league opener (8-5) to Upper Sandusky last week.

Gorbett says they got a terrific effort on the mound on Monday. “Drake Burkhart pitched an outstanding game. Both of those runs are unearned. He had 11 strikeouts and pitched a complete game. He was outstanding (Monday,)” he said.

There weren’t a lot of hits for the Eagles off Carey, but Gorbett says they did a good job of taking advantage of situations, something they have struggled with over the first three games. “We only had four hits. They hit five batters and walked a few and had some errors. We were able to take advantage of their mistakes and that is something we have kind of struggled this year doing. So that was good that we were able to do that plus when we made a mistake, we recovered from it. Instead of making another error or another mistake, we were able to work our way out of it. That was a definite positive. If we made a mistake, we didn’t hang our head and make another mistake. So, I was extremely happy about that,” said Gorbett.

Colonel Crawford (2-2,1-1) plays at Upper Sandusky (4-1,1-0) on Tuesday, Carey again on Wednesday and at Mohawk on Friday in “N10” games.

Gorbett says they have to get better at fielding the ball. He thinks their hitting will continue to come around. “Number one is defense. We got better, we only had four errors. We started out the year with six errors, six errors, and eight errors. We lost 3-2, won 4-3, and lost 8-5. So, with that many errors we still had the possibility to possibly win and I told the kids that is a positive. Our pitching has really been very good. I have not complaints at all in every game. They have done their job,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, “We just had too many errors. The hitting is getting better, but we still need to keep plugging away. We only had three strikeouts and last year we had a lot of strikeouts, so that was positive there. We need to get more clutch hits and just get better. The kids are really working hard at it. I can’t complain, we just need to keep grinding away and come tournament time we have the potential to be a good hitting team.”

Published 4/02/19

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Colonel Crawford Heads South the Open Season

Colonel Crawford heads south for the Ohio River to begin the high school baseball season against Lucasville Valley on Saturday.

Coach Dan Gorbett, who takes over the program this year, says he has seen the kids get a lot better in the preseason, or spring training if you will this year, but he knows they still have to improve. “We are getting better and I know that sound like coach talk, but I truly believe we are making progress. (Wednesday) we played five innings in a scrimmage and in four innings we hit the ball well and we played great defense and then in the last inning we kind of fell apart and had some errors. We left 10 guys on base. The good news is we were putting the ball in play and getting hits, but we couldn’t get that big hit when we needed it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, “That will come. We have some kids that struggle with their confidence and we just need to play and start winning and everybody relaxes. I think we have the potential of being a good hitting team once we get rolling. Pitching was real solid again. I was pretty happy with our performance (Wednesday.)”

Crawford was not a good hitting team last year, but Gorbett is confident they can become one this spring. “The old saying is hitting is contagious is something I really believe. A couple of guys start hitting is seems like it relaxes everybody, it is like I can do that, and everybody is picking each other up. All of the sudden balls are falling in where before they were catching them and you just get on a roll. I think we are making progress. We have a tough schedule we just need to make sure we stay confident and play hard and I think it will turn around for us,” he said.

Playing in southern Ohio and getting on the field when it is a little warmer, might be a plus for the Eagles, according to Gorbett. “It is going to be five or seven degrees warmer down at Portsmouth, so if anybody plays up here, they are going to be pretty cold. They are liking that idea of opening there, actually it is going be like 10 degrees warmer down there this weekend. They are excited. Lucasville Valley is a good team. They lost the district championship last year and have about everybody back, so we are going to have our hands full,” said Gorbett.

Published 3/21/19

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Colonel Crawford Knows South Central Inside and Out

Colonel Crawford meets South Central for a division four district title at Willard High School on Friday night.

The winner goes to a regional next week at the Canton Memorial Fieldhouse.

The Eagles beat Lucas (51-39) in a semifinal on Tuesday.

They have played in a district final in seven of the last eight years and coach David Sheldon says they know it has to be earned. “We are very fortunate, we don’t take it for granted, getting to the district final is a tough task. Give credit to our guys and the focus that they have had the latter part of the season and throughout round one, round two, and now moving on to the district final round three. It’s a credit to the players in this locker room,” he said.

Every team has special skills that set it apart and Sheldon says this year’s Eagles are a physical group. “Our length and our physicalness is very good and you need that as you go through the tournament because as you go through the tournament you have great officiating and they let the kids play and allow the kids to dictate the outcome, so it is definitely a good thing that you have that as you go through tournament play,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We have played in a physical league. You look at Carey and Upper and Mohawk, all four teams getting to the district, it couldn’t have prepared us any better those six games we played against those guys and then the likes of Lexington and Sandusky Perkins. Those are things that get you ready and why you are able to get the opportunity to play for a district championship.”

Colonel Crawford (20-4) plays South Central (20-4) for the right to advance to the sweet 16 in division four.

Sheldon says he knows a lot about the Trojans, of course, he has had some help. “They are a very good basketball team. You know, my best friend is my brother, and I have talked about them all year with him because my brother was fortunate enough to play them in the Firelands Conference. I have talked about them throughout the entire year. My brother and I talk every day about basketball, who am I playing, who is he playing, so I am pretty familiar with these guys, from talks with my best friend, my buddy, my brother. So, we know this is a very good basketball team. They are a 20 win team, they have played a tough schedule. We do have the upmost respect because it is a very good basketball team, but we feel we know a lot about them. It helps when you have a Sheldon in the Firelands Conference and we bounce ideas off of each other every day,” said Sheldon.

South Central point guard Simon Blair scored 36 in a sectional final win over Sandusky St. Mary’s (65-60) and a lot of crucial points in an overtime win (57-53) over Maragretta on Tuesday. Sheldon says he is really good, but they can’t forget about the other Trojans. “He is a special player. He is player of the year in district 6, a well deserved honor. He is a 1,000 point scorer and he can do it multiple ways, but I think there are still guys around him. You have to respect the other kids. They have good players around him. When you get to a district final it has to be multiple guys and they have had that throughout this tournament run,” he said.

We have already talked about the physical nature of the Eagles and Sheldon says they need to control the glass Friday night. “You have to limit them to one shot. (David) Lamoreaux is a great athlete. I think (Isaiah) Seidel is a physical kid. So, we have to limit the to one shot every time down the floor. On the offensive end we like to attack on the offensive glass because of our length. It has been a great attribute that this team has had throughout the season,” said Sheldon.

Published 3/07/19

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Colonel Crawford Advances With Win over Lucas

Colonel Crawford outscored Lucas (24-12) in the second half and beat the Cubs (51-39) in a division four district semifinal on Tuesday night at Willard High School.

They play South Central (20-4) in the district final at Willard on Friday night. The Trojans beat Margaretta (57-53) in overtime.

Chase Walker scored a game high 18 points for the Eagles and coach David Sheldon says he really gave them some energy. “He has had a motor like that all year. A double-double, 11 rebounds, seven at the offensive end and 18 points. He has an unbelievable motor and he plays so hard. He is relentless. He knows his role and everybody on this team knows his role and we try to define those, but Chase is one where his motor was good for us,” he said.

Chase scored the first basket of the second half on a lay in with 7:30 to play in the third and added two more hoops in the first 3:40 of the third quarter to give Colonel Crawford a six point lead (35-29) with 4:20 to play in the quarter.

Lucas (18-6) wouldn’t go away and cut it to three (37-34) on a Riley Gossom goal with 7:03 to play in the contest, but the Eagles would go on a (7-0) run over the next 3:29 to take a (44-34) lead with 3:34 to play.

Cubs coach Taylor Iceman says they started to force some things in the final quarter. “That fourth quarter kind of killed us. We had a couple of defensive lapses and they got buckets and then we forced some jump shots and just weren’t able to get over the hump. It’s a Colonel Crawford team in the tournament and you can’t do that kind of stuff with them,” he told Swankonsports.com after the loss, “You can’t expect them to turn the ball over and let you back in the game. We didn’t shoot the ball very well. They are big and long and it is hard to get to the rim and if you can’t make jump shots it is hard to score the ball.”

Crawford point guard Jordan Fenner scored 16 points on the night and he doesn’t turn it over much. Sheldon says he knows the game. “He is talented. His handle is as good as you see and that’s what happens when your mom is a coach. He has lived in the gym since diapers, sort of like the Sheldon girls, and when you have grown up in the gym he is so cool, calm, and collected. Jordan never gets too high, never gets too low, he just plays the game. He is an old school player because he has got a 10 footer that you don’t see in this day an age. We live in a time of threes and layups and he has a nice little pull up,” said Sheldon.

There weren’t many second shots for the Cubs either. “I thought we did a great job on both ends of the floor. I thought we did an awesome job of rebounding. You have to hold teams to one shot. That is a very good basketball team. A very well coached team with Taylor (Iceman) and what he has done that is going to be back here,” said Sheldon.

Gossom had 12 points for Lucas and Ethan Sauder added 10.

Sheldon feels they did an outstanding job on Lucas’ leading scorer Logan Niswander, and he credits the play of Reis Walker. “I thought the second half to hold them to 12 points, 39 on the game. You look at their scores and what they average on the year. We did a phenomenal job on a first team all-district player in (Logan) Niswander. He has nine points (Tuesday) night and a three was late when we were in zone. That is a credit to number 2 Reis Walker,” said Sheldon.

He said they did some things to emphasize trying to take away Niswander, but he says it was mostly the play of Reis. “We wanted to deny him one pass away, in the post we wanted to make it tough with backside help and we put on the floor gap, but I thought Reis did a phenomenal job. Reis Walker on a kid that is averaging 20 a game and hold him to nine and one is a late three. That is what this team is it is a brotherhood. It is some of the best chemistry I have ever had on and off the floor,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (20-4) is 6’4” or taller at four of the five positions and Iceman says that made things tough on them, especially when they couldn’t connect from the perimeter. “They are bigger than us at basically every position. It would be a nice problem to have. I would take one of them, I wouldn’t need all five of them. The length prevents you from getting to hoop sometimes, so you count on making outside shots to bring them out on the floor, so you can use your speed and quickness to get around them and get to the hoop. We couldn’t hit shots for whatever reason. We have been up and down. When we hit jump shots we are tough,” said Iceman.

As for Friday, Sheldon says South Central will be a battle. “They are very, very talented. They are well coached. (Simon) Blair was the player of the year in the district, (David) Lamoreaux and (Isaiah) Seidel and on and on. They have won 20 games and you don’t get to a district final. That’s a very good basketball team that we have the upmost respect for and it is time to go to work,” he said.

Published 3/06/19

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Colonel Crawford Faces Athletic Lucas

Colonel Crawford takes on Lucas in a division four district semifinal on Tuesday night at Willard High School.

The other game has South Central and Margaretta.

Last Friday, the Eagles downed Crestline (64-40) in a sectional final game.

Coach David Sheldon says they were able to set the tone early. “I am very happy for our guys to get another sectional championship, our eighth in a row. We talk about you can’t take things for granted and I thought we came out last Friday and got off to a great start and sort of set the tone and played a very solid game on both ends of the floor. This is a team that has gotten better over the course of the year. It has been great to see the steps and the progress this team has made. We are happy to be in this district tournament. This is a loaded district tournament. All four are very good basketball teams here at Willard,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (19-4) meets Lucas (18-5) in the semis. The Cubs beat Norwalk St. Paul (58-49) in their sectional final at Galion last Friday.

Sheldon says the kids that play for Lucas know how to win. “I think it is a very good basketball team. I think Taylor (Iceman) has done a great job with that program and these kids know how to win from the football field to the basketball court. They are no strangers they were in this district tournament last year. I think it a very skilled offensive team. They can score from all five spots on the floor,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “I also think defensively they do a great job. They use their athleticism and their quickness and their strength. They get up in you, they get in passing lanes. It is a very good basketball team that is going to be a challenge for us on Tuesday night.”

Forward Logan Niswander is the Cubs leading scorer and rebounder. Sheldon says while he has their attention, he is not their only player. “Logan (Niswander) is a very special player. He can go inside, he can go outside, he is a very talented individual. He was a first team all-district player and well deserved, but I also think the other guys around him are good too. So, it is not just the Niswander show. They are very good around him. The other players can do things as well. Everybody knows about Logan, he has got the honors, he is the leading scorer on their team, but the other kids are very good basketball players as well,” said Sheldon.

Sheldon says the Cubs will make you handle the ball because they will show you pressure and get in the passing lanes for steals which leads to transition hoops. “They will pick you up full court man to man, they get up in passing lanes. With the athletes and quickness they try and disrupt anything that you do. It is a very good, aggressive defensive style and it has been very affective. The thing about their aggressiveness is it leads to transition. They are very good in the open floor and a lot of times they can get steals and hands on balls to create offense in the open floor. They are good in the open floor because they are talented and at all spots they can put the ball on the floor,” he said

Published 3/05/19

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Crawford Has to Play Transition Defense

Top seeded Colonel Crawford plays Crestline of the Mid-Buckeye Conference in a division four sectional final on Friday night at Galion High School.

The Eagles (18-4) finished in a share of second place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

Taking a first round bye, coach David Sheldon says it gave them a chance to polish some things up this week. “We have been fortunate to get the bye. Monday and Tuesday work on some stuff with us and Wednesday and Thursday focus on more stuff with Crestline. It has been great and we have done that in the past with the success we have had and it is a routine our kids are used to,” he said.

Crestline bested Monroeville (65-42) on Tuesday night in a semifinal game at Galion.

They have won four of their last seven and Sheldon says the Bulldogs (9-14) are a team that has to be respected. “This is a team that has some talent. Look, last year they won 11 games and then the board of education decided to go in another direction. Ty Clark is a four year letterman. The Roth kid is a three year letterman and Anatra is a two year letterman. Those three are averaging double figures. They have won nine games so far this year and had success down the stretch. It is a team that is very explosive with those three offensively and two good role players around them as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They are very good out in transition. They are fast, thy are quick, they are very good at pushing the ball and scoring in transition. So, we have the upmost respect for them. I think coach (Tyler) Sanders has done a very good job in his first year there in bringing a lot of the John Kurtz principles to that program, who he worked under at Mansfield Christian.”

Not that the Eagles can’t run the floor, but Sheldon says they have to stop Crestline from doing it. “Anatra and Roth do a great job of pushing the basketball in the open floor. They are fast kids, they are quick, and they are very nice guards, and I think the Clark kid is very good inside. So, we have to make sure we get back in transition because they are very explosive. We have got to try and make them set up in the half court. In the half court they run a lot of sets and it puts them in situations to score,” he said.

Published 3/01/19

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Colonel Crawford Plays Improved Buckeye Central

Longtime rivals Colonel Crawford and Buckeye Central play in the final regular season game for both in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action on Friday night in North Robinson.

On Monday night, the Eagles completed one of their second half of the season goals by beating Carey (56-45) in conference action. They also beat Upper Sandusky and Mohawk in the second half. All three had beaten Crawford in early December.

Coach David Sheldon says this team has gotten nothing but better. “We have talked about capping off the second half of the league schedule. With the three losses we had early in the year from December 8 to December 15, those dates are going to be in my mind forever, when we lost to Upper, Carey and Mohawk. To come back and beat Carey by 11 when we lost by 15 up there just shows the improvement this team has made over the last three months to win 16 of our last 17 games. To beat three of the best teams in our league in Carey, Upper and Mohawk off in the second half, I think that shows the improvement that we have made over the course of the year. You always talk about you play your best basketball going into tournament and at the end of the season and I this team has shown that in the success that we have had,” said Sheldon.’

Yes, there is a lot of athletic talent with the Eagles, but Sheldon says one of the big keys this season has been team chemistry. “I am very proud of this group so far. We still have major goals, we are not finished. We talk about we are not satisfied yet. I am happy about the way we have faced adversity in this day and age when kids point fingers, parents point fingers, this group stuck together. The tightness in our locker room kept us together when we faced adversity and we were able to string together these last couple of months and the success we have had. It is a very close knit group. I think the big thing is through all of those wins we always talk about let’s move on to the next one and this team has had a great frame of mind,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (17-4,12-3), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at home for Buckeye Central (6-15,4-11) on Friday night. The Bucks have won their last two in beating Bucyrus (56-49) in conference play last Saturday and Crestview (58-51) in a non-conference game on Tuesday. Crawford won the first game between the two (47-29) on January 12.

However, Sheldon says the Bucks have gotten a lot better over the last six weeks. “They are much improved. This is a team that has gotten better over the course of the season. They have won four out of their last six, including two wins in a row. With coach (Eric) Picklesimer taking over and putting his philosophy and his stamp on the program this is a team that has gotten better. He has done a great job keeping this group together and playing well down the stretch,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “So, we know we are going to get a great effort from them when they come over here on Friday night. It’s a rivalry always down 602. It is a team that is playing much better at the offensive end of the floor. This team has very good length at all positions. So, we know it is going to be a battle come Friday night. We are looking forward to finishing the regular season strong before we start the tournament next week.”

Published 2/22/19

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Crawford With Big Test in Lexington

Colonel Crawford, one of the best small school basketball teams in the area, plays one of the best big school teams in Lexington in a non-league game on Saturday night at Lexington.

The Eagles have won 14 straight games. Lexington has won 11 of its last 12 going in their matchup with Mansfield Senior on Friday night in “OCC” play.

On Tuesday night, Crawford downed New London (60-51) in a non-conference game.

Coach David Sheldon says they did what they needed to do against a New London team that shot the ball well. “We are in the mist of four games on the road and that was our third game in five days on the road. Went over to New London and credit New London they shot the ball very well. They made 12 three pointers on the night and many of them were contested shots, but they shot it really well. Our guys did a great job of extending the lead in the fourth quarter and then holding on to it pretty firmly in the fourth. Anytime you go on the road against a team with a winning record and a very well coached team by Tom Howell we were happy to get out of there. Three games in five days. We were able to take Wednesday off and give them a little break before we prepare of Saturday,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (16-3), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at Lexington (15-4), #2 in the large school poll, on Saturday night.

Sheldon says this is a game where they find where they still need to get better. “This is a great non-league game for us. This is one of the few games on our schedule when there is no pressure on us. A team that got to the final four last year with everybody back. We have all heard about Cade Stover all year, who is a great athlete, great kid, unbelievable basketball player and football player, it doesn’t matter if he were playing baseball he would be unbelievable. Our kids are looking forward to the opportunity to go over there and play against a very good team. A team that could get back to Columbus depending on that meat grinder of a division two district that they are in,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I know our guys are excited for the challenge. This a great game with the tournament coming up it’s a great measuring stick. What things do we need to get better and I know our kids will come out and compete with the group we have.”

Sheldon adds that Lexington is a lot more than just Cade Stover. “They have a lot of different weapons. It is a very talented senior group. They have shooters and they have other post players around Cade. It is just a special senior class that coach Hamilton has had over there and has done a great job with. We are looking forward to it. Like I said, I know are guys will come out and compete,” he said.

Published 2/15/19

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Colonel Crawford Continues to Build

Colonel Crawford continues to build momentum as they get into the stretch drive of the boys’ basketball regular season with two games this weekend in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

Last Saturday, the Eagles beat Seneca East (69-37) on Saturday night to remain two games behind conference leader Mohawk.

Coach David Sheldon says Saturday was another example of how his team has gotten better. “We were really happy. Once again, we came out and guarded really well. We put four guys in double figures and another guy with eight, so we had great balance in five positions on the floor throughout the entire night. I think is just another feather in our cap in getting better. You think about the first time in early December that was a three point game over there. We had to come behind. We were able to win by a pretty good margin Saturday night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “It is just another step of growth with some of the wins we have had in this 11 game win streak this team keeps focusing when we come back the next day to get better. That is what you want from a veteran group. They have played a lot of basketball, this group has, over the years and have been successful. We are happy where we are at, but we can’t be satisfied.”

This year’s Eagles have a lot of height, but Sheldon says they can shoot the ball well too and that allows them to spread the floor. “We are fortunate to have some shooters and we can also take you down inside. Being 6’4” and above at four different positions on the floor we can sort of pick our poison. Saturday, Seneca East showed some zone and we were able to be successful against the zone as well. It is a nice advantage to have and we sort of pick and choose what we are going to do depending on how people try and guard us on any given night,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (13-3,9-3), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Bucyrus (3-14,3-9) on Friday night. They beat the Redmen (58-35) on December 28.

However, Sheldon says the Redmen are a team that can not be taken for granted, they just beat Wynford (50-42) last week. “It is a very dangerous team. Last week, they won against Wynford and it was at Bucyrus and we have to go to Bucyrus Friday night. It is a team that is playing with confidence with the rival win last week over Wynford. We know we are going to get their best shot when Colonel Crawford, another rival, comes to town. So, there is nobody you can take for granted in this league. You look at Ridgedale and earlier in the season they beat a Wynford team that just beat Carey and we have them on Saturday. The big thing is you have to be tuned in and focused on the team at hand. This week it is Bucyrus and Ridgedale with back to back league games,” said Sheldon.

Then on Saturday night, the Eagles travel to Ridgedale (8-9,4-8) for another “N10” game. Again, Crawford won the first matchup (71-48) on January 4.

Sheldon says they have to attempt to slow them down. “They have three or four guys that are averaging double figures and really get out and run well. They have multiple guys that can shoot it. They are a team that puts up a lot of points. It is a team that has gotten a lot better from last year to this year with the success that they have had with the record right around .500. They have played with a lot of teams in our conference. It is one of those games when you have to get back in transition because of their explosiveness when they get out and run,” he said.

Published 2/06/19

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Colonel Crawford Gets a Chance at Another Payback

Colonel Crawford has been a basketball team that has continually improved and they get a chance to prove that again when they host the Carey Blue Devils in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Wednesday night.

The Eagles lost three games in a row early in the season to Upper Sandusky, Mohawk and Carey. In the second round of conference play they have beaten Upper (47-46) and Mohawk (53-43) to get a measure of revenge, now they get a chance at Carey.

Stuck in the middle of those three was a Saturday night visit to traditional rival Wynford and it looked like it was going to be a trap game with the Eagles scoring only 11 points in the first half.

However, coach David Sheldon says they stuck with their game plan and they rallied for a (44-33) win. “We got off to a slow start and you have to credit Wynford they played great defense and we were a little sloppy with the ball and didn’t convert. They did a good job of contesting shots. The second half we came out and went on a 20-0 run to start the half and once that happened it was never in doubt. I think that is a sign of a group that has gotten better of the course of the year. It’s a veteran group that just stuck to the plan and didn’t panic and we played one possession at a time. Anytime you go over to Wynford that is a tough place to play and that is a basketball team that has gotten a lot better, getting healthier and getting into coach Mohr’s system,” said Sheldon.

The Colonel Crawford coach says he has a veteran team and they are not going to push the panic button when they are behind. “You have to play 32 minutes. It’s January we are in the grind of the basketball season. I always say at this time of the year there are a lot of games and you are not quite to the tournament. Our guys were coming off two big victories over Upper and Mohawk. Going on the road against a county rival that was fired up to play us winning two in a row before us. I thought our guys kept their composure very much and fortunately we had a great second half to come out ahead by double figures,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (12-3,8-3), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, has a 10 game winning streak coming into Wednesday’s game with Carey (8-5,6-3,) who had a six game streak snapped when Mohawk beat them (53-47) on Saturday. The Blue Devils beat Crawford (49-34) on December 13, that is the Eagles most lopsided loss of the season.

Sheldon says Carey has good balance starting with their big guy Hayden Stone. “It starts with Stone. He had 27 Saturday night in their loss to Mohawk and he is a load inside, but their guard play has gotten much better. The first time we played them their guards hurt us. They were 8-16 from three the first time, they really shot it well. So, it is a very good basketball team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “It is a top tier team. Sort of like Upper and Mohawk, a team that beat us the first time. So, it will be a good challenge for us, so it doesn’t get any easier in this league and Carey is the next one that we get an opportunity to play. It is a very balanced team where their guards have played well for them around the big kid Stone inside.”

Due to their personnel, Sheldon says Carey forces you to be very fundamental on defense. “You have to have good rotations all night. You have to sit down and fundamentally guard him and then also rotate out to their guards. It is definitely a challenge with the big kid in the middle, but their guards are playing well. I think our guys are excited. We have sort of talked about the second half of the season getting better and check marking off the Upper, the Mohawk, and now we get an opportunity to get Carey, who is very, very good. I think our guys will hopefully rise to the occasion. The good thing is we get to play them at our place this time and is always nice to play at home,” said Sheldon.

Published 1/29/19

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It’s Another Big Game for Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford won a huge game last week in beat rival Upper Sandusky and now they must pin a loss on unbeaten Mohawk on Thursday night on the road to have a chance at that Northern 10 Athletic Conference title.

They trail Mohawk by three games in the conference standings and a loss pretty much shuts them out of it.

The Eagles got 15 points from point guard Jordan Fenner and they held off Upper (47-46) last Friday.

Coach David Sheldon says they played with a lot of heart. “We were very fortunate our kids played a great game and we came out with a win. Last time when we were at their place, we had an opportunity and we thought we gave one away. Give Upper credit the first time (Mason) Vent hit the shot. This time we were able to capitalize and finish. It was a great high school basketball game between two very good teams. I was proud of our kids. We faced that adversity early in the year when we lost those three straight and they stuck together and we were able to get a victory at home against a very good team,” said Sheldon.

The Colonel Crawford coach says they were able to make it their kind of game against Upper. “The biggest thing for us is we needed to turn it into a basketball game, half court game, and not an open gym, the way thy get out and run and trap. Our kids did a great job of executing the game plan and what we wanted to do Friday night. So, all of the credit goes to our players. It was an electrifying atmosphere at the Mac Morrison Gym last Friday night,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (10-3,6-3), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, a winner of their last eight, is at Mohawk (12-0,8-0), #1 in our poll, on Thursday night. Mohawk beat the Eagles at Crawford (49-48) on December 15.

Sheldon says Mohawk knows how to win and says this a great opportunity for them to prove they can beat another good team. “We have to forget about that one Friday because it doesn’t get any easier. Now, we have an undefeated team ranked number 10 in the State of Ohio. It is a very good senior group and a good basketball team. I consider them an old school team. They are tough kids. They play the game the right way. Coach (Paul) Dunn has done a great job taking over that program. We are going to have our hands full, but we are looking forward to the opportunity,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Our kids are competitors. The first time we lost a one point game to them and had opportunities. Our guys are excited to play another very good team in our league come Thursday night.”

What about keys to victory? Sheldon says they have to contain Zach Hayman (20.7 PPG) and they must match Mohawk’s physicality. “I think there are two things. I think you have to be able to match their physicality. It is a physical basketball team. They have one of the very best players in our league in Zach Hayman. We are going to have to try and control him and make him hit some affected shots. We are going to have to be able to execute. They are going to play their 2-3 zone. They are playing more man this year than they have in the past. You have to be ready for everything they have. The number one thing is you have to know it is going to be a physical basketball game because they are tough kids over there. You have seen that with their football team being undefeated and they are undefeated currently in basketball,” said Sheldon.

Published 1/23/19

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Must Win Weekend for Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford has been building up to this weekend for more than a month and they have a chance to get back in the race in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference if they can beat Upper Sandusky on Friday and Carey on Saturday.

Due to the chance we are going to get some snow on Saturday, the Carey game has now been moved to Wednesday, January 30, in North Robinson.

Since a loss to league leader Mohawk (49-48) on December 15, the Eagles have strung together seven wins in a row, including (47-29) over Buckeye Central last time out on Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon is proud of the progress they have made. “I have been very happy with our guys. We lost that three game stretch and then we got seven wins in a row. We really responded from some adversity from the second and third week of the season and that is something to be said in this day and age when people point fingers this group has stuck together. Now, we go again with those three teams in a row. I know our guys are excited as competitors and where we have grown and what we have done since then. This is going to be a test with these next three games with Upper, Carey and Mohawk,” he said.

They play Mohawk next Thursday.

It is fair to consider Colonel Crawford versus Upper Sandusky as one of the best small school rivalries in this part of the state. “Upper is a very good program. They have had a lot of success over the years and we have had success here as well. Anytime you put two programs that have had success it is going to be a competitive nature when those two teams get together,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (9-3,5-3) hosts Upper Sandusky (10-3,7-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, on Friday night. The Rams won the first meeting (48-45) on December 8 at Upper on Mason Vent’s three at the horn.

Sheldon says the Rams really get down the floor and get open shots and they have very good balance. “They are very good as always in their transition game. They go on runs. That is something you have to do against Upper is you can’t let them go on multiple runs throughout a game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They have multiple weapons it is not just one guy they have multiple guys that can score. You have to be able to guard everybody on the floor. Those are a couple of the strengths we look at with Upper Sandusky and they have had great success this year.”

The way to avoid the dangerous Upper runs, according to Sheldon, is avoid the live turnover and get back on defense. “I think one thing is taking care of the basketball. With their defensive pressure if you allow them to turn you over it turns into points for them. They are very good at running, so you have to take care of the basketball on the offensive end because sometimes against Upper Sandusky turnovers leads to scores right away and that creates their runs throughout a game. The other thing is you have to make sure you get people back in transition because of the way they sprint down the floor,” he said.

Carey (7-4,5-2) plays at Crawford, again now on January 30. The Blue Devils also beat Colonel Crawford (49-34) on December 13. Sheldon says the Carey guards killed them the first time. “The first time we did a good job on the Stone kid and their guards went 8-16 on three pointers. Their guards have been playing very well. They are a team that is still in the league hunt being only games back and having the whole second half of the season. So, they are playing for a lot. It is a very good basketball team. It’s a tough double weekend when you look at Upper Friday and Carey Saturday, two of the better division three teams in the area. We are looking forward to the challenge,” said Sheldon.

Published 1/18/19

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Updated every five minutes on Friday nights

Colonel Crawford Putting a Streak Together

Colonel Crawford is quietly putting together a pretty good season again.

After losses to Upper Sandusky, Carey, and Mohawk in succession, the Eagles have not lost since December 15, a stretch of six games.

They play at Buckeye Central in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says they have been playing well at both ends of the floor. “We have been very fortunate to win six a row. We are coming off our third straight double weekend, which is always tough when you go Friday-Saturday, Friday-Saturday, Friday-Saturday during the holidays. Our guys have had great mental focus. It is a team that keeps getting better. We have had some greats wins and by a large margin of victory the last few games where our offense is starting to produce and our defense has continued to be solid,” he told Swaankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We have said since day one this is a team that will continue to grow. We have definitely seen good growth. We are halfway through, we have played 11 games, we have to keep getting more detailed oriented and making strides forward toward the end of the year.”

There were some offensive struggles early in the season, but Sheldon says the defense has been solid all year. “It is probably one of the best defensive teams we have had in my 13 years. Some of that is our length when you are 6’4” or above in four of the five spots it helps you with our defensive philosophy and what we do. Our guys have bought into it. They understand how important that is at that end of the floor. We have been pretty fortunate to guard pretty well this year,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (8-3,4-3) is at Buckeye Central (1-8,1-5) on Saturday night for an “N10” game. Buckeye lost (64-43) to Carey in a league game last Friday.

Sheldon says they know Buckeye will be ready to play them. “It’s a rival and we have to go down 602 to their place. This is a good team, and their record doesn’t indicate it, they have been in almost every game. They have played people very close. They have lost some tough ones, some overtimes, and it is a team that is getting better. Coach Pickelseimer, watching them on film, has done a good job and kids are buying in with what they need to do. They have two very good players in (Brady) Biglin and (Darren) Wurm and some role players around them. Anytime it is Buckeye-Crawford, Crawford-Wynford, you throw those records away on matter what. We know we are going to be up for a challenge come Saturday night,” said Sheldon.

Published 1/09/19

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Offense Getting Better for Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford is starting to become a more complete team as they are starting to show they can score some more points.

They host Ridgedale in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night and then play what has become a non-conference rival in Northmor at home on Saturday.

Last week, they beat Bucyrus (58-35) in a conference game on Friday and thrashed Plymouth (75-54) on Saturday in a non-conference game.

Coach David Sheldon says he was pleased with their improved offensive execution. “I thought last week was a big weekend for us, especially on the offensive end. We have been guarding well all year long and last weekend we had very good offensive production from multiple guys both Friday against Bucyrus and Saturday at Plymouth and got some big wins with the margin victory that we did. I was very happy and our focus has been very good and with the break you worry about that because kids are out of rhythm. We are back in school (Thursday) so we are back in routine. So, I was very pleased last weekend, especially with our offensive production, which is the area that I have been talking that has to get better,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (6-3,3-3) plays at home against Ridgedale (6-2,3-2) on Friday night. This likely the best Ridgedale team in at least five years. They beat Buckeye Central (64-59) last Friday.

Sheldon says they have very talented guards that can score in a lot of ways. “They have got off to a great start. They have three averaging in double figures and one close to double figures. The thing about them they are very guard oriented. They are quick and shoot it and they can get to the rim. You have to play good one on one defense against them. They are very good in transition. It is a team that is playing with a lot of confidence and having much success early in the season. So, this will be a good test for us again (Friday) night to see if we can match a team that is 6-2. Luckily, it is at our place,” said Sheldon.

In order to defend the Rockets, Sheldon says they are going to have to hustle back and defend the whole floor. “The big thing is we have to get back to the paint defensively and contest shots. We can’t allow them to get open shots whether it is threes or at the rim. We talk a lot about defensive rotations and covering up and I think that is a big thing with the way with the way Ridgedale plays the game with a lot of five out offense. We have to guard everybody. So, hopefully we rise to the occasion and the defensive effort continues like it has the last several weeks,” he said.

Northmor (4-3) will be in North Robinson on Saturday night. Sheldon says there is some fire in this rivalry. “We lost a tough one to their very good team last year in overtime at their place. Zach (Ruth) has had a great run, especially the last four years when you look at that special group that graduated,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They still have the Miller kid back that is a special post player inside and their younger guys have had success at younger levels. This is a program that has been a good program and right next door has been a good non-league game for us and I’m sure it will be an intense battle Saturday. Our number one focus right now is Friday night and that league game with Ridgedale.”

Published 1/04/19

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Eagles Still Trying to Find Shooting Stroke

Colonel Crawford is still in a shooting slump, but last week they found a way to win a couple of games.

This weekend, they host Bucyrus in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday and play at Plymouth in a non-conference game on Saturday.

Last week, the Eagles beat Wynford (51-46) on Friday and downed Seneca East (44-41) on Saturday, both in “N10” games.

Coach David Sheldon says they couldn’t make shots, but defense won them two games. “The positive of this past week weekend was we have been harping on situation work this last week or so as we dropped three in row. We were able to capitalize on late game situations in both of those games and come away with wins. Every night our defense has been very solid we just have to pick it up on the offensive end. We are just not making shots is the bottom line,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Luckily, we have been able to defend people to keep us in the last two games and come away with victories at the end. We still have a long way to go, especially at the offensive end.”

Sheldon believes they are running good offense. He says they just aren’t making the open shots they are creating. “We are getting good shots. If you break it down and look we are getting great shots they are just not going. The positive is we have doubled our opponents on the offensive glass. So, have been able to get a lot of second shots. We have gotten great looks, they just haven’t went the last couple of games. We have to get better at that. We have spent a lot of time shooting and things in practice and just our effectiveness at that end of the floor,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (4-3,2-3) plays host to Bucyrus (1-6,1-3) on Friday night in a conference game. Sheldon says the Redmen are always excited to play them and Friday will be no different. “First of all, last Friday, they got a great win at Seneca East. Harley Robinson is a very good athlete. He has been a four year player for them. The Hamm kid inside and then Zaner at point guard. It’s a rival game and we know they will be excited to come over and they got their first win this past weekend. So, we have to get better at the offensive end not matter who we are playing on our schedule right now,” he said.

Plymouth (4-2) entertains Crawford on Saturday night in a non-conference game. Sheldon says they have to be able to deal with Jacob Adams. “He is a very good player. I have seen several films and he is special. He can shoot it. He can put it on the floor. It’s a big game Saturday after we play Friday because Plymouth is a team in our district tournament. So, you are looking at a team later down the road when you are looking at the district tournament. The Adams kid is a very, very good player and they have some kids around him. Plymouth is a good team with a winning record right now,” said Sheldon.

Published 12/27/18

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Colonel Crawford has to Get Better

Colonel Crawford has started the season 0-3 in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and that has been a rare occurrence, however, there is still a lot of basketball to play.

They lost last week to Carey (49-34) and Mohawk (49-48) in conference games.

Coach David Sheldon says they are not hitting the panic button. “We have faced a little adversity throughout these three games, two of them have come down to the last play and we had many opportunities and we didn’t capitalize. Against very good teams you have to capitalize in late game situations and we didn’t do that and we have to get better at that. That is our job as coaches to prepare them as coaches for those situations and it is something we have to improve on. We have only played five games, so there is no reason to hit the panic button. There are still 17 regular season games and the tournament. So, we just have to get better and improve everyday we come in the gym. In our program we are not used to this. I am not going to kid you we have won those kinds of games over the years. Hats off to those teams Upper, Carey, and Mohawk because they are very good teams. We have to get better as a basketball team,” said Sheldon.

Late game situations are an area where the Eagles have to be better and Sheldon says that is something they work on every day. “We do a lot of time and score. This much time is left in the game and you are up or this much time and you are down. Everyday in practice at the end of practice we work on time and score. You can simulate that as much as you want in practice, but you never know what is going to happen when the lights are on and the stands are full. That is what you try and do with your kids is put them in that situation during practice time,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (2-3,0-3) is home of Wynford (1-4,1-2) on Friday night. The Royals beat Bucyrus (69-61) on Thursday and lost (67-64) to Ridgedale on Saturday. They are being coached by veteran Steve Mohr.

Sheldon says they have to be ready to stop the Royals break. “Everybody knows it starts with Josh Crall. He is a very good player. He is one of the best players in our league and in the area, so he is a very good player. They really get out in transition. Steve’s style has always been to run and these guys do a great job running the floor and getting buckets in transition. Defensively, they are going to show you all different looks,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They will show you junk, they will show you zone, and man. You just have to be able to attack those. These kids are playing hard. Steve has put them in position to win almost every game on the schedule. Steve have done a great job of getting them confidence. He will have them fired up to come over to where he coached before I took over.”

Seneca East (2-0,2-0) will host the Eagles on Saturday night. The Tigers beat Ridgedale (60-52) on Friday and Buckeye Central (49-42) on Saturday.

Sheldon says they will get another stiff challenge from the Tigers and their new coach Chris Long. “They are off to a great start they went 2-0 on their opening weekend in our league. Chris is implementing his system. They have really good players. They are playing a lot of kids and it’s a good basketball team. There are no easy games in this league. It is a very balanced league. We have to improve as a basketball team,” he said.

Published 12/19/18

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Colonel Crawford Faces Two More Big Tests

Colonel Crawford almost won a big game on the road to open the Northern 10 Athletic Conference season, but they have to put that behind them and move on with two more conference games against good opponents this week.

Last Saturday, the Eagles held a four point lead with two minutes to play, but lost (48-45) to Upper Sandusky when Mason Vent hit a three pointer at the buzzer.

Coach David Sheldon was very proud of the effort his kids put in, but they made some critical mistakes in the late going. “Our kids did an awesome job I was so proud of them with the way we executed both at the offensive and defensive ends. We put ourselves in an opportunity to win a basketball game in the last two and half minutes and just made some crucial mistakes down the stretch. Crucial mistakes with the game on the line against a very good basketball game that you can’t make. Credit to the Vent kid, he hit the shot at the buzzer to beat us. He is a really good player, but that’s not the play that beat us, it was plays down the stretch that we just did some things that we have to learn from game number three of the regular season,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We got back in Monday and talked about it and showed film and discussed when you are in these situations against very good basketball teams because it is going to happen sometime throughout this season. Credit Upper Sandusky, they held serve and protected their home court. It was a great high school basketball game and an unbelievable crowd.”

Sheldon says they got to work Monday on what they need to do to improve. “Our kids were hurting afterwards because they knew we had an opportunity to win a basketball game, but we talked about that. This is game three of a 22 game regular season and hopefully a tournament run. It is the first time we have had a close game all year and we made some errors down the stretch and they next time we are in that situation we have to realize this is what we have to do and make steps forward from what happened last Saturday night,” he said.

Crawford (2-1,0-1) is at Carey (1-2,0-0) on Thursday and at home for Mohawk (2-0,0-0) on Saturday in “N10” play.

Sheldon says Carey has one best big men in the area in Heyden Stone. “It is a busy schedule this week with two of the best teams in our league. Both Carey and Mohawk are regional teams from last year. Carey has the Stone kid, it’s no secret, he is a 6’8” with division one offers and very good. They have good guards. Their JV team last year was very good and we have to go to Carey and it is always a tough place to play. So, we know we are going to get a good shot and it is going to be a good test Thursday when we go up to Carey,” said Sheldon.

Mohawk won the league in football and Sheldon says they are going to be a factor in the basketball race too. “Mohawk is very good. They return everybody from that regional team and they just keep getting better and the thing about Mohawk I they know how to win. They went undefeated in the regular season in football and a lot of their key players are off that very good football team. Paul Dunn has done an excellent job with that program in getting it turned around. We are going to have our hands full Saturday as well. I said from the get go this as tough a three game stretch as we are going to have in the year with Upper, Carey and Mohawk right out of the gate with a brand new basketball team that we are playing with. Our guys I think gained some confidence Saturday showing that this team has a chance to be very good, but we have to make big steps because it doesn’t get any easier this week,” said Sheldon.

Published 12/12/18

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Colonel Crawford Needs to Limit Upper’s Runs

The Northern 10 is pretty balanced this year, but it might still boil down to these two as it has the last three years. Colonel Crawford is at Upper Sandusky to begin the league season on Saturday night.

Already intense enough, the rivalry has been amped up even a little more when Cam McCready transferred from Colonel Crawford to Upper. That is like someone leaving Ohio State for Michigan or vise versa.

Crawford opened the season with two wins last week (71-22) over Mansfield Christian on Friday and (55-38) over Sandusky Perkins on Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says they were pretty good on both ends of the floor. “We are happy to come out of the gate 2-0. Every year it is a different group. You are throwing guys into different roles. I thought we excelled. The first night we had five guys in double figures. The second night with put three guys in double figures. So, on the offensive end we shared the ball very well and executed for the most part good. Defensively, to hold them to 22 and 38 it was a pretty good defensive job. There are still areas defensively where we have to get better. It is really early the season and we keep preaching we have to improve. We break down and we show kids on film what we need to do to get where we want to be by the end of the season,” said Sheldon.

With league play starting on week two, Sheldon says it is always good get on the floor before you are going to play a league game. “I think it is good. You can have scrimmages, but it is not the same as a game with rotations and what you are trying to do with game planning and that. It is a reason we schedule always opening up league play on the second week of the season you always try to schedule two league games opening up. So, I think that is a good thing to get kids going before you get into your actual conference,” he said.

Upper Sandusky (3-0,0-0) has beaten Willard (83-59) last Friday, Tiffin Columbian (83-62) last Saturday and Galion (71-56) on Wednesday night. Another good start to the season.

Sheldon says the Rams game plan isn’t much different. He says they are a team that produces a lot of runs. “They are a very good basketball team. The last three years they have won our conference. They have a system and their system has been successful for them over the years. They are running offensively and defensively the same stuff. The thing about Upper is they play very hard and they get after it at both ends of the floor. They want to put pressure on you offensively and defensively. That is the thing you have to be able to withstand,” he told Swankonspoorts.com on Thursday, “They go on runs throughout games. They are very good at making runs and all of the sudden it is a 10 point game. We are looking forward to it. It is the first game of league play. It is a long season of 16 league games and this is one game out of 16.”

In some way you have to stop those Upper Sandusky runs and Sheldon says for one they have to move on to the next play and they have match Upper’s intensity. “It is like coach Krzyzewski of Duke always says, next play. You just can not let them make runs of five, six plays at both ends of the floor that turn into easy baskets for them. You have to go out for 32 minutes because they are going to play hard. We have got to make sure we match their intensity all night on both ends of the floor,” he said.

Published 12/07/18

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Decision Making Must Improve for Crawford Girls

Colonel Crawford tips off play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference with a road trip to Upper Sandusky to play the Lady Rams on Tuesday night.

The Lady Eagles (2-0) have beaten Northmor (31-29) and Monroeville (46-35) in non-conference games this year.

Coach Kyle Fenner says they have done some good things, but there are areas that have to be improved too, like limiting turnovers. “We are obviously happy to be 2-0. We have played some pretty good competition in Northmor and Monroeville. At times we have played well, but there have been times when we haven’t played well and we have missed some shots and we have turned the basketball over. So, there is always room for improvement,” she said.

The Crawford coach says it isn’t so much they don’t have the skill to handle the ball well. She says it is more that they need to make better decisions on what to do with it. “You have to be able to handle the ball. We fell like we are pretty good ball handlers it is just sometimes our decision making isn’t the best and we don’t look at different options,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “The first option maybe isn’t there and sometimes we struggle to look at the second and third option. It might be just making better decisions with the basketball in your hands.”

Colonel Crawford (2-0,0-0) is at Upper Sandusky (2-1,0-0) in a conference game on Tuesday night. Upper won its first two against New Riegel (51-29) and Riverdale (49-32) and then lost last Thursday to Willard (66-40) all in non-conference games.

Fenner says Upper has three players with a boatload of experience in Alexis Fogle, Alivia Oney and Madison McLaughlin. “They are led by three seniors. Two of them will play on the perimeter and one will play inside. Those three girls have been around a long time. All three of them have lettered for two, three years. It will be a great challenge (Tuesday) night to stop them,” she said.

Upper also have a new coach in Jerry Vent.

Published 12/04/18

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Experienced Colonel Crawford Opens with Two

Colonel Crawford with five proven veterans opens the boys’ basketball season with two home games against Mansfield Christian on Friday and Sandusky Perkins on Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says they are have made good progress as a team during the preseason, but they are not where they need to be yet. “I think from day one of the preseason until the last day (Thursday) we have progressed and that is what you want to see. Are we where we need to be yet? No, not eve close. We are still a work on progress and definitely need to improve in some areas to get to the type of basketball team we want to be. That is where we are early in the year. I think our kids are excited to open up Friday and Saturday. Both games are at home and that is a luxury to get to play in our Morrison Gym opening night and the following night. It’s time to tip it off and I think every coach you talk to thinks have we covered every little detail that you can think of before you play for real when the lights are on and that stands are packed?,” said Sheldon.

A plus for the Eagles is they do return five players that have played a lot of basketball at the varsity level. “The good thing is I have five guys in our five starters, our lettermen, have played with the lights on, so you hope that that is an advantage because these kids have played on Friday night, not just in the winter, but several of them played on Friday night’s this fall. So, you hope these kids are used to that. It is not that this is a new group that we are throwing into the fire and hopefully we have some confidence when we go out and play Friday night,” he said.

Mansfield Christian has a new coach Adam Parrott and they do not have a lot of experience. Sheldon says there are many unknowns when it comes to the Flames. “Forever I went against a great coach in John Kurtz. John was one of he best in the area when you look at coaching a did a phenomenal job at Mansfield Christian. So, it is a brand new coach, I don’t know much about him. I know that they play some 2-3 zone and some man throughout their preseason. They have a post player that played against us last year. Their two best players in John’s Kyle and McPeak graduated. So, there are a lot of unknowns,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “One of the things we stressed is we need to worry about Colonel Crawford and what we need to do to be successful come Friday night. One thing Christian kids have always done in the past when they played for John Kurtz is the play hard and we know we are going to get their best shot and we are looking forward to the opportunity.”

Perkins, out of the Lake Division of the “SBC,” comes calling on Saturday night. Sheldon says that will be a very good test for them on the opening weekend. “It will be a great game for us. I have the upmost respect for Scott McVeigh. Him and I have been good friends forever and he does a wonderful job. It is a successful program and he has been there for many years. They have three kids back that are good players. His son is a phenomenal guard for them, they have the (Printy) kid that is a post player inside and Grude kid, who is a point guard returning. So, we know that they are very good, they are a physical basketball team. It is a tough minded team just like Scott is. It is going to be an excellent test for Saturday night in a non-league opponent. It will good to see where we are at before we have to open up league play a week later,” said Sheldon.

Published 11/30/18

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Colonel Crawford Girls Working Hard

Colonel Crawford hopes to get back in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference girls’ basketball race this season and they are putting in a lot of hard work to meet that end.

Coach Kyle Fenner says they have a mix of experience this year, but everybody, top to bottom, is working hard. “It has gone really well our kids have been really, really coachable. They have worked hard. They do what we ask them to do. We are still kind of young,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We have three seniors, but we also have a mix of some sophomores and juniors and one freshman in the mix. So, they just keep working hard and we feel good about where we are at and where we are going to be if we work hard and listen and do things we want.”

When you have kids that are knew to varsity basketball, Fenner says one thing they have to get used to is the speed of the game because it is different. “Varsity basketball is extremely different than junior high or JV basketball because it is just a lot quicker. It is a lot faster and you have to make decisions a lot quicker. It is just the speed of the game. It just speeds everything up. What you are used to in junior high and JV, it just not that way anymore,” she said.

It might seem odd, but you can’t be thinking during games. Fenner says you have to be reacting and they are trying to get their kids to that point. “It kind of has to become habit. I know last year we struggled and we were playing a lot of kids and we were thinking too much. By the time you get done thinking the pass you thought was open isn’t open anymore and it gets picked off, the passing lane is not there and it’s not open anymore. The more you play the more it slows down. Hopefully, our kids this year and they find out it is going to slow down a little bit,” said Fenner.

Published 11/13/18

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Colonel Crawford Exited for Season

One of the more consistent small school basketball programs in North Central Ohio is in North Robinson where the Colonel Crawford Eagles look like they are going to have another strong year.

Five lettermen return for the Eagles in Jordan Fenner, Gavin Feichtner, Reis Walker, Zye Shipman and Chase Walker, coach David Sheldon, in season number 13 with the Eagles, says his kids are hungry and ready to get to work. “I think the biggest thing is getting kids ready in basketball shape. We have so many kids that play fall sports, football, golf, whatever, and that’s a good thing. We want them to do that. I think the big thing is getting legs back and getting them into shape. It is a totally different transition from the way the game is played from the football field to basketball. Our guys have gotten after it early on,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We are excited about the upcoming year here, we have five lettermen back that return from a district runner up team and two straight years in the district finals. We are excited and our kids are hungry to get going. I think it is the grind of preseason right now. We are talking fundamentals and getting stuff in and what is going to work with this specific group. Every group is different every year of our 13 years at Colonel Crawford.”

Every year is different and Sheldon says they are trying to find our what this group will be good at and how best to utilize their skills. “It’s a different group. You have five lettermen, but then you are mixing other people in that have played “JV” basketball the last couple of years. So, you have to see what is going to work and what works with this group. That is the nice thing about having five scrimmages. You have five scrimmages to get better and we talk to our kids we want to get better every day we come in the gym before we tip it off for real November 30 against Mansfield Christian. I think that is the big thing guys coming into the gym wanting to get better as an individual and a group before we get to that opening game,” he said.

Sheldon says they have some guys back that have been through the wars the last couple of seasons and they understand what is required for them to become a solid team. “These kids have put a lot time in even in the fall. You can talk about the summer what we did. Now is the fun part when you get ready to play and turn the lights on. They understand what the guys before them have done. There of are three guys in Jordan Fenner, Gavin Feichtner and Reis Walker that are two year letter winners and they are only juniors. They understand what goes into being successful. The tradition of success with seven straight sectional titles and it doesn’t happen overnight. So, these guys know we have to work every day and hopefully we get better. I think their definitely some big strengths that we have with this team this year,” said Sheldon.

Published 11/06/18

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Colonel Crawford Faces Physical Carey

Colonel Crawford closes out the high school football season on Friday night as they host Carey in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.

A game Carey needs to have to make the division six playoffs.

Last week, they lost (39-22) to second place Seneca East.

Coach Ryan Teglovic was pretty happy with their play. “It is a 25-22 game at halftime. A few things the other way and it could be a touchdown or two in the other direction. They pulled away and scored twice in the second half. Credit those guys I thought they did a great job coaching and playing. I thought that their kids where very physical. I thought they are one of the more physical teams up front. They are 8-1 for a reason. Credit them I thought they had a great game plan. I thought they played extremely hard. I am happy with how hard our guys continue to play. I apricate their efforts and hopefully we can get one more good effort out of them this week,” said Teglovic.

Here on week 10, Teglovic would like to see his team be a little more physical than they have been. He says last week was pretty good execution wise for the Eagles. “From and execution standpoint last Friday I was pleased that we didn’t lose the turnover battle. It is the first time in a big game that we haven’t done that. We only had three penalties Friday night, so that’s much better improvement wise, so we would like to continue that into Friday night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We need to play a little more physical up front than what we did last Friday, especially against Carey, they are a lot like Seneca East in that they are very big and very physical up front. I think that is the big thing. I feel like we were certainly in position the other night and our execution was not terrible. I just feel like we need to be a little more physical on Friday night.”

Colonel Crawford (5-4,3-3) hosts Carey (6-3,4-2) in “N10” action on Friday. The Blue Devils outscored Buckeye Central (61-26) last week and are winners of four of their last five.

Teglovic says they are going to pound the running game on Friday night. “I think it starts up front. They are big and they are going to get in that Maryland stack “I” double tight and they are going to run dive and “Iso” at you and they are going to pound you. If you are not going to stop that they aren’t ever going to do anything different than that. They have some big backs behind those offensive lineman. They are physical defensively as well. They can throw the football. They have a couple of really good receivers out wide on the edge in the Dasher kid and the Summit kid. They can do either, but really impressed by their physicality,” said Teglovic.

Published 10/23/18

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Colonel Crawford Takes on Athletic Seneca East

Colonel Crawford hits he road for Seneca East as they face the second place Tigers in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference football game on Friday night.

The Eagles have an outside chance at making the division six playoffs and they must have a win this week.

They shutout Bucyrus (21-0) last week and coach Ryan Teglovic says that unit continues to play outstanding football. “I think they have played very well. They have played well against some good football teams. They are going to have two good tests these remaining two weeks. We have a lot of seniors on that defense and guys that have seen a good consistent amount of experience. I really feel like they have gotten better throughout the year. They played well again this last Friday night. They were able to shutout an opponent and limit them to about 150 yards of total offense. So, they are playing pretty well,” said Teglovic.

On offense, the Eagles have been able to move it, but Teglovic says they have been their own worst enemy. “Penalties and turnovers have hurt us all year, not question about that. We are not going to be able to have those things on Friday night and still win the game. We have shown the ability to move the football, shown the ability to run the ball, shown the ability to pass the ball, both aspects. So, we just have to make sure we take care of the football and don’t shoot ourselves in the foot Friday night and I think it will be a good football game,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (5-3,3-2) plays at Seneca East (7-1,4-1) on Friday night. The Tigers destroyed Upper Sandusky (63-6) last week to remain a game behind unbeaten Mohawk in the conference standings.

Teglovic says they have weapons all over the field. “They have a lot of athletes both up front and on the edge. They have the leading rusher in our league in Blaine Swantzmiller, a good player, he is well over 1,000 yards through week eight. He is averaging about eight yards a carry. They have the leading passer in the league in Foos. They are both very dynamic and very skilled players. They are some of the best offensive players around in the area and they are big. They are big up front offensively and they are big up front defensively as well. They pose a lot of problems for you and we will have to be prepared and play well,” said Teglovic.

To contain Seneca East, Teglovic says you have to bottle up the run, but you have to be disciplined. “Everybody has their own defensive philosophy, but I think you have to be prepared for just about anything. They are going to try and spread you out. They are going to try find gaps. I think you have to be gap sound. I think you have to understand your run fits. You have to make sure you in position. When it comes down to it, can they throw the football? Absolutely they can throw the football, but you have to be able to stop the run first,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “For them I think inside zone is where its starts. That inside zone you have to make sure regardless of formation that you have all hats in a gap. I think that is probably the most important thing with them. The other thing is they beat you vertically you have to try and take away the big passing game and make sure they check it down an try to eliminate those big plays.”

Published 10/18/18

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Colonel Crawford Tries to Keep it Going Against Bucyrus

Colonel Crawford makes the short trip to Bucyrus to face the Redmen in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference football game on Friday night.

They beat Buckeye Central (61-6) in an “N10” game last week.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they did a lot of good things to get back on the winning path after losing two in a row in sort of gut wrenching fashion an they did it with a backup quarterback. “I thought for having the backup guy in I thought Brock (Ritzhaupt) did a nice job filling in for us. He was pretty efficient, he was 7-13, no picks, through for 150 yards. We played well around him. We had three different running backs score touchdowns. Our offensive line as solid. Our defense, I think our ones gave up one first down. I thought overall the guys played well and hopefully we are continuing to make some improvement,” said Teglovic.

Colonel Crawford (4-3,2-2) plays at Bucyrus (2-5,1-3) in “N10” action on Friday night. The Redmen lost (35-0) to league leading Mohawk last week, a team the Eagles had lost to (14-7) the week before.

Teglovic says they have played well in parts of games this fall. “They have played pretty well until halftime in a lot of games. Last week, it was 14-0 at halftime against Mohawk, Seneca East they were 14-13 at halftime. I definitely believe they are improved football team from last year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I think they have a lot of skilled athletes on the edge. They have good speed. They are more experienced up front than what they have been in the past and they have an experienced quarterback as well. They pose some problems for you and like I said they have played some good teams pretty tough.”

Bucyrus has a lot of speed in the skilled positions and Teglovic says they can’t let them get to the perimeter or get a crease or they are going to be able to take it the distance. “They had a pretty nice 4x100 team in track. Usually, you look at that if those guys can run on the track they can probably run with the football a little bit too. The (Harley) Robinson kid, the (Keaton) Naufzinger kid, the (Ben) Seibert kid. They have guys that are definitely sub 12.0, 100 kids. If they get out in the open they are tough to catch,” he said.

Published 10/11/18

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Colonel Crawford has to Reduce Turnovers

Colonel Crawford is a pretty good football team except for one thing… turnovers. And it is killing them.

They have eight the last two weeks and lost by a touchdown to two good teams both times.

Last week, they were edged by unbeaten Mohawk (14-7) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says it was maybe their best game of the season. “I felt like we played even better last week. I felt like it was the best game we played, with the exception of turnovers. We turned the ball over four times again. A lot of them were kind of crazy where they just took the ball away from us. Obviously, we have to do a better job of that. Outside of those four turnovers I really liked how we played and absolutely how hard we hard as well,” he said.

Teglovic says they need do a better job of eliminating those turnovers. “It is a situation where we throw two interceptions and one of them was where it was a kind of a fluky thing where they kind of pulled it out of our arms and another one was a fumbled exchange between quarterback and center. It is not like guys are getting hit and stripped and the ball is on the ground and that kind of thing. Just a variety of different things. We have to continue to do a better job of that. We have turned it over four times each of the last two weeks,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (3-3,1-2) is at home for Buckeye Central (0-6,0-3) in the battle of 602 Friday night. Buckeye lost (55-0) to Bucyrus last week.

Teglovic says he told the Eagles they have to have respect for Buckeye Central. “I told our guys the other day one thing is when you play a team like this you have to have respect for them. Our guys have never had to go through an 0-6. They have 20 some guys on the roster and they have gone through the season without a win and they still show up every day and work hard,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Our society looks down on that kind of thing, but that takes a lot of mental toughness for those guys to show up everyday and work hard and keep going at it. I have a lot of respect for coaches and kids that can go through that and continue to stay at it. For us we have to continue to get better.”

Colonel Crawford will be playing without quarterback Zye Shipman his week, according to Teglovic. “We are going to be playing without our quarterback this week and not sure how long he is going to be out. We are going to be testing some other guys and next man up kind of stuff this week,” he said.

Published 10/04/18

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Colonel Crawford Needs Big Plays

In back to back weeks, Colonel Crawford plays the co-leaders in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference. They lost by a score to rival Wynford last week and they host unbeaten Mohawk on Friday night.

Last week, Gavin Burris scored with just over a minute to play to give Wynford the lead and then the Royals stopped Crawford inside their own one yard line as time expired and Wynford won (14-7) in game controlled by the defense.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says literally the Royals made one more play than them. “We had opportunities. It seemed like it seesawed back and forth. When we got those opportunities we didn’t take advantage of them. They got one more opportunity and took advantage of it. We got the ball back with about a minute left. We pressed and our kids kept fighting and took it down to the half yard line and just ran out of time,” said Teglovic.

Crawford had three fumbles and an interception in the game. Wynford qb’s threw three picks.

Teglovic says the game was just pretty even all of the way around. “I think one of us had about 240 yards and the other 230 yards and balanced rushing and passing. We had one more turnover than what they did. I think we ran 59 plays and they ran 58 plays. It was one those games where we were right there and they made one more play than we did,” he said.

Mohawk (5-0,2-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, held off Seneca East (31-24) last week. The Warriors scored 23 straight points at one time.

Teglovic says Mohawk has good line play and they a lot of playmakers. “They are really good fundamentally. They return a lot of starters on both sides of the football. It starts up front as it usually does. They are very experienced up front, not extremely big. They have good skill too,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They have one the best receivers in the league in the (Zack) Hayman kid. A three year starter at quarterback in (Keith) Jenkins. Their running back (Bryce) Kirian is very good as well. They have two running backs with over 500 yards already, if you include the quarterback as a running back. They are a very and dangerous team and very fundamental and strong defensively as well.”

On Friday night, Teglovic says they have to make some big plays on offense. “We have to hit a couple of big plays. We have to try and utilize our speed. It is going to be tough sledding to go eight, ten play drives against these guys because the are pretty dog gone good. You have to hit some big plays and obviously not turn the ball over like we did last week. We have to be fundamental defensively and make them work and get off the field on third down,” he said.

Published 9/25/18

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Line of Scrimmage Key in Colonel Crawford vs. Wynford Battle

Colonel Crawford and Wynford are both contenders in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and they meet Friday night at Wynford.

The Eagles (3-1,1-0) turned in their best performance of the season last week in hammering Upper Sandusky (49-6) in their conference opener.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they were solid on both sides of the ball. “It was nice to see our kids to go out and execute some of the things we thought they could do. A huge thing was we finally won a turnover battle. We made some big plays offensively and I thought we played pretty physically defensively. So, all of the way around I thought it was a good game on both sides of the football for us and hopefully will give us a little momentum heading into this week,” he said.

Wynford (3-1,1-0) comes in after a (34-0) thrashing of Buckeye Central on week four.

Teglovic says is another very good Wynford team they will be playing. “Well, they are good as always, good as advertised. They still haven’t lost a game in the Northern 10. They are 3-1 and their only loss is to a very good Edison team, who is 3-1 with their only loss to Norwalk. They have three returning offensive linemen up front, who are very physical. They do a nice job there. They run several guys out of the backfield right now. They have four or five guys that are very capable back there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “A lot of those guys that are on the offensive line are also on the defensive line. I think that is their strength overall their offensive and defensive line. Their defense is playing very well. I think they are giving up about 14 and half points a game. It is one of the best division six programs in the area and has been for quite some time now. Anytime you are going over there you better be ready to play.”

Wynford has not scored the number of points they have in some other years. However, Teglovic says they still are a team that can do some things with the ball in their hands. “They have moved the football affectively. They have moved it on the ground and they have moved it in their air as well. They have a first year starter at quarterback in the sophomore Brady, but he continues to get better. He definitely has the physical tools. He is tall kid with decent speed and very good arm. So, I see him getting better week by week. It is still a potent offense,” he said.

Now, to score against a very good Wynford defense, Teglovic says first they have to have the ball and second they have to execute when they have it. “We have to get off the football field for one. If we allow them to establish the line of scrimmage we are going to be in trouble. The Roush kid is one of the better players I think on both sides of the ball in our league. He plays strong tackle for them offensively and plays tackle for them defensively. He is just a big kid and he moved pretty good and he plays hard. We have to know where he is. We have to continue to be balanced like we have been. Thankfully we have been able to throw the ball a little bit and hopefully that will open up some seams in the running game. We have to execute whether we are running the ball or passing the ball and we have to play hard,” said Teglovic.

Published 9/18/18

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Colonel Crawford With a Challenge

Colonel Crawford entertains the Upper Sandusky Rams in the opening game of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference schedule on Friday night in North Robinson.

After a (55-20) loss to North Union on week two, the Eagles responded with a (28-12) win at Cardington last week.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says it was good to get that win and now it is time to continue to get better. “It wasn’t a masterpiece by an stretch of the imagination, but we can take some good things out of it and some things we need to work on. The fact remains we are setting at 2-1 and we are starting league play this week against a good Upper Sandusky team. It is time to focus in on what lies ahead of us and I think our kids have done a good job of that. We had a good practice (Tuesday) night. We are excited to get out there for Northern 10 play on Friday,” he said.

After the non-conference portion of their schedule, Teglovic says they have done a lot of good things, but they have things to work on too. “I think a couple of things have put a smile on my face. I would say we have some guys that have filled in and have preformed at a level we need them to perform at for the guys we have lost from last year. We have shown the ability to have some other guys come in and play pretty good football and that has shown I think. Being able to be balanced on the offensive side of the ball,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “There are weapons in the running game and the passing game. So, that certainly has put a smile on my face. Defensively, we have done some things at times that haven’t been great, but I think it is a good group out there. I think they communicate well. I think they play hard and the understand the scheme. Really on both sides of the ball there have been some good things just we have to continue to get better.”

Upper Sandusky (2-1) lost to Galion (34-0) last week in a game that they turned the ball over way too much.

However, Teglovic says they have shown some things this year. “They are 2-1 just like us. Last week, they had a tough one against Galion. I think it was 34-0, but if you look back at that game and watch the film you see they moved the football, they just turned it over too many times. I think that number was six or seven. When you are down five in the turnover ratio you are not going to have too many opportunities to win, especially when you are playing a team like Galion, who is 3-0 now. They won a very close game against River Valley, which was a hard fought win for them. River Valley has had some football success lately. They are coming in like us, they are 2-1, headed into league play. They have good players on both sides of the football, so it will be an interesting test,” said Teglovic.

Teglovic says the Rams definitely have impact players on both sides of the ball. “I think they have one of the best linebackers in the league in Peyton Hawk. I think he is extremely physical. He is a couple year starter now. I thought he was really good last year as a starter and he is better this year. The McMillian kid in the backfield, offensively and defensively both, has been starting in some capacity since he was a freshman, and he is obviously a very good athlete. So, they have kids with varsity game experience that are good and athletic and we are going to have to play well,” said Teglovic.

Published 9/13/18

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Colonel Crawford Has to Clean up Execution

Colonel Crawford made too many mistakes against a good football team last week and they need to do a better job of execution.

North Union, of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, outscored them (55-20) in a non-conference game in North Robinson.

Crawford coach Ryan Teglovic says North Union is a very good football team. “Well, first of all North Union is, and I think you are going to see as the year goes on, North Union is an awful good football team. I think they are one of the better teams we are going to play and I think they are going to make some noise in their league. Hats off to them, they did a great job. They have a phenomenal offensive line. They have four or five guys back and their running back has a lot of experience and a quarterback with a lot of experience and not just experience they are good players. They are a good football team,” said Teglovic.

He says the Eagles were able to move the football, they just need to execute more consistently. “We did some things that we need to do better. We had way too many penalties, so we have to sure that up. We lost the turnover battle. Those couple of things right there, I think if we take care of those, it is certainly a closer game, I’m not saying we win that game, but it is definitely a closer game against a good team. If you look statistically they only outgained us by 50 yards. So, we moved the football and I thought we did a pretty decent job of that. There were times when our defense looked pretty good too. Sometimes it is about who you are playing against and when you are playing against some pretty good people you have to execute and sometimes we didn’t execute really well,” said Teglovic.

The score last week didn’t look too good, but Teglovic says he certainly does not question their effort. “Number one we put up about 450 yards of total offense against what I consider to be a playoff caliper team in division five. When you can do that against a unit like that there are some bright spots and some things that you can do. We weren’t playing against there twos, I mean the score ended up a little lopsided, but it was much more a dogfight than that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Labor Day, “Their guys were playing the whole game, our guys were playing the whole game. So, we put up some offense and that was a huge thing. I thought overall our effort was really good. I felt like every time they punched us we stayed in there and took the punch and kept rolling. We were extremely pleased with the effort we had, but the execution wasn’t good and our kids know that. We have to make sure we improve on that this week.”

On Friday night, Colonel Crawford (1-1) will travel to Cardington (0-2) to meet the Pirates, who have losses to Plymouth (35-20) and Bucyrus (38-17) the first two weeks.

Teglovic says they have an outstanding running back in Mason Gowers. “They have played two games against two decent teams and they have been right in there. They have been in there with a chance to win. They have moved the football extremely well. They have a running back in number five, who is one of the best in the area. As a sophomore last year he had just shy of 1,500 yards and that was in seven games. He has picked up right where he left off in the first two game this year. He is a handful for any defense. He has done a great job and we will have to focus on him. He is one of the better backs we are going to see this year. We will have our hands full containing him,” he said.

Published 9/04/18

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Colonel Crawford Needs to Win the Line of Scrimmage

Two teams that won by lopsided margins last week face off Friday night as Colonel Crawford plays host to North Union in a non-conference game in North Robinson.

The Eagles trounced Mt. Gilead (49-8) in their opening game.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they really played pretty well in all aspects of the game. “I thought week one went pretty well. I thought we did good things on both sides of the football. We were able to be balanced offensively. We threw for over 200. We rushed for over 200. Defensively, I thought we played well there as well. For the first week, I was pretty pleased with the special teams performance as well. So, I would say overall it was a good week one. We have to get better obviously this week. We have a big test against North Union. They are a very good football team. They won 46-3 Friday night against Fairbanks. So, we knew we have our work cut out for us,” said Teglovic.

Teams that won last week still need to improve and Teglovic believes the one that does that best is going to win. “I think that will be what it comes down to this week, which team does get better this week and continues to make those strides forward. They have one more week under their belt. They have a good game film to watch and try to correct. That is going to be a big key Friday night,” he said.

North Union also won easily last week. They hammered Fairbanks (46-3) in their first game last week. Teglovic says they are really a physical team at the point of attack. “Well, they are big, they are physical. You look at their offensive and defensive lines and they are big, 230, 250, 270, 280, I mean they are big guys and with experience. They have got a defensive lineman, who is also their right tackle. He was all-state on the defensive line last year. He is a phenomenal football player. He jumps out at you quickly,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They have experience at the quarterback position. This guy it will be his second year as a starter. He does a nice job and puts their offense in good position. The have a running back number five that has very good speed and also plays in the defensive backfield for them. So, he is a junior and played a whole lot last year as a sophomore and he is a very good football player.”

Colonel Crawford prides itself in its offensive and defensive line play and Teglovic says they have to hold their own against the Wildcats on Friday night. “It is going to be real important. We have to be able to establish something up there. They are big and powerful and they get off the ball extremely well. They want to come right out at you. It doesn’t mean they can’t throw. It doesn’t mean they don’t have athletes. They really, really rely on that offensive line and just getting off the football and getting after you,” he said.

Published 8/28/18

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Colonel Crawford Wants Balance

Colonel Crawford plays its first game of the season on Friday night as they travel to Mt. Gilead to play the Indians in their non-conference opener.

Veteran coach Ryan Teglovic has been through a number of these openers and he is concerned about the outcome of special teams play. “It helps me a little bit that we have some veteran guys on our coverage teams, which makes me feel a little bit better, but still have the same kind of concern. I tell our kids that every year. It’s the first time you go live special teams. It’s is always, always, a concern for me,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Last year, against Mt. Gilead we returned the opening kickoff back for a touchdown and we feel pretty good about ourselves and they returned the very next kickoff down to our 15 and then end up scoring from there and it’s a 7-7 game. So, special teams that first game it is very, very difficult to simulate that kind of live speed in practice, and you don’t do it in scrimmages because you don’t want to get kids hurt, so that is always a big concern.”

In most cases it is the goal of high school coaches to show some balance in their offensive attack. Teglovic believes they can run it and throw it. “I think and hope we will take what the defense gives us. I think we will be fairly balanced. I think we have the ability to do both. The offensive line is veteran. We have guys on the edge that can catch the ball. I like our quarterback and the way he is throwing right now and we have some guys in the backfield too. I think we will have the ability to be balanced and we certainly hope that will pan out for us,” he said.

Mt. Gilead has some skilled kids with some talent, according to Teglovic, and they are going have to do a good job controlling those kids. “They are in a spread offense and anytime you see that kind of offense you think, hey, throw the ball and certainly I would say they would like to do that. They have a move in kid at quarterback, who looks very athletic, he is a big tall kid and can run well and has a pretty good throwing arm as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “He has a big target in the (Mason) Mollohan kid. He is a three year starter for them and is 6’5”, 235 and he can go up and get it. They are like everybody and I’m sure at this time of the year they want to be balanced, but I really think their quarterback is a big strength for them.”

Published 8/24/18

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Colonel Crawford Coming Together

Colonel Crawford has the potential to be a good football team, but they play in a tough league, the “N10,” where they will be tested week after week and play a pretty good non conference schedule too.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they have been making the right kind of progression so far this preseason. “Progression is the key and I felt like from last Tuesday to Saturday we made some marked improvement in areas. I have liked how hard they have worked and the intention to making those kind of improvements. I would say so far so good. We have been healthy knock on wood. I feel the kids are continuing to get better,” he said.

Teglovic says they have been tested in scrimmage play so far and that is what they want from their opponents. “We have scrimmaged two pretty good football teams in Tiffin Calvert and Edison and they have tested us. They have been physical with us and it has given us the opportunity to see the speed of the game, live reps. To be able to come out of that and be relatively healthy and get a lot of work in is definitely very good,” said Teglovic.

The Crawford coach says they have potential, but that is all is right now. He says they have to get better each week and prove what kind of football team they are on the field. “I think the possibility is there. We have got 19 seniors and a lot of returning letterman. We have some inexperience at some key spots, but we have some guys there that can play. It is going to come down to how well you improve every week and stay healthy. We have a heck of a tough schedule. We have four teams in our league that made the playoffs last year and we anticipate them being awfully good again this year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We picked up some good non league teams as well. We picked up and play for the first time North Union and Cardington and they have some good football players over in that direction. The schedule is tough and we are going to have to compete every week and continue to get better. Definitely we have some possibilities.”

Published 8/14/18

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Crawford Counting on Seniors

Colonel Crawford was (5-5) last year and they had won at least six every year since 2011 when they were also a .500 team, they have not won less than five since 2008.

The goal this year is to get back on track.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they are going to lean heavily on their seniors that have been with the program. “We have a large group of seniors, which always helps. We have got 19 seniors. We have had a good weightlifting portion to our summer, with attendance there, the guys have worked hard. That is probably the biggest thing there in the summer time as long as guys are showing up and being accountable in the weight room, that kind of thing. We have done the camps and the seven on sevens and that stuff. Overall, I would say it has been super and we will just go on from there,” said Teglovic.

Teglovic, the coach at Crawford since 2009, which has included four playoff appearances and a first round win in 2015 against Ayersville, says having seniors increases your focus and your maturity as a team. “I always feel like those are the guys you win games with, the guys that are invested. They have been in your program for four years. With seniors there is no tomorrow. It’s here, it’s now. There is no next year. They have been through it before. They have been through two a days, this is their fourth year of that. There is just a maturity, a calm, and a perspective about seniors that is awfully good to have in their locker room,” he said.

Last year, the Eagles were in almost all of the games they played. Teglovic says they have to have more attention to detail on the little things. “The focus is we lost five games last year and in any of those a play or two one way or the other it could have flipped in the other direction,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We have talked about the little things. We have talked about that in the weight room, we have talked about that in seven on seven, we have talked about that in practice, we have talked about your effort, your attention to detail and your focus. The other side of one, two, maybe three plays in five different games last year. We want to make sure we take care of that this year.”

Published 8/01/18

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Colonel Crawford With Some Revenge

Colonel Crawford softball players were not happy with the results on Wednesday and they got things turned around Thursday.

They lost at home to rival Bucyrus (1-0) on Wednesday, but 24 hours later they beat Bucyrus (12-2) in five innings.

Coach Chuck Huggins says he could see it in his players eyes. “I’m going to be honest it was a long 24 hours from Wednesday to Thursday. I’ll be honest I was like a bear with a sore butt. I guess it is telling me I am still doing the right thing since I don’t like to lose. I knew I had kids that felt the same way. I knew they were disappointed when they walked away from our field Wednesday night. I told them the nice thing about it with this game in spring and fast pitch softball is sometimes you don’t have to wait too long to get your opportunity at revenge. The weather cooperated for us and we got to go to Bucyrus (Thursday) night. You could just tell we were a team on a mission,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “I could just sense the moment I saw them after school I just knew that they felt the same way I did. Luckily, we jumped on them early and then made things happen and got good, good production throughout our lineup. That is a compliment to the kids and a compliment to their competitiveness. I am just proud of the way they responded and we were able to get a little revenge.”

Crawford took a (4-0) lead on a grand slam home run by Caitlin Koschnick in the first inning. Huggins says that was big for them and her. “It was such a crucial situation there, it was the top of the first inning, bases loaded, two outs, and two strikes on the batter. You couldn’t ask for a better scenario. Here was Caitlin Koschnick, who tore her “ACL” on the fall in volleyball and worked her tail off so she could have a senior season in softball. She is our number five hitter and I’ll be doggoned if she didn’t get into one and you could just tell it was gone from the time it left the bat. She hit it right straight into the teeth of the wind. The success story there is just unbelievable because she has just worked so hard for that opportunity and to see her be successful like that and put us out in the lead. That was huge and just really, really happy for her,” said Huggins.

It has been kind of a rough start for Colonel Crawford (9-4,5-4) for them, but Huggins feels with warmer weather they will be better too. “I was talking to my longtime assistant coach (Thursday) night Carl Diebler and he said I know we can’t control the weather and we can’t control it. I just feel like when the weather changes I just feel that will be to our benefit. First of all, it is going to help us get into a better rhythm that we know exactly what to expect. Second of all it is going to give us some opportunity to get some practice time in. Don’t get me wrong we get some things done in the gym, but with that said it is still tough. You can develop players in the gym, but teams are really developed outside. You just need that outside time on the field together to make sure we get everything done and make sure we improve as a team. It sounds good for next week and I am looking forward to some good weather days and some good opportunities to play some softball,” said Huggins.

Published 4/20/18

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Colonel Crawford Working on Getting Better

Colonel Crawford has won seven of the nine softball games they have played so far, but they know they can still get a lot better.

Coach Chuck Huggins says they really have left too many plays out on the field. “I know there would a whole lot of coaches in the area that would be awful happy to be sitting at 7-2, but doggone I think about the two 99% of the time when I am thinking about softball and 1% on the seven W’s. When we learn, we learn from our losses, yes, and I think that is important and that is what we are doing and I know that is why I think about things like that. 7-2 and I made a comment to the kids that that is good, but it’s not great and that is how I describe it to them and I think they really believe that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “They are a little disappointed too. We talked about those losses and we left a couple of plays out there on the field or didn’t hit the ball like we were capable. They understand that. Had we been able to do the things we are capable to doing better results would have happened.”

Even in games they have won, Huggins says too many runners have been on base and too many runs have scored. “That is a major concern just because of the way they happened. Just a lot more baserunners are appearing on bases when we are in defense than should whether it be through walks, a few untimely errors, we have had a few hit by pitches, just a little bit of this and a little bit of that that is very uncharacteristic. Those things very definitely have my attention because for us to get to where we want to be that all has to be cleaned up and we have to make sure that we are able to correct those things before we get too late into the season,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (7-2,4-2) sits in fourth place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference heading into a game at Seneca East (3-3,1-3) on Friday. They are two games behind Carey.

Huggins, the head coach for more than 30 years, says he knows how important getting a practice in outside. “I know a lot people think it is all about games, but I couldn’t wait until (Thursday) night. Don’t get me wrong our game nights are not just game night we truly us those as practice situations as far a things we need to work on. When we get out there we are already starting to talk about things from the night before that we need to correct, like baserunning or anything at all that stuck out in our mind that needs corrected or needs addressed. We do that right away and then we move onto game night. So, we are still practicing on game night, but that said I was ecstatic about (Thursday) night being a practice night and trust me we got after it just working on softball I.Q., working on the mentality of learning the game, trying to put the kids through every possible scenario possible so there is nothing that we leave unturned. In that case I love, love practices,” said Huggins.

Published 4/13/18

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Crawford Gets Offense Going

Offense has been lacking for the Colonel Crawford Eagles so far this spring, well until Tuesday night.

They rocked Mohawk (10-4) in action in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

Coach Joe Swartzmiller says it was great to see. “It’s a longtime coming that’s for sure. The last two games it has been cold and we only got one hit each game and been shut out so it has been nice to actually hit the ball and get 10 runs, that’s great,” he said.

The Eagles (1-5,1-4) have a roster of seven freshmen and sophomores. Swartzmiller says he gave them a pep talk about over thinking the game. “I talked to the kids before we even got on the bus. We are very, very young, so they have a million things going on in their minds when they are stepping in the batter’s box,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “I said don’t think about anything, just see the ball and hit the ball and go have fun. You could see the kids pressing. In baseball the harder you try they worse it gets. We just have to get the relaxed and go play ball.”

Swartzmiller says baseball is a game where you can’t just try and execute with just flying to the ball, there has to be a plan in mind. “Our defense is coming, but there are still situations where I know the kids wants to do well, he is trying really, really hard to do well, but he also has that self doubt that I don’t want to mess up. More times that not when you see that happening they are going to mess up. So, you just have to be positive and let things happen,” he said.

Published 4/11/18

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Colonel Crawford Counting on Experience

Colonel Crawford knows how to win and that is harder than you might think and it takes more than just talent.

They rallied to beat Mohawk (7-5) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Monday.

Coach Chuck Huggins says they did it by scoring late. “Mohawk is going to win a good share of ballgames. They came down to North Robinson and gave us everything we wanted. Mohawk was ahead 5-2 going to the bottom of the fifth and to our kids credit they really, really competed. We scored a single run in the bottom of the fifth and then put up four in the bottom of the sixth and held them in the seventh,” he said.

Colonel Crawford had won it’s first three games by a combined score of 43-5 and Huggins says they needed to win a game like Monday. “What a good, good fastpitch softball game. We needed that. We had kind of had it our way in the first three games we played and we just needed a good solid ballgame from somebody. We got into a good one that day and we were able to execute some things,” he told Swankonsports.com, “It wasn’t easy defensively either because in the first half of the game their top four hitters put up all five runs for them and that was who was coming up for them in the top of the sixth. We had to execute some things and had to tighten some things up defensively and pitching wise and I am really proud of the kids and they way they preformed in the last half of the ballgame.”

If the weather cooperates the Lady Eagles (4-0,1-0) are supposed to play at Carey in an “N10” game on Thursday.

Huggins says their experience was a big factor in their win over Mohawk. “After the game we always talk and that is exactly what came out the mouth of one of my seniors. They said, coach, this just seemed like so natural of a game. She said the things we needed to do out there to win are the things we practice all of the time and the things we have had happen over our careers. I was proud that she said that instead of me saying it as coach it was one of their teammates saying it. It meant a lot to the whole team to hear that. I said, you know what? You are exactly right. Those are exactly the things we have been through before and that is the nice thing about having a good, solid senior group that has been through the battles and they are battle tested and they understand what it takes to win tight ballgames like that,” said Huggins.

Published 4/05/18

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Colonel Crawford Learning on the Run

Colonel Crawford is going to have some growing pains this year because they just don’t have many upperclassmen on their baseball roster.

They lost their opener (8-1) to Plymouth on Monday.

Coach Joe Swartzmiller says they made some mistakes. He says they are still trying to figure things out. “First of all, we are super, super young. I have never been this young before. I have mainly freshmen and sophomores playing. Fielding wise is the biggest thing. We are still not set at all of our positions. It is going to be a while before we get set with everything,” he said.

When you have a lot of young guys, Swartzmiller says there are just some things that haven’t seen, at least not at varsity speed. “There are a lot of oh my gosh I can’t believe moments. The experience is huge, it is absolutely huge and right now we don’t have that. We are gaining that every time we play. We just need to play. We need to play games every single day and get these kids going,” he said.

Swartzmiller says sometimes it boils down to where you are supposed to be and what you need to do with the ball. “That is what we talked about (Tuesday.) We have the basics down and now we just need to focus on the little things. Baseball is all about little things. It is about knowing what to do and knowing before hand what to do and right now we don’t know what to do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Like for instance, knowing before the pitch what you are going to do with the ball if it is hit to you. We are still not there yet. There were circumstances (Monday) night in the game where some things turned out great, but some things turned out bad because we didn’t know. Sometimes we got lucky and sometimes we didn’t.”

The Eagles (0-1) are supposed to start Northern 10 Athletic Conference play against Carey Wednesday and Thursday, weather permitting, and play Crestline in a doubleheader on Saturday.

Published 3/28/18

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Colonel Crawford Working on Getting Better

Colonel Crawford is always one of the best softball teams in this part of the state and they are working towards that end.

The season opens for them they host Kenton in a doubleheader on Saturday, of course as always in Ohio, weather permitting.

No matter what the weather does, veteran coach Chuck Huggins says they have to be ready to go come Saturday. “I am looking out my window and it is definitely putting it down snow wise, but you have to be ready. The bottom line is when Saturday morning comes and our heads come off the pillow we have to be ready. I am fortunate enough to start year 31 here. I just know that weather is not going to wait on us. We have to make sure we are prepared and I am awful proud of my kids right now the way they have been working in the gym and also we have been pretty fortunate this spring to get out on the field quite a bit, a lot more than in previous seasons. When that umpire says play ball for that first pitch of the season we will be ready to go,” said Huggins.

Colonel Crawford scrimmaged Clear Fork on Monday and Huggins says they certainly learned some things. “I love our effort. I love our kids coachablity. They are really focused on making sure we have all of the little fine points down like we try to do here at Colonel Crawford. I was fine until about five o’clock (Monday) when the Lady Colts from Clear Fork came in and kicked our butts pretty good, but that happens they are a very good program coached well by coach Gottfried and his wife Kerri. That was a good eye opener to show us where we need to do some improving. That is exactly why you scrimmage. We went back to work (Tuesday) and got after it and had a very good practice even though it was cold outside, we went outside for a couple of hours and got a lot of good work in,” he said.

When it comes to improvement, Huggins says they have square up to the ball better when they are hitting and they must make the plays in the field. “Just breaking it down obviously we didn’t hit the ball as well as we thought we would. Jeff’s daughter graduated, so they do have a young pitching staff, but I’ll tell you what it might be a young pitching staff, but it’s a good pitching staff. We learned that we are still not were we need to be for that first week of the season hitting the ball wise ands making good contact and driving the ball, so that was one concern of mine,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We left some plays out there on the field that we had been making in previous scrimmages and previous practice sessions. All of the sudden we forgot how to field the ball and did some uncharacteristic stuff. Like I said, it was a good eye opener. We are just not at level that we pride ourselves of being at, but we are working hard to get at that level.”

Published 3/21/18

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Colonel Crawford Ready for Rematch

Colonel Crawford’s kids remember sitting in the locker room disappointed after last year’s district final and they don’t want that feeling again.

They face the same team in unbeaten Mansfield St. Peter’s (25-0), #1 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, the division four district final Friday night at Willard High School.

Crawford (20-4), #5 in our final poll, beat Norwalk St. Paul (61-51) on Tuesday night in a semifinal game. Coach David Sheldon feels they worked hard for that win. “When you get to a district tournament there are no easy games when you get to that level. They are a very well coached team and I have the upmost respect for Mike Smith. Our guys battled and we were able to get out to a lead and contain that lead the entire game. Give St. Paul credit they made runs and they cut it to five several times, but then our guys stepped up and made big shots and we were fortunate to get a win by 10 points when it was all said and done,” he said.

There is no question that Colonel Crawford has been looking forward to this game after loosing (59-42) last year in the district final. Sheldon says they are year more experienced and they are ready to execute their game plan. “Give our kids a lot of credit because you look across the State of Ohio and there are 32 teams left in each division and a lot of one and two seeds have been upset. We are fortunate and St. Pete’s is fortunate that we have taken care of business to get back to this district championship game. Our guys are excited and fired up to go. 365 days we set in that locker room at Willard and said, hey, we want to get back here. Those young freshmen with their first time experience in that. I like that we have seven lettermen back that played in that game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “This isn’t their first time. St. Pete’s has two very good players that played in that game last year in Elijah Cobb and Jared Jakubick and they are very good players and their role players have stepped up, but I like that we have had this experience. Our kids know the pressure is on St. Pete’s they are the number one team in the state of Ohio. They are 25-0, but our guys go into this game like we are supposed to win this game and we are going to go out and execute our offensive and defensive game plan.”

One of the keys to St. Peter’s success is their kids know their roles are in the game. Sheldon says they run a lot of plays to get their guys the ball. Plus, he says they are going to have to score in this game, less than 50 points is not going to be enough. “They run their stuff and every guy on that team knows his role. Jared and Elijah are special players and they have gotten even better from last year, but their role players know their roles too and can make shots when needed as well. I think it is very similar. They play mostly half court man to man, but offensively they run a lot of sets and do a lot of things to isolate those two. When you help so much on them then other guys step up and make shots. They are running a lot of the same stuff that we have seen over the years. It comes down to making stops and I think the other thing is offensively how can we attack them? You are going to have to score against a team like that. You are not going to shut them down for 32 minutes, so offensively we have to have a plan as well on how we feel we can score against them,” said Sheldon.

Defense has been the cornerstone for Colonel Crawford this year and Sheldon says they have to be good individual defenders and they have to do a super job of helping on the Spartans best scorers. “You have to limit touches, but you have to have help as well. Team defense is what it is going to take. Like I said their other players can step up too. You look at (Tuesday) night and I thought Taylor Iceman’s Lucas team did a great job competing and had a chance throughout that game going into the fourth. They had five guys in doubles and St. Peter’s did, so it wasn’t just Jared and Elijah, so it is going to take a team effort and we are looking forward to the opportunity. What a great atmosphere it will be at Willard. Last year, this game we sold out and we are excited to be back there. Our kids are expecting to win. They are going into this game with confidence. We have been here. We have played with this team last year and we have a lot back. We are looking forward to the opportunity,” said Sheldon.

Published 3/08/18

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Valuing the Ball Something Eagles Have to do

The division four district tournament a Willard is much the same. All you have to do is substitute Lucas for South Central because of the other three are the same as last year.

Colonel Crawford meets Norwalk St. Paul in one of the semifinals, a repeat from a year ago.

The Eagles (19-4), #5 in the final Swankonsports.com coaches poll in the small school division, beat Sandusky St. Mary’s (67-50) in a sectional final last Friday.

Coach David Sheldon says they were able to withstand a Panther run that cut it to one in the second half. “That is a very good St. Mary’s team. I said their record was not indicative of their talent with some the transfers after 11 games. They made a run, they hit shots and our guys withstood that and we made a run back and was able to extend it and take care of business and get a sectional championship,” he said.

St. Paul (13-11) beat South Central (66-63) to claim a sectional title, beating a team that had beaten them twice during the regular season. Sheldon says they are solid at both ends. “It is a very good basketball team. They are playing well. They played really good last week, even the previous South Central game, that was a close game all of the way through, game 22. They have good post play, they have good guard play. They are very balanced and can hit you in different ways,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They run a lot of things Mike does well. Defensively they play real good man to man and mix in some zone as well. It is a good basketball team that is very well coached and we are looking forward to playing in the district semi final game.”

Crawford won last year’s district game (57-49) but Sheldon says this is a much different Flyers team than last year. “There are only two kids back that played against us in Pierce and McCasko, but their JV team last year was very good. They have two very good freshmen in the Winslow boys. They are doing a lot of the stuff that Mike has done over the years with what they are running offensively and defensively. With a good program like Norwalk St. Paul you just punch different names of kids in every year. We are looking forward to a good test,” said Sheldon.

Sheldon says defending in the key is going to be important for them and they have to make that extra pass and find the open player. “I think one of the big things is containing their in the paint scoring as well as keeping them off the offensive glass. Last week, they hurt both Crestline and South Central on the offensive glass, so I think that is a big thing. Defensively we just have to make sure we do what we do. We have very balanced scoring with four guys averaging double figures. We have to take what they give us and get the best shots and take care of the basketball every possession that is so crucial in a tournament basketball game,” said Sheldon.

Published 3/06/18

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Colonel Crawford Must Defend

Colonel Crawford has had great success in the postseason tournament making it the six straight district tournaments and they begin that process this year with a sectional final game in division four at Galion High School on Friday night against Sandusky St. Mary’s.

The Panthers (12-11) beat Buckeye Central (58-32) on Tuesday night in a semifinal game.

The majority of the Colonel Crawford (18-4), #5 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, lineup played two district games last year and coach David Sheldon hopes that experience is a plus for them. “I think that definitely helps we have played in a lot of big games last year getting to the district finals, but this is a new year. You hope with seven lettermen being in a tournament atmosphere that they know what they are getting into. We are hoping that is an advantage, but we are going to be playing a very good St. Mary’s team on Friday night that is coming off a win in the tournament. I think both teams have different things as they come to the table Friday night,” said Sheldon.

St. Mary’s has an up tempo approach to the game, plus they shoot a lot of threes and Sheldon says they can’t allow the Panthers to get a bunch of open looks at the basket. “They really get out and go they have multiple, multiple shooters and they have a very nice post player inside in the Roesch kid. So, they definitely get out and run. They are going to attack you with a four around one offense with the post inside looking to drive and kick and shoot a lot of threes,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “If you look at their stats on the year they shoot a tremendous amount of threes. So, we have to play great one on one defense. The Fischer kid if a really good driver for them. He is very good at getting into the paint and creating for himself and others. If you help off too much you are going to give up three point shots.”

Guard oriented offenses have become more common at the high school level and Sheldon says they have defended this sort of look this season. “There are several teams on our schedule that have ran that. Some people dribble drive and some people pass and cut. When you look at St. Mary’s they are more pass and cut and create and try and get it to their post player inside. So, yeah we have seen that from multiple teams and multiple looks this year,” he said.

Sheldon says they have determine what defense the Panthers and running and attack it and they must play solid defense at all five positions. “Number one, we have to attack them. They are going to change defenses. They will throw in a 2-3 zone and a 1-3-1 and a man. We have to attack them. We have to get it in the paint and create for posts and shooters and all of that. You can’t just be passive against their defenses. Defensively, like I said from the get go we have to play good one on one defense and contain their shooters and their post player inside. We have to knock down shots as well and take advantage of opportunities,” he said.

Published 3/01/18

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Colonel Crawford and Upper Sandusky for All the Marbles

Colonel Crawford and Upper Sandusky are tied for first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference going into their game in North Robinson on Friday night.

That means the winner gets the pennant and the loser gets nothing.

Crawford (18-3,14-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, kept its share of the lead by holding off Buckeye Central (38-36) on Saturday night.

Coach David Sheldon says they had to work hard for that win. “We were very fortunate to get out of there with a win. You give Buckeye credit they have been playing well. They played Upper to a four point game at Upper and they beat Carey at Buckeye. Offensively it was a game where we weren’t really efficient. We didn’t shoot it real well. Defensively we hung in there. I was worried about trying to press because they did a good job against Carey’s press and Upper’s as well and it turned into a grind out game. I give our kids a lot of credit they never panicked. We played one possession at a time and we found a way to win. That is what you have to do it is a long four month season. To be able to compete for a league championship sometimes on the road you have to win some like that and we did that. Now, we give ourselves the opportunity to play for a league championship Friday night,” said Sheldon.

Upper Sandusky (18-3,14-1), #4 in our poll, had two wins last weekend, both in close games, beating Mohawk (59-57) on Friday and Wynford (66-61) on Saturday.

Sheldon says they do an excellent job running their stuff even with some personnel changes. “They are playing really well. You give Upper kids credit as well. They have had some close games over the last three or four weeks and they have found a way to win them as well. They have put themselves in position just like our kids have done. They have inserted a couple of new kids and they are used to playing in their system. The one thing they are doing a little bit more that the first time is they are trapping a little more because of the Holley kid being off the floor it gives them more guards on the floor. They are looking to trap a little more like (coach) Jeff (Winslow) had done in the past. Earlier in the season they didn’t do that as much it was mostly full court man to man, so that is one difference. Defensively for us, they are still running Jeff’s motion offense with a few sets here and there. They do a great job they are very efficient. They move the ball and reverse it. Like I have always said with Upper Sandusky you have got to get back in transition defense. They do a great job of pushing the ball make or miss and you know what you are going to see defensively. Hopefully, we have a great week of preparation that gives ourselves to be in position to win that ballgame Friday night,” said Sheldon.

Upper won the first meeting on their home floor (68-54) on January 6. Sheldon says they have to be more solid running their offense and getting better rotations on defense than they did the first time. “We came out and played a great first quarter and had the lead. I felt the second quarter is where we really took a step back. We only scored six points and we weren’t efficient offensively. I think against great basketball teams you have to take great shots. You can’t force shots and panic. You have to get ball reversals as well. Offensively I felt that was some of the problem. In the second quarter we only scored six points and we just weren’t very efficient offensively,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “On the defensive in the second quarter like 14 of the 15 possessions they scored. We have to do a better job of playing one on one defense and having quicker rotations as well as to contain the shooters. Those are some of the things that really stood out the first time. It was a night we were on the road and we didn’t shoot it real well from the outside. We are going to have to make shots. In games like this this is fun. Their kids have worked their tails off. Upper kids put time in in the off season. Crawford kids put in time in the off season. Not many times on game 22 do you get a chance to play for a league title. I know both sides will lay it on the line and we are looking forward to the opportunity Friday night and the good thing is it is at Colonel Crawford.”

Published 2/21/18

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Crawford Must Beat Rival Buckeye

In order to make next week’s game against Upper Sandusky for an outright league title, Colonel Crawford has to beat rival Buckeye Central on the road on Saturday night in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play and the Bucks are starting to play better.

The Eagles took care business last week with wins over Bucyrus (65-39) and Ridgedale (76-56) to keep their share of first place in the conference.

Coach David Sheldon says it was a positive weekend. “We got two wins. It is always tough playing teams the second time when you beat them the first time with a good margin. Our guys came out and took care of business to keep us in this league race. Saturday night, we were fortunate to put five guys in double figures, which is a great way to finish up that game Saturday night to spread the wealth amongst our offense,” he said.

Buckeye Central (5-13,5-8) is playing its best basketball of the season right now with a win over Carey (54-47) last Saturday night. Colonel Crawford (17-3,13-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, won the first meeting (69-53) on January 5.

Sheldon says they have very good guards and Buckeye understands what it has to do to win. “They are playing very well, not just the Carey win, they took Upper Sandusky the week before down to the wire. So, they have gotten better. Phil does and excellent job and the are playing within his system with what they want to offensively and defensively. We have to have great, great focus going over there, on the road, on Saturday night. Both the Carey and Upper games were at Buckeye. We have done a good job so far is this league race taking care of business for the most part. We have to have great focus,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They have three very good guards when you talk about Loy, Wurm and Sheaffer and now their roll players are playing well and making baskets when needed as well. We are looking forward to the opportunity in this game the 15 of the 16 game league journey. We have done a good job in the second half of the season and we are still competing for a league championship.”

Tempo of the game is likely going to be important. Colonel Crawford wants a faster pace, but Sheldon says they have to be smart about it. “We are a team that likes to play fast, look at how many points we are scoring, but I don’t think you can gamble too much. In the Buckeye-Carey game, Carey tried to get out deny Buckeye and tried to trap. They find ways, they have got good guard play. You have to be smart and pick your places where you are going to try and attack them. It is difficult to do that for 32 minutes against a team like Buckeye because they will pick you apart and they are very smart with the basketball and their guard play is good. We have to pick and choose opportunities where we want to push the tempo from the defensive end, but it can’t be 32 minutes of the same defense I don’t feel with our style of play,” said Sheldon.

Published 2/15/18

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Focus Week for Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford is tied with Upper Sandusky for the lead in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference standings, but they still have three league games to play before they play Upper Sandusky again, and two of them are this week.

They host Bucyrus on Thursday and Ridgedale on Saturday. These are two teams that have combined for four wins this season, two each, but the Eagles still have to have focus.

They had to rally to beat Seneca East (54-50) last Saturday and coach David Sheldon says they did it with defense. “Credit Seneca East they have gotten a lot better. They are 10-6 overall and they have been playing very well. It was a night when we came out and just didn’t shoot it very well. We were 0-11 on threes in the first half and we were down five. Our guys faced adversity and they did a great job battling back. We hung our hat on our defense giving us a chance. We were able to get a lead in the fourth and spread the floor and got out of there with a win. When you are chasing a league championship you are going to have to grind some games on the road and that was one of those games on Saturday night and our guys found a way to win. We move on and have two league games this week,” said Sheldon.

With Bucyrus and Ridgedale this week it might be easy to look ahead, but Sheldon says their eyes are on the target. “Our focus right now is on Bucyrus on Thursday. They haven’t had a lot of wins, but it is a dangerous team. We went over there the first time and they got off to a great start. We were able to pull away then. It’s a team that shoots the three very well. You are going to have to contain their three point shooters and their drivers in the dribble drive offense. When you are playing for a league championship there is a target on your back. We are going to get their best shot on Thursday night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They are going to be jacked up coming over here because this is a game that can make their season and we have to come out focused playing one possession at a time. We have to come out with a sense of urgency to begin the game.”

Colonel Crawford (15-3,11-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, beat Bucyrus (89-64) on January 2. They beat Ridgedale (78-32) on December 29.

With what lies ahead in the regular season and the division four tournament for them, Sheldon says they have to start to pour it on now. “We are fortunate that it is February and we are competing for a league championship and that is where you want to be. This is the first time this group has been there in February. So, that is what we talked about. We have to put the pedal to the metal and come out with urgency every night. We only have four games left and you have to be able to take advantage of being able to play the games. Before you know it, you are going to be done and hopefully our guys have that and they are excited to be playing for a league championship every night coming down the stretch,” said Sheldon.

Published 2/07/18

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Eagles Intend to Hold onto First Place

Colonel Crawford is tied with Upper Sandusky for first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and they play in three weeks, but there is business take care of first for the Eagles.

They play their final non-league game of the year at home Thursday against Sandusky Bay Conference River Division Leader New Riegel and they travel to Seneca East for a league game Saturday.

Last Saturday, they beat Wynford (65-46) on Saturday and coach David Sheldon says they were able to break things open in the second half with defense and their transition offense. “It is always tough playing people the second time around when you win easy the first time. Just credit Wynford, they hung around early and then we were able to get out in transition and get some easy baskets and steals off our press and were able to turn up the heat a little bit. It was a good win to win by 19. Now, it is time to turn the page and move onto this week,” he said.

New Riegel (10-4) took the River Division lead with a (56-53) win over Fremont St. Joe on Tuesday night.

Sheldon says the Blue Jackets have a tough guard in the post and they always play with intensity. “They are in first place in that River Division. They are 10-4 overall. This is always a great game year in and year out. They have the Dryfuse kid, who is a really nice player, 6’5”, can go inside, can go outside, he is a very good player. The thing about New Riegel kids in they always play so hard. We know this is going to be a tough game, a great non-league game. It is the last non-league game of the year and then we close out with all league games. “The thing about this big guy is he can go out on the perimeter and he can put it on the floor too” said Sheldon.

Sheldon is also the athletic director at Colonel Crawford and he says their schedule is set up this way for a reason. “You look at some of our non-league games. You have Mansfield Christian and they have double figure wins, Northmor, the season they are having, Lexington, double figure wins, Northwestern, and this is another of the non-league games on our schedule that I think helps you come tournament time. It will be a great test for us Thursday night,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (13-3,10-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Seneca East (10-5,6-5) on Saturday night. The Tigers have won four in a row, including a (41-36) over Tiffin Calvert on Tuesday.

Sheldon says the Tigers will be inspired to play them. “With one day of prep on Friday. Seneca East is 10-5 and they have won four in a row. They are playing a lot better than they were at the beginning of the year and we have to go on the road to Seneca East. When you get to February where we are at now we are still playing for a league championship and some teams aren’t. A win versus us can make some people’s seasons,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We have to make sure we bring it because there is a target on our backs and we are still in the hunt for a league championship. That is where you want to be come February.”

Published 2/01/18

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Crawford Plays Rival Saturday

Colonel Crawford plays one of its most longstanding rivals on Saturday night as they host the Wynford Royals in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game at Mac Morrison Gym.

Crawford (12-3,9-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, kept their part of the lead with a good (52-42) win at Mohawk last Friday. They lost to Lexington (50-41) in a non-conference game on Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says their focus was on the league game and he thought they played very well. “It was very good. It was a grind out game. We were able to extend it in the fourth. It was back and forth throughout the game. So, it was a great win to stay in this league race. That was Mohawk’s first loss at home this year. We knew going over there it was going to be a challenge. We put a lot of effort in to prepare and our kids responded and just played one possession at a time. It was a big win. The Lexington game our kids competed, but Stover was a load. Offensively we didn’t shoot it well. A lot of that had to due with Lexington’s good defense and physicalness and athleticism at all five positions. That was a good test and we had a great film session come early in the week to learn from that hopefully from the next time we are in games like that. So, it was a good overall weekend as we prepare to get back into the league this Saturday,” said Sheldon.

When it comes to the Lexington loss, Sheldon hopes they learned from that going forward. “You look at our three losses and Northmor is undefeated, you have Lexington with double figure wins and Upper Sandusky double figure wins and we are tied with them in the league race. The one thing we talked about after that Lexington game was we weren’t really efficient offensively. There were some wasted possessions where we didn’t take advantage and we didn’t take the best available opportunity. Some of that comes from the defense that we saw, but sometimes you have to reverse the basketball and get better opportunities. So, hopefully we learned from that for the next time we see that kind of defense,” he said.

Wynford (7-6,5-5) beat Ridgedale (65-34) last Friday in an “N10” game. Sheldon says his alma mater is putting some things together, especially inside. “They have won four in a row. The thing that stands out to me is the post play of the Roush kid is a lot better than early in the year. Crall is a really good guard for them. One of the leading scorers in our league, but the Roush kid has really picked it up in the post for them. They are definitely playing with a lot of confidence. Anytime it is Wynford-Crawford that is a big rivalry. It will be a packed house here at Mac Morrison Gymnasium on Saturday. We are looking forward to that environment,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “This will be the last time we play them this year with them being division three this is the last time we get to go against the blue and gray and we are looking forward to the opportunity and hope to stay on top in the league race with Upper. You have to make sure you take care of business it is the next game in line in the league and the most important one now is Wynford come Saturday night.”

People are already starting to talk about the second Upper Sandusky game, but Sheldon says they have to have focus. “We don’t talk about the games two, three, four in advance. We are talking about Wynford and that is it right now. That is the focus our kids have to have as we prepare. It changes when you play teams a second time the second time around, so you have to have great focus. I have said since the beginning of December it is a 16 game journey in the this league and this is game 11 of that 16 games. There are a lot of games still to be played,” he said.

Published 1/25/18

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Stover Leads Lexington Past Colonel Crawford

Cade Stover had 32 points and 11 rebounds and Lexington beat Colonel Crawford (50-41) Saturday night at Mac Morrison Gym in North Robinson in non-conference action.

Stover scored 11 his team’s first 14 points and did a lot damage around the basket.

The game was tied (10-10) with over six minutes to play in the second quarter, but Stover’s free throw gave the Minutemen and (11-10) lead with 6:22 remaining in the half and they never trailed again.

Lexington coach Scott Hamilton says it was their goal to get Stover, a division one college football recruit, the ball as much as possible. “We told the guys before coming over here that they had one really good post player and the other guys were more perimeter players. When (Harley) Shaum goes to the bench to get a rest they really struggled to guard Cade. You kind of found his rhythm and he was kind of excited a little bit. We really built this game up,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “We knew Crawford was a good team and we told the guys it doesn’t matter what the division is, it doesn’t matter what records are, they are well coached and they get after it. Stover just kind of got that feel early. He did get a couple of fouls and did allow him to rest , so he wasn’t out on the floor too much. The guys did a nice job of getting him the ball and actually working to get him open and he just went to the boards. Another double, double for him.”

Lexington outscored the Eagles (16-6) over the final six minutes of the first half to lead (26-16) at the break.

Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon says they tried to make some adjustments, but they couldn’t find the answer to slowing down Stover. “He is very good. We tried to fronting him with backside help in the first half. Second half, we wanted to double him off their other post player and we just didn’t get there quick enough to double team him. We never got there. There is a reason he is a division one athlete and is going to play in the Big Ten, SEC, or in the Big 12. The other thing he did was on the defensive end. When we got in the paint in the first half we didn’t finish because of his presence in there at the rim. We had to adjust and shoot a little jumper or move the ball one more pass because his presence alters everything at the rim. He is a special athlete,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford, one of the better shooting teams in the area, shot only 38 percent on the night. Hamilton feels they were aggressive without fouling a lot. “That is what we try to do. We knew Shaum was a definite threat inside. He can go off at any time and everybody else was a really good three point shooting player. We told the guys you can not get up in them and foul them and put them on the line because they are all excellent free throw shooters. So, we really talked to the guys about moving their feet and contesting and not fouling the shooter. I thought we did a really good job. We had a couple of guys give us a lot of minutes, but when we went to the bench those guys stepped in and did an excellent job. I thought out bench really came through,” said Hamilton.

Lexington (10-4) took a 13 point lead (46-33) on Stover’s three pointer with 3:35 left, but the Eagles went on an (8-0) run over the next 1:46 to cut it to five (46-41) with 1:49 left, but could get no closer. “This was good for us. I was proud of way we battled back and cut it two five with two something, one something to go. You face adversity in games and I thought we have to stay together more. The reason we have been successful is we have gotten four guys in doubles. We got off that island a little bit offensively,” said Sheldon.

Cameron McCreary has 11 for Colonel Crawford (12-3,) five of them coming in that fourth quarter run.

With two free throws with 1:31 left in the game Stover reached the 1,000 point plateau halfway through his junior season at Lexington.

Hamilton also thought they made some hustle plays. “We did a nice job rebounding. We won the glass. A lot of that was Stover. We didn’t have anybody else in double figures, but we had a lot of guys getting us those big rebounds when we needed one. There were a lot of lose balls coming off of the boards being tipped around, nobody could get their hands on it and I thought we came up with a couple of them too in important moments,” he said.

Published 1/20/18

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Another Big Week for Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford shares first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference with Upper Sandusky and Mohawk trails by just a game. Crawford is at Mohawk on Saturday night.

They host Ohio Cardinal Conference powerhouse Lexington on Saturday night in a tough non-conference test.

Last Thursday, after losing to Upper (68-54) the week before, the Eagles beat a very good Carey team (68-53) to remain in first place.

Coach David Sheldon says they had to be ready and they were. “I was very pleased with the way we responded after a tough loss the Saturday before. The thing we did is in the second and third quarter we guarded. We held Luzader and Bame to six and nine points, two of their leading scorers. Our guys really responded to the challenge in the three days of practice prior to that. We put four guys in double figured offensively. We got back to spreading the wealth. That was a very good road win,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “That is a tough place to play. We have seen some teams get beat over the years there. We were pleased with the effort. There is no rest for the weary this is the toughest stretch of our season, these four games. When we were at Upper, at Carey, at Mohawk, and home with Lexington. It’s in the middle of a grind right now. We are excited for this weekend.”

It’s the second meeting between Colonel Crawford (11-2,8-1), #3 in the Swnakonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, and Mohawk (8-4,7-2) in league play. The Eagles won the first one (73-67) on December 15.

Sheldon says the Warriors have outstanding guard play. “It was nip and tuck the whole way. Look at their record they only have two losses in the league. This is a big game for them and us with league championship rights on the line. It is going to be a tough environment going over there. The Hayman kid is a great guard. He is one of the top guards in our league. We have to do a much better job on him then the first game. They have some other shooters around him with Lacey and Hammer and Jenkins. It is a good basketball team. I knew going into the year. They were a district tournament team last year. We have to go on the road with a business-like attitude. We are going to see a lot of zone. They play a lot of zone defense and we have to attack that thing offensively as well,” said Sheldon.

Sheldon says they can not afford to be static against the zone, they have to attack it. “That is one thing we stress with our good guard play you can’t just pass it around the perimeter. You have to get into the paint to create for people and yourself to attack a zone. A lot times against a zone you just stand. We have to be aggressive against their zone defense,” said.

Lexington (9-4), #2 in our large school poll, comes to North Robison on Saturday night. They lost (60-52) to Mansfield Senior in “OCC” action on Tuesday night.

Sheldon looks at division two Lexington as a great challenge. He says they have to compete on the boards. “They are a very good basketball team. They are well coached. Scott Hamilton does a fantastic job over there. This a great non-league game. There is a reason we picked this up, it gets us ready for tournament action. The number one thing is they are so good on the offensive glass. I got to see them in person. Saw them several times on film. They are just relentless on the offensive glass. It starts withy Stover, of course, but there are other guys as well. They have some shooters around him. It is going to be a great challenge for us. These are games you want to pick up. I learned from my father a long time ago you play great non-league games and this is one of those to see where your team stands against the Ohio Cardinal Conference first place team. It is a great non-league game and we look forward to that, but our number one focus this week is Friday because in order to compete for a league championship we have to take care of Friday on the road at a tough Mohawk first,” said Sheldon.

Published 1/17/18

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Crawford Has to Bounce Back

Colonel Crawford lost its first “N10” game of the season last Saturday to Upper Sandusky and they fell back into a share of the conference lead with Rams. Now, they face another tough one on the road on Thursday.

The Eagles (10-2,7-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, play at Carey (10-2,6-2) on Thursday night.

Last Saturday, Crawford got off to a good start, but Upper Sandusky beat them (68-54) to make a tie for first place after the first round.

Coach David Sheldon says the second quarter cost them. “We went over there and got off to a great start and had a lead at the end of the first. The second quarter we just went cold. Credit Upper’s defense. They score 11 of the last 15 possessions in the second quarter to go up seven going into the half. We got it cut to six a couple of times. We just couldn’t get over the hump. They hit big buckets. Give credit to Upper they protected their home floor in the league race. Now it is a two way tie as we begin the second round,” said Sheldon.

Even with the loss the Eagles share first place and Sheldon says they have made that point with the players. “That is what we try and tell our guys. We wanted to go over there and win and create some separation. We were unable to do that, but we are still in first place with the second half of the league coming up. Now it is going to be a dogfight. We have two very tough road games right out of the gate to start the second round,” he said.

Colonel Crawford beat Carey (71-56) on December 9 in North Robinson in one of their better performances of the year so far. Carey has strung seven wins in a row and Sheldon says the Blue Devils are very talented. “They are a very good basketball team. They are very explosive offensively. They have the big kid Stone inside and the guards outside are very good,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We were very fortunate to get a win the first time around, now we have to go to their place. It comes down to we have to get stops and that is what it comes down to. We have to have an attitude on the defensive end because they can score in many different ways.”

It is going to be a tough game on the road Thursday, but after the loss to Upper Sandusky this will a good game to take part it because they are going to have to leave Saturday behind. “We were very happy Monday ours guys came in and they were ready to go back to work. We talked about that, hey, that’s over, we can’t let it linger, and move on, because we are still in the league race where we want to be. Our number one goal is to win a league championship. A big part of that is we have to win some road games the second half of the year in order to have that opportunity this season,” said Sheldon.

Published 1/10/18

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It’s Colonel Crawford Versus Upper Sandusky, Round One

Can Colonel Crawford wrestle supremacy of the Northern 10 from the hands of Upper Sandusky? We start to find that answer when they play for the first time at Upper on Saturday night.

After an (89-64) win over Bucyrus on Tuesday night, the Eagles have won eight in a row and own a one game lead on Upper in the conference standings.

Crawford (9-1,6-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays host to Buckeye Central (2-7,2-4) on Friday night. Buckeye also beat Bucyrus (63-51) in its last game on Saturday night. They have won two of their last three and Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon says they are coming into their own. “I think this is a team that has gotten a lot better from the beginning of the year. They were looking for some identity earlier with the loss of Shade and this is a team that has gotten better. I have the upmost respect for Phil Loy, he is one of my tight coaching buddies in the coaching fraternity. They have three good guards, his son Max, the Sheaffer boy and the Wurm kid. Those three guards have really played well for them. They are going to run Phil’s stuff. He runs a lot of different sets, a little continuity, they are going to run their stuff, and he is going to have them prepared defensively to try and take stuff away,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “So, I think it is a team that has gotten a lot better and they are better than their record. You look at what they did when they went over to Upper a couple of weeks ago and it is a two point game with like two minutes to go. I really think they are coming into their own. It is an inter-county rival. It is one of those where we have to get off to a good start and that has to start on the defensive end by taking away some of their weapons.”

Upper Sandusky (8-2,5-1) comes off one of its better wins of the season last Saturday in beating Mohawk (66-52) and Sheldon says they play with the same kind of actions that they have the last couple of years. “They are going to play full court pressure all night, they are going to trap you very once in a while, they are going to try and get into you one pass away, the same philosophy that has been successful for them the last several years. You talk about new kids, but their JV team last year was very good. Their JV team could have beaten some varsity teams in our league, that’s how good. Coach Winslow has just reloaded they cupboard. We are looking forward to the challenge in going on the road over there in the last game in the first round of our league play Saturday night and go over there and compete and give it our best shot,” said Sheldon.

That means you have to do the same kind of things to beat them. Sheldon says that is handle the ball, stop their transition and rebound the basketball. “The number of thing is you have to handle their pressure. You have got to handle their defensive pressure. With our guard play we are hoping we can do that. Second of all you have got to stop their transition scoring. They are very good at getting out in transition and scoring make or miss. They are very good at getting on the offensive glass. So, I think those are three of the keys when you talk about Upper Sandusky come Saturday night,” he said.

Published 1/05/18

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Defense Coming together for Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford was already a really good team and they are getting better due to their performance of the defensive end of the court.

Last week, they walloped Seneca East (89-41) in an “N10” game on Thursday and buried Northwestern (66-44) in a game in the Steve Smith Classic at the College of Wooster on Saturday. They play at Ridgedale on Friday night in a league game and home against Plymouth on Saturday night.

Coach David Sheldon says their defense is becoming as good as their offense. “I think the thing that sticks out if you remember a couple of weeks ago we have been defending really well. The last two games holding teams in the 40’s. What that does is it allows us to get in our transition offense when we get stops. I think defensively this team has gotten better and now we just have to continue to maintain that defense in the half court, guarding people, and completing possessions with box outs,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Offensively, it has been a good group. We have had six different guys in double figures throughout the year and it is good balance. Our team is sharing the basketball and when you share the basketball good things happen when you have different ways you can score, off the drive, off the three, and the post presence that we have. I think the difference they last two games has been the defensive end. That has been the number one thing that sticks out to me.”

Colonel Crawford wants to push the tempo of the game and score in transition, but Sheldon says when they are forced into the half court they have been pretty good too. “When we have gotten stuck in the half court. If you look at our shooting percentages we are shooting 60 percent from twos and 40 percent from behind the line. That is one thing we work a lot on in practice. The nice thing about Christmas break is you get to work on some different things that maybe normally you don’t get to. We have been fortunate to work on some half court execution. Some nights putting rules in and it has been an advantage for us to work on half court execution,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (6-1,4-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is ta Ridgedale (1-6,0-4) and coming off a (57-44) loss to Buckeye Central last Friday.

Sheldon says they need focus. “It is going on the road Friday. It’s only a varsity game and that is different. Ridgedale has been down. They are a young team. It’s a basketball team with a brand new coach (Nathon Loney) that is putting in a new system. One of the things we talk about is the journey of a 16 game league schedule and you have to go one game at a time and the next one up is Ridgedale and that is our focus,” he said.

It is to Plymouth (3-2) for a non conference game on Saturday night. Sheldon says the Big Red is capable. “They are very dangerous. I think the Adams kid is a really good player. I have seen them several times and he is a very nice player and that is one kid that you have to keep in check. When you look at them they play extremely hard. It is a team that I think is getting better. They got a good win over Crestline a week ago,” he said.

Published 12/29/17

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Eagles on Beam in “N10”

Colonel Crawford’s number one goal is to win its conference title in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and so far, so good.

They won their two in the “N10” last weekend in beat Mohawk (73-67) on Friday and Wynford (76-47) on Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says that is just what they needed. “It was a good double league weekend. Anytime you get two wins this early in the year it was good. Played a very good Mohawk team on Friday and it was nip and tuck the whole way and we were able to pull off a win. Saturday, we went over the Wynford and we got off to a fast start, had a great first half. Got off to a great lead and set the tone right from the get go and it was good to do that on the road in the first road league game. So, we were very happy with the weekend and now it is time to go back to work to prepare for Thursday night with Seneca East,” said Sheldon.

The Eagles (4-1,3-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, have a number of quality players with different skills and Sheldon says that makes them very difficult for a defense to stop. “You look at our stats and it is pretty crazy. We have basically five guys in double figures. So, where is a lot of different weapons out there. Guys that can shoot it, guys that can score inside our offense has been very efficient and we have to keep doing that. The big thing is we have to make sure we don’t turn the basketball over because when you have that efficient offense the only way things go bad is when you throw the ball away of get some careless turnovers,” he said.

Cameron McCready had 10 assists in the win over Mohawk.

Seneca East (4-0,3-0) beat Bucyrus (62-47) on Saturday. Sheldon says the Tigers are going to come in with some confidence. “They are off to a great start. They have a very good post player inside in Turk and they have the Forehand kid that has been there forever it seems like and he can really shoot it and they have some good players around them. They are off to a great start, undefeated, and it is going to be a tough match-up come Thursday,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We have to have a great three days of preparation before they come here. It is good during Christmas break, a lot of people back, alumni, and we are looking forward to the opportunity against a good basketball team Thursday night.”

On Saturday, Crawford travels over to Wayne County to meet the Northwestern Huskies (1-4) in the WQKT/Steve Smith Classic. Sheldon says the have great respect for the Huskies, even though they are off to a little slower start to year. “They are a very good basketball team. It is a great program. Coach Alberts over there has a historic program with the success they have had. I think they play a very competitive schedule. It is a good basketball team. We are excited for the invitation to go over there and play at the College of Wooster Saturday before we take off for the holiday,” he said.

Published 12/19/17

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Colonel Crawford Working on Defense

It’s a double weekend in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference for the Colonel Crawford Eagles as they host Mohawk on Friday and travel to rival Wynford on Saturday.

They won a crucial early season game in the league last Saturday when they downed a talented Carey team (71-56) in the league opener for both. That was after losing (66-63) to Northmor in overtime last Wednesday.

Coach David Sheldon says they played pretty well in protecting their home floor. “We were really happy with the way we bounced back. Carey is definitely a very good basketball team. They tied for second in the league last year with us and has everybody back and it was a good win. I have always said to stay in a league race you have to protect your home floor. We did that last Saturday night. It was a good start to a 16 game process in our league. I was very happy with our guys after a tough loss. Got off to a good start in our league,” he said.

A team as talented as the Eagles has a lot of solid attributes, but Sheldon says what pleases him most is their ability to create tempo. “I think the way we are pushing the basketball. We are averaging 66 points a game and this team has done a good job pushing tempo. We you have guys that can score on all five spots on the floor it is tough to guard. When you push tempo it is tough for defenses to set up no matter what defense they are in,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Defensively that is where we are still trying to get better, but I thought in the second half Saturday night we did a good job of getting stops and we were able to push the lead up and end up winning by 15. So, that is the area that we have to keep getting better is the defensive end. The way we have pushed the basketball has been fantastic.”

Colonel Crawford (2-1,1-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, entertains Mohawk (1-1,1-0) on Friday night. The Warriors buried Buckeye Central (61-43) in their league opener.

Sheldon says this is a team with experience and talent. “It is a very good basketball team. Their starting five are five lettermen back that got to the district tournament last year. This is a very good team. They have guard play, they have post play inside. They have some depth last year getting to a district tournament. It is going to be a challenge. Last year, the second time we played them it was a very close game. We are looking forward to the opportunity. It is at our place. We have to be able to defend guards and posts all night long. They have showed a lot of zone defense as well as a little man. We haven’t seen any zone this year, so that has been in our preparation in getting ready for anything they could throw at us,” said Sheldon.

The coach takes the Eagles into his alma mater on Saturday night as they visit Wynford (2-0,1-0) to play the Royals. Wynford beat Bucyrus (61-46) last week in “N10” play.

Sheldon says they have some talent and road games are never easy. “When you look at Wynford they are undefeated right now. The (Josh) Crall kid is an exceptional player. He is averaging 24 a game. They return the (Cole) Heinlen boy and (Caleb) Rausch as well. They are off to a great start and playing with a lot of confidence. They play Ridgedale Friday night. It is a team with a lot of confidence and we have to go over to their place on a back to back league week. After Friday night you have to have good focus and chance the tune come Saturday morning,” said Sheldon.

Published 12/15/17

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Northmor Rallies Past Colonel Crawford

Demetrious “Meechie” Johnson’s two free throws :04 seconds left in overtime sealed Northmor’s (66-63) win over Colonel Crawford in an exciting non-conference boys’ basketball game at Northmor on Wednesday night.

Colonel Crawford held the lead for most of the night. The high watermark was a 13 point lead (41-28) with 1:51 to go in their quarter after a basket by Jordan Fenner, but the Golden Knights would outscore Crawford (26-13) over the final 10 minutes to tie the game at 54 after four quarters.

“We didn’t give up at all. The kids were laughing at me because in a time out I told them you guys look scared and I can’t help you because I have never been scared in my life. I said that is the mentality we have to play with here. We preform when our backs are against the wall. I mean Pleasant had the perfect storm to beat us Friday. I thought Crawford had the perfect storm to beat us (Wednesday) night,’ he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “The Kegleys are out of the game with foul trouble, the bench steps up. I can’t say enough. I personally thought that you can’t press Colonel Crawford and we went to the press and we turned them over. We got right back in the game. The complete tide of the game changed. It was a fun game, gosh.”

Brody Martin’s three at the third quarter horn gave the Eagles (1-1) a (46-38) advantage with eight minutes to play, but Northmor went ahead for the first time since the 4:35 mark of the first quarter on Johnson’s steal at midcourt and layup with 2:15 to play in the game giving the Golden Knights a (52-51) lead.

Colonel Crawford coach Davis Sheldon says they just gave it away too much. “The bottom line is you can’t turn the ball over and we had a lot of turnovers when they made their run. That can’t happen. We didn’t take care of the basketball and turnovers hurt us during the run. I was very proud of our effort. Our game plan defensively was good. “Meehie” is a heck of an athlete, we all know that, but turnovers is what did us in. It was not the end of the game, it was turnovers. When I look at the second half and you have 13 turnovers. Those are guys that don’t normally turn it over. That is what cost us,” said Sheldon.

It looked like the fat lady was heading to the mic with :12 seconds to play in overtime as Northmor held a five point lead (63-58,) but Cameron McCready hit a 35 footer to cut the lead by to two (63-61) with six seconds left. Northmor made three of four free throws in the final five seconds to put it away. “You have to take care of the ball, rebound, and hit foul shots. I’ll tell you what Cameron McCreary is one of the best around and I think I have one of the best around. He made it interesting last year up at their place. He kept banking in threes to keep them in it. That one he hit there towards the end was probably 30, 35 feet. He won’t go away. I label that as maybe a district championship like game. That is the type of atmosphere, the type of team, that is the kind of team we will see. At the end of the night we gain a lot of confidence and I think we gave Colonel Crawford some things to work on, they will make adjustments, it will make the better too,” said Ruth.

With Tyler Kegley, Kyle Kegley and Black Miller all over 6’5”, the Golden Knights held the size advantage, but Sheldon says it wasn’t those guys that killed them on the glass. “They had 14 offensive rebounds and that is a lot. A lot of them were Meechie. He just goes in and throws something up and then just jumps over you. There is a reason he has won the state long jump how many times. We had trouble keeping him off the glass. It wasn’t the Kegleys, it was Meechie and Plecther that willed themselves. But, we can’t turn the ball over that much like we did in the second half. That was the frustrating part. Our offense was really good, but when you turn it over you don’t get shots up. You can’t score. You can’t do what you need to do. That is where we struggled a little bit,” said Sheldon.

Pletcher had 21 and Johnson 19 for the Golden Knights. McCreary had 20 and Harley Shaum 14 for the Eagles.

Northmor has designs on a Knox Morrow Athletic Conference title and a long division three tournament run. Ruth says a game like Wednesday night is going to help them get better. “These are fun. I can not phantom what is would be like to be one of our players. We talked the other day that some kids play a whole high school career and never get to this juncture of a game or atmosphere and my kids are living it about every time we step on the floor. I can’t stress enough it is great to be a Northmor Golden Knight right now,” he said.

Published 12/07/17

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Colonel Crawford With Big Week

Colonel Crawford plays one of the best teams in the area Wednesday in Northmor and then starts play in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference on Saturday with another of the contenders in the Carey Blue Devils.

Last Friday, the Eagles (1-0) went to Mansfield Christian and beat the Flames (63-47) on the road.

Coach David Sheldon says they did a lot of good things. “We were very fortunate to go over there and we got off to a great start. That start on the defensive end allowed us to get out on transition and get a comfortable lead and maintain that throughout the entire game. I was happy with the way we distributed the ball running the floor. We had three guys in double figures on the night. It was a good start. We have went over their in my 12 years six times and we have never really won by double figures. We were happy because I think that is a good basketball team. John (Kurtz) does a great job and with McPeak and Kurtz they are going to win a lot of games this year. So, we were happy with the start. We have a big challenge ahead of us this week. This is going to be a great test early on in the season with the two games ahead of us,” said Sheldon.

Crawford likes to run the floor and Sheldon says they have a very good player to orchestrate that attack. “We are very fortunate to have Cameron McCreary at the point. He is one of the premier point guards I believe in the Mansfield area. He proved that Friday right out of the gate. He went for 17 points and 10 assists. He is a playmaker, he creates for people, he creates for himself. It starts with that point guard pushing the pace. You have to make great decisions because you don’t want to push the pace and throw the ball all over the gym and Cameron does a great job and out other guards run the floor as well and catch it ahead of the pack,” he said.

Northmor (2-0) picked off Marion Pleasant (38-37) in their first game and then dusted Bucyrus (72-33) on Saturday night.

Sheldon says the Golden Knights have players all over the floor and with experience. “They have four seniors that have played a lot of basketball in the two Kegleys, Pletcher and “Meechie” Johnson. The neat thing about them in they have great length. They can go inside, they can shoot it outside and then “Meechie” with his athleticism at the point guard position. This is a very good basketball team and this is a great challenge for us come Wednesday night. I told our guys I am excited for this,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “This is sort of like we have seen early on in college basketball with the Big Ten-ACC. You have the “N10” with Colonel Crawford and “KMAC” with Northmor, the returning champ from the “MOAC” last year. So, this is going to be a good challenge. You have nothing to lose and a lot to gain in these types of games and learn a lot about your basketball team Wednesday night and how we compete over there on the road.”

Carey (2-0) comes to North Robinson for an “N10” game on Saturday night. They have looked good in wins over Riverdale (83-58) and Van Buren (53-52) in its first two games.

Sheldon says they, like Northmor, have a good combination of height and athleticism. “I have had a chance to see them on person as well as on film. They have the 6’7” Stone kid inside. Then they have great guard play with Luzader, Bame, and Wentling. It is another team that is very senior dominated other than the Stone kid and he has grown three inches, he is 6’7” now. It is a very good basketball team. Last year, we split with them. That is the most important game because that is a league game and it is at our place Saturday night. You need to protect your home floor. Our number one goal is to compete for a league championship and that begins Saturday. It is a tough, tough game right out of the gate with league play. Our kids are excited this week to get out there and play two very good basketball teams,” said Sheldon.

Published 12/06/17

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Colonel Crawford Expecting Test From Flames

Colonel Crawford returns a lot of talent and you can bet they will be one of the better small school basketball teams in the area this season.

They had four freshmen on the floor in a district final last season and they are all back, plus some talented upperclassmen.

Coach David Sheldon says that experience is something good to have in your back pocket. “The kids are excited the preseason gets to be a grind and the kids are excited to be able to tip it off. The thing is we return a lot of guys that have played in big games over the course of the last couple of years. I am hoping that that helps us because this is not a new group that we are throwing into the fire on Friday night. So, we are excited to get going. We have to have a great week of preparation in order to go to Mansfield Christian against a very veteran Mansfield Christian and a good basketball team,” said Sheldon.

Many think the Eagles can win the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this year and Sheldon says he likes those high expectations. “I would much rather have expectations than be at the bottom of the barrel and there aren’t expectations. Our program has been established the last 12 years we have been there and we expect that every year. We are looking forward to the expectation, but with that comes a lot of work and you have to make sure kids aren’t satisfied and entitled with success they have had in the past, so hopefully our kids know that and I think they do as we have made great progress throughout the preseason,” he said.

The Eagles can have great balance on the floor this year with a number of guys that can score and from a variety of spots on the floor. “At times we have five guys on the floor that can score at all times, some inside, some outside, off the dribble, shooting. The biggest thing for us is we have to be unselfish and get great shots. When you have multiple guys and multiple weapons we must be unselfish and take care of the basketball and get great shots, especially with the way we are playing. We are playing fast. We want to get up and down the floor. You have to make sure you take care of the basketball first and not settle for contested shots, but really good shots every time we have a possession,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford visits Mansfield Christian for their opener on Friday night. Sheldon says they are going to have to execute on both ends if they are going to win. “You look at Jared McPeak and Kyle Kurtz I have liked them for a long time. They have played a lot of varsity basketball. John Kurtz I have always thought so much of even back to Crestview. They are going to push the tempo. It’s a soccer team that is a very good basketball team. They like to run and I think John has done a great job of opening it up because of his guard play and the weapons he has as well. It is a very good basketball team and it starts with McPeak and Kurtz, but they have other kids that can shoot around them as well. The number one thing and I have said this every year we have played Mansfield Christian guards you,’ he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “It came down to the wire last year at our place and we have to travel down to their place. John Kurtz’s teams always play great man to man defense and they try and take you out of things. It is a great opener for us going down there against a good team and that’s what we want in our non-league games. It will be a great atmosphere down there. It is always a great crowd. We are looking forward to the opportunity and tipping off the season.”

Published 11/28/17

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Colonel Crawford Runs the Floor, Plays Solid Defense

Colonel Crawford scrimmaged against Western Reserve and Willard on Wednesday and they did some good things on both ends of the floor as they get ready for the regular season.

They open against Mansfield Christian on December 1.

Crawford coach David Sheldon says he was among friends and relatives on Wednesday. “This is always a fun scrimmage. It’s a lot of Sheldons in the gym with my brother and “Hirsh” and Bedingfield over there and myself. You have three programs that have been solid. “Hirsh” and Bedingfield are going to get that thing turned around up there with the way they work at the game,” he said.

When it comes to the Eagles, one of the favorites, along with Upper Sandusky, to win the Northern 10 title, Sheldon says he thought they answered some questions. “For us I thought we made some steps forward and that is what you want to do at this time. We put some things on the board that we wanted to work on and I thought we made steps. We will set down and break down the film (Wednesday) night,” he told Swankonsports.com after the scrimmage, “There is no Thanksgiving for coaches. I thought we shot the ball pretty well too. I liked the tempo that we played. We moved up and down the floor. We want to play fast with a lot of the weapons we have. We have to keep cleaning things up. I tell the guys to never be satisfied. We have one more scrimmage Saturday and they we will tip it off a week from Friday.”

Defense is something Sheldon always preaches and he thought they did a good job against Western and Willard. “Overall we did play good defense. We were aggressive defensively. Western has great shooters and Willard has great length. It is a great contrast in styles when you look at this scrimmage. Overall, I felt we did a good job of bringing some passion and taking them out of some things,” he said.

When it comes to scrimmages, Sheldon says he wants to go against teams that are going to make them play well. “You have to execute. That is the key the specifics of execution, screening people, cutting hard, running the floor and getting out in transition. Hopefully, when we see the film we see that as well,” he said.

Plus, there is the added benefit of beating his younger brother Chris, who is the coach at Western Reserve. “In the three quarters we played I think the Eagles won two, two of them handily, and the one they beat us we blew a lead late in the quarter and they won by two. So, I think the older Sheldon go the best of him today,” he said.

Published 11/23/17

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Colonel Crawford Excited by Expectations

Colonel Crawford returns a wealth of talent from a team that won 19 games last season and advanced to the division four district final last March.

Coach David Sheldon says they have really been concentrating on becoming better at the defensive end of the floor early in the preseason. “When you have seven lettermen back from a team that was successful and got to the district finals last year. Right now, we have one injured, but still we have a core group back. I think one of the main focuses that we are talking about is defense. You hear that every year from me we have to be able to defend because I think that is a big key to our success this year. That is something we have been harping on and really breaking down in our practices,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We had our first scrimmage last weekend and what that does is show you where you have to get better. We do a lot of film annualization in areas where we have to keep getting better. Our guys are hungry to get back in the gym. It’s exciting as Colonel Crawford basketball is about to tip off a couple of weeks.”

They play Mansfield Christian on the opening Friday December 1.

The Eagles have sophomores Jordan Fenner, Cameron McCreary, Gavin Feichtner and Reis Walker that all saw significant time on the floor as freshmen last season. Sheldon says those kids have worked hard and become bigger and stronger. “You have four sophomores that played an instrumental part last year and three seniors back of the seven lettermen I talked about. They are sophomores, but a year of varsity basketball under you belt makes a big difference. You just look at our guys physically from one year to the next and we are physically stronger, which definitely helps. I think they have played a lot of basketball, those young kids, they have tasted success and they put it a lot of hard work in the off season too. That is a big reason why we have been successful because our kids work on the game of basketball year around,” he said.

As far as expectations go, Sheldon says he would rather have that kind of pressure than not. “That is what we want our program to be. Winning six straight sectional championships. Our guys know that. They have seen the classes before them come and have success. That is what you want. I would rather be where we are the target than chasing people. That is a good thing for our program, but you have to understand what got you to those expectations. You can’t be satisfied with where you have been and we have to keep growing as a basketball program to get even better to get to our goals for this year and what we want to do as a Colonel Crawford basketball team for 2017-18,” said Sheldon.

Published 11/16/17

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Run Game to Decide Crawford-Upper Game

Colonel Crawford and Upper Sandusky conclude the football season with a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night at Upper.

Last week, Crawford laid waste to Buckeye Central (61-0) in an “N10” game, scoring 54 points in the first half.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says its allowed them to take a look at the kids that will be playing the next couple of years for them. “It was a nice opportunity to get some young kids in in the second half. It was a good night for our seniors. They were playing their last game on their home field. We got out to a big early lead. There were several good performances by our kids. It was nice to get a win,” he said.

Upper Sandusky (3-6,2-4) lost to conference leader Wynford (34-0) last week. The Rams have had a somewhat uneven performance this year.

Teglovic says on film at times they look very good. “You go back to last week against Wynford and Wynford is up 7-0 with about four minutes left in the first half and they are right there. They have two turnovers late in the first half and boom, boom, they are down 20-0 at halftime. There are times when you will see them play stretches of really good football,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They are physical defensively, have some big kids. There rush defense has been very good this year. Offensively, they have two playmakers in the Vent kid and the McMillian kid.”

Colonel Crawford (4-5,2-4) has relied on its running game a lot this year. Teglovic says it should be a good battle up front. “I definitely think there are some good match-ups there. They do a good job in their defensive scheme. They get their guys in the right spot. They play a physical brand of football. We are going to have to definitely be solid with our schemes up front. Hopefully we can take advantage of some outside match-ups. We have been able to do that an awful lot this year too,” said Teglovic.

Published 10/26/17

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Colonel Crawford plays Rival Buckeye Central

Colonel Crawford and Buckeye Central get together for a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night in North Robinson.

‘ Neither team is going to be hoisting a trophy signifying a championship this year, but they can say they beat one of their biggest rivals.

For the Eagles (3-5,1-4) it has been a number of close losses this year, including last week. Lucas beat them (28-21) in a non-conference game.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says it was a big play in the special teams that proved to be the difference last Friday. “It was kind of a familiar script. You feel for your coaches and players they put a lot of work in and come up there and come up short again. In first half I didn’t feel like we came out great, not terrible. The second half we played hard put ourselves in position to win. It was a tie game at 21 all and then the very next kickoff we gave up a kickoff return for a touchdown and that was it. It was something we never recovered from,” said Teglovic.

Special teams are important part of football at any level. It might not have cost Ohio State in a big win over Maryland a couple of weeks back, but Teglovic says it most games those mistakes cost you big time. “You have to make plays in every aspect of the game. When you are playing a team that you are that much better than, like Ohio State was, that is a different story. It won’t show up as much. When you have a couple of evenly matched teams, playing another good football team, every play is important whether it is offense, defense, or special teams,” he said.

Buckeye Central (0-8,0-5) played one its best games of the season in a (28-12) loss to Upper Sandusky last week. It was a game where they had the lead for a lot of the time.

Teglovic says the Bucks are still giving it all they have and they have some good players too. “They have always played us well. They played hard last week. They go up on Upper Sandusky and score on the first possession of the game and take their next drive down and they fumble at the one-yard line. They should be up 14-0 right off the bat. They are 0-8 and they are still out there giving great effort. I really like a couple of their kids,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Max Loy is not just a good quarterback, but just impressed with his toughness. His team hasn’t won any football games, but he is out there every week giving great effort. I respect that. I like the (Avery) Baldosser kid. He looks like he has a little speed. They have a nice receiver in the Ackerman kid on the edge. They have some weapons. They don’t have a lot of numbers and that hurts them a little bit.”

Published 10/19/17

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Eagles Must Control Point of Attack

Colonel Crawford is now on a two game winning streak and Friday night they host Lucas in a non-conference football game in North Robinson.

To have any chance to make the playoffs, the Eagles (3-4) must have a win. They are currently 19^{th in their division six region. You need to
finish in the top eight to make the postseason. Lucas (6-1) is second in
their division region and would carry some points.}

Saturday night, the Eagles beat Cardinal Stritch (49-15) in a non-conference game. Coach Ryan Teglovic says they played some sound football. “We played pretty well. We were up 42-3 at the half and that included their kid hitting a 55-yard field goal, that was pretty impressive. That was pretty cool to see for them. I thought we played really well the first half. We had an opportunity to get a lot of young kids in the second half. It was nice to get two wins in a row,” he said.

Winning means confidence and Teglovic hopes his kids are starting to believe a little more because they have been playing pretty good football for the last month. “I hope our kids are getting a little confidence. I felt about week four we started improving and playing good football. The Wynford week we got a little better, against Seneca East we got better and I feel like that is continuing to happen every week. Obviously, we will get a very good test this week with Lucas,” he said.

Lucas beat Crestline (53-8) last week and have won their last four games. They run the double wing, double tight, which only the Cubs and Plymouth run in this area. Teglovic says they are tough to prepare for. “It makes preparation difficult because you don’t see it. Not only do you not see it, but it is difficult for your scout team to replicate. It causes some interesting things. Our scout team has done a great job all year preparing us. It is going to be a tough week for them. A very important week for them to help us out,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “They are a very solid football team again this year. Lucas has done a good job over there. They have been in the playoffs the last several years and they are 6-1 right now, so it will be a great challenge.”

Now, Colonel Crawford beat Lucas (47-20) last year, so they know what the formula is going to be Friday night. Teglovic says the Cubs want to run it, that is their strength, but they can throw it too. “They eat up the clock and they shorten the game and keep your offense off the field. They have always done a very good job of that. The last two weeks they have played a different kid at quarterback. They moved (Jeb) Grover back to running back and have shown the ability to throw it a little bit more. They threw quite a bit last week against Crestline. We will see what they are going to do. A couple of years ago when they made a playoff run they had a really good ability to both throw and run. Certainly, their preference is to run the ball,” said Teglovic.

Published 10/09/17

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Crawford Plays Stritch on Saturday

Colonel Crawford broke a four game losing streak with a win last week against Bucyrus and now they want to continue to move forward.

They play at Oregon Cardinal Stritch in a non-conference football game on Saturday night.

They blasted Bucyrus (55-13) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game last Friday night, scoring more than 40 in the first half.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they continued to fight through those four losses to Carey, Mohawk, Wynford, and Seneca East. “We played very well. I am very thankful for our guys, particularly our seniors, hanging with things through some tough times. Obviously, they have been tested and have continued to resilient and persevere. They have bounced back and I was very happy to see that from them last week,” he said.

The Eagles (2-4,1-4) had a chance to win at least three of those games and Teglovic says when you get close and don’t win it can be very tough. “There is a lot of a thought process with a play here and a play there. What could we have done here and what could we have done there and sometimes that is tough to clear and to be able to move on to the next week. Those are difficult things. I really felt like with Wynford and Seneca East in particular we played very well. Obviously, some break downs, but you always have those, but I thought overall we played well. I feel like we are continuing to get better every week and we just hope to continue that,” said Teglovic.

Cardinal Stritch (1-5) lost to Edon (69-22) last week and the Cardinals have allowed to more than 35 points five times this season. Their only win comes (48-38) over Danbury Lakeside.

Teglovic says they have some guys on offense that can make some plays. “We have to go there for one and it is about a two hour drive. They replace Ridgedale on our schedule. We were fortunate enough to get a game after that happened late last year. Watching film, they have two guys that really catch my eye and they are both receivers. The one is a little more of a slot and will go into the backfield as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “He has got exceptional speed. He really caught my eye when I watched him scrimmage against Mohawk this summer and on film he looks just as good. They have another receiver outside that is extremely talented. It looks like they can get those guys the ball. They have some good skilled kids that we will have to keep an eye on.”

Published 10/03/17

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Colonel Crawford is Better

Colonel Crawford is a program that is used to winning games, but they have not done so since week one of the season and are winless in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

Their next chance comes on Friday at Bucyrus against the Redmen.

Last week, the Eagles lost (34-28) in overtime to the Seneca East Tigers in conference play. It was a game they led (13-0) at halftime and (21-7) in the third quarter. The Tigers scored in the final minute to tie the game.

Despite the loss, coach Ryan Teglovic believes their execution was the best it has been all season. “I thought it was another week of improvement. It is difficult sometimes to say that in a loss, but I really have felt like the last two weeks in particular that we are getting better. We played two pretty good football teams. I liked our effort. I liked our execution too for the most part. We still have breakdowns, but these are high school kids and you are going to have a few of those. Overall, I was pretty pleased with the effort, obviously, not pleased with the outcome, but I really do believe guys are getting better and that has been our goal all year. I think as long as we can continue to do that we are going to be pleased with the outcome,” said Teglovic.

Teglovic runs the Crawford defense and he says the kids are doing what they ask them to do, but you have to give credit to the opponent too. “If you look at the last two weeks and I know it doesn’t look like it we have actually played some decent football. We go in every week saying to ourselves, especially when we are playing a good team, we are going to try and make this team beat us lefthanded. We are going to try and make them beat us with things we don’t normally do,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Last week against Seneca East we said we are going to try and take away inside zone versus Brock Martin and also we are going to try and take away the vertical passing game. For the most part we were able to do those things and then they hit us with some other things. The quarterback had some nice rushes and just a variety of other things. They ran the counter a little better than they had. You tip your hat to them sometimes too because they have some pretty good athletes. I think when we haven’t played well defensively it has been more alignment problems than anything else and that’s what we need to continue to get better with.”

Colonel Crawford (1-4,0-4) plays at Bucyrus (1-4,1-2) on Friday night. The Redmen won its first game last week by beating Buckeye Central (36-34) on Kyle Hamm’s field goal with :01 left.

Teglovic says the Redmen have gotten a shot of confidence. “Certainly, in the fashion that they won it. You get a last second field goal that is an exciting thing for your kids and your program. They have some good athletes over there. They have very good athletes at the receiver position. The quarterback is young, but definitely has some talent. So, it is going to be a tough task for us,” he said.

Published 9/27/17

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Colonel Crawford Getting Closer

If there has been a tougher schedule for a small school football team this season so far I haven’t seen it and it continues this week as Colonel Crawford hosts unbeaten Seneca East in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action.

This year the combined record of the Eagles (1-3,0-3) first four opponents is 11-5 and four of those losses are by Mt. Gilead. The only other belongs to Wynford.

The Royals beat Crawford (44-36) last week with a surge in the fourth quarter that gave Wynford the win.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says it was likely the best game they have played all year. “I was very proud of the way the kids played. They played extremely hard. I thought it was probably our best effort of the year overall. We went into the fourth quarter with the lead. There was a momentum swing in the fourth quarter. There was a fourth and three that we got called back. We executed it and it got called back. From there on I felt like momentum kind of swung and got us and Wynford prevailed in the fourth quarter,” he said.

Coaches are not into moral victories, however, Teglovic likes the progression he is seeing and he couldn’t be more proud of the effort he is getting from the kids. “I thought we were much, much closer this last week. I feel like we are playing good football, better football every week. I think that if we can continue to do that and keep the guys focused then obviously there will be some wins in front of us. So, I have been pleased with our guys, I have been pleased with their efforts, pleased with how they have been able to bounce back through this. It is life and they are going to have a lot more adversity than three losses. They have handled it very well, consistently moved forward, and that is all I can ask from them,” said Teglovic.

Seneca East (3-0,1-0) hammered Sandusky St. Mary’s (33-6) in a non-conference game last Saturday.

Teglovic says the Tigers are good again this season and they have a team with a lot of athletes on the roster. “They are extremely athletic, probably the most athletic team in the league. They have lots of athletes on the edge, lots of guys that have played for the last couple of years with good experience. Obviously, Brock Martin is one the best football players in our league, so we will have our hands full trying to stop him. The Swartzmiller kid is a phenomenal athlete. The quarterback, even though he is young, he does a lot of nice things as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “The same kids are on the defensive side of the ball too. They bring just a tremendous amount of athleticism and speed really in all areas of the field. It is a very good team.”

Published 9/20/19

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Colonel Crawford Needs Better Start

The last two weeks the Colonel Crawford Eagles have won the fourth quarter against very good teams Carey and Mohawk, but it has been too late both times resulting in two conference losses.

That must change this week when they hit the road to play rival Wynford.

The Eagles (1-2,0-2) have lost to Carey (27-14) and Mohawk (34-20) and Eagles coach Ryan Teglovic says those losses have been due at least in part to their poor start. “It has been the case in both games that we started very slow and we played well in the second half in particularly even better in the fourth quarter. We need to find a way to get started early. We have to find a way defensively to get off the field on third down. There are several things that we can do a little bit better,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We have played good teams early on, but we know we need to focus on us and continue to get better. We have had a pretty good week of practice so far. So, hopefully we will make another step this week.”

Third down is the key down in football and Teglovic says they haven’t been very good on that down. “It is not just strategically important I think it is psychologically important too that can get those stops and get our offense on the field. It is important in a lot of ways and we have to be a lot better,” he said.

Wynford (2-1,1-0) lost its first game to Liberty-Benton (49-0,) but have turned it around with wins over Bucyrus (48-0) and Allen East (33-0) the last two weeks.

Teglovic knows this is a solid Wynford team they will be facing. “It is a good Wynford team and Wynford program. We know that. Game one was not indicative of who they are. They played a really good Liberty-Benton team week one and then continued to get better the last two weeks. They were young up front and their guys are starting to jell and play a lot better. Anytime you play Wynford it is going to be a team that is well coached. They know their scheme and they are going to do it very well. They have an unbelievable tradition. We expect them to play very well,” said Teglovic.

The line of scrimmage if going to be big in this game, Teglovic knows this, but he says the team that makes the most big plays will be in pretty good shape. “I think the offensive and defensive lines will play a big part in this game. I also think big plays too; which team can generate those big plays. That takes a little pressure off of you if you can get some big hitters. I would say those two things and then obviously turnovers and all of those normal cliché items that you have to take care of to win a game,” said Teglovic.

Published 9/15/17

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Big One for Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford lost their “N10” opener last week to Carey and now they host Mohawk in an almost must win situation on Friday night in league play.

Carey beat the Eagles (27-14) last week after scoring the first 20 points of the game.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says this week in practice so far things have went pretty well. “Monday is a lot of walk through, a lot of mental stuff. We brought them in on Labor Day in the morning, so it was a little bit out of the routine, but I thought it was pretty good focus on that day. Tuesday is a longer practice and I felt like it was one of the better Tuesday practices that we have had. Hopefully, that means we are back on the beam a little bit and trying to improve those things we need to improve,” he said.

Mohawk (2-0) won their first league game last week (45-14) over Buckeye Central. Teglovic says the Warriors are good all over the field. “Mohawk is a good football team. They have a lot of returners back. Offensive and defensive side of the ball they have the most returners back in the league. They are still a junior dominated team. Last year, they were a sophomore dominated team. They have a lot of nice players. I am very impressed with them,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I think they have a couple of the best defenders I have seen on film. They have some potential to play well offensively too. They have a quarterback back from last year that I thought had a good year as a sophomore. They have Parker Brown, who is an exceptional running back with a lot of experience as well and I think they are pretty physical up front.”

With Parker Brown, one of the better runners in the area, Teglovic says Mohawk wants to get him the ball a lot. “I think they want run first. They are going to spread you out a little bit with their formations, but in the end I think they would like to give him the football and get behind their offensive line, which is extremely huge. I feel like they are physical and have some experience up there. I feel like they do a pretty good job. We will have our work cut out for us on both sides of the ball,” he said.

With a pretty tough and balanced league this year, Teglovic says this is really a pretty big game for them. “It is early on. This is what you have got when you start league play week two and you have some pretty good football teams in your league that you play right off the bat. There is no margin for error. If you have any aspirations for the post season, that’s a very long way off and we don’t talk guys about it a whole heck of a lot, you have to play your way in. I’m sure that’s in the back of people’s mind. We know what’s at stake. Hopefully, our guys can go out there and focus, be loose, but be focused and play well,” said Teglovic.

Published 9/07/17

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Colonel Crawford Kicks off League Play

Colonel Crawford over the last decade is most always a contender in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference football race and it will likely be this year too.

They play at Carey in their conference opener on Friday night.

The Eagles throttled Mt. Gilead (46-7) last week in their opener to the season.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they made a lot of the improvements he was looking for based on what they had done in the scrimmages. “There were a lot of good things. I was pleased and felt like we made some progress overall in regards to things we wanted to fix from the previous week. I thought the kids did a good job of paying attention to details there and getting better. There is still lots to fix special teams wise and we need to make sure we work hard to tighten some of those things up. There were some alignment issues and those kinds of the things. Overall, it was a good week one and hopefully we can get a little better this week too,” said Teglovic.

The coach said he and the staff had to work hard to get the attention of the players on Saturday morning, well a little more than normal. “One thing we mentioned Saturday morning when we watched film with our guys last year in that game we were only up by seven points with six minutes left against Mt. Gilead last year, so this year was a little bit different story,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We talked to our guys that is was a little easier last year to teach because we almost lost this thing. Even though we won and played pretty well we still have to lock in and make those improvements. It is a little bit about the opponent we are playing, but more than anything is about yourself and how you continue to improve.”

Colonel Crawford travels to Carey to play the Blue Devils in a “N10” game on Friday. Carey scored in the fourth quarter to beat Van Buren (12-7) last week.

Teglovic says Carey is a traditional power that likes to be a physical football team. “It is a great football tradition. At Carey they love their football. The kids are hardnosed kids and they like to compete. They like to hit. They are excited coming off a big win and they have a new coach and all of the excitement that goes along with that. We have to go over there and we expect to get a great effort from them. They are going to play hard. It’s our first league game, so it’s a tuff and important start for us,” said Tegolvic.

Friday night it is going to be a tough challenge for his team and Teglovic knows that. “In this situation it’s a tough order you are going to Carey and you are playing against a group that’s hungry and confident because they got a big win last week and talented as well. So, it’s going to be a big game for us,” he said.

Published 9/01/17

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Still a lot of Questions for Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford has been one of the most consistent football programs in North Central Ohio in recent years and they should be pretty good again this year, but that there is always a little nervousness over that first game.

They host Mt. Gilead in their first game on Friday night.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they have looked pretty good at times during the preseason, but there are still some questions that need to be answered. “We still have a long ways to go I mean it is difficult to tell. We were playing scrimmages and we feel we played three pretty good teams and we feel like we competed well. We feel like we have done some things well, but there is still a lot we need to work on. In game one it always scares me to death because we haven’t done any live special teams and now you are at it for real. You are always a little leery about game one,” he said.

Teglovic says games are a lot different than the scrimmages they have had this month. He says this is the real thing. “It is very different. A scrimmage you are trying to work on things to try and get better and see different combinations and different kids, that kind of thing. A game is different. Scrimmages don’t count against your record and now you are going at it for real. The live special teams element is very, very different. A lot of times you get young kids out there on special teams and it is their first experience on Friday night. So, there are a lot of different aspects to game one,” said Teglovic.

The Indians have a new coaching staff this year and Teglovic says that adds more questions to the scouting report for Friday night. He says Mt. Gilead is physical and has a pretty good kid at quarterback. “That is another huge aspect of it in regards to other team all you are getting is scrimmage film. Scrimmage film is a lot different than game film. We have a new coach now at Mt. Gilead, so you don’t know as much what to expect,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Mt. Gilead had had the same guy there for a few years, so you knew what to expect. This group looks like their pistol sets are going to be in two backs with a tight end and also some one back stuff and spread things out. Defensively it looks like they will be a three man front. They are big up front and they are physical. I like their quarterback I think he is a nice player. I think they are going to play hard. With a new coach there in game one you usually get the best effort from everybody.”

Published 8/23/17

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Colonel Crawford Thinking Consistency

Year in and year out you figure Colonel Crawford is going to be a pretty good football team and their resume proves that.

They have made the postseason playoffs in four of the last five years and have been in the top half of their conference in everyone of those years. That is thanks in part to coach Ryan Teglovic and his outstanding staff.

Teglovic told Swankonsports.com during practice on Wednesday that he has seen a lot of good hard work so far. “I like the effort. It is one of those groups where I haven’t had to get on them to get here on time, the little things, and I appreciate that. We have a good number of kids and we have had a good number of kids here everyday to work, so very appreciative of that,” he said.

Colonel Crawford starts the season week one against Mt. Gilead in non-league play then it is right into the Northern 10 Athletic Conference with Carey and then Mohawk. The big one with arch rival Wynford is September 15 on the road.

Good years, and at least eight wins, have become common place in North Robinson. Teglovic says they certainly have the makings of another pretty good club this year. “We lose 16 seniors, but we lost 16 seniors the year before, so we hope we can replenish that group. We don’t have a huge senior class. We only have eight or nine in that group, so that is not a huge class, but we have 21 juniors to kind of make up for that a little bit and a lot experience at the skilled positions. We are looking forward it. We think we can compete,” said Teglovic.

When it comes to improvement, Teglovic says they have to be more consistent in their execution on defense than they have shown so far and on offensive they need to get step by step progress from the guys up front in the trenches. “I think defensively we have got to be a little bit more consistent. (Tuesday) was one of those days when we added just a few things. We try to stay pretty basic, but sometimes when you start adding things your focus gets off on the little things. We have to be consistent with the little things,” he said, “Offensively for us it is how those guys up front are going to play. We only have one of those guys back, so as they continue to get more consistent I think we will be pretty good. We have great size up there just not a lot of experience.”

Published 8/03/17

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Colonel Crawford Downs Edison

Before anybody was out Edison took a (2-0) lead, but that was all they would get and Colonel Crawford rallied to beat the Lady Chargers (5-2) in the division three district semis on Tuesday at Lexington High School.

They return Friday to play either Galion or Willard, who meet in the other semi-final on Wednesday at Lexington.

Edison’s Hailey Stoll led off the game with a double to left center and scored after a couple of wild pitches by Crawford pitcher Sydney Studer. The Lady Chargers added another run a walk and error.

Lady Eagles coach Chuck Huggins had seen enough and went to the mound to have a talk with his star pitcher. “Give Edison all of credit in the world. They came out of the shoot fast and in the top of the first they put two up on us. I just felt at that time I need to go out and have a talk and I came up with my best joke as I went out there, but no, actually what happened was I just looked at Sydney and told her you are a first team all-state pitcher last year as a sophomore. You are the best,” he told Swankonsports.com on the field after the game, “You need to make sure that you understand that and if I had a mirror I would show it to you right now so you could see who you are. You just need to relax and be Sydney Studer and that is exactly what she did and from there are she was very, very tough.”

Studer got out of the first with out any more damage, striking out the last two batters of the inning.

Crawford cut it to (2-1) in the bottom of the first on an RBI hit by Lydia Strause.

Studer allowed only one Lady Charger past first base the rest of the game and struck out 13 on the day.

Huggins says she was a little under the weather, but he says she is a bulldog. “That is Sydney Studer. She hasn’t been feeling good. We have the flu bug going through our team right now. Dog gone that is just her. She just finds a whole different level, a whole different competitive level. I could tell when I went out there and said that to her you could just see fire light inside of her. When I left the mound I was very, very confident that she was going to be the Sydney Studer that was know and love,” said Huggins.

Still trailing (2-1) going to the bottom of the third, the Lady Eagles erupted for three runs to take a lead they would never relinquish.

With one out Studer and Strause worked walks and Abbie Bradshaw loaded the bases with a single up the middle. Then came to the biggest at bat of the day as Catiltlin Koschinick lifted the ball over the right fielder’s head to drive in two and made it (3-2) Lady Eagles. “They were being very careful with the meat of our lineup. They walked Studer, they walked Lydia Strause and Abbie Bradshaw did a great job going up the middle and that loaded them and from there it was Catitlin Koschinick’s time to shine. What a great opportunity for her because she is our DP (designated player) and I told her you have one job and that is to do be our hitter. She unloaded on one and got it to the fence and that was huge. That whole inning was huge because up until then we were behind and that put us ahead and it just kept going from there,” said Huggins.

Colonel Crawford (19-5) added another run in the third when Bradshaw scored on the back half of a double steal attempt.

Another run scored in the fourth when Kerri Reynolds tripled to lead off the inning and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Alexis Burkhart.

Yes, there was pitching and hitting, but there was a little defense too. Burkhart, the Lady Eagles shortstop, made a diving catch and tagged out Lauren Wolf trying to steal in the top of the third when the Lady Eagles were still down a run. She also dove into the hole to snare a line drive hit by Leah Kroll in the fourth after he team had just taken the lead. “I said only “Burks” and that is the only way to describe it only “Burks.” She expects that from herself. She knows she has that kind of God given talent and that kind of athletic ability that she can make those plays anytime, anywhere and obviously we needed those,” said Huggins.

Published 5/17/17

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Plymouth Gets Past Colonel Crawford

Plymouth used a four spot in the bottom of the sixth inning to rally past Colonel Crawford (5-3) in a division four sectional final game at Plymouth on Thursday.

The Big Red scored an unearned run on a Crawford throwing error in the fourth and the Eagles really hadn’t done much at all offensively, just three hits, all singles, off of Plymouth starter Austin Nester, but they reached him for three runs in the top of the sixth. Kaden Schell led off the inning with a triple and scored on a single by Jake Johnson. Gavin Feichtner followed with a double to put runners on second and third. Blake Treisch followed with a sacrifice fly to center to give the Eagles the lead. It became (3-1) Crawford on an RBI single by Noah Toman.

However, the Big Red (18-5), #5 in the Swankonsports.com coaches poll in the small school division, got busy in their half of the sixth. After Colonel Crawford pitcher Ethan Studer issued back to back one out walks Anthony Montgomery singled in a run to make it (3-2) and coach Joe Swartzmiller removed him in favor of Toman. Nester’s sacrifice fly to center tied the game and Mitchell Chaffins and Seth Bailey followed with RBI hits.

Plymouth coach Jason Higgins says he got a little nervous, but his players responded. “I told the boys you know you have something special when you can pull out a win like that. You can tell my voice is a little different because I about lost it with the excitement. They are a good team. Joe (Swartzmiller) does a nice job with them. They were ready to play, that was a big scare. You know you are special when you can come back like that, just never do it to me again,” said Higgins.

Swartzmiller says he felt he had no choice but to make the pitching change in the sixth. “We come in and take a two run lead as a pitcher you have to know there are no walks, there are no free bases, they have to earn it. My pitcher came in and walked two batters and I said that’s it. I had to go with somebody else,” he said.

Jake Johnson started the game and went the first four plus one batter in the fifth. He did have some command issues walking two and hitting three batters. He was replaced by Studer in the fifth.

Higgins says they had to adjust to different styles of the Crawford pitchers. “We are some quality at bats. We started to figure out their pitchers. They kept switching pitchers on us. The first guy we got into him a little bit and then they brought in the next guy and the next guy. Sometimes it is tough with the different arm angle. The guys for some reason like that last guy they brought in and we were excited about that,” he said.

Nester went the distance for the Big Red, who will play Firelands Conference leader Norwalk St. Paul, a (10-0) winner over Buckeye Central, in next Wednesday’s district semi-final at Galion High School. He allowed seven hits, four in the fifth inning, walked none and struck out nine, including Schell to end the game.

Higgins says it was just a normal game for him in a lot of ways. “Nester pitched great. He has been doing that all year. Pitching to contact he is not going to overpower you. He is going to throw strikes. He is not going to give free bases,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game on the field, “There are a couple of things defensively we could have done a little better. He gave us a great effort. Our scouting report was great. A couple guys surprised us with a couple of the swings they had. But for the most part we had our guys where they weren’t having to move too much to make the play.”

Published 5/12/17

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Colonel Crawford Upends Lucas

Colonel Crawford’s Noah Thoman drove in the game winning run with an RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning and Colonel Crawford edged Lucas (4-3) in a division four sectional semi-final game in North Robinson on Tuesday evening.

Crawford coach Joe Swartzmiller says games like this can give coaches grey hair, but they are going to take it. “They are exciting. Anytime you get your first win in the tournament. A lot of people say that is the hardest win of them all. A win is a win and we will take it and move on,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (13-8) has won eight of its last nine games and Swartzmiller says it is because of the pitching and defense they have gotten better as the season has gone on. “Defense and pitching has been super. I mean I can’t ask for anything more. We are making the plays out in the field. We are throwing strikes and keeping the runs down,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win over Lucas, “The only problem now is we don’t know what hitting team is going to show up. That is always a fun occasion.”

They are likely going to have to score some runs when they play Plymouth (17-5), #5 in the Swankonsports.com baseball coaches poll in the small school division, in the sectional final at Plymouth on Thursday.

Plymouth has shown to be one of the better hitting teams in North Central Ohio all year. They beat the Eagles (13-10) in late March in a non-conference game.

Swartzmiller thinks both teams are playing well and it should be a good contest. “They are playing really, really well right now. They have shored up their pitching a little bit and they are hitting the crap out of the ball. We are playing our best, they are playing their best, so it should be a great game,” he said.

Published 5/10/17

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Colonel Crawford Ready for Championship Month

Colonel Crawford has set itself up to have a great season and now they need to take advantage it.

After a (16-0) win over Buckeye Central on Tuesday, the Lady Eagles stand in a tie with Upper Sandusky and a game ahead of Carey in the loss column, although the Lady Blue Devils has played four fewer league games due to rain outs.

Speaking of rain if Mother Nature allows, and it looks like she isn’t going to, Colonel Crawford (17-3,12-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com softball coaches poll in the small school division, will host Carey (9-4,7-2) on Thursday and Upper Sandusky (18-4,13-1) on Friday and then play at Upper on Monday.

Coach Chuck Huggins is happy in what he has seen from his players leading up to this week. “We worked our tails off during the month of April just to have this opportunity. We look at it as a golden opportunity. I have always prided myself in calling May championship month. All five of them are out there, I know the state tournament is usually in June, but these next five weeks everything is on the line. We have certainly put in a lot of hours together and had a lot of fun doing it and now it is time to see where we are at,” he said.

Huggins, the Lady Eagles coach for three decades, and winner of more than 600 games, says these are the fun games to play in. “You can just tell in some of these ballgames the last couple of weeks, I don’t want to say we are bored because we definitely talk about making each game a championship game because if you get bumped off early you don’t put yourself in that situation to play for championships,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, “Our program prides itself in preparing themselves and having these opportunities. I can’t say enough about how excited these kids are with everything falling into place perfectly with the “N10” championship this week and then next week we start tournament already and we go from there.”

Huggins says his team has improved a lot since the beginning of the preseason, but they know they still have to be better. “They have really learned the game of softball. Are we perfect yet? Absolutely not. From the point they have come since late February when we first got in the gym until now I can’t say enough about what they have accomplished and most of all the time they have put in to make sure we have gotten to this point. They understand, they look up at those banners and they know what it is all about. They understand that you just don’t put on a Colonel Crawford uniform and it happens. They pride themselves in putting themselves in position and now it is time to have fun and get it done. We will see where we are at,” said Huggins.

Published 5/04/17

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Crawford Wins Sixth Straight

Jake Johnson went six innings allowing two runs on five hits and Colonel Crawford won its sixth straight game in topping Buckeye Central (3-2) in New Washington on Monday in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action.

Ethan Studer’s two run double in the third inning gave the Eagles the lead (2-1) and Johnson made it stand up.

Crawford coach Joe Swartzmiller says they have found some momentum over the last couple of weeks. “We have kind of turned things around, which is good to see come tournament time. Our overall play has been pretty good,” he said.

The Eagles play Lucas in their first tournament game next week.

Colonel Crawford (10-7,6-6) struggled a little bit earlier in the season, but Swartzmilller says they have made some changes in the lineup and that has been a big difference for the ball club. “The lineup has changed since earlier in the season,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night after the win, “We have put people different places and we have tried to get comfortable that way. Now that we have got settled here the last couple of weeks things have just took off.”

Johnson walked four and stuck out six on the day in throwing 105 pitches. Swartzmiller says it was a difficult day to play with all of the wind, but Johnson did a good job in keeping himself loose. “Jake threw well. He threw strike after strike after strike. He had a little bit of trouble in the second inning. In between innings he just got cold. He just got loose outside the dugout there. He threw really well,” said Swartzmiller.

Published 5/02/17

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Big Win Keeps Lady Eagles in Share of First

Colonel Crawford downed Carey (5-1) on Tuesday night and they remain in a share of first place with Upper Sandusky in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference softball standings.

Last Wednesday, Colonel Crawford lost to Seneca East (1-0,) that is their only loss of the season.

Veteran coach Chuck Huggins, who won his 600^th softball game last Saturday against Crestline, says they learned a lot from that loss that they can take forward for the rest of the season. “I really think the Seneca East game was a good teaching game for us. When you lose you are going to learn some things and I think we learned a lot in that game. First of all, we let a good ball team hang around with us and the longer they hung around with us the more confidence they got and being the home team that night they were able to scratch one across in the bottom of the seventh and gave us our only loss of the season,” said Huggins.

Huggins says they did not let Carey hang around on Tuesday and they were able to take advantage of some things on offense and get some clutch hits and that was a key. “We learned from that and we realized you have to take advantage of opportunities and I thought we were very opportunistic (Tuesday) night. It was just a great high school game between two great programs. No mistakes, there were no errors in the whole entire game. We had some timely hitting in some key spots and Carey didn’t and we were able to come out ahead,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (11-1,6-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com softball coaches poll in the small school division, plays Bucyrus again on Wednesday.

Huggins says Monday night they hit the ball well and that is what they have been doing most of the season. “Just like the other night against Bucyrus we scored 13 runs and when I got home and looked at the scorebook we had 13 runs and nine different kids scored those 13 runs. The more productive you can be up and down your lineup the better off you are going to be offensively. You don’t have to rely on the top of your order or the meat of your order. Once you get down there in six, seven, eight, nine you are still productive and you can put some runs on the board,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night after the win over Carey, “That is the kind of team that we have this year. I can go deep in my bench and if I need a good pinch hitter or something done in the short game I feel very, very confident in the kids and the kids have confidence in themselves and each other and confidence goes a long, long way in all athletics in the success of kids.”

Published 4/19/17

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Colonel Crawford Ready For Seneca East

Colonel Crawford kept its record unbeaten for the season as they rocked Wynford (9-0) in Northern 10 Athletic Conference softball on Tuesday.

They share first place with Seneca East and play the Lady Tigers Wednesday and Thursday.

Coach Chuck Huggins says they did a good job of keeping their focus against a Wynford squad who has had its problems early in the season. “We knew the last couple of nights that Wynford was next up. I know it is an old coach’s cliché and us coaches use it a lot, but it really holds true. You have to trust your kids that they are going to concentrate on the next game and they heard that from me both nights we can’t be overlooking Wynford because if we would happen to drop one of the games to them then we are going to be playing catch up with Seneca East,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “So, we took care of our end of the job and beat Wynford twice and Seneca East has remained undefeated. The next couple of nights, Wednesday night and Thursday night, are going to be awfully fun to be a part of. It is going to be fun to see where my team is at and how we are doing compared to a very, very good Seneca East team.”

Both the Lady Eagles and Seneca East are unbeaten in conference play and Huggins the next two nights are going to be good tests for them. “You want both teams to be at the top of their game. If you have the better team you are going to come out ahead and if you don’t then you are not. It’s a situation where you know it is going to come down to a play here or a play there. Just knowing Seneca East I know they are going to be aggressive and we like to play an aggressive brand of ball. It is going two very evenly matched teams. Like I said it is going to be a lot of fun,” he said.

One thing that Colonel Crawford (5-0,3-0) has is a talented and experienced pitcher in Sydney Studer and Huggins says she is very focused too. “I am very glad that Sydney Studer wears the black and gold and she will be traveling on the Colonel Crawford bus up to Seneca East on (Wednesday.) I just can’t say enough about the start of the season she has had. The thing is you can just tell that she is still hungry. She still has that demeanor about her. I know we are off to a good start coach, but she listens well and she listens to everything I say and she said (Tuesday) night I know how important these games are and you don’t have to say anything coach. It is just nice to have somebody with that kind of grit and that kind of determination and competitiveness in them. The nice thing is she is right there in the pitching circle for us,” said Huggins.

Published 4/12/17

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Lady Eagles Handle Mohawk

Colonel Crawford earned a big win Monday night when they blasted Mohawk (12-2) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference girls’ softball game at Mohawk.
Sydney Studer pitched a one hitter for the Lady Eagles (3-0,1-0) and she had four hits and six RBI, not a bad game.

Veteran coach Chuck Huggins says they worked hard with the week they had off and he really thought they were ready to play on Monday night. ”I was really pleased with how the girls were totally, totally focused (Monday) night on what was needed. As a coach you are always a little concerned. We had been off a whole week. The last time we played was last Monday night when we beat Plymouth (6-1) up at Plymouth. We had a whole week of rain outs and weather outs and some misfortune with Carey. It had literally been a whole week since we had played,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, “I was pleased with how everything came together. I told the girls after the game about the rewards that they reap from a week of hard work in the gym. We really got after it in the gym and worked on getting the swings down. I was pleased how we were able to put everything together here against a very good Mohawk team.”

Another key Monday night, according to Huggins, is they were able to get a lot kids involved in what they were doing on offense. “The nice thing is as look at the scorebook again we had seven different kids score those 12 runs and that is key because the deeper you can go into your lineup and the more varsity hitters that can prepare for varsity ballgames the more you know it can help your team,” he said.

There is a lot more scoring these days, but you still must have a quality pitcher. Plus, Huggins says Studer is just an outstanding overall player out there on the diamond. “Our ace Sydney Studer has had three consecutive one hitters with double digit strikeouts every game. She just came out on fire this young season and is really just focused in on what needs to be done. It is not only her pitching right now, but she as 4-for-4 (Monday) night with a home run, two doubles, and 6 RBI. She has such a tremendous work ethic and I just admire the time that she puts into the game. It is not something I have to tell her. It is not something my assistant Carl Diebler, her grandpa, has to tell her. It is something that comes from inside of her. When you have an opportunity you just feel so good when you see them achieve like she has.”

Published 4/04/17

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Colonel Crawford Must Slow Down Spartans

Colonel Crawford is the next team in line to try and slay Goliath as they face state ranked Mansfield St. Peter’s in the division four district final at Willard High School on Friday night.

The Eagles (18-6) advanced to the final with a (57-49) win in overtime over Norwalk St. Paul on Tuesday night.

Coach David Sheldon says they able to keep their composure in the tight moments of the game and they had offensive balance, which has been a key for them all season. “Mike Smith is a heck of a basketball coach and I have the utmost respect for his program. It was two good programs playing basketball as they should. It was a grind. A game of runs back and forth and we were fortunate enough to make enough plays at the end to come out on top. I was proud of our kids sticking to the plan and playing one possession at a time. We just never panicked. Once again we put four players in double figures and had great balance throughout the night,” he said.

St. Peter’s dominated a good South Central team (79-41) on Tuesday night. Their only losses this year come to Ontario (67-60) in early December and Canton Central Catholic (51-43) on January 7.

Sheldon says the Spartans have tremendous talent and really no one outside of North Robinson expects them to win this game. “First of all the pressure is on them. They are the number two ranked team in the state. They were in the regional finals. Three years ago when Joe left St. Vincent/St. Mary when his daughter went to state he came to St. Pete’s with Cobb and Campbell and his son and Kent and now they are juniors and seniors. We are looking forward to this opportunity. All of the pressure is on them and our kids are excited to go,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I know our kids are going to go out and play hard and leave it all out of the floor. We feel like we have a game plan ready to go. They are a very good basketball team and they are very talented, but we are a very good basketball team too. There are only 32 teams left of 200 in division four and Colonel Crawford is one of those. So, I told our guys we are going to go over and play with confidence the way we have all season long. We are looking forward to playing in another district championship game.”

The Spartans (23-2) have burned people this year by beating them down the floor and getting good looks at the basket. Sheldon says they must have good transition defense and force them into taking tough shots. “You have heard that all year from numerous coaches they are a very good basketball team in transition. They have skills in transition and do a lot with the basketball. Their top four guns with Cobb, Jakubick, Kent and Campbell, so you have go to stop their transition game. They want it to be a track meet and we have make sure they set in a half court offense throughout the entire night,” said Sheldon.

Due to their good ball movement and the way they move without the ball, St. Peter’s has been able to get a lot of clean looks at the basket. Sheldon says they can’t let that happen on Friday night. “One thing you want to make sure is every possession they have to shoot contested shots, that is the big thing when you look at them with the multiple weapons they have you have to make sure they shoot contested shots and also limit them to one shot when they shot goes up,” he said.

Published 3/10/17

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Colonel Crawford Edges St. Paul in Overtime

Colonel Crawford outlasted Norwalk St. Paul (57-49) in overtime on Tuesday night in the division four district semi-finals at Willard High School.

They play state ranked Mansfield St. Peter’s (23-2) in the district final on Friday night.

The Eagles (18-6) made six of seven free throws in the final 1:09 of overtime to provide the final margin, but the game was close the entire way with the lead never more than seven until the end. There were six lead changes in the game.

A Heath Starkey basket gave Colonel Crawford (38-31) lead with 6:00 minutes to play, but St. Paul railed to outscore the Eagles (12-5) down the stretch. Dylan Furlong’s follow with :27 seconds left tied the game (43-43) after a St Paul steal and missed layup.

“It was two very good basketball teams. Norwalk St. Paul has 16 wins and is a senior dominated team. We knew it was going to a grind. We had to go 36 instead of 32 (Tuesday) night,” said Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon.

Cameron McCreary scored with 3:27 left in overtime to give Crawford the lead (45-43) and Heath Starkey converted an old fashion three point play on the next possession to give the Eagles a (48-43) lead with 2:59 on the clock. However, things weren’t over as the Flyers closed to (50-49) on Brandon McCall’s hoop with 1:11 left. The Eagles free throws closed the game out.

Sheldon says he told the players before the overtime started that they were going to being playing on Friday. “We turned the ball over late in regulation and we take pride in that. You get our teams in those situations and we are usually pretty good and we made some careless mistakes. I told the guys between “OT,” I said hey let’s go, get your heads up, we are going to win this thing,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “McCreary hits a big one to start us off, Heath (Starkey) gets a post feed from Harley (Shaum) and a and one and we got some defensive stops. I am proud of my guys. We have talked all year trust the process with the schedule we play to get us ready for a district tournament. You look at four freshmen and three juniors and one senior get to play for a district championship on Friday night.”

St. Paul coach Mike Smith says he knows they had their chances, but he couldn’t be more proud of his kids. “It was a heck of a high school basketball game. People got their money’s worth. Every possession matters. For 36 minutes you look back and free throw there, a layup there, a check out missed. I thought our kids were really dialed in to what we had to do. I thought they were too. They made plays and once they got the lead in overtime we had to foul and they were pretty good from the free throw line. I can’t fault our effort. The worst thing is I have seven kids that won’t be back at practice the next time we practice. They are just a terrific group of seniors. You won’t find any better as far as teammates and leaders, students, friends, basketball players. We challenged our younger kids that it is a tough group to follow. They have the whole package. Every one of them, all seven, are going to be really good, successful people,” said Smith.

Those seniors are Furlong, McCall, Will Ceccoli, Jimmy Adelman, Jacob Avendano, Noah Winslow, and Hayden Jaworski.

During the overtime Colonel Crawford had four freshmen on the floor including McCreary, Reis Walker, Jordan Fenner and Gavin Feichtner.

Sheldon says those kids have really matured as the season has gone on. “It’s a special group and how about Reis Walker (Tuesday) night? He steps off the bench and we knew going into tournament that Reis was going to play a lot because he gives us an offensive threat and he is long at the defensive end. He got to hit some big shots. Once again it comes back to the floor general though. Cam (McCreary) created those off of his penetration. McCreary is a special floor general and he created from other people all night and himself,” said Sheldon.

McCreary paced Crawford with 14 points, followed by Starkey with 13, Walker with 11 and Jordan Fenner with 11.

Furlong had a game high 17 for St. Paul. McCall chipped in with 10.

There was certainly a physical nature to the game, but Sheldon felt his kids handled it well. “The more you get down the tournament line it turns physical and that is the way it should be. The officials did a fantastic job and they let you play and that is the way it should be this time year. Let the kids decide the outcome. I thought our guys did a good job because I’ll tell you their two post players McCall and number 32 (Paul Pearce) they are physical specimens. They are seniors and I thought we did a good job. We got in foul trouble throughout the night, but other guys stepped up when we need them to step up,” said Sheldon.

Published 3/08/17

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Colonel Crawford Battles Norwalk St. Paul

Colonel Crawford and Norwalk St. Paul, two of the marquee programs in North Central Ohio headed by veteran coaches, meet on Tuesday night in the division four district semi finals at Willard High School.

The Eagles (17-6) beat Lucas (59-50) and St. Paul (16-7) rallied to knock off Buckeye Central (53-45) in sectional finals at Sandusky High School last Friday.

Crawford coach David Sheldon has talked all season about playing a tough schedule and getting ready for a game like Tuesday night. “We have talked all year about trusting the process. We put together a schedule to hopefully get us ready for a district tournament. We were fortunate enough last Friday to win a sectional championship. Hopefully our kids have been battle tested because we have a very tall task at hand Tuesday night versus Norwalk St. Paul,” he said.

The Flyers start a line-up that features one the tallest overall teams in Brandon McCall, Paul Pearce and Dylan Furlong and Sheldon says they have guards that handle the ball too. “They are very long. They have good post play and they have good guard play. They are very balanced. They remind me a lot of us when you look at personnel with posts and guards. They are a very balanced basketball team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They are going to run the stuff that “Smity” does and they are going to run it well. They are going to know our stuff. It is going to come down to kids making plays and that’s what it comes down to at this time of year.”

Colonel Crawford has some height too in 6’10” senior Heath Starkey and 6’4” junior Harley Shaum.

According to Sheldon things like rebounding, and handling the ball, and just plain hustle are going to be big factors in this district semi-final match-up. “You have to value the possessions when it comes tournament time and it comes down to grind out games. It is going to be the team that doesn’t turn the basketball over, that rebounds the basketball, and 50/50 balls. It is all of the little things when you look at a game when you get to this level and you play great opponents no matter who it is at the district tournament,” he said.

Plying in these kinds of games is not new to the Eagles. They have advanced to the district level the last six years in a row. They beat St. Paul (70-65) in a semi final game in 2013.

Sheldon these games are what their program is all about. “It has become an expectation in the Colonel Crawford program. It is our sixth straight district appearance and seventh in the last eight years. That is what you want your program to be and we are fortunate that we have got it to that. Our kids are excited for this opportunity and we are looking forward to going over in front of a great atmosphere Tuesday night. There is no better time of the year than high school basketball tournament time, especially when you get to the district level,” said Sheldon.

Published 3/07/17

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Flexibility Important For Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford, the runner up in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, plays Lucas, the second place team in the Mid-Buckeye Conference, in a division four sectional final on Friday night at Sandusky Senior High School.

The Eagles (16-6), #4 in the final Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, did loose its last two very good teams in Ontario (53-37) and Upper Sandusky (63-36) to close the regular season.

However, coach David Sheldon is positive this is still a team that is getting better. “If you look at the last month of the season we are very happy with the growth we have made from the beginning of the year. I believe the team has gotten better, even in the losses to Upper and Ontario, there were some good things we saw throughout those games as well. You point those things out and hopefully we are ready to play for a championship come Friday night. I believe this team has gotten better from day one to four months later,” he said.

After trailing by ten points (19-9) at the half, Lucas (14-9) rallied to beat Sandusky St. Mary’s (54-50) on Tuesday night in a semi-final game. Sheldon says the Cubs are a versatile team. “It is a very good team. They have 14 wins and you just look at their athletics. They have had success in football and basketball. This is a good basketball team. They have two good post players in Murphy and Denison. They can go inside and go outside. They have several guards that are solid and good players as well. We are looking forward to the challenge of playing for a sectional championship Friday night versus them,” he said.

The Eagles like to run with the ball, but they have won some games where there have had to execute in the half court too. Sheldon says you have to be ready to do whatever the game dictates. “They are very physical and athletic. They have kids that are both physical and athletic. They run their stuff very well in what they do in their offensive package. Defensively they get up in you. They play good man to man defense and they show some zone as well with our stuff. We play both ways. We try and get out and run if we can and we have turned games into have court games. We have to take advantage of what they give us and try to stop them at the offensive end as well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “At this time of year when it comes to the tournament every possession is so important. There are a lot of grind out games in the tournament over the years. Bottom line is it comes down to kids making plays at both ends of the floor and hopefully we are fortunate enough to make enough plays come Friday night.”

Published 3/02/17

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Colonel Crawford Plays Unbeaten Upper Sandusky

Colonel Crawford gets a second chance at Upper Sandusky when they play the Rams at their place in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

They are the only team that stands in the way of the Rams (21-0,15-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, from going unbeaten in the regular season for the second straight year.

Crawford coach David Sheldon says they just want to compete. “It is an excellent opportunity to end with a very good team, the number one team in the state in division two. They have already won the Northern 10 outright with us being two games back. I think the big thing this week is going over against a great basketball team and see our guys compete. I want to see all of our guys when they step between the lines compete and have a positive attitude the entire night for 32 minutes because there is going to be ebbs and flows to that game with the way they play so fast and their defensive pressure. So, that is the number one thing I want to see out of us when the game is over Friday night. No matter what happens next Friday we are playing for our sixth straight sectional championship against who wins the St. Mary’s versus Lucas game,” said Sheldon.

In their first meeting in North Robinson, Upper won (82-54) and Sheldon says they must play better transition defense and handle the ball. “We broke down that film many times. Early on we had some bad turnovers to start the game. Throughout the game we didn’t turn it over and we shot 55 percent in that game, but the thing we didn’t do was find them in transition,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They play so fast we have to find their guys defensively in transition a lot better because their first five that they start can all shoot the ball and drive the ball they are a very talented group. There is a reason they are 21-0. So, we didn’t start off well taking care of the ball and second of all we have got to be able to match up in transition with the speed of the game that they play.”

Upper broke their school record making 21 three pointers last week against Wynford. Sheldon says you can’t let them get the momentum. “The first time they were 13-23 from three and that is pretty dog gone good. It is a team that you have to play one possession at a time, like coach “K” at Duke says, next play. No matter what happens you have to go to the next possession against a team like this. Offensively you have to take care of the basketball. It is hard to slow them down because they get in passing lanes so much, but there are ways to take advantage and we can do that with their pressure on the basketball and away from the basketball. This is an excellent team,” he said.

The Eagles (15-6,13-2), #4 in our small school poll, has played a very tough schedule this year and Sheldon says that is by design. “If you look at our schedule and I was looking this week. In our five losses, we lost to Spencerville, who won the Northwest Conference, which is a heck of a league out west, we lost to Northmor, who is the “MOAC” champs, we lost to Ontario, who is number two behind Sandusky in the “NOL,” we lost to Upper once, who is the number one team, and we lost to Carey , who is probably going to end up 15-7. The reason we do this is to prepare us for the division four basketball tournament. It is one the most challenging schedules we have put together here at Colonel Crawford because we knew we wanted this group challenged. Some of these guys have not faces adversity and this us the first time we have, so it is sort of a learning process for a young team to get where you want to get this year and years to come,” said Sheldon.

Published 2/24/17

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Lady Eagles are Hoping Tournament is Different

Colonel Crawford will play fellow “N10” member Seneca East in the first round of the division three tournament on Tuesday night at Willard High School.

The Lady Eagles (11-11) have lost their last three games to Buckeye Central, Upper Sandusky, the top two teams in the “N10,” and to Mansfield St. Peter’s.

Coach Kyle Fenner says for them to be successful they have to defend well first and then rebound. “I think it always starts on the defensive end and rebounding the basketball. We have got to be sharp defensively and we have go and defend as one. We can’t be five people out there defending. We have got to talk and communicate and defend and then we have to finish it out with a box out and a rebound,” said Fenner.

Seneca East (11-11) won both of the league games between the two, winning December 17 (61-56) in overtime at Seneca East and (54-46) January 24 at Colonel Crawford.

Fenner says they must control the Lady Tigers guards. “It is going to be round three and I expect it to be a hard, physical battle. We know we have to defend. We have to stop their main two players in Megan Siesel and Marina Adachi, they are both great players. We know we are not going to stop them we just have to make it hard for them and make them work for everything that they get,” she said.

Siesel is the leading scorer in the “N10” at almost 22 points a game.

Dave Stallings resigned as the Seneca East coach in late January after an incident involving a student. Athletic Director Doug Mason has been coaching the team since that time. A civil protection order has been filed and Stallings is not allowed within 500 feet of one the players on the team and can not initiate any contact with her. The order says Stallings and the girl have exchanged over 1,000 text messages.

Fenner, who has been a very successful tournament coach over the years says you have to have intensity and right from the beginning. “The beginning is important you always want to get off to a good start. When you are in the tournament you have to pick up your intensity level and be ready to go,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “You start 0-0 and it is just different when you get in the tournament. You have got to be ready to go. You don’t want to get behind the eight ball in the first two, three minutes of the game.”

Published 2/21/17

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Ontario Downs Colonel Crawford

Six different Ontario players scored in the first quarter as the Warriors took a (17-8) lead and they went on to beat Colonel Crawford (53-37) in a non conference boys’ basketball game on Saturday night.

It was (9-3) Ontario with 5:19 left in the first quarter after a basketball by Owen Zeiter and the lead grew to (29-13) when Trey Jordan scored with :06 seconds remaining in the half.

Ontario coach Joe Balogh thought they were able to make some adjustments defensively to take away some things Crawford wanted to do. “We are really happy with the way we played defensively both nights. (Friday) night and (Saturday) night they were similar in the sets that they ran. I was pleased when we made some adjustments during the game on how to defend the side ball screen and the roll because that hurt us a little and I thought our kid’s concentration was really good,” said Balogh.

Jackson Todd led three Warriors in double figures with 19. Logan Jones added 12 and Jordan 10.

Balogh says they executed well with the ball in their hands. “I thought offensively we were much better. We talked this week about trying to be efficient and precise. I thought our sets (Saturday) night against the zone we were pretty precise in what we did,” he said.

Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon says they didn’t handle the Ontario pressure well and they settled for too many outside shots early in the game. “I thought early on they took us out of some things. We had seven turnovers in the first half and you can’t do that against a very good basketball team. That is a great basketball team and there is a reason we schedule that. We won’t see anyone like that in our entire district. It is a D-four playing a D-two to challenge us. We have to stay positive and that is what I try to do as a coach,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “I thought some guys rose to the occasion and some didn’t play as well. A lot of that has to do with Ontario and their pressure and what they did. The second half I was very pleased. We thought we could attack them inside with drive and post and it the second half we did that. The first half we were 2-10 on threes and the second half we were 1-1 and we were able to get it inside.”

6’10” senior Heath Starkey led the Eagles (16-5) with 14 points on Saturday.

Colonel Crawford has been a good rebounding team this year, but Saturday night the Warriors (16-5) were able to keep them off the offensive glass. Balogh says their guards did a very good job. “The thing is our guards have done a much better job of rebounding the ball. Quan (Jackson) and Tre (Jordan) and Alex Shifferer at 5’9” or whatever he is has really gotten in there and battled. That has been a big emphasis for us because we found ourselves defensively that we watched a lot or we leaked out too much. We talked to our guards if you rebound the ball we don’t have to worry about out letting the ball we can just push it and I thought we did a good job of that (Saturday) night,” said Balogh.

The Eagles have emphasized running the floor this year, but their preferred tempo probably isn’t quite as fast as Ontario’s. Balogh says they were successful in pushing the pace. “We kind of knew that they wouldn’t want a fast paced game. I thought our pressure in the full court was really good. We made some adjustments with that too and tried to take some different things away with their press attack. I was just really pleased with the concentration and focus that our kids had in (Saturday) night’s game,” he said.

The lead grew to as much 31 points (48-17) after a field goal and a free throw by Todd with 3:41 to play in the third quarter before Colonel Crawford started to play better for the remainder of the game and got the ball inside.

Sheldon says this was an important game for them leading into the postseason tournament in two weeks. “It was a learning experience. There was nothing lost (Saturday) night. It is a loss in the loss column, but it was a learning experience in the big picture for our goals down the road,” he said.

Published 2/18/17

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Colonel Crawford With Two Old Rivals

Colonel Crawford plays host to two of its most traditional rivals this weekend in Buckeye Central and Ontario.

They play Buckeye twice a season in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play. They have not played Ontario for a while, but they have had some very good games over the years.

Crawford has won seven in a row and 14 of their last 16 games. They beat New Riegel (44-39) on Saturday in non-league action and coach David Sheldon says that was another good win for them. “That was a very good win for us. You look at New Riegel and they were the number three seed in their division four district. To go on the road at New Riegel was a great win for our guys. It was a close game down the stretch. Those are good games to play at this time you to get you ready for the tournament. There are going to be some games that come down to the wire. I thought we did a great job of handling time and score and situations. It was a very good road win. We have had some battles over the years with a very good New Riegel basketball program,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (15-4,12-2), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is at home for Buckeye Central (9-10,7-7) in an “N10” game on Friday night. The Eagles won the first meeting (55-44) in New Washington.

Sheldon says they have to control Buckeye’s Jacob Shade. “They revolve their offense around the Shade boy. He is a very good player. He can take you inside, he can take you outside. A lot goes though Shade and he has had a great year. Then you have Max Loy, who has really been playing well as of late too. He has shot it really well. They have good role players around them. Anytime Crawford and Buckeye get together it is a great match-up. Two great communities and a great atmosphere for our kids to play in front of. We are looking forward to playing them a second time around and playing them at our place this time,” he said.

On Saturday night, the Eagles host Ontario (14-5) of the Northern Ohio League. The Warriors have won 12 of their last 13 games. Sheldon says he has great respect for Ontario coach Joe Balogh and his team and knows it will be good preparation for them. “This is a great game for us. There is a reason the A.D. (Sheldon) put this game here on Saturday as we get close to tournaments. It is a great non-league test. It is like Izzo at Michigan State and Kentucky and Kansas played here a few weeks ago. Ontario is the premier program in this area because of Joe Balogh and what Joe has built over there. I have the up most respect for him. He is one of my mentors in coaching. We are going to look forward to challenge on Saturday,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Friday is most important and then we will turn the page for Saturday for Ontario. They are so good at transition. They have athletes in all of the spots and it is going to be a great test. In our district the one seed was St. Pete’s and one of their two losses is to Ontario. There is not a better game to test us when it is still in the regular season to get us ready come tournament time for a good Lucas or St. Mary’s team that we would have to play in the sectional.”

Published 2/15/17

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Balance a Key for Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford owns a five game winning streak and sits in second place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference standings heading into a league game Tuesday night at Ridgedale.

They beat Seneca East (61-44) and Bucyrus (61-30) in conference games last weekend.

Coach David Sheldon is very happy with their progress, but he knows they have to keep the pedal on the gas. “I am very happy we have really grown. You look at December 1 till now this team has gotten better. If you remember back in December I said this is a team has more possibilities of getting better toward the end of the year more than any team I have ever coached just with the make up of the kids we had this year. It is a team that has gotten better they are understanding about togetherness and winning basketball games. I looked at the league stats that came out (Monday) and we have four guys averaging 10 points a game and then another right around eight. When you turn into an offensive basketball team like that you are tough to guard because you have so many options,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Secondly our defensive production has been very good with what we did this past weekend and leading up to that. We are a team that is getting better, but we still have a lot of details we have to keep getting better at. You know me I am never satisfied because we are looking at the big picture come tournament time. We still have to get detail oriented and there are still things we have to get better at every day we step in the gym.”

Crawford has good balance in terms of the skills too. Sheldon says they have good perimeter shooters and solid post play too. “This is the best one, two punch I have had in the post in my 11 years with Harley (Schum) and Heath (Starkey.) They have really grown and they are two of the leaders in shooting percentage and our guards know they have to get touches. If you try to take them away they will kick it out and we have great shooters outside. We have balance with our guard play and our posts. Then we bring guys off the bench and keep guys fresh. Coach (Nate) Hill and I throughout the game are subbing every three, four minutes and getting guys ready to go back in, so it is not like it is just our first five. Gavin (Feichtner), (Jordan) Fenner and Reis (Walker) have given us good minutes too. You have to have that in a 32 minute game if you want to play fast and you want to play hard you have to keep kids fresh the whole time. It has been very good balance and we have inside and out. It has been a fun team to coach I am going to be honest,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (13-4,11-2), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Ridgedale (3-14,0-12) in an “N10” game on Tuesday. The Rockets lost (55-44) to Buckeye Central last Saturday.

With Alex Eldred back in the lineup, Sheldon says the Rockets are better. “They have three guys averaging double figures with Eldred, the Hunley kid, and Burton. I watched the Buckeye-Ridgedale game from Saturday at Buckeye and it is a two point game in the fourth. It is a team that is better because Eldridge is on the floor. He is a big boy that can go inside and steps out and shoots the three and Burton is a very good guard. They have a guard and post. We have to go on the road it is our third game in five games. This comes down to the mental approach because physically in practice you are not beating on kids. You have to come mentally ready when the ball tips for 32 minutes come Tuesday night having to go on the road again,” said Sheldon.

Published 2/07/17

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Colonel Crawford With Double Weekend

Colonel Crawford, in second place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference standings, plays two conference games this weekend against Seneca East and Bucyrus, two teams they beat in the first round of league play.

With Upper Sandusky two up in the conference the chances of catching them aren’t very good, so coach David Sheldon says they are focused on getting better. “This Friday, Saturday, Tuesday coming up are the last three games before you put your record in for the tournament draw. What you want to do is keep getting better as a basketball team. You look at details you have to work on. Try not to do too much, but focus on the details that we feel as a coaching staff that we to get better at,” he said.

When it comes to getting better, Sheldon says ball handling and defense are two areas that need refinement. “One thing is I think we have to make sure we cherish the basketball every possession rather if we are in the front, half court versus whatever defense, we have go to take care of the basketball to get shots. You look at our statistics were are phenomenal at shooting and if you turn the ball over you are not going to get shots up. Just defensively with rotations, guarding the dribble, you have to get defensive stops down the stretch going into tournament time,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (11-4,9-2), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, host Seneca East (8-7,4-7) in an “N10” game on Friday night. The Eagles won (65-44) the first time they played.

Sheldon says the Tigers have the ability to score points. “They have a winning record overall and they have two of the leading scorers in the league Johnny Diem and Alex Forehand. Two very good guards. They have a big post player inside. They have got the tools and they have played some good basketball throughout the year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They score a lot points. They get out and go. It is a team that doesn’t run a ton of sets offensively, but they are going to keep doing what they do. We have to make sure we come out and guard them.”

Bucyrus (3-11,3-7) entertains the Eagles on Saturday night in a conference game. Sheldon says the Redmen are starting to turn it around. “We look at them the past week and they beat Seneca East, a very good win. It is a team that has gotten better, the previous game they played North Union, a very good team, very close. Their junior class is a very good class of basketball players. They have sped the game up a little bit and they are putting some points on the board. That has benefited them over the last few weeks when they have got some wins. It is a rival and they will be excited to play and we will be excited to go over there Saturday,” said Sheldon.

Published 2/01/17

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Crawford Holds off Wynford

A (15-3) run to close the second quarter game Colonel Crawford a 12 point halftime lead (28-16) and they went on to beat Wynford (62-58) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Saturday night.

With the game tied 13 Harley Shaum hit a three and followed that with a layup and the Eagles pulled away in last couple of minutes of that second quarter. Coach David Sheldon says they handled it better. “The first quarter we turn it over seven times and the second quarter one. When we get shots we have a lot of weapons had four guys in double figures again (Saturday) night. In the fourth quarter we got sloppy and turned it over. They throw eight threes in, four of them banks. “The House of Thrills” wasn’t good to Sheldon coming back late. When they bank four threes in the fourth quarter you know you are in trouble,” said Sheldon.

Sheldon played for his father Rob at Wynford.

Wynford cut it to seven (31-24) with 4:20 left in the third on a Jordan Creel basket, but again the Eagles would go on a (7-2) run to end the quarter and lead (38-26) after three periods.

The Royals turned up the pressure in the fourth and they were able to get with 10 twice and then made three three pointers in the final minute of the game and eight in all in the final quarter. Wynford scored more points in the fourth quarter (32) than in the first three quarters (26) of the game.

Royals coach Jason Engel says it was tough to get anything going on offense early in the game and they struggled at the free throw line. “They guard very well. We shot 61 times. We missed some shots we normally make, missed some layups, missed some threes. We did a decent job rebounding according to our stats. We were 5-16 from the free throw line and they were 25-32, so it was tough we had to foul late to put ourselves back in the game. We didn’t start making shots until the fourth quarter,” he told Swankonsports.com after the game, “They are very good defensively they take away everything you have. We only had eight turnovers. I didn’t think offensively we were terrible. We probably didn’t get it inside enough for post touches here and there. They have 6’10” in there too, so it is tough to score at the basket. We are trying to drive and attack and he alters a lot of shots and so does Harley.”

Brody Martin had 15 for Colonel Crawford and Shaum added 14 for the Eagles. Jack Reed led Wynford with 15, but nine of those came in the fourth quarter, six in the final minute.

Sheldon felt they did an outstanding job guarding the Royals leading scorer. “I thought we did an exceptional job. Credit Hayden Bute and Cam McCreary and our other guys on the help. He scores late when the game was out of line a little bit. He had 22 the first time and most of his came in the fourth quarter (Saturday) night. Hayden Bute and Cam did a great job guarding Jack all night because he is a very good player,” said Sheldon.

The Eagles were able to get a number of baskets in transition and Sheldon says when they can do that they are a pretty good. “We want to get out in transition. When we get out in transition we are a good basketball team. Our posts run the floor and our guards are spotting up. That is one thing we definitely do well. We got some easy baskets in transition,” he said.

Published 1/28/17

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Colonel Crawford Better but Still Needs Improvement

Colonel Crawford is better team than they were at the beginning of the season, but they need to continue to try and improve as we head into the final month of the regular season.

The Eagles play at another of their traditional rivals in the Wynford Royals on Saturday night in an “N10” game.

They beat Carey (66-49) and Mohawk (48-31) in conference games last weekend and coach David Sheldon says that shows improvement by the players. “You look back to the first time and we lost to Carey by seven and beat Mohawk by eight and to win both games by 17 points each that shows the growth over the last couple of months. That is what you want to be doing growing at this time of year as you head into the second season at the end of February. So, we were very pleased with the movement of our guys and now we are back to work this week with another big league game,” he said.

Crawford has been playing some freshmen all season long and Sheldon says those players have shown a lot of growth and so too have the upperclassmen. “I couldn’t be happier with our young kids. The four freshmen have really played well throughout the entire season. It’s a special group and our upperclassmen too have gotten better. When you combined those guys it is turning into a good basketball team. I think the biggest thing right now is this is the grind of basketball season in the end of January and early February. It is a long high school season and we are trying to keep guys fresh with days off here and there and cutting back practice time and being more efficient. You want to keep guys hungry going into the month of February next week,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (10-4,8-2), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays across town at Wynford (7-6,7-3) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Saturday night. The Royals beat Bucyrus (73-60) and Ridgedale (62-53) in conference games last week.

Sheldon says they Royals are better too. “They have won four of their last five and three in a row. It is a team that has gotten better and it reminds me a lot of last year’s team. They grew and grew and turned into a great team in February heading into the tournament. So, this is a team that has gotten a lot better. I think the thing that has impressed me is they have multiple scorers now,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We all knew about Jack Reed going into the year and they have had other kids step up and have gotten better throughout the year. I think offensively that is a team that has definitely gotten better. We are looking forward to the opportunity going over to a great environment Saturday night at Wynford.”

Colonel Crawford beat Wynford (65-44) the first time they played, but Sheldon says all they have to do is remember what happened last year. “We talked to our kids that we are getting into this stretch of the leagueof teams that we beat the first time around and there is an “x” on your chest because everyone wants a piece of you the second time around. It happened last year when Wynford came over here and handled us pretty easy. We have tried to keep our guys focused and understand that the other teams have gotten better too and you have really got to pay attention to detail. What have you go to get really good at detail wise offensively and defensively heading into the second time in the league,” said Sheldon.

Published 1/27/17

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Colonel Crawford Wants to Continue to Grow

Colonel Crawford wants to bounce back from the thrashing at the hands of unbeaten Upper Sandusky last Saturday and the Eagles host Carey and Mohawk in a pair of Northern 10 Athletic Conference games this weekend.

Last Saturday, Upper Sandusky pounded the Eagles (82-54) in North Robinson.

Crawford coach David Sheldon says they Rams are just very good, but they hope they can learn something from the loss. “I think it started Monday morning watching film. Showing what Upper did to exploit us and also the way Upper Sandusky pushed the ball and what they do sharing the basketball offensively. That is what we want this basketball team to get to whether it is this year or down the road with only having one senior. I think it was a good teaching experience from that. The one thing we were disappointed in was our transition defense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Some of that is Upper Sandusky they push the ball so hard, but we did a very poor job of matching up and making sure we knew who to guard. Upper shoots 63 percent on the night, but some of those we weren’t even contested shots. On the other hand, looking back we shot 54 percent, which is a good percentage, but we had 14 turnovers in the game and seven in the first quarter. I think that sort of opened the door when you let a great basketball team like Upper get off to such a great start it is tough to get back into it.”

Carey (7-4,7-1) is the only other team to beat Colonel Crawford (8-4,6-2), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, in an “N10” game this year, that was (50-43) on December 10. Sheldon says this will be an examination of how far they have come since early December. “I look back to December and we were up 13 in the third quarter and let one slip away. This is a good basketball team. They have three guys averaging double figures. They are going to spread you out four around one and move the ball. They are very unselfish as a basketball team. This is the first time of playing somebody a second time in the league to see where you come as basketball team from the first time to the second time. How are we going to respond to beating we took last Saturday to Upper Sandusky? This is a good basketball team they are 7-4 right now. Whether you like it or not this is for second place in our league because I don’t see Upper Sandusky losing twice within this league. It is a good challenge for our guys they are a good basketball team and I am anxious to see how our guys respond,” said Sheldon.

Mohawk (3-9,2-6) is a young basketball team this year, but Sheldon says they have some improving young players. “It’s a back to back league week, which is always tough. Throughout the week we mostly work on Carey, some Mohawk stuff, then Saturday morning there will be a crash course on Mohawk. Mohawk has won two of their last three. They have some nice post players and some perimeter guys. We will work on that Saturday. Their new coach is doing a good job setting a foundation there at Mohawk,” he said.

Published 1/19/17

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Upper Pounds Crawford in “N10” Game

Colonel Crawford is a good basketball team, but Upper Sandusky is a really good basketball team and they showed that on Saturday night in downing the Eagles (82-54) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.

Upper came right out of the gate with Ry Adams hitting two threes in the first minute of the game and the Rams taking a (12-2) lead with 5:11 to play in the first quarter, but the Eagles would battle back and close to (24-16) at the end of the first quarter.

Crawford would get as close as (31-24) on a Harley Shaum basket with 5:42 left in the half, but the Rams would widen the lead to 13 (47-34) at halftime.

Perhaps, the key to the game was an Upper (13-6) run in the first 3:12 of the third quarter to take a (60-40) lead in the game. “They are a good team and David (Sheldon) makes some really good adjustments. We said these first three minutes are huge it’s only a 13 point lead if they hit a couple of buckets are we don’t it’s a ball game. I said right now is where we have to end it. I thought we did a good job of extending our lead and making it tough to come back from,” said Upper Sandusky coach Jeff Winslow after the game.

Eli Kinley made three three pointers in the first three minutes of the second half and Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon says that was a dagger. “That is a very good basketball team. I mean there are five guys in double figures. In the third quarter Kinley comes out and hits three threes. He has had five threes in 12 games. When you are playing a great team like that you have to pick your poison. Credit that kid he steps up and buries three threes,” he told Swankonsports.com in the locker room after the game, “I think that is a learning lesson for our young kids. I remember when Adams and Vent were freshmen taking some lumps early on now you see what they have grown up into as juniors and seniors. They are explosive and they push the ball. When you look at our stats we only turned it over 11 times. Their pressure is them bringing it in transition. I thought we had some mental breakdowns matching up and not knowing who we are guarding. You just can’t do that against that many weapons.”

Wes Vent led Upper with 21 points on Saturday night. Kinley added 20 and Javon Dible 15.

The Rams shot 62 percent from the field and made 13 of 23 three point attempts on the night.

Winslow thought they passed the ball and were able to get some open shots. “I think the reason we shot the three is we moved the ball so well and got it inside and they flatten out the defense and kick it out. Those are pretty good shooters shooting those shots. It is amazing how good of a coach I am when our kids put the ball in the basket. It makes it look like I know what I am doing,” he said.

Harley Shaum and Heath Starkey both had 14 for Colonel Crawford and Sheldon thought they were able to get the ball to them in good spots, but he says Upper is just really good. “Our two posts get double figures and a lot of that is credit to our guards on dump off passes and their pressure and help over. We did have a size advantage it is just they put pressure on your ball too and sometimes it is hard to get it into the post because of the pressure on the basketball. I thought our kids tried to compete with them it is just they are explosive basketball team and there is a reason they have won that many games this year. It is a junior-senior dominated basketball team that has played a lot of basketball. We have guys in this program that want to be like that it’s just we are not at that level yet. We have 14, 15 year olds playing 17, 18 year olds and I thought that showed,” said Sheldon.

Winslow says it was a key for them to try and take the ball out of freshmen point guard Cameron McCreary’s hands and he thought they did a pretty good job of that. “What a freshmen he is going to be excellent, he already is excellent. We really wanted to wear him down because he is their main ball handler, stirs their drink. We wanted to make other people beat us. We did a good job overall. They made some plays in that first half. They were getting to the basket and getting by us and I wasn’t too happy with that. Give them credit they are good and are going to make some plays. We stepped up in the second half and limited some of that,” he said.

Published 1/14/17

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Colonel Crawford Hosts Unbeaten Rams

There won’t be an empty seat in the house when Colonel Crawford plays at home against the Upper Sandusky Rams Saturday night with first place on the line in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

Crawford trails the Rams by a game in the conference standings after they beat Buckeye Central (55-44) last Saturday night.

They got behind early, but coach David Sheldon says they didn’t get rattled. “I think that was a big stepping stone for us. We got down early. It is a sign of a good team that you don’t panic. We never panicked and we kept chipping away one possession at a time. Then in the third quarter we were able to extend it to double digits. We were able to get some transition baskets. Our two post players played really well, both scoring in double figures. Our point guard got to playing well and was distributing the ball as well. To go out of there with a double figure win. We have always struggled playing over there at Buckeye and we were very happy with that win. Like I said I think it was the growth of a basketball team because we were down early and we just never panicked and we were able to turn the tides and come out of there with a big league victory,” said Sheldon.

It is fair to say that Upper (12-0,7-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, has not really been challenged for 32 minutes yet this season. Sheldon says they pressure you on defense and they score time after time off that pressure. “They are ranked number one in the State of Ohio in division two. They have won 36 regular season games in a row. Jeff Winslow has done a fantastic job over there. I probably shouldn’t have recommended him to Brad Ervin because now I have to play him twice a year. He has done a great job. When you look at them they are very good in transition offense, make or miss and also their pressure defense. Their defense creates offense,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They are very good playing within the system. They have four guys that average double figures and two others that are really close to double figures. I think that is the sign of a good basketball team they have multiple weapons. You have to be mentally tough for 32 minutes with the way they guard and make plays. You have to be able to withstand their runs. They are very good at going on runs of eight to 10 points and you have got to stop runs that they make throughout a basketball game.”

In order to slow down the Rams, Sheldon says they must have to handle the basketball and not give up a bunch of turnovers. “You have to handle their pressure. You have to be ball strong and be able to beat their traps when they trap you and then attack from that. This is a great game for this young basketball team. Like I said it is the number one team in the State of Ohio against our one senior and some young kids. Our kids are looking forward to this opportunity. I mean Upper Sandusky is a junior, senior dominated team. These kids have been in these games before and this is an excellent opportunity for our basketball team to be on this type of stage. We are still in that league race at the halfway point. This is the last game of the first round of the league. We are going to see what kind of basketball team we are Saturday night against a very good Upper Sandusky team,” said Sheldon.

It’s going to be loud in the gym as long as the Eagles are within in range and that is a plus for them. They almost got Upper last year at home and Sheldon says this will be a great test, according to Sheldon. “That is one thing we never have to worry about either home or on the road. Our community and crowd loves basketball. We know that it will be a great atmosphere for high school basketball. Our student section is as good as anybody around. It will be a crazy atmosphere. Upper Sandusky’s community will travel as well. In North Central Ohio it is probably one of the marquee match ups this weekend. These are the games you want to play in. I would rather be on this end of the spectrum playing and 8-3 versus a 12-0 team rather and 1-8 and 2-10. With our program this is what we want to be involved in. I have the up most respect for the Upper Sandusky basketball program,” he said.

Published 1/12/17

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Colonel Crawford Faces Unbeaten Upper

Kyle Fenner is a competitor and so are her players and they are going to ready for unbeaten Upper Sandusky in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Tuesday night in North Robinson.

They are used to playing talented teams with Cardington and Buckeye Central over the last week.

Fenner says at the top of their scouting report every night is rebounding and defense and when they do that the Lady Eagles can be pretty good. “It has kind of been a little bit of up and down. We have been happy at times. Sometimes we have competed really hard. We feel like the two things we have to do each night are rebound and defend. When we do those things we are pretty good. We have had a couple of game lately, against Buckeye Central and against Cardington, where we really didn’t do those things and it wasn’t a good night for us. If we rebound and we defend we can be pretty good,” said Fenner.

Colonel Crawford (6-5,4-3) hosts Upper Sandusky (12-0,7-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com girls’ basketball coaches poll in the large school division, on Tuesday night.

Fenner says the Lady Rams play hard and they are loaded with basketball skill and that can be a lethal combination. “They have put together a great season they are undefeated and they are the class of our league. They just have four or five girls with just really good basketball skills. They have a big point guard that is six-feet tall. They have Abby Fogle that can just shoot it lights out from the outside. They have multiple other weapons around them. They are just good competitors that have basketball skills. It will be a great challenge for us (Tuesday) night,” said Fenner.

Colonel Crawford knows what they are up against and they will have to play well to win. They played Carey, Cardington, and some other good teams pretty tough this year, but Fenner says it is time for them to get a marquee win and Tuesday night would be a good spot. “The pressure is on them and we talked about that (Monday) night. Nobody really expects us to win, but the last couple of games we felt like we had played well, more so in the Cardington game than the Buckeye Central game,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We told our kids we are not into moral victories any more. We are senior and junior dominated and we need to have a break through game where we come through and we win one of these games.”

Published 1/10/17

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Back to the Classroom for Colonel Crawford

So far, the Colonel Crawford Eagles boys’ basketball team has been very good at learning things and moving forward and that is what they have been doing this week.

The next quiz comes on Saturday night at Buckeye Central in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.

Northmor broke a six game Crawford winning streak with a (59-47) win on Tuesday night.

Coach David Sheldon says the Golden Knights are very good and they were able to control the game. “Our guys competed. I think that is a very good basketball team. Look at their length they are 6’6”, 6’7”, 6’5”, 6’2” and a little point guard that is 5’8” that is very quick and makes them go. As I watched and broke down the film I can’t fault our kids effort we just didn’t make shots. We shoot 39 percent from twos and only 26 percent from threes and a lot of that had to do with their length. They altered shots. They did a great job altering us at the rim and they played very good man to man defense. I felt the second quarter we really struggled. Their point guard was out at the time in foul trouble and we just didn’t take advantage,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We had some careless unforced errors that led to layups were we couldn’t set up our defense. We cut it to six in the third our guys did a great job coming out of the locker room and got some great looks we just couldn’t get stops at the end. I think that is a game that makes us better. (Thursday) we are going to look at film we have it all clipped. Film doesn’t lie and it is going to teach about things we need to grow on and get better as a basketball team. We wanted to challenge this team with out non-league schedule.”

The Colonel Crawford coach says his players have been pretty good this season at looking at things and understanding how to get better. “I think these kids have done that. You look we played a very good division three Spencerville team hat has only one loss on the year and we learned from that and grew. Now Northmor and later in the year we have a division two Ontario and that is what has to prepare you to get through a tournament run. I think basketball is totally different than football you have to win games to get in the playoffs. We are in no matter what. We want to challenge our non-league schedule to prepare us for tournament teams we are going to see down the road. Our guys have done a great job of learning from film and now we have to make a step and learn from Tuesday night and prepare for a big game Saturday night,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (7-3,5-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coaches poll in the small school division, in second place in the “N10” a game behind Upper Sandusky, plays at Buckeye Central (3-5,2-2) on Saturday night. Buckeye lost to Carey, a team that also beat Crawford, (54-46) last Friday.

Sheldon says the Bucks have been getting much better. “They are much improved from the beginning of the year and that starts with Phil Loy he does and outstanding job and I have a lot of respect for him. He has been a coaching friend for a longtime beginning in the “NCC” and then the “N10.” When you look at their team Shade and Max Loy have played a lot of varsity minutes. It starts with those two, but their other kids have stepped up. Their young kids that were playing JV are playing well. We know they are going to be prepared and when we go over there we will be prepared. Games like this are going to come down to which kids are going to make plays and which kids are going to get defensive stops. So, we are looking forward to going over there Saturday night. It is a great rival and we are going to go over there and compete for 32 minutes,” said Sheldon.

Published 1/06/17

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Colonel Crawford Striving to Get Better

Colonel Crawford heads into the holidays playing some pretty good basketball and they want to continue that when they play at Plymouth in a non-conference game on Tuesday night.

The Eagles (5-2) has won their last four games and coach David Sheldon says they have done it with solid ball handling and balanced scoring. “We have really played well these last several games. I think it starts about three weeks ago when we talked about not playing very good basketball and we have done a better job of taking care of the possession of the ball and making good decisions. If you look at it we have had four guys in double figures every night and it is five or six guys. We have really shared the basketball very well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “So, I have been very happy with our defense. If your look at the league stats we are giving up in the low 40’s per game. We just want to continue to get better. Even after wins we do a lot of teaching to try and point out things than even in wins what we didn’t do well to keep getting better as a basketball team.”

Sheldon says have been pretty good at getting stops and grabbing rebounds and all of that is a good ingredient for winning basketball games at the high school level. “You have to get stops and we have been able to do that and rebound the ball well and keep people to one shot and it has allowed us to get out in transition. The number one thing we want to do is get out in transition and let our guys make decisions and we have done a great job of making decisions with the basketball,” he said,

Plymouth (1-5) has lost its last five games after, including a (50-37) loss to Norwalk St. Paul in Firelands Conference play last Wednesday. Sheldon says the Big Red has been in a lot of games, they just can’t get over the final hurdle and get the win. “They have played people close and they have been right in games. We look at Nestor, Myers and Chaffins and those are three kids that have played a lot of basketball. They are a good basketball team they have just come out on the shot end of the stick. We are going on the road (Tuesday) night as part of six games in 16 days. This is game five of that stretch. We have to come with focus and these non-league games are big come February for tournament seeding. There are several Firelands Conference people in our sectional tournament and that is what we try and emphasize that we want to keep getting better as a basketball team when we hit the floor (Tuesday) night,” said Sheldon.

Published 12/27/16

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Eagles Move Forward

Colonel Crawford has made some nice improvement over the last week and now they need to maintain it.

The Eagles beat Wynford last Saturday and Seneca East on Tuesday by identical scores (65-44) and have kept themselves right in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference race, a game behind leader Upper Sandusky.

Coach David Sheldon says they have matured and learned a little bit about handling adversity. “After that Carey game we had to break down things that we had to get better and now we have won three games five days and in the last two we really played out best basketball against Wynford and Seneca East. I think the big thing is we have cleaned up some things. We have a lot of guys for the first time playing varsity. The last two games we have had four guys in double figures each game. We have a lot of different areas we can score. We just have to take care of the basketball and get the ball where we can attack defenses and we have done that the last two,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I am proud of our guys because that was a tough first time because some of these junior high guys never lost a game. We faced a little adversity and it is easy when things are going good, but what happens when you face adversity. Our guys have rose to the occasion these last three games. Hopefully, we continue to get better. We talk about even when you win it is not the cure of all we need to keep making improvements. We talk about areas we need to improve on. It has been a big step early on in the season for us.”

Sheldon says if you have a lot of guys that can score it helps spread the floor, plus it gives you options as a coach. “We have had six different guys in double figures throughout this season at different times. I think the one thing that it gives you is if somebody is having a bad night you can throw somebody else in there and they get a little more time on those nights. With our bigs and our guards you definitely have different weapons. We see as a coaching staff what different defenses do against us and try to attack the area where we can be at our best,” he said.

Part of the maturing process is becoming a smarter basketball team and recognizing things on the floor and attacking them. Sheldon says they are still working on that. “That is an area we need to grow as a team is basketball I.Q. for sure. (Tuesday) night we saw that when Seneca East was in man we were able to attack inside and when they are in zone we go 6-14 from the three point line. Those are areas were you have to keep teaching and growing as a basketball team and our goal this year is to keep taking steps forward. With only one senior on the floor we want to keep taking steps forward and not taking one or two steps back over the course of the year,” he said.

Friday night, the Eagles (4-2,3-1) host Bucyrus (1-4,1-2) in “N10” play. The Redmen earned their first win of the season Tuesday night in beating Mohawk (49-46) in a league game.

Sheldon knows the Redmen will come in fired up. “This is a basketball team where these kids have played a lot of varsity basketball. When I look at their lineup it is a lot of the same lineup that started last year against us. They fight a lot and they got a big win on Tuesday against Mohawk. Anytime it is Bucyrus and Crawford or Wynford or whoever it is that Crawford County rivalry. Our kids know theirs and we are 10 minutes away from each other and it will be over holiday break when a lot of college kids are back. It will be a good atmosphere Friday night as we are looking forward to the challenge,” said Sheldon

Published 12/22/16

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Young Colonel Crawford Has to Handle the Ball

Colonel Crawford has the raw talent, but they have to continue to refine it if they want to become a solid basketball team by the end of the season.

They play at Mohawk on Friday and at home against Wynford on Saturday in conference games.

Last Saturday night, the Eagles lost their Northern 10 Athletic Conference opener to Carey (50-43) as the result of poor ball handling. Coach David Sheldon says they had too many turnovers in the second half.

“We had a great first half and were up 11 at the half and even halfway through the third we are up and then the wheels sort of fell off and we had a lot of turnovers the second half. We had 12 turnovers leading to 10 points on layups. We are still trying to get through to this basketball team how valuable each possession is,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “With a minute to go it is still a one point game, we are still right there, and have opportunities to take the lead or tie it and we just couldn’t get them the ball late and they made some free throws down the stretch. We have to cherish the basketball a little bit more and not turn the basketball over. The first half we took over 30 shots and in the second half I think we had 16, 17 shots because we turned the basketball over. That is something we have to correct if we want to become a better basketball team.”

Good teams are ones that get better, but Sheldon says he hasn’t seen the good kind of progression yet. “This is two weeks in a row. We didn’t have a good second half against Spencerville. Hopefully, over time when we keep pointing it out. As a coaching staff there has to be a lot of teaching with an inexperienced basketball team like we have this year. At the varsity level we have to do a lot of teaching and correct things. You make steps. The goal is to be the best basketball team Colonel Crawford can be by the end of February. We just have to keep chipping away and making improvements,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (1-2,0-1) travels to Mohawk (1-1,1-0) for an “N10” game on Friday night. Mohawk beat Buckeye Central (46-44) on Saturday.

Sheldon says the Warriors are a young team that has a pretty sizable upside. “Mohawk is much improved. Coach Dunn, their new coach, has done a great job after watching film with their structure of their offense and defense. These kids are playing with a lot of excitement and are playing extremely hard. They have a very talented sophomore class over there with a few good seniors as well. They got a big win last week at Buckeye against a very good Buckeye team. It will be another challenge for this basketball team going on the road again on Friday night to Mohawk,” said Sheldon.

Wynford (1-1,1-0) beat Bucyrus (49-34) in their first conference game last Saturday. Sheldon says the Royals are going to bring a pretty good team to North Robinson on Saturday. “Wynford is coming off a very successful season last year and they have some key parts back. Jack Reed is one of the better guards in our league. The Hoffman kid is as tough a kid as you are going to play against. They have the Crell kid inside and some good role players around them. It is always a great atmosphere anytime two Crawford County teams get together. Jason (Engel) has done a great job getting that program back on track. It will be a challenge for us and will probably be the biggest crowd these kids of ours have played against yet this year. It is going to be a tough weekend with two league games back to back and we have to have great focus. Colonel Crawford needs to be worried about Colonel Crawford by making improvements of things we struggled with the last two games and become a better basketball team,” said Sheldon.

Published 12/13/16

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Eagles Need to Continue to Improve

Colonel Crawford spilt their games on the opening weekend and now they are getting ready for their first game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference when they travel to Carey on Saturday night.

Last week, they rallied to beat Mansfield Christian (49-46) on Friday night and lost to talented Spencerville (47-37) on Saturday night.

Coach David Sheldon says they actually played better against a very good team on Saturday. “Opening night you never know what is going to happen when the lights come on. Plus, playing three kids that have never played in a varsity basketball game. I thought there were a lot of mistakes opening night. Credit Mansfield Christian they are so well coached with their offensive patience and man to man defense is very good. Fortunately at the end of the game we were able to make some plays and come out with a “W,” but there were a lot of teaching points. Saturday, we played much better than we did Friday night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Our defense was better. That was a Spencerville team with four kids that were starters since their freshman year that were seniors that might make a run. It was a two point game in the fourth and we just had some empty possessions in the fourth at the offensive end where we didn’t take advantage of opportunities and ended having to foul in the end and lost by 10. I was pleased with our effort Saturday night because we knew it was going to be a tough non-league game.”

When it comes to improvement Sheldon says its starts with an honest review of the film. “I think number one all of the film work that we have done this week to show all of the things that happened Friday and Saturday that we have to improve on. Film doesn’t lie. I heard Kevin Love say this week after the Cavs three game losing streak they looked at film. Film proves a lot of things and our film session was a little harsh. We have to get better if we want to become a good basketball team. That was the first step and now getting on the floor and working on things that we need to get better before take the floor on Saturday night,” he said.

Carey (0-2) started the season with losses to Riverdale (64-44) and Van Buren (75-64,) but Sheldon says they have very good guard play. “First of all they have a very good guard back in Cody Luzader. He is a very good guard. He can shoot it, he can put it on the floor. They are four guards a lot of times and one post. So, you have to get out and guard the three point line as well as the drives. We are going to have to play one on one man to man defense and help defense when they put it on the floor. This is a team that can shoot the three and put it on the floor with their guard play. We have to go on the road for the first league game in a new gym. There is some excitement for them with this gym they are playing in. It will be a challenge for us, but we are looking forward to the opportunity. It is nice to have two non-conference games and now hopefully all of the butterflies are out and hopefully we make steps to get better from week one to this week,” said Sheldon.

Published 12/08/16

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Lady Eagles Get Another Big Test

After suffering their first loss of the season to defending division three state runner up Marion Pleasant last week, Colonel Crawford travels to face last year’s Northern 10 champ, and district runner up, Carey on Tuesday night in conference action.

Crawford won its first to games of the year before the setback to Pleasant (53-40) last Thursday night. Coach Kyle Fenner felt they competed against Pleasant. “We have had a really good start. We have got off to a 2-1 start. We beat pretty good Northmor and New Riegel teams and then kind of ran into a buzz saw in Marion Pleasant. They are the defending state runner up. They have their studs back in Summer Blevens. We played pretty well against them, just too much Blevens that night,” she said.

You never want to lose, but if you do you want to take something away from it. Fenner says they want to be tested because that makes them better and she feels it was excellent preparation for Tuesday night against an equally good Carey team. “In the locker room after the game I told our kids look we play these teams, we puts these teams on our non-league schedule to make us better,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Carey is pretty much a carbon copy of Marion Pleasant in that they have a big girl in the middle and some guards that can surround her. We hope we can learn from the Marion Pleasant game and take that into our game (Tuesday) night against Carey.”

Carey has won both of the “N10” basketball titles and they are going to be good again. They have a loss this year to Liberty-Benton (66-49,) but beat Arcadia (57-54) in overtime on Saturday.

Fenner says it is going to be a tough assignment at Carey in a new gym on Tuesday night. Again she says they remind her a lot of what they saw in Pleasant last week. “It would be a great win for our program, but Carey is really, really good again, they are the defending league champions. They have a stud in the middle in Chin and some guards around her that are really, really good. Phil (Vaughn) has done a great job over there and they sort of have an attitude that they are going win games. It will be a great challenge for us going over there. It will be the first girls’ basketball game in that gym (Tuesday) night,” said Fenner.

Published 12/06/16

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Colonel Crawford Wants the Challenge

Colonel Crawford is one of the most consistently strong boys’ basketball programs in this part of the state and they should be very good again this season.

They play at home against Mansfield Christian in Friday night then hit the road to play Spencerville at Bluffton University on Saturday night.

Coach David Sheldon thinks they are going to be ready to go. “We have been very happy as a coaching staff. We have really played a tough scrimmage schedule. We have seen some division ones here in our last scrimmage. I think that is what you want from the preseason with guys getting better as you’re bringing out details after every scrimmage on film. I think we have seen growth and we are excited to tip it off. You work all of June, the summer, and the fall and this why you do it to play under the lights on Friday night. I think we are excited to get going and we have definitely seen growth in the preseason,” said Sheldon.

The Eagles coach believes they have the personnel this year to be able to spread the floor and get some good shots. “We are very happy with our two posts inside in Harley Shaum and Heath Starkey and we have really good guard play outside. I think if we can go inside out we can set things up. We just have to make sure we focus on that. Number one we want to get out in transition and then in the half court we have to look to go inside out to score and also throw good passes so we can get into our offense. Anytime you have balance it makes you tough to guard and that is one thing that we feel we have is good balance with guards and post play this season,” said Sheldon.

Two things with Mansfield Christian, according to Sheldon, they are going to be very good in their man to man defense and they are going to be disciplined on offense. “I have the up most respect for John (Kurtz.) He does a great job going all of the way back to Crestview. The one thing John’s teams always do is they are going to guard you and play man to man defense. Offensively they are going to be simple and not run a lot of stuff, but they are going to be affective and fundamental. They have good guard play in the McPeak kid and John’s son who can really shoot it from the outside and a big post player. They have some young kids that look like they can play. Anytime we play them it is a tough game. We know they are going to play extremely hard and we going to have to match their intensity for 32 minutes,” said Sheldon.

When it comes to Saturday night Sheldon says this is an example of their attitude of playing a very good non-conference schedule. He believes it pays off. “It is a great non-league game for us. They got to the district championship game last year and lost to the state champs in Lima Central Catholic. They return two post players at 6’6” and 6’5” and they have a 6’4” guard that is really good. It is going to be a tough non-league game, but that is what you want with our on-league schedule,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We beefed up our non-conference schedule. We have won five straight sectional championships and we want to get over that hurdle in the district tournament. That is what non-league games do for you. We want to strengthen our schedule to get us ready. It is nice to have to games the opening weekend before we open up league play the following week to get our young guys ready playing under the lights. We are excited for Saturday night. We have to match their intensity. It’s a beautiful facility at Bluffton University. A great opportunity for our program.”

Published 11/29/16

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Colonel Crawford with Blend of Youth and Experience

It looks like Colonel Crawford is going to have another good basketball team this winter, it is just a matter of how good. The development of their younger and more inexperienced players may tell that story.

Coach David Sheldon believes they will be able to score in a variety ways this year, but he says to get where they want to they are going to have play defense. “I am very fortunate we have a group of guys that love the game of basketball. We had a lot of them this fall that had great individual workouts in the weight room and on the track. It is great to get started now. We have a great mixture of guys back with our three lettermen juniors in Hayden Bute, Harley Shaum and Brody Martin and then we have the 6’10” senior back that has really come a long way in Heath Starkey. We are going to play some young kids. I have some freshmen that you are going to see right out of the gate. We have to get them adapted to playing at the varsity level, but they have some skill. I think the best thing so far in the preseason our first weekend trip we went to Van Wert for an overnight with Van Wert and Ottoville and the team chemistry was great,” he told Swankonsports.com during Thursday’s practice at Colonel Crawford, “Offensively we have to share the basketball, we have a lot of different weapons. Defensively we have to get better. You hear that every year from me. We have got to get better guarding. If we are going to win basketball games that is what it is going to come down to. We challenge these guys every day at the defensive end because that is what they don’t understand. We talk in our program about one possession at a time our way. It starts on the defensive end. We have to get better on that end every day.”

With four freshmen on the varsity roster, Sheldon says the plan to create chemistry on this roster started early. “I think that is where the month of June helped. We got to do a lot of team stuff in June with our 10 coaching days. We put young and old together and the chemistry started to build and then this fall the time we had together that has been really good. These upperclassmen have to understand these freshmen we need and some of these younger kids to have a successful basketball season, which we expect every year here at Colonel Crawford,” he said.

There is some height on the Eagles roster this season, but Sheldon believes they have the tools to be able to execute while running the floor this year. “We want to get up and down. We really want to get out in transition. You are going to hear about a point guard by the name of (Cameron) McCreary, you heard that name a few years ago and we also have another point guard on the floor a lot in Jordan Fenner, our girls’ coach’s son. We have two guys that can push the ball when everybody gets and goes. We want to run the floor. When we get in the half court we have to be able to execute and go inside out. We want our inside to create shots for our outside. Definitely we are going to try and push the tempo and get up and down the floor,” said Sheldon.

Running the floor is good, but Sheldon knows they have to be able to execute in the half court too. “That comes down to just execution in what we are trying to do offensively and guys making plays and getting a great shot every time down the floor, not just a good shot. We have to be able to get some ball reversals when we are in the half court and make the defense move. You are going to get in half court games when you are playing great teams that we will see in our league and non-league schedule this year,” he said.

Published 11/18/16

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Colonel Crawford Senior to Play at AU

Heath Starkey, a 6’10” senior at Colonel Crawford High School, Thursday signed a national letter of intent to play college basketball at division two power Ashland University.

All of this without playing a single minute of varsity basketball yet for the Colonel Crawford.

However, 6’10” kids, at least in North Central Ohio, don’t come around every day.

Ashland was (25-6) last year for coach John Ellenwood and Starkey feels like this is a good fir for him. “It’s a good program, a good coach. We had a Tiffin offer come up, but I felt like coach Ellenwood and their staff just built a really good relationship with me. It’s really good school to study at and continue my athletic career in basketball,” Starkey said Thursday.

Not having reached his 18^th birthday yet, Starkey is rail thin and he knows he needs to build strength to play at the college level. “I definitely need to get stronger. I have the opportunity to red shirt my freshmen year to the opportunity to get stronger. So, I will possibly take that up. Mostly just keep my emotions in check. Don’t get upset after a shot. Don’t it get in your head, move on to the next possession,” Starkey said.

Colonel Crawford is one of the traditional division four powers in the area and Starkey believes this can be a very good season for the team, which will have an element of youth and inexperience. “We can be very good. We have four freshmen up on varsity. Me along with three other seniors have really brought them in underneath our wings and just really took them in,” he said.

When it comes to where he fits with the “AU” Eagles, Starkey says coach Ellenwood says the sky is the limit. “If I choose to do a red shirt freshmen year, we have talked it over, it’s an opportunity for me to have that extra year. As long as I am producing I get minutes,” he said.

Published 11/11/16

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Point of Attack Huge in Colonel Crawford, Liberty Center Game

There seem like there are a lot of similarities between Colonel Crawford and playoff opponent Liberty Center.

They both have lost two games and only two other playoff teams, they both have been very good at running the ball and petty good at stopping the run.

Crawford (8-2) plays at Liberty Center (8-2) in a first round playoff game in division six on Friday night.

It’s the fourth time in the last five years that the Eagles have made the playoffs. The Eagles win over Ayersville (42-10) last year was the program’s first playoff win.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says anytime you get to play on week 11 there is a big jump in excitement. “I think there is always a good level of excitement amongst coaches and players trying to reach the postseason. It is kind of a unique experience here in Ohio where you have to play your way into the postseason. When you have done that I think there is always a level of excitement when you are heading into the postseason even if you have done it a couple of times,” he said.

Liberty Center has a great tradition as the Tigers are making their 17^th appearance in the postseason. They won a state title back in 1997. This is the first time they have been at this level since 2012.

Teglovic says the Tigers like to play old school football. “They are a phenomenal football program. They are a school that has won a state championship, been a state runner up and been in the semi finals several times. We are playing against a legendary coach. Now that we have a chance to watch some film and take a look at these guys they do things old school,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They are going to get off the ball. They are going to run the football. They are going to play good, solid defense. They are going to hit you. We have to respond to their physical nature.”

Liberty Center is one the bed rock programs in Northwest Ohio, but Teglovic says they aren’t playing that tradition they are playing this year’s team. “We have some tradition here too and those kinds of things. It’s the 2016 Colonel Crawford Eagles against the 2016 Liberty Center Tigers. We are both good football teams. It is going to come down to who gets off the ball better up front. Who can limit turnovers and play good field position and all of those kinds of things you have to do to win a good football game,” he said.

Liberty Center’s losses this year are to unbeaten Patrick Henry (22-14) and to Swanton (28-15) another playoff team.

Teglovic says control of the line of scrimmage is going to determine the winner in this one. “It is going to be huge in this one. It is crucial in any game. When you watch film you get the understanding that both teams like to run the football and like to control that line of scrimmage. It comes down to which team is going to be able to do that along the offensive and defensive lines. Who wins that battle is going to go a long way in determining the outcome,” he said.

Published 11/01/16

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Playoffs Await Colonel Crawford

All that stands in the way of the Colonel Crawford Eagles and another playoff berth is a win at home Friday night against Upper Sandusky in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play.

The Eagles won their fourth straight game last week with a (34-6) win at Buckeye Central and stand sixth in division six, region 22.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they gave a pretty good performance on both sides of the ball last week. “We did what we needed to do overall. We rushed for over 300 yards. We thought we were fairly efficient in the passing game. We were four for seven in the air. We didn’t turn it over and won the turnover battle. At times we played well defensively and in the special teams game. I felt overall it was a decent performance. We didn’t perform as well as well as we did the previous week against Lucas, but overall a solid performance and it puts us at 7-2 and sets us up for a big game this week versus Upper Sandusky,” said Teglovic.

Defensively, Crawford (7-2,5-2) has gotten steadily better this fall. Allowing just one score and two of its last three games and slowing down a good Lucas team too. Teglovic likes the progression he sees on that side of the ball. “There are still some issues here and there, but I feel overall, just like offensively, they have gotten better. We returned about three starters on both sides of the ball, so that has been the big thing we need to continue to get better, continue to fix some mistakes, and game plan every week, and have a better understanding of who we are defensively. Overall we have played solid at times and last couple of weeks I feel we have played a little bit better,” he said.

Upper Sandusky (4-5,3-4) got clobbered last week by unbeaten Wynford (53-0,) but Teglovic says they really isn’t an illustration of who they are as a football team. “They have some potential. Last week, they not only turned it over four times, they turned it over four times in the first half and if you do that against a good football team like Wynford that just opens the flood gates and that’s what happened and before you know it it is 28-0 in the first quarter. That is pretty tough to recover from for a football team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “When we look at other scores and how they have competed. They competed very well against Mohawk, 28-26, very well against Carey, a 20-19 game, and they have won four football games. It is a team that scares you because there is enough talent there to be competitive on both sides of the ball. I just know they are going to come in here and play hard.”

Published 10/27/16

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Colonel Crawford Faces Rival Buckeye Central

Colonel Crawford is on a track that will take them to playoffs again this season.

They are on the edge of clinching a playoff spot for the fourth time and the last five years. They stand sixth in their divison six region heading into play this week.

They travel down State Route 602 Friday night to face rival Buckeye Central in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.

Last week, the Eagles (6-2,4-2) downed Lucas (47-20) in a non-conference game handing the Cubs just their second loss of the season. Coach Ryan Teglovic says it might have been their best, at least their most consistent, performance of the season. “It might have been our most consistent performance for us all year for four quarters. We have played that well at times for a half or three quarters, but as far as playing well for four quarters that was our best performance,” he said.

Crawford was able to bottle up the Lucas running game holding the Cubs to less than 200 yards. Teglovic says they were physical and executed very well. “Obviously they do a great job of running their stuff. I think we have physical kids and kids that have shown the ability to play physical football. I think there have been some other times we have done that as well. I think our kids understood what they needed to do, kept things simple, and I thought they executed very well,” he said.

Buckeye Central (2-6,2-4) rallied from 19 down to beat Bucyrus (41-40) last week and Teglovic says they are going to be pumped up when they play them. “They absolutely will come in with some confidence and some momentum. They were down 33-14 at half and then they came back to win that game in a close fashion. A lot of their playmakers have been hurt for most of the year and they are starting to get some of those guys back. So, I think they are playing with some more confidence now. We have to go over there. We have to continue to get better and play well this week,” said Teglovic.

Buckeye Central has a new head coach in Rob Detterman and Teglovic says the Bucks approach is different this year than it has been. “Last year they would spread things out and obviously they had a really good quarterback. Buckeye has had tight ends when they have had those available. You are going to see tight end sets from them this year, more pistol stuff. They want to be 4-2-5 defensively. They are running some more fronts too and more multiple in the pass game with a 4-4 and a cover three and cover one kind of stuff. They are a little different schematically,” he said.

Published 10/18/16

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Running Game Big for Crawford and Lucas

Colonel Crawford plays at Lucas in a game Friday night that certainly has playoff implications.

Lucas is right 4^th in its division seven region and Colonel Crawford is 8^th in its division six region. The top eight in each region make the post season playoffs.

The Eagles (5-2) are coming off a (61-8) thrashing of Ridgedale in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action last week. It was the second straight week they had scored more than a 60 points in a game.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they have been doing a solid job of controlling the line of scrimmage and running the football. “The offense has played well. We have one of the better rushing offenses in the area and one of the leading rushers in the area in Blake Treisch with over 1,300 yards. I think they have played well and executed well. This Friday night obviously is a big test for us,” he said.

The Eagles offensive line is physical and has taken the right attitude, but Teglovic knows they are going to be tested by Lucas on Friday night. “I think our offensive line has done a great jog all year and they have a tough mentality to them. It’s a good group and hard working group of kids. They are going to be tested though this Friday night. We are going to face a defensive line that is big and physical. Those are the same guys that are on the offensive line. They are big and physical. Lucas is used to playing the physical style of football and they are very good at it,” said Teglovic.

Lucas (6-1) has put some points on the board too. They hammered Crestline (63-28) in a Mid-Buckeye Conference came last week, amassing over 400 yards on the ground in the process.

Teglovic says it is going to be a slugging match in the trenches. “You have to be able to go toe to toe. You have to be willing to take the punches and continue to take them throughout the game. They are going to keep going at you and test you physically and test you mentally,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Our guys are going to have to play very well up front. They do a great job. Not only that but they can spread things out and run the same basic stuff from a spread formation.”

Lucas likes to eat up the clock and Teglovic says you have to be able to get off the field on third down and take advantage of your opportunities on offense. “You have to maximize your offensive opportunities because they do shorten the game. That has been their game now for a few years now. Not only do they do that, but they will onside kick or squib kick. They do a lot of things to keep the ball out of your offense’s hands. I would say in a lot of regards we are fairly similar,” he said.

Published 10/13/16

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Colonel Crawford Doing Good Things

Colonel Crawford plays host to Ridgedale in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

They are going to need some things to happen in order to get a piece of the “N10” title having already lost to Wynford and Seneca East, the co-leaders.

They belted Bucyrus (62-27) last week in a conference game, establishing a school record for total yards in a game. Coach Ryan Teglovic says they threw the ball better than they have all season. “It was nice to see us fair well in the passing game. That was first time we have thrown for over 100 yards this year. We made some big plays in the passing game. The running game has been good all year. We have a back now that is over 1,000 yards six games into the year. That is a tribute to how well our guys are playing on the offensive side of the ball, our backs and especially our offensive linemen,” says Teglovic.

Guys in the trenches tend not to get a lot of notoriety, but Teglovic says his big guys have played well all season. He says they make good adjustments. “They do a great job. Our offensive staff does a great job teaching our scheme. Those guys up front we have an intelligent bunch. They are not straight “A” students, but they get it, they know, they make adjustments. We have been running this offense now for four plus years. You show them different fronts and they are able to adjust well and make their calls. They work hard and they are aggressive as well,” he said.

Ridgedale (0-6,0-4) has had another tough season. They lost (42-0) last week to Buckeye Central. Teglovic says they have some really good players, just not enough of them. “I think they are hurt overall because one of their best, if not their best, Trevor Boyd, has not really been able to play this year because of an injury he suffered during the spring. Reports say he is kind of slowly trying to get in. He is a really good athlete and he has been starting for them for at least three years now,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “He runs in the low 11’s in the 100. Their quarterback is a really good player too. He has started for a couple of years and he throws the ball nicely. They have a couple of pretty good players just unfortunately they don’t have a lot of players. The kids they do have are up there competing and getting better.”

This is a week for Colonel Crawford (4-2,3-2) to concentrate on themselves, but Teglovic says every week that is the case. “It has to be that way every week and I think that is typical of how we approach things. I think our kids have a handle on that are what we are looking for. It is Colonel Crawford versus Colonel Crawford. That is what we want to continue to do every week, so we can improve,” he said.

Published 10/07/16

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Crawford Needs to Get Back to Winning

After back to back losses to undefeated teams, the Colonel Crawford Eagles need to recapture that winning formula.

Last week, they held a four point halftime lead, but were outscored (21-3) by Seneca East in the second half and lost to the Tigers (42-28) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.

Coach Ryan Teglovic gives all the credit to Seneca East. “No it didn’t go our way, but credit them, credit Seneca East, I think they have an awfully good football team. They have good skilled athletes, their quarterback, their running back, are phenomenal players. I was really impressed with their offensive line, how well they played. They have some good veterans on their team, they have a lot of talent. They did a nice job in preparation. I thought they have a great team. We have to get back to the drawing board this week. It is an important week for us to get back at it,” said Teglovic.

Crawford (3-2,2-2) plays at home against Bucyrus (0-5,0-4) this week. Teglovic says there are a lot of things they can still accomplish. “We talked to our kids about that. The big thing for us is to go out this Friday night and play well and continue to get better. If we can do that week by week over the next five weeks when we get to the end of the year we will be happy with what we have accomplished. The process is going to be pretty important,” he said.

Mental approach and emotion are going to be key for the Eagles this week. Teglovic says it has been a tough couple of weeks and it will be important for them to have strong mental focus. “Not just two tough games the last two weeks, but the first five games for a young and inexperienced team. It is a grind and we have appreciated how our kids have competed. It has been rough. We have to find a little bit in the emotional tank this week because I know that Bucyrus will.,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Bucyrus kids play hard. I don’t anticipate anything less from them this week. We are at home and defending our territory. Hopefully, we can bounce back this week and have that emotion.”

Bucyrus is winless, but among the losses are Wynford, Marion Pleasant, and Seneca East. Teglovic says it is clear that the Redmen are getting better. “We talk about our schedule being pretty tough, and it has been, but when you look at their schedule and they have a lot of tough opponents on their schedule. We have seen them several times because we have seen those same opponents as well. I think they are getting better and I told coach Eckert that (Monday) when I talked to him. I can see some things, especially up front. They are playing some young kids and are working those guys. I think overall they are making a lot of strides. Sometimes you don’t see that in wins and losses. I know that they will play hard. It is an in county rivalry. Last week, I thought they played well. I thought they played with emotion. They were right there for quite a while,” said Teglovic.

Published 9/27/16

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Colonel Crawford Faces Another Unbeaten Team

After a tough loss to rival Wynford last week, Colonel Crawford must put things back together quickly as they must travel to Seneca East to face the unbeaten Tigers in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play on Friday night.

Last week, the Eagles (3-1,1-1) gave up three scores in the first quarter before rallying, but lost to Wynford (28-21) in a hard fought “N10” game. Coach Ryan Teglovic thought they played a good football game. They just gave up too many early. “I was really happy with how hard our kids played, especially after being down early. I thought it was a great effort on our part and at times good execution as well. I think their speed got us a little bit there in that first quarter and then we adjusted to that a little bit. Our kids settled in and played good football,” said Teglovic.

It is going to be an important week of practice after losing their first game of the season. Teglovic says they have to be ready mentally and emotionally for Friday night. “We have to go on the road and play another 4-0 team. Seneca East was a playoff team last year at 8-2 and they return a core of those guys back this year. They have been off to a hot start here early. We have to find a way to recapture that emotion and get back at it this week,” he said.

Seneca East (4-0,3-0) belted Bucyrus (54-14) last week in a conference game, amassing 603 total yards to the process. Teglovic says they have to keep that Tiger offense off the field and when they do have the ball do their best to contain running back Brock Martin. “I think our offense is going to have to help us some by pounding the football like we have been able to do a little bit. They have a variety of very good athletes, but I think Brock Martin is the key,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “He is a three year starter now as a junior. I remember him playing against us as a freshmen. I though he was a fine player then and he has gotten even better, so we will have our hands full trying to slow him down. They also have a veteran quarterback. I think he missed the first game or so and now he is back in. Those two guys are really the key to what they do.”

Martin had 11 carries for 209 yards last week against Bucyrus. Quarterback Brennan Martin was 22 of 25 for 342 yards in the game.

Seneca East has also beaten South Central (54-20,) Ridgedale (60-8,) and Buckeye Central (46-14) this year. Those teams, and Bucyrus, have combined to win just one game this year and it is clear that Crawford is best team on their schedule so far.

Teglovic says they haven’t been challenged, but he is sure that has given the Tigers a lot of confidence. “That could work to our advantage or it could work against us. They haven’t been really challenged, but a lot of times that can give a team a lot of confidence. They are 4-0 and have been able to move the ball at will and stop people and those kids of things. Mentally I think they are going to come in high and certainly awfully confident. We would like to make sure it is still a game in the second half, but that is going to be a tough task,” he said.

Published 9/19/16

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Crawford Hosts Wynford in Big one in the “N10”

Colonel Crawford has done a lot of good things on the football field the last couple of years, but it has been Wynford that has been their Waterloo.

Both teams are unbeaten as the Eagles host the Royals in North Robinson on Friday night in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play.

Last week, the Eagles (3-0,2-0) beat Mohawk (24-8) and head coach Ryan Teglovic, who works a lot with the defense, was pretty proud of what those guys did last week. “After the first drive I felt like our defense settled in and played very solid and good responsibility football. We are making steps on that side of the ball. We still have a lot of work to do and will be tested pretty well Friday night, but I was pleased with the overall effort there,” he said.

Wynford (3-0,2-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, buried Ridgedale (68-22) last week in a game that was (68-6) at the half. They had beaten Bucyrus (48-13) two weeks ago.

Teglovic says quarterback Zach Hoffman is scary good. “What is especially good is their speed and in particular the quarterback. He is an awfully good player. He was one the best players around the area last year and he has gotten nothing but better this year. He probably throws a little bit better this year as well. His speed is really good,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “The other guy they have in the backfield with him at the running back position has pronominal speed as well. We haven’t seen a backfield with two guys that fast and that is going to put us to a test.”

Stopping the Wynford backs from getting to the perimeter is a big key for them, according to Teglovic. “You have to get them before they get started. You don’t want to let them out in space. They are going to make people miss in space. Not just because of their speed and quickness, but because of their athleticism as well. Our front seven guys are going to be pretty important you have to control the line of scrimmage,” said Teglovic.

In similar situations the last two years Wynford beat Colonel Crawford (41-14) a year ago and (41-10) in 2015.

With the explosiveness Wynford has shown, Teglovic says they would like to play keep away, but knows that won’t be easy. “We would love for that to be able to happen. Our offense has done a nice job of that the first three weeks of the year. We’re not perfect there either. Those guys have continued to learn and get better. The guys up on the offensive line have done a great job, we’ve got the running backs, those guys have had a good year too. It would help tremendously if we could shorten the game a little bit and keep their offense off the field, but that is easier said than done,” he said.

Published 9/16/16

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Eagles Want to Make Momentum Forward

After a dramatic come from behind win last week, Colonel Crawford hits the road to face a pretty good Mohawk team in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

Trailing 20-3 last in the second quarter, the Eagles (2-0,1-0) rallied to beat Carey (27-26) in an “N10” game in North Robinson last Friday. Coach Ryan Teglovic says it was a great win for what is a young bunch of players. “I am very happy for our kids. It is a group that has worked hard. A lot of them were JV guys last year even as juniors. To be able experience that Friday night, a come from behind win at home, just the emotion of that. I am happy for them and it was a fun game,” he said.

Wins like that can have an affect on the rest of your season. Teglovic hopes the win builds some additional confidence and character on the football team. “Sometimes games like that when you can come from behind and win builds some character in the guys. Learning how to win close games is an important thing. Hopefully we can build on last week. We play a 2-0 Mohawk team. So, hopefully we can build on that and take it into this week,” said Teglovic.

Mohawk (2-0,1-0) began their “N10” schedule with a (26-12) win over Buckeye Central last week. Teglovic says the Warriors are a pretty good football team. “They have a good coaching staff over there and a good number of kids playing football. They are young, they lost a lot of seniors from last year from a 7-3 football team, a very good football team last year. They have done a nice job of replacing and reloading there. They are off to a good 2-0 start,” he said.

Mohawk has definitely featured the run over the first two weeks of the season. Teglovic says due to an injury to their starting quarterback Mohawk has been going to the run game a little more. “Their quarterback that was supposed to start the year got hurt in the preseason. A broken collar bone, something of that nature. They are down to their second string guy. I have watched and he does a good job and they can throw the football a little bit. Because of that injury and that kind of thing I think they want to run the football a little more,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday evening, “They have two or three running backs that are pretty good. Obviously, the (Parker) Brown kid is a pretty good football player. He got in a little bit last year even on a good, veteran team. Yeah, I think they want to run the football.”

Published 9/05/16

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Colonel Crawford Starts League Play with Carey

Colonel Crawford has been one the real challengers in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference football race in recent years and they host Carey in their conference opener in North Robinson on Friday night.

Last week, in non-conference play, they handled Mt. Gilead (46-26) and coach Ryan Teglovic says it wasn’t their best performance, but pretty good and they have been working hard this week. “As the smoke has kind of settled and we have watched a little more film and put things in more perspective we did some good things. There are obviously some things to work on. I thought the kids have done a good job of trying to work on those things this week and correct those individual mistakes. I feel pretty good about how that process has gone this week. We have just told our guys that through experience we will continue to grow and get better,” he said.

The “N10” is the only area conference with conference play on week two. Teglovic says that makes preparation a little different and more urgent. “Obviously it is not the ideal situation. Playing the three non conference games at the beginning of the season I think most coaches would find that more ideal than jumping into that conference fray that second week. Obviously there are still a lot of things to work on. There are a lot of things we need to improve on and get better at. You would want those things tightened up before you head into conference play. We are all in the same boat heading into conference play on week two. It does create a little more sense of urgency when you have those conference games on week two,” said Teglovic.

Carey lost (45-0) to a very good McComb team on week one last year. However, Teglovic says keep in mind McComb is a very strong team. He thinks the Blue Devils are a team that can do some things. “I don’t put a lot of stock in the score outcome of that game. McComb was in the state final four last year and they have quite a few kids coming back. They are a good football team. Carey was able to do some things against them and they were playing a good football team. I saw their scrimmage against Lepsic and they moved the ball extremely well there and defended well there too and that is against a playoff team last year. Carey seems to be a better football team than last year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They return a little more speed. They have some guys that were injured last year that are back. They have some experience at quarterback now. He was able to play quite a few games for them last year. They have a three year starter at fullback and defensive end. I really think they are a solid football team.”

Published 9/02/16

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Crawford Well Prepared

Colonel Crawford has developed a football program and that means they normally can reload and that seems like the case this year.

They have to replace some players, but they can fill those holes with quality talent.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they have been tested in the preseason and he believes they have gotten better heading into the season opener at Mt. Gilead on Friday night. “Our scrimmage schedule was tough. We scrimmaged good football teams. I thought we competed well. We got a little bit better as we went along. We have stayed pretty healthy. Overall I think it has been a good, positive off season. Guys are excited to go week one,” he said.

With the opener just a couple of days away Teglovic says everybody in the Eagles camp is ready to go and go out and prove what they have on Friday night. “Kids and coaches I think are ready. The preseason is long. You get three weeks of preseason plus you get 10 days of contact on top of that, plus all of weightlifting and all of those things. There is a lot of build up to it. Week one there is something special about Friday night football. It’s for real. You know, scrimmages help, but unless they put official there it isn’t a game,” said Teglovic.

Mt. Gilead, out of the blue division of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, hosts the Eagles on Friday night. Teglovic says Mt. Gilead has guys on offense that can make big plays. “The Indians have six or so starters back on both sides of the ball. Starting with Barnett, their tailback, he rushed for 1,600 yards last year so we know he is an awfully good football player,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We are going to have to really focus well to stop him. They have a fullback back with some experience. They have a kid in at receiver that is about 6’5”, 200 pounds, that can go up and get it. It is going to be a good test for us. They have some guys back defensively. We have to go there and they usually play us pretty tough.”

Published 8/24/16

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Crawford With a Chip

Colonel Crawford has developed a good reputation for playing solid football and some of the members of this year’s team believe they are not getting the kind of respect that they deserve.

We start finding out about how good they can be next Friday against Mt. Gilead in non-conference play.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they have found out a lot already because they have scrimmaged some pretty good football teams here in August. “We are pretty happy with where we are at. We have scrimmaged Tiffin Calvert and Edison and Grandview Heights. Two of those three teams were final four teams last year in their respective divisions, one division five and one division six and Calvert was a second round playoff team as well. It was been a good test for us. It has been good for us. We have been healthy. I feel like we are making improvement as we go,” said Teglovic.

The Crawford coach says by scrimmaging against quality opponents you find out where you need to be better and what you need to emphasize in practice sessions. “We find out where we need to get better personnel wise. We may have to get some guys switched around. We also find our where we need to get better technique wise. Our own guys, where they need to step up their own game. We tell our guys we don’t want to get to that week one against Mt. Gilead and have the speed on the game be a whole lot faster than what we have experienced in the preseason, so that has been very good for us,” he said.

Although the Eagles did graduate a number of players from their playoff team from a year ago, Teglovic says this year’s team is eager to prove what they are about this fall. “It is a group that has a bit of a chip on their shoulder. I don’t know what a lot of people outside of our program what the expectations are. They have been around teams that have had good success,” he told Swankonsports.com, “As far as expectations, they want the success that those other teams have had, particularly our seniors and even those kids that have come up from the JV team as juniors that played JV last year. They want to prove themselves as well. There are a lot of individual battles going on. I think that is good for us.

Published 8/18/16

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Crawford Has Inexperience, but that’s Okay

Colonel Crawford has been Wynford’s biggest rival for football supremacy in the Northern 10 Athletic conference. This year the Eagles will have less experience, but they will still have talent.

Head coach Ryan Teglovic says they have a good number of players in camp and they are excited for the 2016 season. “We have 57 in camp, so our numbers are still good. They have been mid 50’s or higher the last seven or eight years. Guys show up and we had a good week. I don’t have to worry about guys not showing up. If they do have to miss or be late they are very good at being accountable. It is a good group again. It’s a nice group to work with,” he said.

With a lot kids that may not have played a lot last year, Teglovic says they have a group that is willing to learn and understand what they need to do to be successful. “I like what is see, especially with the inexperience that we have. Sometimes that even helps in the practice environment. You have got a lot of inexperience, so guys know they have to listen, they know they need the coaching. If feel our guys have done a nice job with that, so I am pleased with our frame of mind,” he said.

Colonel Crawford has developed what they want to do as a program and Teglovic says they are going to remain consistent with that with some tweaks along the way. “We are going to run the wing-T offensively. We are going to run the 4-3 defensively. Now, we are going to do some variations out of those things to utilize the athletes the best we have. Coach (Ty) Stevenson and our offensive staff have done a great job. Last year, we had a quarterback that rushed for 1,800 yards, so we were a lot of one back wing-T. We have some pretty good running backs this year, so they will adjust and we will run a little more two back wing-T. We try to keep the system simple and be multiple in that system to utilize the talent. The kids every year know the system,” said Teglovic.

On defense, Teglovic says they are in a similar position to where they are on offense. He says they will need some kids to step up and he thinks they will do it. “We have about the same amount of experience on both sides of the football. We have about three of four starters back on both sides of the ball. Both sides are inexperienced, but on both sides we are still playing juniors and seniors for the most part, it is just guys that have waited their turn and are ready to go,” he told Swankonsports.com, “So, I like what we have defensively. We have a lot of experience on the defensive line, our linebackers fairly inexperienced, but they can run. It is probably the best running linebacking corps we have had. We have one really good defensive back back and another guy that played a little bit, so safety will be inexperienced for us. A lot of our defense will depend on how those safeties come around.”

Published 8/09/16

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Crawford Does it Again in the Sixth

Colonel Crawford got the key outs when they needed them and scored four times in the sixth inning to beat Maragretta (4-0) in a division three district semi final on Wednesday at Lexington High School.

Veteran coach Chuck Huggins says his players have played in a lot of pressure packed games and they knew what had to be done. "Margaretta had a lot more opportunities than we did in the early innings. To our kids credit we understand how to play defense. We understand it doesn't matter if they have runners on base or not. We pride ourselves in knowing that we have covered every situation in practice. I tell the kids that there is absolutely no reason to be nervous because the nervous teams and the nervous players are the ones that are not prepared. Our team just performed effortlessly and they focused on what needed to be done. I'll tell you what we made some plays behind Sydney Studer (Wednesday) night. She as right on. She had another 12 strikeouts and zero walks," said Huggins.

The sixth inning seems to be a good friend of the Lady Eagles in tournament play and they were able to step up again. Karissa Rowlinson got it started with a single and Alexis Burkhart followed with another. Jada Klingenberger drove in the first run with a hit and then there was a Margaretta error, a wide pitch and a sacrifice fly and suddenly in was a (4-0) game. "Come the bottom of the sixth just like last Friday when we scored five in the bottom of the sixth against Galion we scored all four of them in the bottom of the sixth (Wednesday) night against Maragretta. That sixth inning has been magical for us. It starts out with our number nine, catcher Karissa Rowlinson, hits one down the line and it just explodes from there. The kids they just build off of each other. It just worked out perfectly for us," said Huggins.

It is a match-up of the top two teams in our Swankonsports.com softball coaches poll in the small school division as #2 Colonel Crawford plays #1 Edison in the district final on Friday night.

Huggins looks for a great battle between similar teams. "Edison has been division two for a lot of years and went division three this year. When they were division two they were always at the division two regional over in Bucyrus and saw them at Firestone Stadium in state a few years. They are a very, very tradition leaden program, just like Colonel Crawford. We have been division four and went division three and we just happen to get together. Friday's district championship is going to be one heck of a softball game. You just start in the pitching circle and their young lady (Erica) Reber is almost identical to our ace Sydney Studer," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, "They matched each other, Reber had 16 strikeouts (Tuesday) in the district semi finals and Sydney has 12 (Wednesday.) They manufacture runs, we are almost carbon copies of each other. It is just going to a great, great softball game for North Central Ohio."

Published 5/19/16

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Lady Eagles are Hungry

Colonel Crawford is just one step away from no less than a share of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference softball title and a (4-0) win over Carey in league play on Monday.

As has been the case pretty much all season, coach Chuck Huggins says they played outstanding defense and that was a big key on Monday. "The name of our game here the last two or three weeks has been has been excellent pitching, timely hitting, and I can not say enough superlatives about our defense right now. (Monday) night our ace Sydney Studer only had four strikeouts. So, if you subtract the four strikeouts from the 21 outs there were 17 plays out in the field that had to be made and we were absolutely flawless. I can't say enough about how good our defense is playing right now. We are scarping across enough runs to win, but our defense is really keeping our heads above water. I am very, very proud of our defensive execution right now," said Huggins.

Colonel Crawford (20-2,13-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com softball coaches poll in the small school division, and #1 in our new Twitter fan poll, travels up Route 602 on Wednesday to meet Buckeye Central (11-11,8-5,) a (6-5) winner over Seneca East in division four tournament play on Monday. A win gives the Lady Eagles at least a piece of the title and Huggins believes they will be focused on that task. "We have just talked about that fact that we make every single game the most important and this time of year that is so true. We can't peak out ahead to the tournament. We have positioned ourselves with the opportunity to win the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and our total focus now is going to be on Buckeye Central," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, "They played us tough at our place it was a 6-2 ball game that we won. I have a lot of respect for coach (Roger) Durnwald and his team. I just know that they are going to be ready. We are going to get after it (Tuesday) in practice and make sure everything is fine tuned . We have to make sure come Wednesday that that is the only game on the entire schedule that is because it is the one that allows us to play for our first championship of the year."

Crawford will play either Galion or Wynford for a sectional title at home in North Robinson on Friday. However, Huggins says they can't be thinking about that. "This group of kids, the 2016 seniors, have done such a good job of just staying in the moment. They understand that we have set the table and not it is time to enjoy the dinner and the dessert and in our program that is the championships. So, we never take it for granted. We truly believe that winning never gets old. These kids deserve it. They have had a pretty tough year in girl's sports and they are hungry... they are still hungry. They know there are championships out there to be won. They were the first ones that said (Monday) night, Wednesday we finally get to play for our first championship of the year. I really feel the hunger in them and they are really, really focused," said Huggins.

Published 5/10/16

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Huge Win For Crawford

It's championship month in North Robinson and the Colonel Crawford Lady Eagles were up to the challenge on Monday night.

Sydney Studer fired a one-hitter and Colonel Crawford beat second place Upper Sandusky (1-0) to take a two game lead over Upper in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference standings.

Coach Chuck Huggins knows the importance of this month and he reminds his girls of that fact. "I just want them to know that all of the hard work they have put in in the month of April to put themselves in position to win some championships. That first championship that is always circled on our team goals is a conference championship and we went a long ways (Monday) night in putting ourselves in position to win that championship. I reminded the kids on Saturday after we got done with the Champions Challenge that we were switching over and the next time I saw them it would be May and May has always been championship month for us," said Huggins.

The game's only run came in the home half of the third inning when Alexis Burkhart singed, stole second, advanced to third on a bunt, and scored on a two out single by Lexi Hoepf.

Huggins says Studer, who carries a 0.28 ERA, and catcher Karissa Rowlinson, worked well together, against one of the better offensive softball teams in this area. "We talked about Sydney Studer, our sophomore ace, and her battery mate, Karissa Rowlinson. It is just so neat to see those two work together. The other nice things about that group is Sydney's grandpa, Carl Diebler, my longtime assistant, those three, the last half a dozen games, just to see the maturity in Sydney and Karissa. It is just so rewarding for Carl because he calls the pitches," he told Swankonsports.com after the win, "Just to see those three on the same page the way they are. I truly believe if you have excellent pitching, solid defense, and timely hitting, some awful good things are going to happen for your softball team."

Colonel Crawford (18-1,10-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com softball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Upper Sandusky (17-4,12-2) again on Tuesday. Huggins says that game is even more important to them. "That is the way our league is set up. It is set up that way to help baseball out, so they don't see number one pitchers on the baseball side. My exact words to the kids after we talked about the game (Monday) night were I said I want you to enjoy (Monday) night. Remember everyone is going to want to pat you on the back and tell you how well you did, so remember it is all about team in this program and they do a great job of doing that. The last thing I told them was when your heads come off the pillow (Tuesday) make sure you understand this is the most important game on our schedule, meaning the second Upper Sandusky game, because it is the one that is next and it is the one we have the opportunity to play, so we need to make sure we are ready to go. It kind of goes back to that word that was talked about earlier in the season and that word is now. That is exactly what happens (Tuesday)when we get ready to play Upper again. We have to concentrate on now," said Huggins.

Published 5/03/16

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Colonel Crawford Outscores Buckeye Central

Jake Johnson got the win on the mound and had a big day with the bat as Colonel Crawford outlasted rival Buckeye Central (10-6) in Northern 10 Athletic Conference baseball on Wednesday.

Johnson had three hits and four RBI for the Eagles (10-8,5-5) in the win over Buckeye. As a team, the Eagles rapped out 12 hits and coach Joe Swartzmiller says they were able to execute some fundamental things too. "Not only that, but some situational stuff too. Did some really good bunting for the first time. And the result of that was we scored some runs, which is great," he said.

Buckeye Central (9-8,3-9) scored four times in the fifth and still had the bases loaded with nobody out when Swartzmiller brought in Noah Thoman, who was able to get out of the bases loaded jam.

Back to .500 in the league, Crawford has started to play a little better, but Swartzmiller says they still need more consistency. "I don't know how to say it, but I don't know which team in going to show up," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, "Errors kind of hurt us (Wednesday) night. We hit the ball great and the pitching was solid. If we could just get all three phases of the game going we will be alright."

The two teams play again on Friday in "N10" play, this time in New Washington.

The tournament draw is Sunday and Swartzmiller believes their tough league play is going to help them come May. "Our schedule is going to help us come tournament time. Top to bottom the conference is having a great year. It has been tough, it has been competitive . It has really prepared us for tournament time," he said.

Published 4/28/16

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Colonel Crawford Stays Unbeaten

Colonel Crawford has been very good this year at winning tight games and Tuesday night was another example.

Sydney Studer fired a two-hitter and the Lady Eagles had no errors in route to a (2-1) win at Mohawk in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action.

Coach Chuck Huggins says their defense was tremendous and their focus was there on every play. "I was just so proud of my team. First of all, they have just done a great job so far of just tuning into us coaches and listening to me because I told them that we got into Mohawk pretty good at our place and beat them 11-1 a couple of weeks ago and haven't been able to play the second game because of weather, so (Tuesday) was make up day. I told the kids they are not same team and they are going to come at us pretty good. I was proud of them that they really bought into that. I was sincere about that I knew 11-1 was not indicative of how good Mohawk really is," he told Swaankonsports.com on Tuesday after the win, "They are really, really doing a good job of making every play. We had no errors (Tuesday) night. Sydney Studer, our ace pitcher, wasn't overpowering because she only stuck out seven. In a seven inning game there are 14 plays that have to be made out there. In the field we were flawless. I was proud of the way we played defense."

Huggins says there was a key play in the fifth inning that probably won the game for them and they have been able to make key plays like that at the right time. "On offense we happened to get the timely hit and score our two runs in the fifth. They had the same opportunity. In the bottom of the fifth they had runners at first and second and one out. Our third basemen, Alexis Burkhart, made a super play, back handed a ball down the line, stepped on the bag and went over the first. If we don't make that play the game is tied and we are probably still up there playing at ten o'clock in the evening. If you get good solid pitching, if you play really, really good team defense, and you get timely hitting, you are going to win ballgames. That has kind of been the formula that has worked for us this year," said Huggins.

Colonel Crawford (12-0,8-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com softball coaches poll in the small school division, plays Ridgedale (0-9,0-6) on Wednesday and Seneca East (4-5,4-3) on Thursday in league games. Huggins says the girls know they have to be ready for all of these teams. "As I told the kids right now we are everybody's seventh game of the World Series, as the saying goes, because they are coming at us and they know they have a shot at knocking off Crawford. It is just another situation where I can't emphasize enough how much the kids have bought into trusting each other and knowing that teams are going to come at us and it is going to be a dogfight every time we get out there on the field together," he said.

Published 4/20/16

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Crawford Finding Itself

Colonel Crawford has won five of its last six games and they are starting to become a dangerous team in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

The Eagles beat Ridgedale Monday (2-1) get over the .500 mark overall.

Coach Joe Swartzmiller says they are beginning to field the ball better and not give away runs and that has been key for them. "We are playing better defensively than we were. We had a bad defensive game against Seneca East, but other than that our defense has been picking it up," he told Swankonsports.com after the win, "We are trying to get these kids to focus more. That is the biggest thing, focus, staying focused. The mind starts to wonder a little bit."

Swartzmiller believes if they can continue to improve on defense that is something this team can count on day in and day out. "The other thing too, and I have been stressing this to the kids, is offense is always going to come and go. There will be good days and bad days. We are trying to get these kids to understand you can hang you hat on defense," said Swartzmiller.

Colonel Crawford (7-6,3-4) plays at Mohawk (5-3,2-2) on Tuesday, Mohawk to Seneca East (12-7) on Monday, in an "N10" game, play at home against Ridgedale on Wednesday, and at Seneca East, the defending conference champion, on Thursday. The Tigers beat Crawford (11-7) las Thursday, the Eagles only loss in the last week.

Swartzmiller says this week in the league is going to challenge their pitching again. "Oh my gosh, four a week? That's just killer. Actually, I am glad we are playing. I'm not complaining about that. You have to have some pitching. That is the hard thing right there," he said.

Published 4/19/16

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Lady Eagles Shut Down Bucyrus

Colonel Crawford remained unbeaten Wednesday as Sydney Studer fired a shutout and the Lady Eagles edged rival Bucyrus (1-0) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.

Coach Chuck Huggins says it was one of those games that came down to just a few plays and he thought they had really good execution. "It was a real good ballgame. We have a pretty good rivalry with Bucyrus and we have had some pretty good games over the years and this one was no exception. We found a way to scratch one across in the first. Our ace pitcher Sydney Studer worked together with our catcher Karrisa Rowlinson and our defense was stellar. It was just a good ballgame to be a part of. You wouldn't think a 1-0 ballgame would be, but there was just so much strategy. When you get in a ballgame like that every single pitch can make the difference in the game. I just thought our kids really, really responded well. We talk about mental toughness and I really thought they showed a lot of grit and a lot of mental toughness," said Huggins.

Colonel Crawford (7-0,3-0), #2 in the Swankonsports.com softball coaches poll in the small school division, scored on a wild pitch in the top of the first inning. Huggins says a real key for them was getting out of a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the first. "We pride ourselves in our defense. We know we have a pretty good young lady on the mound, but they still put the ball in play and we pride ourselves in playing good defense. A good example of that (Wednesday) night was the very first girl for Bucyrus rips a triple down the leftfield line and was standing a third base with no outs. They loaded the bases, but we were able to get out of it with no runs. They had an opportunity, but we really buckled down and got out of the inning and that was so key for us," said Huggins.

Colonel Crawford hosts Seneca East on Thursday and Bucyrus on Friday and travels to Wynford on Saturday for "N10" games. Huggins says they have done an excellent job this year of maintaining their focus. "We talked about that this whole past week when we were in the gym and watching the rain outside. I am so proud of my kids because they really stayed focused. I talk about making sure we make our weaknesses our strengths and our strengths even stronger," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night. "I just thought our kids after being outside for six ballgames and then having to come back in the gym I really felt we got a lot of good things done. It really showed (Wednesday) night winning a one run ballgame like we did."

Published 4/14/16

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Consistency the key for Crawford

Colonel Crawford, like everyone else, has been having trouble getting on the baseball field and that means that games are beginning to pile up.

As it stands now, the Eagles play four Northern 10 Athletic Conference games this week. They play at Wynford on Tuesday, if things dry out, then at Bucyrus on Wednesday, host Seneca East on Thursday and Bucyrus on Friday. That is a major league like schedule and things will only get more backed up if the weather doesn't improve and stay that way.

Coach Joe Swartzmiller says the weather has forced them inside and messed up their timing. "It has a huge affect. The biggest thing is timing. That is how baseball is built is timing. Timing is way off now. We need to play games to get timing back. We haven't been playing games and we have had mostly indoor practices now," he said.

Through the first two weeks of the season Colonel Crawford (2-2,0-1) has shown some inconsistency. Swartzmiller says that is what has been holding them back. "We have to be better in about everything we do. We really haven't been hitting the ball well, sometimes we have," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "Fielding has been off an on. Pitching has been off and on. Nothing has clicked. We are just trying to find it."

Baseball in Ohio has an inning restriction, 10 innings over a three day period is the max, and Swartzmiller says if all of these games get played this week some younger, more inexperienced kids, and going to have to take the mound. "I have some inexperienced kids that are going to be pitching. Sometimes that is exciting, but the flip side of that is you don't know. We are going to find out," he said.

Published 4/12/16

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Colonel Crawford Focused on Performance

Colonel Crawford has won all of its softball games so far, but they have to sort of forget about that and keep their focus on their next opponent.

If the weather allows that is going to Seneca East on Friday and again on Monday in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play.

Coach Chuck Huggins says they have to be ready to go at game time weather that is Friday, Monday or whenever. "Our kids have definitely bought into what we talk about. One of the main things I try to tell them is one simple word and that one word is now. We can't control what happened in the past, teams don't care that we are 6-0, they want to kick our butt even more. And there is nothing we can do about the future. What we have control of right now. That is why our total focus now is on Seneca East that we have coming up here in our next two games," said Huggins.

Because of the consistent success of the Colonel Crawford program, Huggins says whoever they play, in conference or out, that opponent will be ready to play them and that means they have to be ready too. "We take that as a complement. We use the simple phase that we feel like we are the seventh game of the World Series to some of these teams and we take that has a complement. We can't control what our opponent does, we can't control what the weather does, the only thing we can control is what we do as a program, as the 2016 Colonel Crawford softball team, we have total control over that. That is why we are focused on that one word and that one word is now," he said.

The Lady Eagles are off to a great start and they are proud of that, but Huggins stresses that a good start does not make a good season and he keeps reminding his players of that fact. "A good start means nothing. Teams are not remembered for how they start, but how they finish. So, we are very, very happy with the start we have," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "We are very, very proud that we are 6-0 and so is our fan base and everybody, but that does not matter at all when we get out there against Seneca East. It is just a mind set that you have to have that you know they are after us and we have to make sure that we take care of business right at that time."

Published 4/08/16

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Colonel Crawford Playing Well, Wanting More

Colonel Crawford is five for five on the season after a quality (11-1) win in six innings over Mohawk in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play on Wednesday and they want to keep getting out on the field.

Coach Chuck Huggins says they knew they had a some talent coming back, but they must continue to push to get better. "We knew we had a nice nucleus back with eight starters back and some young kids that were going to be pushing for some varsity time. You never expect to get off to quite this good of a start. However, I truly believe that I don't want to let a good start be mistaken for a good team. We just need to make sure, and I have used this term before, I am happy, but I am definitely not satisfied. It's okay when a few things go wrong here and there because that way it is a little bit of a eye opener and it gives you some things to work on. I have been laughing we are playing almost like a major league baseball schedule with all of the games we have been getting in and the good spring weather so far," said Huggins.

If the weather permits the Lady Eagles play Galion in a non-conference game on Thursday, Mohawk again in an "N10" game on Friday and a good Plymouth team in a doubleheader on Saturday. Huggins says the kids are excited to play. "You get on a row and the kids are excited and they are focused in on everything. We were fortunate enough to beat a pretty darn good Mohawk team (Wednesday.) We talked about the game afterwards and I told the girls I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but it looks like a little rain coming in (Thursday) so we may not get to play Galion," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, "Of course, Galion is a nice little rivalry with us. Our school districts are right next to each other. They were disappointed and they said right away that it gets rained out we have got to make it up. I said it is early enough in the season I think we will be able to do so. You can just tell by their demeanor how enthused they are. That is a very common thing in our program. Our kids play the game with a lot of excitement, a lot of emotion. It has just been fun to seem them grow together as they young season has gotten started."

With (5-0,1-0) start to the season, Huggins says they have played solid, well rounded ball. "A perfect example was the Crestline game the other day. We beat them 4-1. It doesn't matter if it is fast pitch softball or baseball. If you have good, solid pitching, good cloves behind them, timely hitting, things are going to happen. That is exactly what we did against Crestline, all three of those things really came together. Not just the Crestline game, but all five of all games," he said.

Published 3/31/16

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Crawford Poised to be Good

Colonel Crawford might be one of a bunch of good baseball teams this year in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference.

They certainly have some potential.

Coach Joe Swartzmiller says they have been able to out on the field during spring training and they have been able to show some pretty good things. "So far, so good. We have had some scrimmages for the first time in a long time. Going into the first scrimmage we hadn't seen any live pitching or live hitting and we did exceptionally well," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "That's what I am pleased with. We might be a little bit ahead, but we still have some kinks to get out of and little more development, but so far so good."

After some seasoning last year, Swartzmiller believes they are ready to compete in the conference this spring. "I'll tell you what talent wise we have a lot of talent. There are a lot of athletes on this team. We were young last year. I saw a lot of talent coming, but some of that talent just wasn't ready for varsity ball. Now, it's a year later and we just have to play to our talent level," he said.

Colonel Crawford plays Western Reserve in a non-conference game on Saturday. They begin the "N10" against Wynford on April 4 and 6 and Swartzmiller says it would be great to get off to a good start, but that is the case every year. "That would be great. The confidence boost. I would take that every year, but we will find out here," he said.

As far as the league is concerned, Swartzmiller says there are so many good teams that it is really hard to pick favorites. "They conference is very deep. It is very, very deep. It is going to be a great battle this year. I have talked to a couple of other coaches and the winner this year could easily have four losses. That is how deep it is, how competitive it is. There are a lot of seniors. A lot of good seniors this year. It's a great league," said Swartzmiller.

Published 3/22/16

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Colonel Crawford Hopes to be Really Good

Colonel Crawford is one of the traditional powers in girls' softball in North Central Ohio and this looks like it can be a very good year for the Lady Eagles.

Coach Chuck Huggins says they are going to be a team with a lot of varsity experience. "We are certainly excited about the up coming season that is for sure. We are fortunate, we only had one senior last year and that was Cassie Sager and she is off to Kent State and getting her bachelor's degree up there. We have eight starters back and 11 letter winners, so we are very, very excited. As we all know it starts in the pitching circle and we are fortunate to have Sydney Studer back as our number pitcher and she is only a sophomore. Her battery mate and catcher Krista Rollerson is also a sophomore and we have another excellent catcher in Abby Teglovic. We are just excited about getting things going and seeing how we can do this year," said Huggins.

With that big game experience, Huggins says his players are showing they have some pretty good leadership that they can pass down. "Our shortstop and second basemen are four year starters. if you think back to four years ago it was 2013 and those two young ladies, Lexi Hepp at shortstop and Jada Klingenberger at second base got to go all of the way to the state championship game and play in Akron Firestone Stadium. They are grizzled veterans and they know what it takes to get this team ready," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "They are great leaders for us along with our other two seniors Veria Scott and Taylor Lewis. It is just fun to watch them mingle and work with the younger kids and show them the ropes and help them get ready. It does put us a step ahead as we get ready for 2016."

The weather has been an unexpected plus this year for all of the softball and baseball teams in the area and Huggins says it certainly allows them to do some more things to get ready for the season. "After the last two brutal winters we have to go through here in Ohio we will take this kind of weather any day. I am looking outside at the grass right now. We have been out on our field many times. It just pays dividends because you can get an awful lot done in a gym, but I have often said that you create players in the gym, but you create teams out on the field. We break things down fundamentally is a gym, but having this great weather we can get out and put our team face together and get ready to go," he said.

With the way the basketball season was set up this year it has given spring sports an extra week to get ready. Huggins thinks that has been a real plus for them. "I think it has been huge. I understand why they did it. The started girls' and boys' basketball a week earlier because of Easter this year, so we got our girls a week earlier. I'll tell you what we haven't felt like we have had to squeeze things in here and there and be doing last minute things. It has helped that we have had that extra week to just get to know each other and get the young ones incorporated into what we do. Everybody has had that same opportunity. It's not just Colonel Crawford, it is going to be everybody that has had that extra week. I have really enjoyed it," said Huggins.

Published 3/17/16

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St. Mary's Stuffs Crawford

Sandusky St. Mary's held Colonel Crawford scoreless for nearly 12 minutes of the second half and they beat the Eagles (48-42) in a division four district semi-final at Willard High School Tuesday night.

The game was tied a 25 at the half and Colonel Crawford took a (28-27) lead on an Owen Adams field goal with 5:48 to play in the third quarter, but they didn't score again until Derek Burkhart's three with 2:03 to play in the game, which cut the Panthers lead to (41-31,) but it was too late.

Trenton Zimmerman scored 12 of his team high 17 points in the second half. Adams led Crawford with 18, Burkhart added 15.

St. Mary's (22-3) coach Lyle Falknor says they were able to score on the offensive glass and he says they did a tremendous job defending Crawford. "Our kids went to the glass really hard. We got a couple of easy buckets off that. I just thought defensively we played a really good ballgame. I was really proud of the way the kids played," he said.

Another Burkhart three with 14 seconds left provided the final margin.

Colonel Crawford (16-8) coach David Sheldon feels they got some good looks, they just didn't knock them down. "We just forgot to make shots. We didn't get bad shots they were good ones. Those were ones we have been making the last seven games. We just didn't make shots. It is not that we turned it over a lot. For the game we got six turnovers. We just forgot to make shots and that is the tough thing about tournament basketball. They are very athletic at every spot on the floor, we knew that going in with their length and their strength and that had something to do with us not making shots," said Sheldon.

Considering where they were six, seven weeks ago, Sheldon says this was a very good season for the Eagles. He says they got great leadership from their seniors and solid improvement from their underclassmen. "I am proud of our effort. When you look at middle January after the Wynford game and I talked about adversity and we faced a lot. I said what are going to do? It's just like life. These guys really turned it around in the month of February if you look at the finish we had in getting our fifth straight sectional championship," he told Swankonsports.com after the game, "Our young guys looked like puppies (Tuesday) night. Our sophomores have played so well and I thought they looked like deer in headlights a little bit. That is some of the growing pains you are going to go through when you play young kids. And credit my seniors they excepted them and that is a credit to them."

The Eagles had killed South Central with threes in their sectional final win and Falknor says they knew they could not leave the Crawford shooters open. "We just didn't help as much. We knew we couldn't help off the three point shooters and give them and inch. We knew if you give Burkhart and inch it's in the basket. We just didn't help. We challenged our guys to do a better job of playing man to man defense. I thought they did an outstanding job," he said.

Both of the Panthers big guys guarded Crawford's guards and Falknor say they can do that. "Those were switches on a flair screen that they run. The second half we did that because they hit a couple of shots the first half. Zimmerman is quick and so is (Luca) Mormina. Those guys can switch off on guards and do okay on them," he said.

Sheldon says players become part of the fabric of your life and that is what makes nights like Tuesday so tough. "You look at those four seniors in Owen and Derek and Will and Casey. We will miss them. They have been part of a special program. A lot of success the last four years. That is the tough thing about (Tuesday) night and tournament is saying goodbye because they are like my sons since the third grade. A lot times I spend more time with other people's kids than my own little daughters," said Sheldon.

Published 3/01/16

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Crawford Rolling Right Now

Teams want to be peaking at the end of season and right now Colonel Crawford is certainly one that is doing it.

They play Sandusky St. Mary's in the division four district semi-finals at Willard High School on Tuesday night.

They are coming off a (69-44) thrashing of Firelands Conference champion South Central on Friday night in the sectional championship game at Sandusky High School. Coach David Sheldon says they just played very well at both ends of the floor. "I was very proud of our guys. I thought offensively we did a great job of sharing the basketball. Made the extra passes and being patient at times when they need to be. Defensively to be able to hold a very good, explosive team, like South Central to 44 points was just a very good team effort because it was team defense that we worked on all week in preparation. It was nice to get our fifth straight sectional championship. It says a lot about our guys stepping up last Friday night," he said.

Sandusky St. Mary's (21-3), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is the outright Sandusky River League champion. Sheldon says they are a team that was predicted to be at this level due to their talent across the board. "I think they are very athletic. They have great length and they have great athletes on the floor when you look at those areas. They get out very well in transition offensively and they hit the offensive glass very hard. We know it starts with the Zimmerman boy. He is a 1,000 point scorer and just a special player. He can go inside and he can go out. Mormina, McGuire, Snow, and the list goes on. They are a very good basketball team," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "They have a lot of weapons and there is a reason they have won 21 games, that just doesn't happen. We are looking forward to the challenge. They the number one seed, so the pressure is on them. They are supposed to be here. This is a group of guys that they expected big things from. We are looking forward to the challenge of going over there and giving it our best shot."

Trenton Zimmerman scored 33 points and hauled in 10 rebounds in a (54-37) win over Lucas last Friday. Sheldon says he reminds him a lot of Buckeye Central's Grant Loy. "It is going to take great team defense when you have a player like that. He is a big kid, but he is athletic and he has great ball skills from the perimeter he can shoot the three. He is just a special player. He reminds me a lot of Grant Loy in our league. They are very much the same type of player. He is very good and it is going to take multiple guys to hopefully contain him. You have to be aware of their other guys as well because they have other guys that do special things as well," he said.

This the fifth straight district tournament for Colonel Crawford and they have twice been to the regionals during that time. Sheldon says they are confident and focused going into Tuesday night. "We have a lot of confidence right now. When you look at the way we finished the year and after our performance last Friday night and we are peaking at the right time, which you want to be doing in tournament. I think they have done a great job with game planning and preparation with what we want to defensively every night out and they know that is a big key this time of year. It is a group that is very focused. As I like to say they are playing for each other instead of their selves right now. We have got to continue that Tuesday night. We have to play together. They throw a lot of different defenses at you. We have to recognize and attack them in ways that we can. Defensively hopefully contain their athletes and their length all night long," said Sheldon.

Published 3/01/16

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Defense the Key for Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford will attempt to make its fifth straight tournament appearance, but it won't be easy as they must beat a conference champion to do it.

The Eagles (15-7) meet South Central (17-6), #5 in the final Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, and Firelands Conference champion, in the division four sectional final on Friday night at Sandusky High School.

Colonel Crawford has won five of its last seven games, their only losses to Buckeye Central, who has won seven in a row, and unbeaten Upper Sandusky. Coach David Sheldon says they have been executing well on both offense and defense. "When you look at our last seven games we have played really well. I am really proud of our guys. We are clicking at the right time of the year. That is what you want to be doing going into the second season tournament time. Defensively we have been defending very well against some high powered offenses," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "Offensively it is probably the best execution we have had all year. We have had three or four guys in double figures every night. We have been sharing the basketball. Just playing the game very well. We are excited to play Friday night for a championship again."

South Central beat Plymouth (82-78) in a first round game on Tuesday night. Sheldon says this is a high powered team. "They are Firelands Conference champions and have won 17 games. They are a very good basketball team. I think when you look at them offensively they have a lot of different weapons. They have multiple guys that can score. They get out in transition very well and they can really score the basketball. It is a game that we are going to have to lock them down at all positions because of their explosiveness. Brett Seidel has done a phenomenal job is his years there. We are looking forward to playing them in a championship game," said Sheldon.

When you are talking about two very good teams like this it is going to come down to a few plays at the end. Sheldon says they have to be ready to step up at those moments. "It is one possession at a time. When you have a team as good as South Central and with our success it comes down to kids making plays. That is what it comes down to when you look at the whole picture of what is going on. We have had a great week of preparation. We took the bye like we have done the last four years with our success in the tournament. Our kids have done a phenomenal job of focusing for four days getting ready to play Friday night. It is going to come down to kids making plays for 32 minutes," he said.

Published 2/26/16

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Colonel Crawford Finding Itself

Colonel Crawford has become familiar with tournament success and they appear to be peaking for what is a very difficult division four tournament.

Excluding a (52-33) loss to rival Buckeye Central last Friday, coach David Sheldon believes his team has been playing some pretty good basketball and that includes a (55-53) loss to unbeaten Upper Sandusky on Saturday. "Take away the Buckeye game, give Buckeye credit they played a heck of a game both offensively and defensively, and we struggled on offense all night, but other than that if you look over the last two weeks we played really well. We bounced back Saturday and played really well against the number two team in division two. It was a tough loss at the end. I think our offense was very good Saturday night after struggling Friday. I thought we shored up some things that can help us this week and going into the sectional championship the next Friday night. Even though we lost two I think we are peaking," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "We have made a lot of line up changes all year. We are playing three sophomores a lot right now. It took us a while to get their feet wet. At the end of the year you want to play what your best lineup is and that has been an adjustment and a roller coaster all year just to figure that out and I think we have started to here at the end."

At the beginning of the season the Eagles were pretty much a perimeter shooting team, but Sheldon says now they are showing the ability to score inside too. "We are starting to get some production in there. Our guards are not just falling in love with the three, we are putting the ball on the floor and finish at the rim with a pull up jumper. I think we are becoming a more versatile basketball team," he said.

Colonel Crawford (14-7,10-5) is at home for Carey (10-11,8-7) on Friday night in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game. The Blue Devils beat Crawford (58-52) on January 9. Sheldon says they are a very good perimeter team that should prepare them well for the tournament. "It's a team that really loves to shoot the three. It's a team that they can all score from the three point line and one post they put inside. It is a great similarity to what we are going to see the following week with Plymouth or South Central , whoever wins that. So, it's a great tune up. It is a our last game for our seniors. It is a team that beat us earlier in the year. We had played them on Saturday night after our first Upper game, probably our toughest week of the year, two games on the road, at Upper, at Carey. So, it's a very good basketball team, they have a lot of weapons, they love to shoot the three. We are going to have to be able to guard everybody for 32 minutes," said Sheldon.

Published 2/19/16

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Upper Edges Crawford; Stays Unbeaten

Upper Sandusky survived a scare and outlasted Colonel Crawford (55-53) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Saturday night in North Robinson.

It was an ending you don't see every day, in fact, this reporter has never seen it before.

The final margin came on two Wes Vent free throws with .9 seconds left after Colonel Crawford was whistled for a technical foul for having six players on the floor. "Tough way to lose. We drew up in the huddle where we wanted guys on the foul line and one of the guys stood out there and I didn't recognize it. We take the blame as coaches for not recognizing what we drew up in the huddle. Give my kids credit that is the number four team in the state in division two. We took them right down to the wire. It is sad that it had to end that way. I give credit to our kids, they never backed down all night. Offensively we were ball tough against a very good basketball team. Proud of my kids after a tough loss (Friday) night they came back and responded and gave it everything for 32 minutes," said Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon.

Trailing by one, Colonel Crawford's Derek Burkhart drilled a three pointer from the left wing to give the Eagles the lead (53-51) with 19 seconds left. Upper Sandusky then worked the ball to leading scorer Wes Vent, who missed a twisting jump shot under pressure, but the ball was rebounded by Noah Dible and he was fouled with .9 left. After he made the first free throw it was determined that Crawford had six players on the floor and the technical was called. Dible then connected on his second free throw to tie the score and Vent swished the pair to give the Rams the lead.

"I told those guys, yeah we got a break, but we earned that break. Sometimes you have to earn the breaks you get and we did because for Noah Dible it is not unusual. He is one of our leading rebounders, one of our leading offensive rebounders. He is the best offensive rebounding point guard I have ever had and it doesn't surprise me that he stepped up to make that play. That was a big play, without that the game is over," said Upper Sandusky coach Jeff Winslow.

Upper Sandusky (21-0,16-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, is one the few unbeaten teams in the state. Winslow says even after Burkhart's shot he had confidence they would win. "He made a shot, but our guys believe in a close game we win. I just thought we get the ball in and get the ball to Wes and let him try and win the basketball game. We have a lot of gritty guys that just don't believe they are going to use. I just thought we would make a play to win the game and we did," he said.

Colonel Crawford (14-7,10-5) had the lead for most of the game. Burkhart and Brody Martin both hit two trees in the first quarter as the Eagles took a (20-14) lead. The led by as many as 10 in second quarter (28-18) and held nine point lead (34-25) at the half. "I don't think their defensive pressure hurt us as much as the first time. We got great driving lanes. I thought we got to the basket and then we got kick out threes. We attacked their man to man defense. It is what it is," said Sheldon.

Vent scored 12 points, on threes, as Upper tied the score (40-40) after three quarters. "He finally made a shot. Once he makes a shot and starts feeling it and things are going for him. How we get going is defensively. We turned up the defensive pressure and quit giving up driving layups and get out on the break and get easy looks for him," said Winslow.

Upper Sandusky had won the first match-up easier (60-39) at Upper, but Winslow says he knew what to expect. "We knew that coming in. David Sheldon is the best coach in this league. They have a winning tradition, they have some tough kids, and we knew coming over here was going to be a battle. We just told our kids that was decided to stay the course throughout the game and go on some runs. They had a lot of energy early. I think we did that (Saturday) night," he said.

Vent led everybody with 27, 21 in the second half and Dible chipped in with 16. Sophomore Hayden Bute led Colonel Crawford with 16. Burkhart had 11.

Published 2/13/16

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Crawford to be Tested

After losing four out of five games, the Colonel Crawford Eagles have won four straight heading into one of their more difficult weekends of the season as they travel to Buckeye Central on Friday and host "N10" champion Upper Sandusky on Saturday night in conference games.

Lat week, the Eagles beat Ridgedale (55-39) on Friday in a conference game and Plymouth (56-38) in a non-league game on Saturday night. Coach David Sheldon thought they executed well. "I was very happy, we had a great weekend. We played well offensively having two or three guys in double figures. We made some lineup changes at the midway point and I really think it is starting to benefit us at the offensive end and we haven't lost a game since then. Friday night at Ridgedale, that was a great win, the week before they had beaten Buckeye. To go down there and get a 16 point victory I was very happy. After a short turnaround we beat Plymouth, who had beaten some good teams throughout the year. We have been very happy overall to string four wins in a row. It is a great time you year to be playing good basketball heading into the tournament at the end of February," said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (14-5,10-3) plays at rival Buckeye Central (12-6,9-4) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night. Sheldon says they can't let Grant Loy explode on them if they are to be successful. "Phil Loy is a great friend of mine and I have the up most respect for his program. They have one of the best players in the area when you look at Grant Loy. He has been phenomenal for four years and he is ending his career on a great, high note. He is very good, but they have other guys around him that are very good as well. When Buckeye and Crawford get together we are each going to know each other's stuff. They are going to know us and we are going to know them," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "It comes down to kids making plays at that is the bottom line. What kids can make plays through the 32 minute game. It is a challenge going over the New Washington on Friday night, but we are looking forward to it. These last three games are great teams to be playing heading into the tournament. The league championship is wrapped up with Upper Sandusky and now we are going to play some great teams to prepare us for a sectional championship at the end of February."

Grant Loy is one the better players in the district and Sheldon says because of his versatility there aren't any easy answers when it comes to stopping him. "The thing about Grant is he can go inside or he can go outside. He can do it all. He is one of the best overall players I have seen in a long time in the Mansfield area because he is so versatile. Being a coach's son I have a lot of respect for him because being one myself. It's nice to see him finish up with a great career. We are looking forward to playing against him one more time come Friday night," he said.

Upper Sandusky (19-0,13-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the large school division, and the outright "N10" champ comes calling on Saturday night. Sheldon says the Rams know what they are good at. "They have a lot of weapons. They are very good. There is a reason they are undefeated. They have so many offensive weapons, but their defensive pressure is still good. You try to control pace, but they try to speed you up with the way they defend. They are very good basketball team and their is a reason they are the "N10" champs this year. They is a special group of kids going though this year and next year at Upper Sandusky. Coach Winslow has done an outstanding job getting them to play the style of basketball that meets their needs. It will be a challenge on Saturday night," he said.

Published 2/10/16

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Colonel Crawford back to Being Pretty Good

After a little swoon in January, the Colonel Crawford Eagles are back on track as they try to get themselves ready for what should be a pretty good division four tournament.

They beat Bucyrus (51-27) last Saturday and coach David Sheldon is pretty pleased with what he sees right now. "January is always that grind month for basketball. Winter sports is the longest season of any high school athletics. We have got through that and getting two wins in a row definitely helped. Wining helps when you have been in a little bit of a downfall. I thought we hit the wall a little bit in January. I don't know what reason that is. We had all of those games early and I thought we hit the wall. We really picked it up the last two games. Now we have got a great test going into the tournament, which I like as a coach. When you look at our league games with Ridgedale, Buckeye, Upper and Carey those are great tests going into a division four super sectional tournament," said Sheldon.

Crawford (12-5,9-3) will be at Ridgedale (8-7,5-6) for a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night. The Rockets beat Buckeye Central (66-57) on Saturday and Sheldon says they have a pretty good starting line-up to work with. "Their first five is real good. The have three of the leading scorers in the league in Britton, Eldridge and Burton. They are all really good and have played a lot of basketball already as juniors and seniors playing at a young age. They are coming off a very big win last weekend versus Buckeye against a really talented team and we have to go down to their place, so it is going to be a big challenge for us to see how we respond," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "When you look at the four league teams that we have left they are all above .500. So, it is a tall task for us and we are looking forward to the challenge. It's like the tournament before the tournament when you look at these four games and a non-league Saturday night with Plymouth that is in our sectional."

Defense has been the corner stone of the Crawford program over the years and Sheldon says that is what they are relying on right now. "I think the last two games we have gotten back to defending. We have done a good job. We went through a stretch there were we struggled and gave up a lot of points. Offensively we are still a work in progress. We have struggled a little bit offensively throughout the year. The good thing is we have had some different guys step up lately and that's what you need, you need some balance, and I think we have gotten that. We are playing three sophomores that have gotten more comfortable playing varsity basketball now that you are at the end of the year. Now, we will see how it is against very good teams," he said.

On Saturday night, the Eagles host Plymouth (5-12) in a non-league game. Sheldon says he expects to see the team that beat both South Central and New London. "I went and watched then (Tuesday) night against Christian. Christian played a whale of game on defense and offense. When you look at their schedule they have beaten New London and South Central, two of the leaders when you look at the top of the Firelands Conference. It's been a team where you don't what is going to show up. We know we are going to get their best shot. We have had some great games over the last several years in their great run with Tyrell and the boys. This is different team, but they have several players off those really good teams. It is going to be tough anytime it is a back to back game Friday-Saturday. That Saturday game is a lot of mental toughness when you come down to it," said Sheldon.

Published 2/04/16

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Crawford wants to Carry Some Momentum

Colonel Crawford is going to need a lot of things to happen to win another Northern 10 Athletic Conference title this season, but they still have some things they can accomplish, mainly in the postseason.

After getting clobbered by rival Wynford (71-50) on Friday night and getting beat pretty much in every way, the Eagles responded with a (73-43) win at Seneca East in an "N10" game on Saturday night. Coach David Sheldon says they came ready to play. "I was really happy with the way we responded Saturday night after a tough loss. Like I said you have to credit Wynford, they played exceptionally well offensively and defensively and had a great night against us. I was really happy Saturday our kids bounced back," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "To go on the road after an emotional loss the night before and win by 30 was a real credit to our kids. We made the extra pass. When you look at our assists from Saturday compared to Friday we played better, together as a team. Our kids responded very well. Hopefully we can build some momentum off of that going into this Saturday, then February and the tournament."

Colonel Crawford has some very good perimeter shooters like Owen Adams, Derek Burkhart and Brody Martin and Sheldon if they continue to move the ball like they did against Seneca East they are going to get more open shots. "I think what kids need to realize is when you get more ball movement and reversals when you get stopped in transition, you are going to get better shots when you make the defensive move and I though we did that Saturday. Three guys were in double figures. When we have multiple guys in double figures that makes you harder to guard. We have multiple guys that can score double figures on any night. We just have to go out and execute like that every night," he said.

Bucyrus (1-14,1-9) will be at Colonel Crawford (11-5,8-3) for an "N10" game on Saturday night. The Redmen won their first game of the season on Saturday night when they downed Mohawk (53-45) and Sheldon says they are going to bring some energy into the game. "They are coming off their first win and there is some excitement about that first win. They have some really good young kids. They are playing some sophomores and even a freshman. Tony (Rose) has done a good job of getting those kids ready to go. They have some seniors and juniors that have also been contributing. The biggest thing for them is they are coming off a win. They are going to be excited coming over here. It is an emotional game for them when you look at the Crawford County rivals. So, we have to come out and play. As I told our kids we get everybody's best shot. With the way our program has been over the last six years having been successful we get everybody's best shot no matter what they do. They are coming off a big win. It is at our place and hopefully we come out and are able to do what we need to do to be successful come Saturday night," said Sheldon.

Published 1/29/16

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Colonel Crawford Needs Wins

Colonel Crawford needs to win the rest of its conference games and get some help if they are going to share in Northern 10 Athletic Conference title this year.

They trail Upper Sandusky by two games.

After losing two straight conference games, the Eagles got back on track with a (51-34) win at Mohawk on Saturday night. Coach David Sheldon says he liked their effort and execution. "To bounce back after a really tough stretch in the schedule I was really happy. We had to go on the road to get a 17 point victory. I was proud of the way our kids responded and did what we needed to do. It was nice to get back on the floor and I thought our kids played really well. We played a very good New Riegel team last week as well as played right down to the wire and just came up a little bit short. To go on the road after only one days preparation I was proud of our kids," he said.

Colonel Crawford (10-4,7-2) plays at home against rival Wynford (7-6,5-4) on Friday night in an "N10" game. They beat the Royals (72-36) on December 11, but Sheldon says it will be closer his time. "I think it is definitely a team that has gotten better as they year has gone on. I think they are more comfortable now with the new coach setting in. He has made some lineup changes with what thy are doing. Starting four guards it is a totally different team than we saw at the beginning of the year," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "We are going to have our hands full Friday night when they come over here. They have great guard play and a couple of bigs inside that they rotate. It is a much improved basketball team and we knew that would happen throughout the year when the new coach got settled in and the kids understood his expectations."

Wynford is playing better defense and Sheldon says that means they have to also. "You have to guard them. You have to play great defense. A lot of times they will have four guys on the floor that can shoot the ball and put the ball ion the floor. It comes down to playing good one on one defense and get good rotation. We must be able to defend them they are good in transition. They run the floor very well. They have went back to playing a lot of man to man defense. At the beginning of year they were play a little 1-3-1, but now it's mostly man and they have great athletes over there. So, we are looking forward to the Crawford County rival and it's nice to be playing at our place Friday night," said Sheldon.

They have to keep winning to have a chance at defending the league title and Sheldon says they have a tournament seed to pursue as well. "When you talk about Upper they are in a league of their own right now. They are a very talented basketball team. We have been talking since we were two back that every game is important when it comes to the tournament too. This is a Wynford team that is in our tournament and if we want to get one of the higher seeds we have to keep winning basketball games and taking care of Colonel Crawford," he said.

Published 1/22/16

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Crawford has to Fight Back

Colonel Crawford lost two games in a row for the first time since 2013 last weekend when they were drilled by Upper Sandusky and then upset by Carey in Northern 10 Athletic Conference games on both Friday and Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says they got beat by a better team in Upper Sandusky (60-39) and then got too far behind the next night against Carey (58-52.) "Upper is a very good basketball team. They are well coached and they just have athletes and players of all sizes. Their defensive pressure really took us out of a lot of things we wanted to do on offense. It was an old fashion butt whopping of Friday night," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "The we have to turn around and go to Carey. We knew this was going to be a tough stretch having to go to Upper and Carey. On Saturday out of the gate we are down 21-4, just got off to a terrible start against a Carey team that shot the ball really well. We were able to cut it to two, but we couldn't get over them hump. It was a tough back to back, but we have to regroup. That is the task that we have has this Thursday its another tough non-league game as New Riegel comes to town and is a very good basketball team."

It is sort of a gut check time for the Eagles and Sheldon says now is when you find our if you have leaders. "We always talk to our seniors about what is going to be your legacy in this program with the level of success that we have had. We need to keep getting better because their is a lot to play for. When you look at the basketball tournament once you get into February in division four we talked about the last two district champions have a lost five our six games and were able to make the regional. There is still a lot to play for even though we are going to need a lot of help and I don't know if that is going to happen in our league with as good as Upper Sandusky is," he said.

Crawford hosts New Riegel (8-2) of the Sandusky River League on Thursday in a non-conference game and Sheldon says again this year the Blue Jackets have a lot of talent. "I think they are very good at all positions. They have kids that can shoot it. They have kids that can drive it. And they play together so well. They all play so hard because they are passionate about the game and we have to match that. Their only two losses are to good teams when you look at Upper Sandusky and Sandusky St. Mary's. It will be a great test Thursday to see how we respond and how we react to some adversity. This is a possible tournament opponent when you look at division four. We are looming at it as a challenge and it will be interesting to see how they respond to the adversity of last week," said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (9-3,6-2) plays at Mohawk (3-7,2-6) in the opening of the second round of league play on Saturday night. The Eagles won the first match up (45-31) and Sheldon knows this won't be an easy one. "They played us tough at our place and we were fortunate to get a win. This is a team that has gotten better and we have to go back on the road. Anytime you go on the rode anything can happen. In the second round your execution is so vital because people have seen you and they are going to try and take some of your options that worked the first time," he said.

Published 1/13/16

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Mental Toughness the Key for Crawford

The old cliché is a team is still conference champion until somebody beats them and in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference that team is Colonel Crawford.

Right now, they are tied with Upper Sandusky for the conference lead and they play at Upper on Friday night.

Last week, the Eagles (9-1,6-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, beat Ridgedale (64-55) and Buckeye Central (47-42) in conference games and Northmor (44-42) in a non-league game.

Coach David Sheldon says they did what they had to do to win. "I was proud of our guys. We showed a lot of confidence and resiliency. We played five games over Christmas break. Our guys did a great job of hanging together. In various games our defense was good and some days when our offense wasn't good we fought through some adversity in games. We talk about fighting through adversity even when you are winning and we had adversity throughout some of those games and found a way to get some big wins. We have played 10 games in 31 days and it is nice to get back to practicing before we play a big weekend coming up," he said.

Upper Sandusky (10-0,7-0), #3 in our large school poll, has rarely been challenged this year, however, New Riegel took them to a three point game (76-73) in their last game.

Sheldon says they execute the fast break well, they rebound the ball, and the force turnovers with their press. "They are a very good basketball team. They were the team the media picked to win it all. We are very fortunate to be where we are at right now as we go over there and this game means something early in the year. The league championship will not be won or lost this weekend, but it will have a big impact on it. You talk about their explosiveness. I think there are three things when you look at Upper Sandusky," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "Number one, they are so good at transition offense, make or miss they really push the basketball looking to score and put pressure on you. Second of all they do a nice job of getting to the offensive glass getting second shots. Third, they put defensive pressure on you for 32 minutes in the full court and the half court to try and take you out of stuff. We are going to have to handle it. We are looking forward to the opportunity to go their place on Friday night in a tough environment. Hopefully we can give it our best shot,"

Most teams have not been able to handle the Upper press this year, some have not handled it at all, and Sheldon says that is going to be a big key for them. "We are going to have to have a lot of mental toughness when you look at the 32 minutes. You have to be strong to play against this type of basketball team. I think that will be key. I think it helps with some of the games that we have had lately and having to play that way for 32 minutes. This is a different animal that we are attacking on Friday night and looking forward to this opportunity of going over there. We are still the defending champs and I told our guys this week that we have to go over there with some confidence and try to get out of there with a victory," said Sheldon.

Published 1/08/16

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Eagles with Two Tough League Games

Colonel Crawford shares first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference with the Upper Sandusky Rams and they face two league games in three days this week.

They travel to Ridgedale on Monday and host Buckeye Central on Wednesday.

Coach David Sheldon says he is not concerned about playing these important games during the holidays. "It really doesn't concern me because we have been through this through the years. We took a few days off and were back in the gym Saturday to prepare for Ridgedale first Monday and then Buckeye Wednesday. I always say goal number one is a league championship and we have two very good league teams we are playing. Monday night, Ridgedale, they have all of their starters back from last year. They got a big win last week versus Carey that we got to see. Buckeye is starting to roll and play real well. Most importantly Monday night going down to Ridgedale. Over the break it is sort of like weekend games because we don't have to worry about school, English and math and stuff, we are in basketball mode," said Sheldon.

Crawford (6-1,4-0), # 4 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, will be at Ridgedale (3-3,1-3) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Monday night. The Rockets beat Carey (55-48) last Wednesday. Sheldon says they feature an excellent starting five and are starting to play with confidence. "The first five are really good. They have a really good first five. Their bench is not really strong, but he doesn't go to the bench unless they are in foul trouble. They had the same situation last year and these are two, three, four year lettermen that are playing for them now. They are playing very well. They are playing with confidence and we have to go on the road down there. It will be a challenge for us. When you look at the league we are still 4-0 and this is a league game. We have talked about our league schedule being a marathon and this is step five Monday night at Ridgedale," said Sheldon.

Buckeye Central (5-3,4-1,) in the third place in the "N10" comes to North Robinson on Wednesday. Sheldon looks for another good one in this long rivalry. "It goes through Grant Loy. He is one the best, if the best player in our league. He is a very good player. He has been around and through the wars and on successful teams. He can go inside, he can go outside. The Shade kid, the post player playing next to him is a very good player as well. He has had some big games and has really matured. Then they have a good point guard in Scotty Heydinger that has played for a long time over there and runs the show and controlling things defensively. They have good guards around them," he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday, "That is going to be a tough game. Every time it is Buckeye-Crawford it's war and it comes down to the fourth quarter and last possessions. We will worry about that come Monday night after Ridgedale, but first of all we have to worry about Ridgedale. Earlier in the year Ridgedale took Buckeye to a four point game at Buckeye."

Published 12/28/15

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Crawford Plays Mansfield Christian

In a possible preview of a March division four tournament game Colonel Crawford travels to Mansfield Christian to play the Flames on Monday night.

The Eagles (5-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, lost their first game of the season on Saturday night when they fell to Convoy Crestview (44-33) in a game that was played at Bluffton University.

Coach David Sheldon says they played outstanding defensively, they just had trouble to getting the ball in the basket. "It was a great experience, first of all at great facility, and against one of the better teams in Western Ohio in D-4, they are ranked third in some of the preseason polls in the State of Ohio. They are coming off their regional and state run of a couple of years ago. I was very happy with the way we competed. Once again defensively we really guarded well. Overall, we just couldn't put the ball in the hole at key opportunities throughout the game. It a good non-league game. There was nothing to lose and a lot to gain when it comes to where we have to go in February and March. I am happy with our kids effort we just forgot to make some baskets (Saturday) night at Bluffton University," said Sheldon.

Mansfield Christian (2-2) is coming off a (42-33) loss to Kidron Central Christian in Mid-Buckeye Conference play on Friday night. They are missing Stevie Brown, a point guard lost to the Flames for the season due to a knee injury.

Sheldon says the Flames are tough on defense and disciplined on offense. "First of all they are very well coached. John Kurtz does a great job. You know they will get up into you defensively and get in passing lanes. The are going to play extremely hard and "The Furnace" is a tough place to play. It's out 6th game in 11 days. We have to forget about (Saturday) night and get back to work. We have an NBA schedule right now," he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday, "Offensively they have the Mount kid that has played since his freshman year, a very good player, the Cross kid inside, and some good players around them. They are going to run their four out around one and few sets. They always make sure that they take great shots. It should be a very tough game Monday night before we get into Christmas break."

Sheldon knows this is a game to make a statement. "We talked about that. This is a team in our super sectional tournament. This a team we could see down the road. We have played them before in the division four tournament with stuff on the line in the post season. It will be a good non-conference game Monday night when we go down to "The Furnace," he said.

Published 12/21/15

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Colonel Crawford Shooting Better, Playing Better

Colonel Crawford shot the ball a lot better last weekend and that resulted in two quality wins.

They beat Wynford (72-36) and Seneca East (75-59) in Northern 10 Athletic Conference games last Friday and Saturday. Coach David Sheldon says their offensive efficiency was a whole lot better. "I was really happy with our offensive efficiency. Remember last week I said we needed a lot of improvement on the offensive end and with the points we put up and the efficiency. We took care of the basketball. We had 11 or less turnovers in each game and I was very happy with our production with the amount of points we put on the scoreboard. Defensively we still did a very good job on Friday night. Saturday night we got beat up in the post a little bit, but overall did a good job winning by 15 points. We are very happy with our production on the offensive end and the defensive consistency continued throughout the weekend. On double league weekends that make a difference when ultimately your first goal is to win a conference championship," said Sheldon.

Derek Burkhart established a new school record with 10 three pointers on Saturday against Seneca East.

With the ability to score out of the post and from the perimeter, Sheldon says they have some versatility on offense. "We have guards that can really shoot the basketball, but then we also have some bigs. We are getting 18 to 20 points from our four bigs every night, so we have some posts as well. Last week, we shot the ball really well. We got 12 three on Friday and 12 threes on Saturday nigh, but we have a post game that can score for us too. The posts are doing a good job. At the defensive end our athleticism and strength, all of hard work in the weight room is paying off in allowing us to defend different people based on their strengths," he said.

Colonel Crawford (4-0,3-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, in a share of first place in the "N10" with Upper Sandusly, plays at Bucyrus (0-5,0-2) in an "N10" game on Thursday night. Sheldon says won't take a win for granted. "We are going to get their best shot. Anytime we play Bucyrus, I have always said, this is a big game for them. Anytime they play Colonel Crawford they are really going to pump this game up, their kids get up, their community gets up to play against us, so we know we are going to get their best shot. Yes, they have struggled with wins and losses, but they are going to come out and give us their best shot. We have to step up and guard them right out of the gate. It's a road game at their place," said Sheldon.

On Saturday night, the Eagles travel over to Bluffton University to face Convoy Crestview. Sheldon says it will be a great opportunity. "It's a great measuring stick for us. It is a non-league and a lot of people had them ranked number three in the state in division four. It is a team that two years ago won the state championship and went undefeated. They have two great seniors that played on that team and some young kids that are very talented. We have started to pick up some these games non-league because down the road our goal is a sectional and district, get to a regional. We have been fortunate the last four years to two regionals and two district runners up and these are the types of games we need to pick up non-league What a great opportunity for our kids," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "Bluffton University has a brand new basketball facility. It is going to be an arena like atmosphere that our kids will be playing in on a college campus. Their coach is a great friend of mine. He played with me when I was at Bluffton. He was a shooting guard when I was a point guard. Bluffton wanted to get two alumni to say hey the program is back. It is definitely going to be a challenge. We are going to come out and give it our best shot on Saturday evening."

Published 12/16/15

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Colonel Crawford Battling

Colonel Crawford may not have won as many games as they would have liked, but effort is there and their coach believes they will start to turn it around.

The lost (56-47) to Bucyrus on Saturday and coach Kyle Fenner says they are facing a little adversity right now. "Our kids are working hard. It has been a little bit of a struggle. We really haven't played quite as well as we wanted to play. We are kind of going through some things. We are battling some injuries. We are going to get one of them back this week. We are continuing to work hard, we are getting better, and hopefully that is going to pay off with some wins," said Fenner.

Crawford has one of the more successful girls' programs in the area down through the years and Fenner says he knows the players believe in themselves. "We have had some success. It has not been a lack of effort. Our kids have come to practice and worked hard every day and they play hard. We have been in every single game we have played. We have to continue to work hard and believe in our system and believe in each other and those things are going to pay off for us," she said.

Colonel Crawford (3-5,1-3) is at Ridgedale (0-6,0-4) on Tuesday night in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action. The Lady Rockets have struggled this year. They lost (86-31) to Buckeye Central on Saturday. Fenner says their goal is to get better at their stuff. "It is a focus game for us. In our scouting report (Monday) night we talked about the fact that they have struggled. We need to go down and concentrate on us and we need to do the things right and do things better that we can make ourselves better at the end of (Tuesday) night," she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "It is a not a game we are taking lightly. We had a good practice (Monday). We expect to step on the floor (Tuesday) and be focused and be better in the end."

Published 12/15/15

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Crawford Needs to Reduce Turnovers

Colonel Crawford is the defending Northern 10 Athletic Conference champion and they face a tough double weekend in the conference with games against Wynford and Seneca East.

The Eagles beat Crestline (54-27) and then downed Mohawk (45-31) on Saturday night in their league opener. Coach David Sheldon was happy with their execution on defense, but not so much on offense. "I thought we were fantastic on defense in both of the games. When you look at the defense we were very good in both games. offensively we got off to a slow start in both games. Just rhythm and some unforced errors that was have to clean up. With only having nine days of practice we were happy get out of there with two wins. It has been nice to go back this week and have four practices to get ready for a big, double league weekend. It was nice to just get back to some fundamentals that we need to work on to get this thing rolling where we expect to be. We still have a long way and some improvements to make on offense mostly to get where we want to be," said Sheldon.

It is not the shooting that is they problem on offense, Sheldon says they turned the ball over way too much against Mohawk. "We are getting great shots, we have just had some unforced turnovers. There were some possessions where we would go empty because of some unforced turnovers. We stress in our program once possession at a time. It was like we were trying to hit a home run instead of singles all of the way down the floor. So, I think that is the biggest thing. Offensively, in the half court we have to take care of the basketball and different fundamentals that we need to do to be successful. We are getting shots up. Our shooting percentage is good. We just had some unforced errors that we had to clean up in order to compete on a nightly basis," he said.

Crawford (2-0,1-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays across town at Wynford (2-1,1-0) on Friday night. Sheldon says they have a nice blend of talent and experience. "It is a veteran team. They have six kids on their roster that have played varsity basketball, so they have been through the trenches. It is a new coach. They are coming off a big win last Saturday at Ridgedale. Two of their guards in Crall and Tea are really good guards and have been around there for a while. They have bigs inside, so they are balanced," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "Defensively, they change up a lot. They'll go some zone, they'll go some man. They will trap a little bit. It is a little mix of everything defensively. They definitely have the athletes. I have said all along the senior class over there is a good class. They have a lot of varsity experience. Anytime it is a Crawford County rival it's going to be a big crowd from two great comminutes. We are going to have to come ready to play in order to try and get a victory on Friday night."

Seneca East (1-2,0-1) comes calling on Saturday night. Sheldon says the Tigers are improved. "They have gotten better. Todd Eichols has been hired, the old New Riegel coach, and he does a great job. I have got to see one time in person and then on film. They are doing the right things. So, I think it is a team that is going to get better as the year goes on. They have a lot of guys back that played varsity basketball last year. Anytime it is a double league weekend, it's a tough one. These are the weekends that are big if you want to be in contention for a league title come the end of the year," he said.

Published 12/10/15

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Wednesday is Opening Night For Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford, the defending champion in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, gets its season started on Wednesday night, when they travel to Crestline for a non-conference game.

Due to their long run in the football playoffs, the Eagles did not start the season last weekend. However, coach David Sheldon says they were able to get some work in to prepare for the season. "It was nice last week we were able to get a scrimmage in. Over the weekend when we were supposed to open up we were able to scrimmage a couple of other football teams that were able to make a playoff run. It is nice to get on the floor and play in some game situations. I think one of the biggest things early in the season is being able to get our conditioning back, the speed we want to play at, we are still working on that in getting our legs back. Our kids have come in with a fantastic attitude," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "We have had a couple of two a day practices. They understand the system because we have been here for 10 years, so it is not like we are reinventing the wheel. I think our guys are excited. Now the games are here and in the month of December we have nine games. So, every week you are playing two games a week, some weeks three. I think we are excited to get going and we will see what happens when open up on he road (Wednesday) night at Crestline."

Not that they can't execute in the half court, but Sheldon says this team is going to be best when they can get out and run for the floor and get some easy chances. "We want to get out and go. I think we have a little bit deeper bench than we have had over the years. We have good guard play and then we have an inside presence that can score inside as well. We definitely want to get out and run, but then if we can't get something we will get into out half court offenses that we do. I definitely think we want to speed the tempo if we can and then depending on what the defense gives us on a nightly basis," he said.

Crestline, now part of the Mid-Buckeye Conference, has been part of Colonel Crawford's schedule for a number of years. Sheldon says they are going to be pretty young to start the season. "They are a young team. They have one starter back in the Gregory kid, who is a very nice player. They are very young and inexperienced at the varsity level. They have a new coach. They are going to be excited to play at home. Opening night is always opening night. We have only got three guys that have played varsity basketball, so we are anxious to see what these other guys do when they turn the lights on. It is different from practices or a scrimmage. We have to go over there and compete and try to play to our strengths. We will see how the ball bounces before we open league play then on Saturday," said Sheldon.

Published 12/02/15

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Colonel Crawford Progressing Nicely

Colonel Crawford begins Northern 10 Athletic Conference play on Tuesday night as they host Mohawk in North Robinson.

The Lady Eagles are really trying to play an up tempo style this year and coach Kyle Fenner says he is pretty pleased with the progress they are making this season. "We have had some really good moments where we have done what we wanted to do. Push the action up and down the floor to lead to easy baskets. We have had some situations where we haven't been able to do that," she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "We have caused some havoc and haven't been able to reward ourselves by finishing at the end and making some lay ups. We have played hard and we have gotten better. We are a little banged up and we need to get healthy. All in all we have played hard and we will be okay if we continue to do that."

Crawford beat Plymouth (55-32) on Saturday in a non-league game.

Fenner says when they don't score in transition and have set up in the half court they need to slow down and get better shots. "We have gotten some good looks and haven't finished some shots. Sometimes we need to make the extra pass. We need to give up and okay shot to get a better shot. Sometimes you need to slow down. Sometimes that is hard when you are trying to run as fast as your are trying to run to slow down and be patient. We will continue to work on that," she said.

The Lady Eagles (2-2) host Mohawk (0-2) in an "N10" game on Tuesday night. Fenner says the Lady Warriors have some really good players that can stretch their defense. "They have a very physical post that we are going to have to defend really well, be physical with, box her out, and keep her off the glass. They are also have two girls on the perimeter. Their point guard is Chelsey Trusty, she can score from behind the arc and put it on the floor. Probably their best player is Alley Weinandy, she is also very good. She can put it on the floor and is tall and lanky and can shoot the three. We need to control those three on (Tuesday) night," said Fenner.

Published 12/01/15

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Colonel Crawford Getting in Shape for the Season

Colonel Crawford's boys' basketball team is getting a late start due to the tremendous success that the football team had this fall, but their coach says everything will be okay in the end.

The Eagles open their season next Wednesday, December 2, against Crestline in non-league play.

Coach David Sheldon, also the school's athletic director, says the late start to the season and the limited amount of practices won't hurt them too much. "I think our football success is great for our basketball program. I don't think it has put us being the eight ball necessarily. We have had to adjust what we are going to do in the preseason. We had all by three of our varsity guys playing football up until a week ago Saturday and kids competing is good for all sports. The relationship I have with our head football coach Ryan Tgelovic is fantastic. I am his biggest fan and our kids played their butt off their last game and almost had a chance to win versus Tinora. So, I don't think it has put us behind the eight ball we have just had to readjust some things. I save every practice plan and normally we have 24 practices before our first game and this year we only have nine. I think the big adjustment is getting kids in basketball shape compared to football shape. It is totally different conditioning the way basketball is go, go, go and football you stop and reset and all of that. So, that is going to be the biggest thing and getting us healthy too. We are a little banged up from some nagging football injuries. I think the good thing is with this being my 10th year here at Crawford is our kids know our program. It is not like we are reinventing the wheel. We had a great June. It is just picking up and getting them back into shape and reviewing what we need to do on the offensive and defensive ends of the floor," said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford won the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title last winter and advanced to the district final in division three. Sheldon says its is true they lost some players to graduation, but he expects others to step up. "We lost a very good senior group, especially our point guard Dillon Gulley and our shooting guard Todd Entenmann, but I think we just need to rebuild to cupboard. We have three lettermen back with Owen Adams, Will Kirkpatrick and Derek Burkhart and they played a lot of minutes on that successful team from last year. Our JV's last year won 19 and now our program has got to the point where these JV kids have to step up to the varsity level. We have a lot of competition right now in the gym," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "There are 10, 12 guys that we are looking at to fill holes that we have to replace. The competition in our practice is going to be very good to see where the cards are going to fall when it is all said and done before opening night and probably for the first couple of weeks of the season not having the scrimmages like we normally have at the beginning of the season. We definitely lost some important pieces, but those three lettermen are our three captains this year. Owen and Will were outstanding on our football team, with a lot of accolades. Those leaders are going to be the same ones we count on this winter in basketball."

Sheldon says competition for spots on the team can only be a good thing. "When you have competitiveness within your team that makes your practices very good and it prepares you for Friday nights when we open up. I think compositeness is a good thing. We just have to see who rises to the occasion. It might take a few games to see who that is because of the short preseason," he said.

Published 11/24/15

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Colonel Crawford Kicking up the Tempo

To be successful this season, the Colonel Crawford Lady Eagles are going to need to be a team that can score in transition and be able to press the other team and force turnovers.

Coach Kyle Fenner says they have been working a lot on that in preseason practices and scrimmages and she has seen some good things from her players. "We are playing hard. I think that as time has gone on, scrimmages have gone on, and practices have gone one, we have gotten better. We are still kind of a work in progress and we hope to keep getting better as the season goes on," she said.

Fenner will be patient with her kids because she understands that learning to play this kind of up tempo style is going to take a little time. "We are trying to play an up tempo game this year. We don't have a whole lot of height, so we are trying to play an up tempo game," she told Swankonsoprts.com on Wednesday, "We are playing fast, so we are trying to handle the basketball and play fast and make shots. Sometimes when you do that is it just comes with experience. We keep doing that every night in practice. As time goes on as we work hard we are going to get better."

A key to be successful with this kind of game is the mental approach. Fenner says you have to know what is a good pass and what is a good shot and what isn't to be affective. "They have to be good decision makers and we talk about that in practice. We want to play fast, but we want to play smart too. There is a fine line there between playing smart and wanting to get up and put pressure on the defense too. It comes from playing and learning and just getting experience doing it," she said.

Colonel Crawford begins its season this weekend with a pair of games against teams from the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference. They are at Marion Pleasant of the red division on Friday and at home with Northmor of the blue division on Saturday. Their first Northern 10 Athletic Conference game is at home with Mohawk on December 1.

Published 11/19/15

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Crawford Facing Defending Regional Champs

Colonel Crawford won its first playoff game ever last week and now they meet the Tinora Rams in the second round of the division six playoffs on Saturday night in Lima.

Last week, they spotted Ayersville a touchdown lead and then went on to pound them (42-10) in an opening round game. "We played a pretty good game. We got off to a rough start. We drove the ball down the field and then we kind of stalled out and they came right back and scored and had a little momentum there. Our offense was able to come right back and tie the game. From there it felt like the kids played pretty well," said Colonel Crawford coach Ryan Teglovic.

After giving up that first TD, Teglovic says his kids did not hang their heads they got with it. "In the playoffs you can expect that other teams are going to do some good things. I was proud of the way our kids did respond and were able to put things away in the second half," he said.

Tinora (9-1), they only played nine regular season games, has about everything you could asked for in a team, according to Teglovic. "They won our region last year and are certainly one of the better teams in the region this year. They have good size. I am more impressed, probably, by their speed. I think their speed is good," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "They have a variety of weapons on offense, their quarterback has a great arm. They have two very good backs in the backfield. They are big up front on the offensive line. They have tremendous speed on defense. They play a lot of seniors. When you are at this stage of the game you want to rely on those seniors."

Tinora beat Wynford (17-0) in last year's regional final and Teglovic says their personnel and approach would be similar to Wynford, who handed the Eagles their only loss (41-14) this year. "They remind me a lot of Wynford in regards to some of the things that they run and what they like to do offensively. Their speed. I don't know if they are quite as big as Wynford. Up front their are a lot of similarities," he said.

Comparing scores can be dangerous because there are a lot of factors that lead to scores, but Tinora beat Ayersville (41-0) in their final regular season game and Crawford beat the same team last week (42-10,) so it would seem to be a pretty good match-up.

Teglovic says there three main things they have stressed with the players this week. "Getting off to a good start I think is important. At playoff time you can't turn the ball over. We have to make sure we have good field position. I think one of the keys will be who can control the line of scrimmage. Those are the three things we have really talked to the kids about this week. Maybe a little different than some of the things we talked to them about last week," said Teglovic.

Published 11/11/15

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Colonel Crawford Looking for First Playoff Win

Colonel Crawford is making its third playoff appearance in the last four years. They have never won a playoff game and they would like to change that.

The Eagles (9-1) play host to Ayersville (8-2) in North Robinson on Saturday night in a regional quarterfinal game in division six.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says it is a reward to make the playoffs, but they would like to take the next step. "No, it doesn't get old, especially when you experience with a new group of seniors. This group of seniors have been in the playoffs three times, but they didn't get to go last year, so it is exciting for them. You always like to send your seniors out on a good note. Obviously, we are looking to win a playoff game as well, so their is excitement in that too," he said.

Teglovic says it is nice to be home for the playoffs, but their are no guarantees. "I think it does help. Obviously, it didn't help us a couple of years ago, but I think overall it is helpful to be home, especially in that first round in a familiar setting," he said.

The Ayersville Pilots are making their 12th playoff appearance, but their first since 2007. Teglovic says the Pilots can come at you in a number of different ways. "They do a lot of different things offensively and defensively. On both sides of the ball it starts with their quarterback, who is also their middle linebacker, the coaches son. Offensively he will be the quarterback some times, really the majority of the time he is at quarterback, but sometimes they will put him back at running back as well. He throws it well, he runs it well, he is one the leading tacklers in our region from the linebacker position," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "He is a tough young man, good football player. They have another running back that has gone for over 1,000 yards on the season that does a good job. They have some kids on the edge too, they have a kid with 49 catches that makes some explosive plays for them. So, they have weapons. They play in a good league. Their two losses come to two playoff teams. We will have our hands full."

Ayersville has lost its last two games to Hicksville (32-26) and Tinora (41-0) last week.

Has Colonel Crawford seen this kind of team before? Well, kind of. Teglovic says Ayersville reminds them of another playoff team from the Northern 10 Athletic Conference in Seneca East. "We have talked about that a little bit, maybe Seneca East. Just based on the variety of things that they do. They will spread it, but they will also have a couple of backs and run the football as well. A variety of things offensively and defensively and have the skill to do it. Maybe Seneca East a little bit, reminds you of them. They also remind us, coach Stevenson and I were talking (Wednesday,) it reminded us a little bit of a couple of years ago when we went down to Trimble, might be a little like that group as well," said Teglovic.

Published 11/05/15

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Eagles Want to keep Moving

They might need an upset to share the conference title, but the Colonel Crawford Eagles just continue to play a pretty good brand of football.

The trail Wynford by a game in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference standings and would need to beat Carey and get an upset from Bucyrus to win a part of the "N10" title.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they can't be concerned with what Wynford and Bucyrus are doing Friday night. "Focusing on ourselves is how we have gotten where we are at and we have a good game with Carey. Anytime you play at Carey you are going to have to play well. It is a team with a proud tradition. Especially playing at their place we are going to have to focus and be concerned with Carey this week and control what we can control," he said.

This has not been one of Carey's better years this year. The Blue Devils (4-5,3-4) lost to Seneca East (46-6) last week, but Teglovic says this is a program that you can never take lightly. "To me it is one of the more storied and traditional programs in the area. I talked to the kids about they don't have a lot losing seasons in Carey. They were a little bit inexperienced coming in due to the amount of seniors they lost from last year. They have been doing some good things, especially when you put in there they have had a lot of injuries to quality and good starters in there. So, they have continued to improve and get better and patch those holes and that's what good programs do."

Crawford (8-1,6-1) ranks third in their computer region in division six and Teglovic says over the second half of the season this has been a very good football team. "Our level of play has been pretty high. It has been a tough stretch. We have played some good teams in there, a good Manchester team, a good Buckeye team, a good Upper team last week. We beat Seneca East and they are a good football team, and Mohawk as well," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "I feel we did some things last week that I would like to get better at and end the regular season on a good note. We are proud of them for stepping up and putting together some good consistent efforts every week and now we just have to finish off week 10."

Published 10/30/15

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Crawford With Goals in Mind

It's week nine and Colonel Crawford still has the chance to do some things. That's what seven win in eight games will get you.

They stand in second place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference, a game behind Wynford, the only team to beat them this year. They are also second in their division six computer region, just behind, well, Wynford it turns out.

Last week, they downed Buckeye Central (48-26) in an "N10" game where quarterback Will Kirkpatrick established a new single game school record for rushing yards with 290. "It was a good effort for us. I think we beat a good team. I thought we continued to get better. We stayed injury free as well, so all the way around it was a big win for us and it sets up another big game this week," said Crawford coach Ryan Tgelovic.

It's on the road this week for the Eagles as they travel to Upper Sandusky to meet the Rams. Teglovic says despite a below .500 record, the Rams have good talent. "They are physical. I thought they did a very good job against Wynford. I thought maybe it was their best game of the year. For a team that at this point is 3-5 when they continue to play hard like they did last week against a very good Wynford team that says something about them. They have a bunch of six-foot, 200 pound kids that are physical, so that always concerns you," said Teglovic.

The best part of Upper's team this year has been their defense, which has limited everyone they have played. Teglovic says they are going to try and make them throw the ball. "They have limited other teams opportunities and they have played well, especially against the run. They have really loaded the box against people. When they do that they really cause you to beat them left handed," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "They are very good at that. I think their record is very deceiving. The games they have lost have been close. Nobody has come out and just throttled them. We know we have to go up there and it is going to be a tough battle for us."

In second in the region, the Eagles look in pretty good shape to make another post season appearance. It would be their third in four years. Teglovic has been very happy with his players focus. "We have gotten better every week. We are not playing perfect football. That is always the goal, but it doesn't happen. We are happy with our kids, their mindset, and how they have been focused down the stretch. That is what it is going to take this week, that kind of effort. It is to the point where we are playing for some things outside of pride we are playing for some post season opportunities," he said.

Published 10/21/15

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Colonel Crawford and Buckeye Square off in Key N10 Battle

Colonel Crawford and Buckeye Central are two of the challengers to Wynford's lead in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference. The Eagles trail by one and Buckeye by two heading into a match up between the two in North Robinson on Friday night.

Crawford (6-1,4-1) won a non-conference game (42-20) over Akron Manchester last week. Coach Ryan Teglovic liked they way they played in the trenches. "I felt our offensive lime probably played the best game they have played all year. It was a physical, aggressive Manchester team up front and they throw a lot of blitzes at you. Our offensive line just did a phenomenal job picking up blitzes and we were able to rush for over 200 yards against them. I felt our defensive line did a great job too. There were able to establish the line of scrimmage and take Manchester out of what they like to do. They got some yards on us in the second half, but they started passing a lot and got away from things that they normally do. Very pleased with the way we play up front last week," said Teglovic.

Last week, Buckeye Central (5-2,3-2) took out Bucyrus (48-19) in an "N10" game. They are really a couple breaks from being unbeaten, losing in overtime to Seneca East (40-34) and on the last play to Carey (32-26) two weeks back. Teglovic says they are very good on offense, especially quarterback Grant Loy. "I think they have maybe the best throwing quarterback around in Grant Loy. He is a 6'3", 6'4" kid, 200 pounds and he can throw the heck out of the football. He is a competitor. He is tough to get pressure on. He just throws a great ball, great arm. He can move enough in the pocket to buy himself time. We are going to have our hands full with him," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "They have a couple of real good receivers too, in particular the Heydinger kid, number 5. He had a good game against us last year. He is one of the leading receivers in the league right now. He is a great competitor too with real good speed. We will have our hands full there."

If Buckeye has had a weakness it has been on defense this year. Teglovic says they will need to exploit it. "We are hoping we can get some defensive stops in there, but it is going to be difficult because it is a good offensive football team. The offense is going have to play well. We are going to have top play well on both sides of the football. Our offense has moved the ball well, most weeks we have had success obviously running the football, by we have been able to throw it too. There will be a lot of focus in those guys being able to move the football and maybe we can keep Buckeye's offense off the field a little bit," he said.

Published 10/13/15

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Crawford faces Battle in the Trenches

Colonel Crawford will play host to Akron Manchester in a non-conference game on Friday night in North Robinson.

They kept themselves in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference race, a game behind Wynford, with a (55-0) destruction of Ridgedale last week. Coach Ryan Teglovic says they played well in all phases and they were able to get a lot of there younger kids into the game too. "I thought our guys came out there and played well and did what we needed them to do offensively and defensively. We were able to get some younger kids in, which is always nice. Those guys work hard in practice, so it is always nice to get them some action on Friday night. I felt it was a pretty clean game in regards to turnovers and that kind of thing as well. We came out healthy as well, so a lot of good things happened on Friday night," he said.

Akron Manchester is a traditional football power in Northeast Ohio that has built their reputation as a running team. Teglovic says that is certainly the case this year. "They are about 88 percent run. They don't throw much. They are physical up front. They get off the football extremely well on the offensive line. They have three of four backs they like to get the ball too and their quarterback runs very well too. They have been in this system for quite a few years," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "Their coach has been there for a long time. They are very physical on offense and that is what they want to do on defense as well. They bring a lot of people to just pressure you and put your offense in bad situations."

Like a lot of times in this game of football, Teglovic says this game is going to be decided up front. "We talked about the fact that you win games on the offensive and defensive lines and even more so this week with the nature of what these guys do. If we communicate on the offensive line I think we will fair okay there. Defensively for us our defensive line has to get off the football. They have to be the ones that take care of things up front. Both of those offensive and defensive lines will be important to us," said Teglovic.

Published 10/07/15

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Another Must Win For Crawford

Colonel Crawford remains a game behind Wynford in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference football standings and they must keep winning if they are going to have a chance at the title.

The Eagles only loss comes to Wynford (41-14) three weeks ago. Coach Ryan Teglovic says he is happy with how his team has improved this year so far. "We are pretty pleased with the progression of things. Definitely the last two weeks we have seen some improvements on both sides of the football and special teams wise as well. We have things to work on and things to continue to improve, but at this point in the season we are pretty pleased with our progress," said Teglovic.

Having already lost to Wynford, the Eagles do not control their own density. Teglovic says the thing they have to do is keep winning. "Every game is going to be extremely important. Wynford is an awful good football team and they haven't shown they are going to slow up any. They are going to be a tough team to beat down the stretch. There is not much margin for error for us in terms of a league title, so we are going to have to play well," he said.

Colonel Crawford (4-1,3-1) plays at home against Ridgedale (0-5,0-3) on Friday night in "N10" play. Teglovic says despite their record he thinks the Rockets are a team that can't be taken lightly. "I think they are improved football team. I look at the them on offense and have some schemes they are trying to do some things out of a variety of formations, which is the mark of team that is trying to learn, progress and get better," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "They are going to throw some different formations at you, but in the end they are going to run a set of base plays out of a lot of different formations. That's a good idea with kids understanding a basic theme. They have a nice running back. He is an extremely athletic kid, one of the better athletes in the league."

Teglovic says it will be important for them this week to make good pre snap adjustments to make sure they are lined up where they should be so they can defend the Rockets. "Formations are one the most important things that we are going to look at this week. We have seen a couple of formations out of them that we haven't seen from anybody else this year. We have talked to the kids about that and it is going to be a huge part of our preparation this week," he said.

Published 9/30/15

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Eagles Expect Strong Effort Form Bucyrus

Colonel Crawford battled back to get a good win last week and stay in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference race and now they need some focus this week as they face rival Bucyrus.

After a loss to Wynford (41-14) on week three, the Eagles responded to beat a then undefeated Seneca East team (42-18) last week.

Quarterback Will Kirkpatrick ran for 175 yards and two scores for Crawford and coach Ryan Teglovic says that was just what they needed to not only win, but play well against the Seneca East. "It was a good win, especially after coming off a big loss to Wynford. They were coming into our place 3-0. They were doing a lot of good things and had a lot of athletes. I was glad the way our guys bounced back. Anytime you can get a good win like that. We stayed pretty healthy last week. We are happy with that," he said.

Through four weeks of the season, Teglovic believes his team is continuing to get better in its execution and that has to continue to happen as weeks go on. "I think there has been some progression and our goal is to continue that progression. We talked about that again on Saturday and again on Monday and hopefully that progression continues on into this week. There are still a lot of things we need to do better, but I think across the board we are seeing the progression that we like and if we continue that we will be happy," he said.

Colonel Crawford (3-1,2-1) plays at Bucyrus (1-3,0-2) on Friday night. The Redmen have lost both of their "N10" games to Seneca East (40-0) and Mohawk (44-7) giving up all of those points in the first half. They have also lost to Galion (55-0) and their only win comes over winless Crestline (25-17) on week two.

Teglovic says they remember last year when the Redmen beat them (29-27) and they know that Bucyrus will play extremely hard come Friday night. "They have struggled and they have had some injuries. They lost 17 pretty good seniors last year that were that were a real good part of what they did offensively and defensively. We know that Bucyrus always gives us their best game. It's a big game because it is a Crawford County rivalry. I think you can kind of throw out the records there," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "I think our kids understand they are going to play hard and we are going to have to match that intensity level, emotion, enthusiasm because we know they are going to be up. They came in there last year and got us and it was quite frankly a game that took us out of the playoffs in retrospect. So, our guys know Bucyrus is going to play hard and it is going to be a tough game."

Published 9/23/15

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It's a big one for Crawford

After a loss to defending Northern 10 Athletic Conference champion Wynford last week, the Colonel Crawford Eagles host unbeaten Seneca East in game they have to have for a number of reasons.

Crawford held a (14-7) second quarter lead, but they were shut out after that and only had nine total yards in the second half in a (41-14) loss to the Royals.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says Wynford controlled the point of attack and therefore the game. "It was not at all what we wanted, but you always credit the other team as well. I thought there were a couple of things that we did better than we did the previous week. I thought on special teams wise we were a little bit better. Overall, Wynford controlled the game," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "Their offensive line control the game and their athletes speed as well. They broke away with it in the second half. It makes this week pretty important for us."

Seneca East (3-0,2-0) shares the "N10" lead with Wynford and Upper Sandusky and they have put up a lot of points including wins over Buckeye Central (40-34) and Bucyrus (40-0) in conference games. Teglovic says they are explosive and balanced. "They have a variety of athletes. They have scored 55, 40, and 40 points, so obviously they are a good offensive football team. They have a great running back in Depinet. The quarterback throws it very well. He is a big kid. They have good receivers. Straight across the board they have guys that can make a plays and a variety of them," said Teglovic.

Seneca East has surrendered some points this year, including 28 to winless South Central in their opener, but Teglovic says they have defensive linemen they will need to handle. "I think the strength of their defense is up front. They have some big kids up front. Number 74 was a junior and is a returner from last year. He is big and strong and gets off the football and we are going to have to neutralize him there along the line of scrimmage . We have to do a good job on him and the rest of their guys up front," he said.

It is only week four the season, but Teglovic says this is pretty much a must win for his Eagles. "It is a big one and not just as far as conference title aspirations, but it is a big one as far as post season aspirations. Seneca East is division six this year. They are head of us in our region. They are 3-0 and certainly playing very well and are riding high right now. This is a team we have to beat if we want to get into contention for some things," he said.

Published 9/18/15

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Crawford and Wynford Clash in Big One in "N10"

Two of the top teams in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference lock horns on Friday night in a game that might go a long way in determining a league champ as Colonel Crawford is at Wynford.

Both are (1-0) in league play after the Eagles (27-6) win over Mohawk and Wynford's (50-0) destruction of Ridgedale last week.

Crawford (2-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coaches poll in the small school division, scored twice in the fourth quarter last week to put the win against Mohawk away. "I thought overall we played well. We were balanced offensively, and defensively, with the exception of one drive, I felt we played very, very well. We have talked about our extra point team. We gave up some points there. We scored four touchdowns and a field goal and only had 27 points to show for it. We have to do a little better in our extra point situations. But, overall played a very good game," said Colonel Crawford coach Ryan Teglovic.

On defense, the Eagles had some leakage on defense in a week one win over Mt. Gilead (42-21,) but Teglovic says he thought they cleaned a lot of that up last week. "We played much better last week. Week one this kid at quarterback was really explosive and we had a tough time with him sometimes. I felt like our guys responded to some of things we didn't do real week one and fixed those things. We talked about our defensive backs getting in the run game and they got some tackles and they weren't down the field, two of them were for a loss," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "I felt good that these guys were paying attention to detail and got a little better this week. Within that front seven there is a lot of experience and those guys just keep getting better. In our back end there isn't a lot of experience, but there are enough athletes back there and they got better form week one to week two."

Wynford is the defending "N10" champion and Teglovic says there are very good again this year. We says they show a lot of speed. "I am very impressed with their speed. It is one of the faster teams that we play all year. They are explosive from a lot of different positions. The (Nick) Looker kid they have at running back is one premier guys in the league. They had to replace their quarterback, but the kid they have back there this year, the Hoffman kid, is very fast as well. They have a lot of speed at receiver. The had a lot of defensive speed. I think that is the biggest thing for them defensively is just how fast they get to the football. They only have the one returning offensive lineman, but they just kind of reload up there. They are still pretty big and formidable up front," said Teglovic.

Wynford belted the Eagles (41-10) last season on their way to the conference title and made a lot of big plays in the process. Teglovic says they can't allow the Royals to get to the perimeter. "You have to be good tacklers and tackling is about good body position, but it's also about angles and closing down in space. If you let guys like that get in the open field it is going to be a struggle. You have go to try and hem people in and stay in your lanes. It forces you to not do a whole lot defensively and to just try and hone in on doing a few things very well," he said.

Published 9/08/15

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Crawford Opens up League Play Against Mohawk

Colonel Crawford dominated Mohawk in their first ever "N10" football game a year ago, but this is a lot better Mohawk team they will be facing in the league opener in North Robinson on Friday night.

The Eagles are coming off a strong performance, especially in the second half when they scored five times, in a (42-21) win over Mt. Gilead last week. Coach Ryan Teglovic was impressed with especially their intensity. "It was a good effort. Anytime you can go out in game one and get a win your happy. There were some good things for our kids. I appreciate their effort, especially in the second half they played hard. If we can continue to get that and continue to get improvement all year we will be good," he said.

However, Teglovic knows they have to get better and there are a lot of areas where they can improve. "There is a lot we can get better at. This week we have to be able to get off the field on third down. Some of that is the athletes you are playing against, Deonte Cook last week from Mt. Gilead was a heck of an athlete. He makes a lot of plays with his feet and arm. Some of it is just us getting better fundamentally," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "You have to outside pass rush and contain in the pocket. We didn't play the option very well on the short side. I didn't think we were reading very well in the defensive backfield. So, those kinds of things that we can always get just a little bit better at and hopefully we can get a little bit better at it this week."

Last year, Crawford beat Mohawk (47-14)," but the Warriors appear to be a better team after belting Fremont St. Joe (37-6) a week ago. Teglovic says Mohawk has experience and talent. "They are a very solid football team. The beat St. Joe on week one and scored a lot of points. They looked very good on film. We had an opportunity to watch them live in a scrimmage against Plymouth. They return nine starters on both sides of the ball, so when you are returning that many veterans on both sides of the football you are an experienced, good football team. We have our work cut out for us," said Teglovic.

On offense, Teglovic says they have shown some nice balance and that makes them more difficult to defend. "The do a real good job with being balanced. They are big up front and they are a typical, physical Mohawk football team. Their running back is 215 pounds and the offensive line is big, but I'm impressed with how they threw the ball last week. The opened it up with some nice balance on offense and do a good job defensively. They are able to do a lot of different things," he said.

Published 9/04/15

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Crawford Chomping at the Bit

Colonel Crawford wants to continue a solid streak of football that has led them to 25 wins over the last three years and it looks like they have the talent to do just that.

Staring quarterback Will Kirkpatrick, already one of the more accomplished signal callers in Eagle history, is back to lead the show along with a number of other solid players.

They open the season on at home on Friday night against Mt. Gilead in non-conference play. The Indians, of the blue division of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, finished with a (3-7) record a year ago.

Crawford coach Ryan Teglovic says he has been pretty pleased with his team's attention to detail this month in getting ready for the season. "I feel like every scrimmage we have worked on some things and gotten better at those things. We are still looking for a little higher level of consistency among our guys. We are pretty healthy right now. I feel like we have a good grasp of the offense and the defense and we have made some good improvements. If we continue to do that then I feel pretty good," said Teglovic.

With the success they have had, including a title in the old North Central Conference in 2013, Teglovic says his players, especially his seniors, are eager to get out on the field on Friday night. "I believe they are ready to play some football. They are ready to go. The season we had last season just carried our guys into the off season and they are still pretty excited about that. We have 17 seniors and it is their last go around. I know they are very excited to start their senior season," he said.

Colonel Crawford won the match-up with the Indians last year (51-24), but Teglovic says the Indians are big, they are physical and they have some guys that can give their defense fits. "There are returners back on both sides of the ball. It starts offensively with their main man, their quarterback, Deontre Kirk. He was their starter last year and he gave us some problems last year and he gave some other people problems," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "He is a senior and a good player. They are physical up front with Michael Mullhan, he is a senior. He is a three year starter on the offensive line. He is 6'5", 275. He is a heck of a player and has been for a couple of years. Defensively, their line is physical. If you don't get off the ball. If you don't establish the line of scrimmage. If you control the line of scrimmage you are in pretty good shape."

Published 8/25/15

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Colonel Crawford's Goal is to Keeping Winning

Winning has become almost expected in the Colonel Crawford football program after three straight years of winning at least eight games.

It should be no different this fall.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says it has been a good camp so far for the Eagles. "We have seen some good things and some bad things, but it's early and we have lots of things to work out. Our numbers are good. Our kids have worked extremely hard and not just in camp, but in the weight room. I feel we have got a good group of seniors and some experience at some spots and some other guys working to crack the lineup and that is good for competition," he said.

As far as varsity experience goes, Teglovic says this year is going to be a whole lot like it has been in North Robinson. "We have had three years in a row where we have had eight plus wins and in everyone of those years we lost between 12 and 16 seniors and we brought that many back to play. It's the same kind of deal. I think it is the same experience level we have had the last several years. As opposed to last year we do have an experienced quarterback. Will (Kirkpatrick) last year had a phenomenal year for us, but it was his first year running the quarterback position. With him having a little more experience will certainly help," said Teglovic.

With Kirkpatrick back the Eagles should score some points. Teglovic says their defensive backfield will be pretty green, but they have some nice athletes there too. "You have to play good defense to win games and win the N10. We have a lot of experience up front. All four of those guys have a little bit of experience at the varsity level. We have two linebackers back that started several games for us. There is not as much experience in the defensive backfield, but I like our guys there too. It is going to be a learning process for the back end and just getting better every week, but the guys are there," he said.

Consistency has been some the Eagles seemed to have achieved, but Teglovic says that doesn't just happen it takes hard work. "You never get to the point where you feel real comfortable with that. We are happy with where we are at based on the last three years. Our guys understand our system, we have been in the same system the last several years. Our guys understand sometimes you have to wait your turn and earn your stripes as a freshman and on the JV level," he told Swankonsports.com, "We have had some kids that have all-conference mention as seniors that really didn't play varsity football until they were seniors. I think our kids sacrifice a little bit more for the team. We hope we have the program headed in the right direction, but you have to continue to fight like heck every day to make sure."

Colonel Crawford begins the season August 28 at home with Mt. Gilead in non-conference play and then hosts Mohawk in their "N10" opener the next week.

Published 8/17/15

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Crawford beats Rival; Moves to District

Colonel Crawford and Crestline is one of the rivalries that personifies softball in North Central Ohio and they met again Thursday in a tournament game.

This time, the Lady Eagles (20-7) had much the better of the Crestline Lady Bulldogs winning (11-1) in five innings in the division four sectional title game in North Robinson.

Crawford coach Chuck Huggins says he really enjoys this rivalry. "We have had some awfully good softball tournament match-ups with Crestline over the years and this one is no exception. It just happened a little bit earlier than I would have liked it to happen. It had to happen in the sectional championship at Colonel Crawford. It would have been nice for it to happen over at Shelby in the district championship like it has been numerous times. They came in our bracket, so it came a little earlier," said Huggins.

With the intensity this game usually brings, Huggins says they were able to put a pretty good effort together. "It was a good traditional tournament softball match-up between two proud programs. We are just happy that we played well and can represent Colonel Crawford in the district tournament next week," he said.

It's now on to a meeting with Plymouth (15-10) in the division four district semi-finals next Tuesday at Shelby High School. Huggins says Plymouth coach Troy Keene has them playing well and they have a lot of weapons. "Plymouth is a very good, solid softball program because of what coach Keene has been able to do. They have a lot of good sticks in their lineup. They have a nice pitcher that can really bring it," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, "It is going to be a tough, tough match-up for us. Like I have said in the past we just have make sure we take care of Colonel Crawford and make sure that we are ready to go and we will see what happens on Tuesday. Plymouth is a very good opponent."

Plymouth beat Colonel Crawford (10-0) in a game that was played at Clear Fork in a mini tournament in April.

Published 5/15/15

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Crawford Avenges Loss to Crestline; Stays in Race

Last week, Crestline upset Colonel Crawford in girls' softball and they were not about to let it happen again.

The Lady Eagles (14-5,9-2) belted Crestline (10-0) in five innings in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action on Monday.

Longtime coach Chuck Huggins thought they let one get away from them last week when they lost (10-9) to the Lady Bulldogs. "We were awfully disappointed last week and that's not taking anything away from Crestline because they certainly put a good ball game together against us. They jumped on us early last week. We made a nice comeback in the seventh and scored seven runs and were up by three going to the bottom of the seventh and they scored four an knocked us off. It just felt like, and it did to my kids too, we let one slip away. We didn't play the best of our potential. We were definitely a very focused team (Monday) night," said Huggins.

Huggins says from start to finish on Monday his club was ready to play in every sense and that was because of the focus they had in the game all the way through. "We knew that with Carey being perfect in the conference, with no losses, we had two losses. We knew we still had two games with Carey, so we controlled out own destiny. We just knew from this point forward that we have to take care of business and make sure we have some quality wins. I was just very impressed with how things came together from the very first pitch to the very last run we scored in the bottom of the fifth inning to end it we were right on. I was so impressed with their concentration and their confidence and just the way they executed every little thing," he said.

Crawford plays Buckeye Central (7-10,4-8) on Wednesday and Thursday and then plays Upper Sandusky and Carey twice next week. Huggins says they must play excellent softball during this stretch. "We are approaching it like we need to run the table. We know that there is no room for error right now. It is such a long conference race with 18 conference games. We know that is almost has to be perfect," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday after the win, "Could we possibly, possibly, afford one more loss? Yeah, now that Carey go bumped off, but you don't want to gain ground and then give it right back. We are talking this week only and we talked about needing a perfect week in the conference. We need to make sure we go 3-0 in the conference this week and that will set things up for a good exciting finish."

Ridgedale handed Carey (2-0) their first conference loss on Monday.

Published 4/28/15

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Johnson Shuts Down Royals

Sophomore Jake Johnson gave up only two hits and one unearned run as Colonel Crawford edged rival Wynford (2-1) in Northern 10 Athletic Conference baseball action on Tuesday.

Johnson struck out four and walked three. Coach Joe Swartzmiller says he has good stuff and he had better control this time than in his previous trips to the mound. "It was a great outing. He only gave up two hits. He had control of his stuff (Tuesday) night. He had been giving up walks and (Tuesday) night he really honed in on the strike zone and that really helped out," he said.

Good pitchers are ones that take advantage of the strike zone and Swartzmiller says Johnson was able to do that on Tuesday. "The ump behind the plate was really calling them low, almost below the knees. Jake figured that out and that was pretty much where he was throwing it," he said.

Johnson was the man of the hour for the Eagles (3-7,1-4) as he also had both of their RBI in the game.

Crawford has a very young roster this year and Swartzmiller says wins like this are going to build confidence. "So far, this year we have lost three or four one run games and in all of them we have been up. To finally come through with one is huge for us," he said.

Crawford plays Bucyrus (5-3,3-2) in N10 action on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons.

Published 4/15/15

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Lady Eagles Rally for Huge Win

A line drive single by freshman Lydia Strouse drove in the winning run in the bottom of the seventh as the Colonel Crawford Lady Eagles rallied to beat Seneca East (6-5) in a big Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Monday in North Robinson.

It was the second game in four days between the two contenders, both one run wins for Crawford, and veteran coach Chuck Huggins says his kids were up to the challenge. "We thought the 5-4 win on Friday night over in Attica against Seneca East was big and we knew they were going to come over here and give us everything they had (Monday) night. It was just one of those games that had every single emotion imaginable attached to it. The rains came in and they pulled us off the field because of lightning and thunder and at that time they were ahead of us 1-0 in the top of the fourth, so we knew we had to get after it," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday evening, "We got four across in the fourth. It was just one of those games when the momentum went back and forth from one dugout to the other. We had a two run lead on them going to the top of the seventh and to their credit they found a way to scratch across a couple of runs in the top of the seventh to tie the game up. To my kids credit they came in like troopers and we got a run in the bottom of the seventh and pulled it out."

Huggins has led the Lady Eagles to the state final four seven times, they won it all in 1995, and he says the performance on Monday was one of the best by his team in quite a while. "Not just Colonel Crawford fans, but just fans of the sport who were there because they new there were two good ball clubs came up to me after the game and said 'coach what a great game. That is one of the best softball games on in this area in a long time.' And I said that to my girls after we got done and we talked that was a just one the best heart felt, competitive efforts that I have been around in a long time and I have obviously been around a few," he said.

Cassie Sager is the only senior on the Crawford roster and Huggins says the freshman and sophomore classes are the engine for this team. "First of all in the sixth inning sophomore centerfielder Abby Bradshaw drives in a run to put us back ahead. The in the bottom of the seventh it was a freshman, my number four hitter, Lydia Strauss, driving in sophomore Alexis Burkhart with the winning run. So, we are a very, very young ball team learning to find ways to win. When that happens you can just see the confidence and the expectations growing and growing inside of them. It was just so good to see those young kids come through and be successful," said Huggins.

Colonel Crawford (7-2,2-1) play Wynford (0-4,0-3) on Tuesday in an N10 game and then have back to back games against Bucyrus on Wednesday after Thursday in league play.

Published 4/14/15

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Crawford with a Young Baseball Team

Colonel Crawford has a young team and they will be counting on some young arms if they are going to be competitive in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this year.

So far, they are (1-1) for the year, beating Willard in non-league play and losing a one-run game to Mohawk in their only league game so far this spring.

Coach Joe Swartzmiller says he has been very pleased, and yes, a bit surprised by the performance he has seen from the Eagles. "It has been surprising actually. We have a lot of young kids, inexperienced kids, and to come back from three down to Willard and win that one was great two see. Against Mohawk we had a chance to win that one, we were up 5-2. I'm happy, I'm happy, I'd like to have two wins, but where we are at right now is great to see," said Swartzmiller.

Pitching wise, Swartzmiller says they have to learn how to pitch with the lead and that means throwing strikes. "Right now I am starting two sophomores. Against Mohawk we are up 5-2 and when you are up 5-2 you have to come out and throw strikes and that didn't happen in that inning for my young sophomore, but you have to learn from it and moving forward he should be better for it," he said.

There are 18 league games in the N10 this year and teams that are going to have a chance to win the trophy are going to be the most consistent ones. Plus, Swartzmiller says you are going to have a lot of pitchers. "Being consistent and having the best pitchers. At best we have four league games in a week," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday evening, "The way things are looking for next week we may not play any games next week and then we are pushing them back even further and then we may be playing five games a week. I don't know anybody that has that kind of pitching staff. That is a lot of games in a week, but that is what we are dealing with."

Colonel Crawford (1-1) plays at doubleheader at Plymouth (1-1) on Saturday. They return to N10 play against Wynford on Monday and Tuesday.

Published 4/03/15

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Crawford Blasts Mohawk

Colonel Crawford banged out 10 hits in route to a (13-2) win over Mohawk in their opener in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play on Wednesday afternoon.

Veteran coach Chuck Huggins says they were able to renew what is an old rivalry with the Lady Warriors. "I thought we played a good overall game (Wednesday) night. Mohawk is a very, very formidable opponent with a lot of past success. There used to be a lot of darn good Colonel Crawford versus Mohawk softball games in the past. Whether or not they were in the old North Central Conference and competing with us for league championships or a lot of times we would bump into them in district semi finals or district championship games through the mid-90's to the late 90's. So, we have seen Mohawk a lot, but not too much during the 2000's as we have kind went our separate ways," said Huggins.

He says it was a good all around performance for the Lady Eagles on Wednesday as they did some good things on both offense and defense. "It was a good complete effort. Just real proud of the kids. 13 runs and that was on 10 hits, those weren't just give me runs, we had to earn those runs. We hit the ball very, very hard and up and down our lineup," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday evening, "We only gave up two runs and the nice thing is in our first two games we have only had one error in each game and that pleases me a lot too. It was a good start, but I have always said don't let a good start be mistaken for a good team because we have still yet to prove we are a good team."

There are 18 league games in the N10 this year and the schedule calls for back to back games if the weather allows. Huggins says he kind of likes the way they used to do it. "I am a little bit old school. I have always liked the old style conference where we play everybody in the conference once time all of the way through and then go back and play a second round. I just believe that if a team, whether it be us or our opponent, would have somebody injured, their number one pitcher or their number four hitter are dinged up the first time around, they might be back the second time around. It is what it is, so we live with it," he said.

So, Mohawk will be in North Robinson on Thursday and Huggins says they better be ready. "I told the girls when we got off the bus (Wednesday.) We always talk before they head for their loved ones that if Mohawk has the competitive juices in them like I think they do as their success has helped them in the past they will come at us tooth and nail (Thursday) in North Robinson and we have to be ready to get after it. We have to make sure we continue to take care of Colonel Crawford and improve our game," he said.

Published 4/02/15

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Colonel Crawford Has a lot of Good Young Players

Something very rare happened last year at Colonel Crawford, the Lady Eagles lost more softball games than they won. Don't look for a repeat this year.

Coach Chuck Huggins says they have a lot of underclassmen that will play significant roles and they have some experience. "If this is possible we are a young experienced team. They only way I can explain that is we have only five kids on the roster that are that are juniors or seniors. We only have one senior and that is Cassie Sager. The other 20 are freshmen and sophomores. So, we are young in that aspect, but we are experienced in the fact that we have our entire infield back this year. The nice thing about our infield is that three of those are still underclassmen this year. We have Sager at first and three others that are juniors and sophomores in our infield. That is what I mean when I say that we are both young and yet experienced," he said.

Huggins says has been nice to be able to get out on the field and watch the talented young kids he has get better. "If somebody would have told me back in the beginning of March when the last serious snow hit that was were even going to see our field in March or a little beyond it I would have been amazed. We have gotten outside and gotten some good things done and we really, really have some team competition going on because we have an extremely good, I won't say great because they haven't accomplished anything yet, but we have extremely good freshman and sophomore classes that are really pushing for some varsity time. When you get that situation that really, really helps your program. I am just watching these kids grow and get better. When you get that situation good things are going to happen," said Huggins.

The veteran coach is particularly impressed with a young pitcher he now has in his stable. "Last year we broke a 26-year record of having winning seasons with Colonel Crawford softball and it really meant something to the kids. We have a couple of pitchers back that have worked on it a little bit. I am really, really proud to say that we have a freshman young lady that has been working in the circle for a number of years now," he told Swankopnsports.com on Tuesday, "It is my longtime assistant Carl Diebler's granddaughter Sydney Studer. She is what I call a student of the game. We call them gym rats in basketball, but I call them field rats. She has just been on the softball field ever since she was a tiny young girl. She has grown up with it, it is in her blood. Her mom is Mandy Diebler, who was one of my very first pitchers that I had back in the early 90's. She is making a huge, strong challenge to see a lot of action in the pitching circle this year."

Published 3/25/15

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Girls' Basketball Players to Showcase Talents

Wednesday night, girls' basketball players of all ages will get an opportunity to show what they can do to fans and college coaches with Shelby Rotary NCO Girls' All-Star Basketball Classic at Shelby High School.

Kyle Fenner of Colonel Crawford and Eric Mitchell of New London are the coaches in the senior game, which includes two ten player teams.

Fenner has done this before, so she knows what to expect. "This will be the second time coaching the all-star game. I believe in 2000 I coached the all-star game over in Ashland, so this will be my second time," she said.

She will coach team black, which will include: Anna Hintz of South Central, Deijah Swihart of Clear Fork, Gabby Stephens of Shelby, Shelby Stamm of Bellevue, Ellie Richmond of Wynford, Hannah Adams of Willard, Sydnie Carpenter of Ashland, Mekaila Grose of Mansfield Madison, Ta-Sharra Jeffries of Sandusky and Emily Wagner of Sandusky Perkins.

A real key to this format is to get everyone into the game with a chance to showcase there skills. "It's not really hard we will have ten kids and we will probably put them in groups of five and let them play for four or five minutes then we will substitute. We will approach it that way and let them get up and down the floor and show their skills. If it's a game at the end we will probably go with the five or six best kids that we feel can win the game for us," said Fenner.

Some of the players might know where they are going to college, but some may not. Fenner says this is their chance to impress. "There are going to be a good portion of college coaches there that night. They have done a great job of getting college coaches there. It will a great chance for these kids to show their skills off to not only the area, but also some college coaches that will be there," she said.

On team white will be Carly Santoro of Bellevue, Valesha Province of Tiffin Columbian, Shelby White of Ashland, Jeryn Reese of Mansfield Senior, Morgan Bailey of Clear Fork, Hunter Feltner of Willard, Alexis Smith of Mansfield Madison, Makayla Cook of Norwalk, Megan Flaherty of Bucyrus and Samantha Reer of Norwalk St. Paul. The coach of the team will be Eric Mitchell of New London.

There is also an underclassmen game on Wednesday night, a first due to a change in OHSAA rules and Clear Fork coach Heidi Roush is one the coaches in that game.

She was an MVP in an all-star game as a player, but this will be her first as a coach. "It is my first time coaching anything like this. There are some stipulations as to who can coach the younger kids. You couldn't have one of your own players on the team. I think that is how they kind of stumbled on me. I'm really looking forward to it. I think it will be a lot of fun," she told Swankonsports.com.

Her team members are: Renee Stimpert of Crestview, Abigail Fogle of Upper Sandusky, Sarah Ogden of Wynford, Gabbi Baldridge of Willard, Ashley Painley of Norwalk St. Paul, Shelby Kin of Carey, Maggie King of Willard, Jisselle Thomas of Norwalk, Paige Leitz of Monroeville and Leah Bouillon of New Riegel.

She says she will judge playing time by performance during the game. "With you know you have talented kids, they wouldn't be on the team other wise. I think for the most part you just go with who is playing well. Get everyone in there and let them show their skills," said Roush.

There are only a couple of practices before them game and Roush says the players sort of have to get used to each other. "There are some larger schools and I know those players and what they are capable of and there are some players that I haven't seen before and I only know their stat lines checking on then throughout the season in the paper. I think it will be a little bit of a challenge for the kids knowing each other. Some of them will have played against each other in summer league, some during the season and then there are kids they really don't know each other," said Roush.

Playing for team black in the underclassmen game are Seina Adachi of Seneca East, Sydney Wentling of Carey, Kamryn Troike of Fostoria St. Wendelin, Payton Shays of New London, Kelci Simms of Bucyrus, Jenna Strayer of Bellevue, Sydney Holderman of Riverdale, Emily Yeager of Mansfield St. Peter's, Jackie Garrett of Shelby and Alexus Burkhart of Colonel Crawford. They will be coached by Jon Dawson of Willard.

Roush thinks it is pretty cool that underclassmen get to participate too. "In this sport most of the time you are going to end with a loss and it can be so disheartening. Now, these younger kids are going to get a chance to play again this season and pump them up and get them ready for next season," she said.

There will be a halftime three point shooting contest among girls in district 6. Some boys will be there for dunk contest as well.

The underclassmen game starts at 6 PM, with the senior game at about 7:45. Tickets for the game are $6 for adults, $3 for seniors, and free for 18 and under who donate a gently used or new children's book to the Shelby Rotary's "Big Red Book Shelf."

Published 3/23/15

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Big Fourth Quarter Lifts Crawford Over Willard

Colonel Crawford outscored Willard (21-8) in the fourth quarter and beat the Flashes (58-48) in the division three district semi-finals on Thursday night at Ashland University.

The Eagles (23-1) trailed 44-39 with 6:51 to play in the game after a basket by Willard's Nick Blanchard. Crawford coach David Sheldon says they didn't get nervous, they got busy. "I thought we did a good job of never panicking. They made a run and took it to five in the fourth. Our philosophy is one possession at a time and we finally strung some stops there in the fourth quarter. Offensively we got a little more aggressive and attacked the rim and were able to get to the free throw line. We were able to get the lead and spread the floor the last three minutes of the game," said Sheldon.

They took their first lead of the fourth with 4:55 left at (45-44) on two free throws by Owen Adams. The Eagles took the lead for good (49-47) on a lay in by Dylan Gulley with (3:10) to play.

Crawford was 15-20 at the foul line in the fourth quarter. "Guys stepped up and made free throws that's what you have to do is get freebees at the free throw line," said Sheldon.

Willard made only one more field goal after Blanchard's hoop and coach Chris Long says they did every thing well except for shooting it. "It's tough when the ball doesn't go in the basket. They came out with some pressure and we handled it, It got to the point where they were double teaming Connor (Robinson) a little bit and we tried to hit him with some post feeds. They made shots and were able to get to the free throw line and they knocked down free throws when they got there," he said.

Again it was balanced scoring for the Eagles as Todd Entenmann and Dylan Gulley both has 18 points and Owen Adams added 14.

Colonel Crawford, the Northern 10 Athletic Conference champion, #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, has built its success on defense. Sheldon thought they did a solid job on Carson Ebert, holding the 14 point a game scorer scoreless. "I thought we did a good job with Derek (Burkhart) and Owen (Adams) on him. Give credit Connor Robinson had a big game for them. He is a very nice player. He is a junior and he is going to be very special next year. He tried to put them on his back. We made a little adjustment in the second half and put Owen on him and I thought Owen did a good job and we finally got some help on him too when he put it on the floor. We knew that was a good basketball team. They are not here for no reason. Chris (Long) does a great job over there and it was a battle for 32 minutes," said Sheldon.

Connor Robinson lead the Flashes and all scorers with 24 points on the night. Long says they put themselves in position, they just couldn't get the shots to fall. "When it came to the fourth quarter we just couldn't buy a basket. Sometimes that is the way the game goes, you just don't want it to happen in the fourth quarter," he told Swankonsports.com after the game, "I thought our kids competed and played hard. We were never going to be able to put them away, so we just had to maintain and we didn't. They hit some big threes and that is way the ball bounces in this game. It happens at every level that teams don't physically put the ball in the basket and I thought that's what happened to us."

Sheldon says he knew it was going to be a tough game, but he trusted his kids. "This is the fourth year in a row we are in the district championship, so they know what to expect. They have seen the guys before them lay the foundation and now they are continuing it. Plus, we play tough games in the regular season. We have played in front of big crowds in our league. You know a lot of people didn't give us respect for the Northern 10 and hopefully we earned that a little bit (Thursday) night with a win against a very good league in the "NOL." Give our kids a lot of credit they showed some toughness, especially in the fourth quarter," said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford plays Pemberville Eastwood for a district title on Saturday night at Ashland University. Eastwood upset second seeded Huron (50-48) in Thursday's other semi-final.

Published 3/13/15

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Colonel Crawford Sees a Mirror

Northern 10 Athletic Conference champion Colonel Crawford locks horns with Willard in the division three district semi-finals at Ashland University on Thursday night.

The Eagles (22-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, beat back a challenge from Margaretta and beat the Polar Bears (44-32) to win a sectional title last week. Coach David Sheldon says they played a solid third and fourth quarters. "We had a very good second half offensively and our dense was solid all night. It was good to get that first tournament game under way and now we can play in the district tournament come Thursday," he said.

No matter your level of experience there are bound to be some tournament jitters. Sheldon hopes those have gone way now. "Hopefully we have gotten any tournament jitters out of the way. Hopefully, we will come ready to go on Thursday against a very good Willard basketball team, " he said.

Willard (12-12) held off Edison (54-42) to win their sectional title. Sheldon says the Flashes may be .500, but they are still a very good team. "They are a senior dominated team and they have played great teams all year. We know they going to be well prepared. Chris does a great job over there and they are going to be prepared. When you get into the district tournament it is going to come down to kids making plays. You know, which team has kids make plays. We will see how it goes on Thursday," said Sheldon.

With four guards on the floor Willard handles the ball well. Sheldon says their starters have a good set and will force them to play solid defense to contain them. "We are very similar with our match-ups with our guards and ours posts and if you look at our size. Their guards are good and Ebert and Robinson are both very good players. They also have the Keaton kid that can really shoot it as well and Blanchard and Cofer and the guys off the bench play great roles as well. They are a very good match-up we feel for us," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "We just have to continue our defensive presence that we have done for the past 23 games. Like I said at this time of year it comes down to kids making plays and hopefully we make enough come Thursday night."

Willard is famous or notorious, depending on your position, for running a lot of set plays. Sheldon says they must be ready to defend those. "They run a lot of stuff. They have a lot of stuff in their offensive package and hopefully we are prepared and ready to go. You have to talk about how you handle different screening actions with all of the different sets they run. They also ruin their dribble drive and their Princeton series. They throw a lot of different things on the table and it is a very deep offensive package that they run. Defensively they play really good man to man defense. They will press at times and show some match-up zone as well. We are looking forward to the opportunity and go over there and see what happens," said Sheldon.

Published 3/12/15

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Colonel Crawford Ready to Get Going

Colonel Crawford is the number one seed in the division three district and they play their first tournament game on Friday night against Margaretta at Shelby High School.

Coach David Sheldon says they established some goals at the beginning of the year and having a long tournament run was certainly one of them. "This is goal number two. Goal number one we accomplished in early February with a league championship and now we go out Friday and play for a sectional championship. Our kids are very excited. They are excited to continue the tradition we have had and the past success. They know what it takes from seeing the previous teams before them. We are playing a very good Maragretta basketball team Friday night. So, we are looking forward to the opportunity of getting on the floor," he said.

Margaretta (10-11) beat Crestview (55-48) on Tuesday night in a semi-final game. They are paced by all-district performer Dylan Bailey. Sheldon says he can do a lot of things. "They go with Bailey, he is a special player. He is a two-time first team all district 6 basketball player and he is very versatile. He can shoot it, he can put it on the floor, he can post up, he can really do everything. I think he is a big key for their success," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "The second thing is they do a great job getting out in transition and scoring. So, we must be able to play transition defense then sit down in the half court and try and defend them. Defensively they have shown a lot of different looks. The show multiple presses, they show a match-up zone, they show man to man. We just have to be ready to react and to the best of our abilities attack offensively and make sure we get a great shot every time down the floor."

Colonel Crawford (21-1), #2 in the final Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, won the outright title in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this year. Sheldon believes the tough schedule they played in the league, especially at the end of the season, will help them in the tournament. "I loved the way the end of our schedule went with Buckeye, Upper and Carey. We played three very good basketball teams that are very similar to what we are going to see in the tournament. Our kids have been through wars, they have been through hostile environments and we have played in front of crowds. The big thing is we prepare all week and we get ready for the test and the test is Friday night at 6:15," he said.

Published 3/06/15

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Crawford Needs to Find it Again

Colonel Crawford went the first 20 games of the season without a loss until they suffered at setback at Upper Sandusky last Friday. This week, they host an other outstanding team in the Carey Blue Devils in Northern 10 Athletic Conference action.

Upper downed the Eagles (51-39) last week and coach David Sheldon says it is very important for them to only win, but play well against Carey. "I think playing well is a big key after losing last Friday to a very good basketball team in Upper Sandusky. I think we have had a great week of practice with the focus of our guys in sharpening some things offensively and defensively," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "Friday night we get to play a very good team in Carey that is 18-3 with two of the better players in the league when you talk about Jared Wentling and Zack Boes. It is our seniors last home game. We have a chance to go undefeated at home on the year. Even though the title is won outright we are still playing for a lot."

With the postseason tournament starting next week, Sheldon says that makes this game with Carey doubly important because you want to go into the tournament on an up note. "You always want to be playing well going into the tournament. I think we have played well and gotten better throughout the year. We had a little hiccup last week, but it was a tough game on the road. We want to come out playing our best basketball Friday night heading into a sectional championship the following Friday night. I think our guys are excited to get back on the floor after having a week off since last Friday and I think they will come hungry to play, especially for our six seniors and the last time they play in Mac Morrison Gymnasium," said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (20-1,16-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, beat Carey (18-3,14-3) 48-38 the first time they played. Sheldon says they must control the tempo again. "They are very good in their transition offense and we have to stop their transition buckets and make them work in the half court to get baskets. Two of the keys we have to focus on are Wentling and Boes, but I think stopping transition hoops and limiting them to one shot at the offensive end are keys all night long for us to be successful," he said.

The Eagles shot only 23 percent against Upper Sandusky and Sheldon says they have shoot much better on Friday. "You can dissect it all you want, but if you don't make shots it is pretty tough to win. This is a confident group and we have shot a great percentage throughout the year. Last week, was one night we didn't shoot it well and hopefully we will bounce back on Friday night," he said.

Published 2/27/15

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Crawford Wins N10; Ready for More

Colonel Crawford secured an outright Northern 10 Athletic Conference title on Monday night and now they are looking forward to closing the season against two good teams in Upper Sandusky and Carey.

The Eagles outlasted rival Buckeye Central (44-42) on Monday night to claim the title. Coach David Sheldon says it was their defense that was the difference. "It was an electrifying atmosphere here the entire night. It was probably as loud as I had heard this gym. It's two great communities when you look at Buckeye and Crawford. Our kids know their kids. Me and Phil Loy are great friends and will battle for 32 minutes. It was a game of runs and we were fortunate to make a run at the end and pull out a victory. It was a great game for us heading into the tournament in a couple of weeks. we had to face some adversity," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "Our defense really held us in it and caused some turnovers at the end and allowed us to come away with the victory. It was a night when we didn't shoot it real well and a lot of credit goes to Buckeye because they played great defense. We found a way to win and you have to do that in the grind of a long season."

Unbeaten on the season, the Eagles haven't been challenged much. Sheldon says he knew Buckeye had that kind of talent. "Back to the Plymouth game on week two of the season was really the last time that we faced adversity in a game like that because our wins being mostly by double figures. Give Buckeye credit it was a great to see them back and healthy and 100 percent with Grant Loy and Heydinger playing. I really think they can make a run in the D4 tournament with the Northern 10 preparation they have had all year with the tough league schedule," he said.

Crawford (20-0,16-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Upper Sandusky (14-6,12-4) on Friday. The Rams, #5 in or large school poll, have lost to Wynford (67-59) and Shelby (87-80) in overtime this week. Sheldon says don't be fooled they are still very good. "You talk about their two losses, Wynford has been playing exceptionally well the last two weeks and Shelby one of the better teams when you look at the "NOL" and their record. They are very good team, they have weapons, they have posts, they have guards, they are very athletic. We had a great battle with them the first time here and we are looking forward to the road test on Friday evening. I think its great the way we end the season playing Upper and Carey, two of the better teams in our league. It is a great way to go into the tournament with games just like we had last Monday. Our goal number two is a sectional championship. Goal number one was to secure a league championship outright and goal number two is to win a sectional championship on March 6," said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford won the first match-up (58-44) and Sheldon says again they are going to be able to slow them down again. "We were able to contain them in the half court. They do get out in transition. They have multiple weapons. Anyone of those five guys can score double figures. We have to make sure we sprint back in transition, contain them, and try to get them to set up in the half court," he said.

Published 2/19/15

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N10 Titles Awaits Colonel Crawford

Goal number one can be obtained by the Colonel Crawford Eagles this weekend. If they beat Buckeye Central Saturday night they will win the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title outright.

The Eagles already have a share, but coach David Sheldon says they don't want anyone else's name on that trophy. "We accomplished a goal Saturday by winning at least a share of the league championship and now we have a chance to win it out right. We have a very good basketball team coming to North Robinson on Saturday and from what we are hearing they are healthy, so we will get to see Grant Loy, Wurm and Heydinger and everybody, which is great because we want that. What is great about these last three games is these are three of the top teams in our league when you look at standings and it is a great way to prepare going into the tournament and our second goal of the year, which will be a sectional championship," said Sheldon.

With the regular season winding down, Sheldon says they don't want to take their foot off the accelerator. "You always want to be playing your best basketball at the end of the year. I think we have gotten better from day one to game 19 now. The nice thing is there are three single weekends and we are able to get some guys some rest. We have our legs back after playing a grind of the season for the first two months. It has been very nice to be able to practice all week and do some things that we haven't been able to do with all of the games early on. You definitely want to be playing you best basketball at this time of year," he said.

Wynford beat Buckeye (73-66) on Thursday night and Grant Loy scored 19 points for the Bucks. He had been out of action in recent games due to a back injury. Sheldon says he wants to play the Bucks (12-7,10-5) at full strength. "I think they are a very good basketball team either way. One thing that Phil's team does is they guard every night. They play tremendous defense and with Grant in the lineup that definitely gives them another offensive weapon with him and Wurm, but their other guys have stepped up while Grant has been out. They are playing very good basketball while Grant was out with his injury. I think it is a team that has gotten better since the beginning of the year," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "As I have said all along they are one of the better division four teams in this area. We are going to get their best shot on Saturday night with the 602 rivalry. Everybody is trying to knock us off and it will be a great high school basketball atmosphere again and we are looking forward to the opportunity."

Colonel Crawford (19-0,15-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is closing in on an unbeaten regular season. Sheldon knows everyone is out to get them. "Everybody knows what we have done so far and everybody wants to knock you off. The target on your back gets bigger and bigger as you get to the end of the regular season. After the regular season everybody starts 0-0. We know we are going to get everybody's best shot, we are used to that, we have seen it the last few weeks. We just have to make sure we take it one possession at a time and know our offensive and defensive responsibilities when it comes to Saturday night," he said.

Published 2/13/15

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Crawford Seizes Part of N10 Championship

With a victory (79-39) over Crestline on Saturday night, the unbeaten Colonel Crawford Eagles have earned no less than a share of the first ever Northern 10 Athletic Conference boys' basketball title.

Plus, coach David Sheldon, with his 139th win at Crawford, becomes the school's all-time most successful coach.

The Eagles (19-0,15-0) were not picked to win the conference before the year began, Carey was, but Sheldon says his guys have had good chemistry, been unselfish, and play tough defense, night in and night out. "From day number one, goal number one has been a league championship and to do that the first week of February is pretty impressive in what this group has accomplished. I have been part of three others here, this is our fourth now. It is impressive especially since the media, you guys picked us third or fourth in the league and I am proud of our guys," he told Swankonsports.com outside the locker room after the win, "I think I have said all year there is togetherness in that locker room, they don't care who scores they just want to win. You look at (Saturday) we put four guys in double figures. I think that kind of epitomizes this league championship. We guard once again, we hold a team to 39 and we have done that ever night. Even on nights when you don't shoot it well it allows you to win games, which we have been fortunate enough to do."

The game was tie at six all, then Crawford when on a (12-2) run to take command, Todd Entenmann and Owen Adams each scored five points during the stretch, to take command.

They then came out in the second half with a (16-2) run, punctuated by eight points by point guard Dylan Gulley... game, set, match. "We want to try and get on people early. Our pressure (Saturday) really helped us. When you make runs you can sort of extend that lead," said Sheldon.

Entenmann had 21 on the night, Adams 20, and Gulley added 15.

The Eagles, #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, really get the ball down the floor fast after rebounds or steals. Sheldon credits Gulley. "I will put him up as one of the best point guards in the Mansfield area. His quickness and the way he passes the ball, he leads the league in assists. Then defensively he leads the league in steals. When he gets steals we are off to the races. He can pass left or right handed and other guys are athletes and run the floor and we are able to get scores. When you can get those transition baskets who can put runs on people and all of the sudden you are up 10, 12 points instead of a two, four point game," he said.

In terms of the coaching milestone, Sheldon is quick to credit others for the program's success. "I think there are three things when you think about it. I have had an unbelievable administration. Form my superintendent, the guy that hired me, Ted Brunner, to my current superintendent, that I worked with when he was a head coach, Todd Martin, to my principal that has been a head coach, Jake Brunner. They have allowed me to coach kids, and I am tough on kids sometimes, and our program is like that. Number two, I would say I have had great players. They bought into the program nine years ago when we developed and brought the program here. And lastly my assistant coaches. They are as big a part of this as anybody. From coach Hill, who is on my bench, just like a head coach working with me everyday and every night, coach Kaple, coach Bauer, my past assistants, coach Kennedy, and my junior high and elementary. You think about the guys that have been here like Dave Froelich, a future hall of famer, Steve Mohr, a hall of famer, Steve Gray, a hall of famer. Those are three pretty good coaches that have walked the halls of the Colonel Crawford," said Sheldon.

Published 2/07/15

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Crawford Can Get a Share of N10 Title

Unbeaten Colonel Crawford can claim no less than a share of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference title this weekend with wins over Ridgedale and Crestline.

Colonel Crawford (17-0,13-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, owns a three game lead in the N10 standings.

Coach David Sheldon says they have been very focused and unselfish this year. "It has been a very humble group and the thing that I have been impressed with is they have taken one game at a time. Even after wins it is not like it is a party or they are jumping for joy in the locker room. They move onto the next one. They have never looked ahead and they have taken one game at a time. That has been our philosophy. We haven't really looked at the rankings or the notoriety we just talk about who is next up. This week the next one in line is Ridgedale on the road. It is a very unselfish group. They are playing for each other instead of themselves, which is pretty neat," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "When you look at last week Dylan Burkhart, our sixth man, leads us in scoring on Wednesday night and then on Saturday night at Bucyrus Nick Kemper, our post player leads us in scoring. We have had six different guys lead us in scoring this year. I think the closeness of this group has really helped because we have faced adversity throughout games. When we got down, or off to rough starts, or down in the second half they have always been able to overcome. There are still a lot games ahead and we are still chasing that number one goal and then we will get to number two and so on."

In terms of the league title, Sheldon says that is something they want very badly and they really don't want to share it with anyone either. "It would be impressive. I look back at the other three league championships we have had over the years here in my nine years, this would be number four if we could do that. To do that on the first weekend of February would be very impressive with three weeks still to go. We have to make sure we come out ready to go against Ridgedale before we even think about that league championship. When you are up three game you really don't want to share that league title either. I think that is one of the things that we are starting to talk about we have to keep going one game at a time and not have any hiccups anywhere because we want to keep that first N10 championship to ourselves if we have that opportunity," said Sheldon.

Ridgedale (6-10,4-9) will be at home for Crawford this Friday. Sheldon says the Rockets can be tough to handle at home. "Their first five are very solid. They have played everybody close at home. When they have played at home, when you look at the top teams in our league, they have played everybody close. Every gym we walk into right now there is a bull's eye on our back. Bucyrus had there biggest crowd last Saturday in probably 10 years their athletic director told me. So, we are going to get everybody's best shot because of the success we have had. That is why we have to stay together and take one possession at a time," he said.

Published 2/06/15

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N10 Battle Set for Wednesday Night

The top two teams in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference lock horns on Wednesday night as league leader Colonel Crawford plays host to second place Upper Sandusky in North Robinson.

Crawford (15-0,11-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, is unbeaten though 15 games and they routed both Wynford (70-39) on Friday and Seneca East (88-42) on Saturday. Coach David Sheldon says they just continue to do a lot of good things. "We went on the road Friday night to Wynford and came out an got a nice win. I thought we shared the ball well as a basketball team. Once again we defended well both nights. Saturday night we played really well in the first quarter, got the game in hand, and were able to play a lot of kids on Saturday night, which was nice at this time of year to save some legs for those guys that play a lot of minutes throughout a 22 game season. Anytime you can get Friday, Saturday league wins as we are still trying to go after that number one goal that we set out since day one of competing for a league championship," he said.

Upper Sandusky (10-3,9-2) is in second place in the conference and they need a win badly to avoid falling three games behind Crawford. Sheldon says the Rams are going to come out with fire in the eyes. "First of all they are very well coached. It is a team that has post and guard play. They are very balanced when you look at the weapons that they have. We know it is going to be a big game. They are only two games back of us, so this is big game for them and we still have to go to their place. Five of our last seven games are against teams that have 10 or more wins, so we have a tough stretch coming up as we wind down league play here the last month of the season," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "The good thing is we control our own destiny and I think anytime you get into the second half of the season and you control your own destiny that's where you ant to be as a basketball program. I know our kids are excited, this is a game that got snowed out early in the year. It will be a great atmosphere here Wednesday. Upper's community will come over here and we are the only game in the area. Our kids have done a good job of going one game at a time."

A win over Upper puts the Eagles in command of the league standings with a three game lead with six games to play. To get it Sheldon says they must continue to play unselfish basketball and do good job defensively on all five Upper players and rebound. "One thing for sure is we have to keep controlling the boards. We have done a good job of controlling the glass and they have several kids they do a good job driving the ball and they have several shooters as well. So, with out defensive game plan we have to be able to control their scorers because they are able to score in multiple ways. Offensively I think we have to keep sharing the basketball and taking what the defense gives us. We have seen a lot of different defenses as we have gone into the second half. We try to work on everything we could see in practice and our kids have done a good job of recognizing. We have to be sharing the basketball, like we have been, in order to be successful at the offensive end," said Sheldon.

Published 1/28/15

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Crawford has to Start Doing the Little Things

Colonel Crawford is one of a number of pretty good girls' basketball teams in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference and now they would sort of like to break out of the pack a little bit.

The Lady Eagles (8-7,6-6) hosts Bucyrus (8-8,6-6) in an N10 game on Tuesday night.

Crawford has lost its last two games to Wynford (32-26) and Seneca East (55-36) and coach Kyle Fenner says they need to be better at the little things. "We have played really well, but we have had a couple of weeks here where we have played some really good teams. We continue to battle we just have to make some smart decisions, some good decisions, and we have kind of let that in situations compound a little bit. We have had a couple of good practices and hopefully Tuesday we get back on the right track here," said Fenner.

They are certainly a much better team than they were last year and Fenner says they can't be discouraged when they don't win. She says they have to keeping pressing forward. "We have played the top teams in our league in Wynford and Upper Sandusky and Carey and we took some lumps, but we also thought we did some things good," she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "We just have to build on that and we can't get too discouraged. You have to stay even keel, you can't get to high and you can't get too low because it is a long season."

There are four teams between six and nine league wins this year. Fenner says outside of league leader Carey there has been a lot of trading of punches. "It's been kind of crazy. Carey I think has a three game lead, but everybody else kind of even with each other and if you take a look at the standings that is what has happened. We have beaten up on each other, so you have to be ready when you step on the floor," she said.

Colonel Crawford beat Bucyrus (49-46) in their first meeting this year in December. Fenner says to do it again they have to at least contain Lady Redmen center Kelci Simms. "They are led by Kelci Simms, their big tall center. She is great player and she will be a challenge for us on the block. We will have to guard from the inside out and we will have to do a great job of boxing out in trying to keep their bigs off the glass," she said.

Published 1/27/15

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Colonel Crawford Ready For Challenge

Colonel Crawford is unbeaten and the leader of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference by a game over Upper Sandusky.

It is two more conference games as part of the N10's 18 game league schedule this week with a visit to rival Wynford on Friday and a home game against Seneca East on Saturday.

Last Saturday, Crawford hammered Mohawk (71-34) to maintain that lead over Upper. Eagles coach David Sheldon has been impressed by the consistency he has seen from his team. "I think this team has done a good job of taking one game at a time. We have seen some adversity throughout the year. They have responded well to that and have bounced back through the course of a 32 minute game. We have been fortunate enough to take care of business, but there is a lot of basketball to be played and there are going to be some very good teams that we are going to play as we finish up the months of January and February," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "I have been happy with the consistency night in and night out from this group so far. I think part of that is the togetherness of this team. It is a big team effort and when you get kids to buy into that makes a big difference night in and night out."

By winning their first 13 games of the season Sheldon knows that his Eagles have become everybody's super bowl. "We are going to get everybody's best shot. We talked to our kids about we are going to get everybody's best shot every time out when you have had the success that we have had early on and the tradition of success we have had since '09. These kids are used to playing with that on their chest. I think with some of the success we have had and the notoriety that we have gotten. We are going to get everybody's best shot and it doesn't matter what they did against another team," he said.

Colonel Crawford (13-0,9-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball poll in the small school division, plays at Wynford (6-5,5-4) on Friday night. The Eagles won going away (73-44) in the first meeting, but Sheldon says Wynford is improved. "It is a totally different basketball team than it was in the beginning with them just coming out of football and buying into a new program with a new coach. I think the kids are understanding what coach Delaney wants now. They are a team that shoots the ball very well. They get out in transition. They are a very good team when they get out in transition and line up along the three point line. They have some good athletes. They are a very good basketball team. They have been very successful at home so far this year. The good thing is our kids have played in tough environments all year. We have had some tough road games throughout the first 13 games. We know that Wynford is going to be excited to play us. We are looking forward to opportunity to go over to the "House of Thrills" come Friday night," said Sheldon.

Published 1/23/15

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Crawford Taking Them One Game at a Time

Colonel Crawford has had an excellent start to the season and it has put them in sole possession of first place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference boy's basketball standings.

They play at New Riegel in a non-league game on Thursday and then host Mohawk in an N-10 game on Saturday night.

Crawford was able to beat one of the other big contenders for the league title when they won at Carey (48-38) last Saturday. Coach David Sheldon says they put a nice effort on the floor. "It was a very good team effort by our group of young men. It go on the road to hostile environment at Carey against a very talented basketball team with great athletes and basketball players. It was just a team effort on the offensive end and the defensive end. It was a great atmosphere of high school basketball. Anytime you go on the road and get a league win that is a big win. We enjoyed it Saturday night and now we are moving on to another tough week of basketball as we go through the grind of a 22 game regular season," said Sheldon.

Carey is as team that has really lit up the scoreboard this year and Sheldon says they were able to slow down the Blue Devils. "I thought we did a very good job of controlling tempo. Carey was a team that was averaging 78 points a game and like to get up and down and turn it into a track meet. We like to get out and go too, but we did a great job of recognizing when transition was there and when it wasn't and get into our half court offense and withstand their transition game and set up our half court defense, which has been the trademark of this team all year being able to guard in the half court," he said.

New Riegel (4-5) is not enjoying the kind of success they have had in recent years, but Sheldon says they are still a solid team. "They have a 6'5" kid inside that is a very nice player. Carey only beat them by seven earlier in the year. It's a week night on the road game after having two big win in the league the last two weeks with Buckeye and Carey. We have make sure we come out and play," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "We look at this as our last non-league game. Our number one goal is to compete for a league championship and number two is to get into the tournament trail these non-conference game are important when you are trying to get a high seed in the tournament, so it is big from that standpoint. New Riegel has a strong basketball tradition and going on the road this is going to be a good test for this team to see where this basketball team is as we go on the road this Thursday."

The Eagles (11-0,8-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, hammered Mohawk (66-26) the first time they played, but Sheldon says he knows the Warriors will make adjustments. "The one thing about playing 18 league games is you have to prepare for adjustments. Mohawk doesn't have the great record that they would like to have, but when you are on top of the league like we are right now it is a Super Bowl every night for those teams. We can make their season. One thing this team has doe a good job with is we don't talk about who we are playing in games. That will be league game number nine of an 18 game league schedule," he said.

Published 1/14/15

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Crawford to Face the Two Second Place Teams

Colonel Crawford has met all challenges so far, but this may be their toughest weekend of the season as the N10 leaders play the two second place teams back to back in Upper Sandusky on Friday and Carey on Saturday.

They beat another pretty good team in Buckeye Central (48-38) on the road last Saturday and coach David Sheldon says they continue to play well on both ends of the floor. "It was a good win last Saturday at Buckeye they are a very talented team. When you look at division four teams in the area they are one of the better ones. We went over there and got a good win on the road too. I was very happy. Our defensive effort was very good to be able to hold two of the better players in the area in Wurm and Loy down a little bit from their scoring averages. Offensively we shared the basketball and just made big shots. It was a good way to start the new year. Our break was tough over two weeks we played six games, so that was a grind. I though our kids focus from one game to the next was very good," said Sheldon.

They played a combination defense against Buckeye Central and Sheldon says they can do a lot of different things to slow the opponent down a little bit. "These kids have been able to adjust. We are a team that adjusts defensively depending on who we play. This team has really bought in from one game plan to the next. When people score on us these are guys that get upset and you don't get that too often. Very good basketball teams need to have that mentality and this team has done that night in and night out so far," he said.

The Eagles (10-0,7-0), #1 in SwankonSports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, play at home against Upper (7-2,6-1) on Friday night. Sheldon says the Rams can score form anywhere on the floor. "They have post play and guard play. They are a very balanced team. They are a team you have to guard from one through five. They are very disciplined. It is going to be a tough task again, but we look forward to the opportunity," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "We have had several tough tasks over the first ten games, so this is not like the first tough task we have had when you look at our schedule and the teams we have played. It will be a great atmosphere again for high school basketball. It's an 18 game league schedule and this is game eight."

Carey (9-1.6-1), #4 in our poll, was the preseason choice and their only loss comes to Buckeye Central (56-53) a couple of weeks ago. Sheldon says they are very athletic. "They are three of the premier players in our league when you talk about Wentling, Powers and Boes. They are kids that have been through the ringer of varsity basketball over the years.. And we get to go on the road to their place. I have told our guys we have played we have played Friday, Saturday, Tuesday, we have played Monday, Tuesday, Friday. These are high school kids and I guess sometimes people build up the back to back too much they just come back and are ready for Saturday. They are good, the media picked them, Upper and Buckeye toward the top. We know going in this could be a tough double weekend, but our kids have embraced challenges every time we step on the floor, so hopefully we come to play this weekend,' said Sheldon.

Published 1/09/15

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Crawford Trying to Build on Momentum

Colonel Crawford stands in a share of second place in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference girls' basketball standings, just a game behind first place Carey.

They play up State Route 602 at rival Buckeye Central (3-5,2-4) on Tuesday night in a conference game.

They are coming off a (70-10) destruction of young Crestline on Saturday. Coach Kyle Fenner says their hard work in the off season is paying off. "We have gotten off to a really good start. We feel like our kids have worked hard over the summer and have had a good start to the season and hopefully we can keep that rolling," she said.

The win over Crestline was their only game since before Christmas and Fenner, and her players, can't wait to get back on the floor. "It is kind of tricky because we have only played only one time I think in the last 10 days. The kids are getting tiered of practicing with each other and quite frankly I am getting tiered of practicing too. You try to take some time off and you try to stay sharp. We are kind of just excited to get a chance to play (Tuesday) night," said Fenner.

Their only loss in the league came by one point to Wynford (48-47) on December 12.

Buckeye Central is coming off a (60-48) loss to Bucyrus on Saturday. Fenner says they are a team that likes to pick up the pace of play. "They like the up tempo game. They are kind of guard oriented. They have a real good freshmen point guard in Jenna Karl. She shoots it well and she can put it on the floor and get to the basket too, so that is going to be a tough task for us," she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "They are kind of athletic. They have three or four other guards, their posts are athletic, and they go nine or 10 deep. We are going to have to control them (Tuesday) night. We are going to have to handle their pressure."

Published 1/06/15

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Entenmann, Crawford Torch Ridgedale

Todd Entenmann scored 37 points, 30 in the first half, and Colonel Crawford maintained first place to themselves in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference with (71-42) win over Ridgedale on Monday night.

Behind Entenmann's heroics Crawford was able to build a (41-22) advantage at the half and coach David Sheldon says that fast start was critical. "Ridgedale has played some teams in this conference tough. We were fortunate to get off to a great start. We were up 20 at the half and we were able to get it up to 30 in the third quarter. I thought our kids really came to play. Todd Entenmann had a great game, in the first half he had 30 points and our guys did a great job of finding him," he told Swankonsports.com after the win, "In the second half they tried to come out and take him away and we scored 21 points in the third quarter and I would say 16 of the 21 other guys stepped up. It's just another big league game when you play 18 league games this year."

Entenmann has eight threes in the first half. Sheldon says he did a good job of reacting to a change in focus from Ridgedale's defense in the second half. "I was really happy with the third quarter because we spread the wealth. With the motion offense you can get a good shot and Todd did a good job of not forcing it and other guys did a good job of stepping up in the third quarter. I have said all year if you can put three or four guys in double figures it makes you tough to guard and we did that in the third after Todd had the big first half," he said.

Crawford (8-0,5-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, plays at Crestline (0-7,0-5) and new coach Colby Bright on Tuesday night. Sheldon says the Bulldogs has a very good player in Nate Coffman. "Colby is doing a great job. He is developing a program and they have stuck to what they are doing for the first time in a long time. The Coffman kid is averaging a double double. He is averaging 16 points and 11 rebounds. He is definitely the key. We are coming off a back to back and they didn't play (Monday) night. We told our kids that it is like a Friday-Saturday. We have done a good job of not taking anyone lightly thus far and the most in important game is at Crestline on Tuesday night. We will be back in the morning going over scouting, watching film, and preparing for Tuesday night," said Sheldon.

It's three N10 games this week for the Eagles as they play Buckeye Central on Saturday, but Sheldon says their schedule slows down after that. "These kids like to play. They get after it in practice. By the end of Saturday we are going to have 10 games out of the way. We only have 12 games in the months of January and February. I like to do that because it gives us some nice rest for the rest of the season . We have played a lot of games early are our kids have responded well to that," he said.

Published 12/29/14

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Unbeaten Teams Highlight Tuesday Schedule

Colonel Crawford and Bucyrus match undefeated records in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game in North Robinson on Tuesday night.

Crawford (6-0,3-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coaches poll in the small school division, beat Wynford (73-44) on Friday and Seneca East (74-49) on Saturday in league games.

They played well at both ends according to coach David Sheldon. "We had a good weekend when you look at the two wins I was happy with our performance. I think the thing that I was most happy with was we are spreading the wealth. Friday night we had three guys in double figures and Saturday night we come back and put four guys into double figures," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "So, offensively we really had a good weekend and our defense stayed where it has been. Offensively we are starting to show we have multiple weapons not just one or two. I have always said the more guys you have that can put the ball in the hoop you are going to have a chance to win on a nightly basis."

With the kind of balance they have on the floor, Sheldon says it's unlikely they are going to have a an off night. "When teams are trying to take one guy away and then other guys step up and score and that is what we have the luxury of doing. When you do that kids have a confidence in that. It just makes you harder to guard," he said.

Still the Eagles are best at the defensive end. Sheldon says they are really making it difficult for other teams to score. "I was really happy defensively going into the weekend Wynford was averaging 70, 80 points to hold them to 44, and then the next night Seneca East to 49, our defense has been consistent all year and I think that is key to be successful on a nightly basis too," he said.

Bucyrus (5-0,3-0) beat Seneca East (53-52) in overtime last Friday to remain unbeaten. Sheldon says they have experienced players that know how to play in big moments. "You always have to protect your home court in those conference races. They come to our place they are 5-0, they are undefeated. To their credit they have won a lot of close games and that is a good thing. They have been in close games and they have won a lot. They have four lettermen that are back that played a lot last year for them. It's a rival game just like last Friday with Wynford and us. It's one day preparation on Monday and then you play Tuesday. We are looking forward to it and then take a couple of days off for the holiday," said Sheldon.

Bucyrus beat Crawford at their place last season and Sheldon says they remember that. "It is definitely going to be a challenge. That is one thing they did get us last year and our goal every year is to compete for a league championship and you have to protect home court. Hopefully we can do that Tuesday, but this is a team that has been playing well and they are undefeated and that says something about them," he said.

Published 12/23/14

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Eagles Flying High

So far, the Colonel Crawford Eagles have played about as well as they could have dreamed over the first four games of the season with a win in the conference opener against Mohawk and quality non-conference wins against Mansfield Christian and Plymouth.

The Eagles (4-0,1-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball poll in the small school division, hammered Mohawk (66-26) last Saturday in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game. Coach David Sheldon says they were ready to go right away. "We came out and played well right from the start. As a coach I was a little nervous because coming off a nice road win Tuesday at Plymouth, how are we going to respond? I was very proud of the focus of our kids. We came out and got off to a great start. At halftime I think it was 41-10 and that is what we needed to do. We were fortunate to get off to a good start and be able to ride it all of the way out to get our first league win on the road Saturday night at Mohawk," he said.

Crawford has been pretty efficient on offense, but Sheldon says its defense where they have really been their calling card. "This team has been lock down defensively. They really have bought into that end of the court. We are giving up like 35 points a game through four games. We have taken pride in it. That is one thing we have gotten better at since we began preseason in early November to now. That is one thing that I have always told them that there are nights when you aren't going to shoot it well and you are going to have to be able to guard night in and night out because that is one thing you are going to be able to control," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "I have been happy with our defensive effort. We have went against some good post players. We have went against some good guards. Overall we have been able to keep things in tack and play good, sound, fundamental defense. At times we press as well and that creates some offense for us in transition. That is probably the thing I have been most proud of so far, our defensive effort."

Wynford (2-0,1-0) comes to North Robinson on Friday night for a game with the rival Eagles. Wynford downed Riverdale (73-67) in their first game and they outscored Ridgedale (94-87) in double overtime in their N10 game. Sheldon says the Royals, and the way they play, will be difficult for them. "They are leading our league in scoring. They have played two games and they have put 73 and 94. They have a lot of weapons, a lot of kids that can shoot the basketball and they also have some post players around them. They play at a fast pace and there are a lot of guys that they throw in there. You have to play great transition defense. You have to get back and stop their transition hoops. I think that will be a big key come Friday night because of the way they run the floor. They have great shooters as well. They have been shooting the ball really well early in the year. It will be a challenge when they come to our place Friday with their pace of the game. This will be a good challenge to see where we are at," said Sheldon.

Published 12/18/14

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Crawford Doing the Job

It looks like it might be pretty good race in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference this season and Colonel Crawford just might be part of it.

The Lady Eagles (3-2,1-1) are just one basket from being unbeaten in the league after losing last Friday to the rival Wynford (48-47) in North Robinson.

Coach Kyle Fenner says her team has been doing some good things. "We have got off to a good start. We had a tough game Friday night against Wynford. The kids played hard, we just couldn't make some plays down the stretch. Wynford made some plays and hit some shots. We will have to learn from it and go on," said Fenner.

This is Fenner's second year, in her second stint, as the Colonel Crawford coach, and she says they have come a long way in just over a year. "We are a lot better team. Obviously, we are year older, and everybody is back from last year. We have had a good summer and the kids have worked hard. We have to keep working hard and if we can keep doing that good things are going to happen," he said.

Carey is probably the favorite to win the conference title, but Fenner says there are going to be a lot of games up for grabs. "I think our league is very balanced this year and I think that is one thing that we have talked to our kids about in these league games you better step on the floor and be ready to go. Our league last year graduated a lot of very good seniors, so it is very balanced and you have to be ready to go every time you step on the floor," said Fenner.

The Lady Eagles will be at Seneca East (2-0,2-0) for an N10 game on Tuesday night. Fenner says they have a super scorer in Seina Adachi and they are going to have to make her work hard to score against them. "Seneca East, you know, they play extremely hard. They are led by Seina Adachi, who is a great, great point guard for them," she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "She leads our conference in scoring. We have to make her work for everything that she gets. We are not going to keep her from scoring we just need to control her a little bit and make her work. She has some kids around her that pretty good too, so it we a good game (Tuesday) night.

Published 12/16/14

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Great Early Season Match up with Crawford and Plymouth

Two of the better small school basketball teams in the area clash on Tuesday night as Colonel Crawford is at Plymouth for a non-conference game.

Colonel Crawford looked excellent in wins over the weekend against Northmor (74-35) on Friday and Mansfield Christian (54-38) on Saturday.

Coach David Sheldon says they played some pretty good defense against a Flames team that can really play. "We were really happy with the way we came back Saturday on a double weekend. Mansfield Christian is going to win a lot games. They are a defending league champ and they have everybody back. They won by 13 the night before over Crestview. I was very proud of our kids effort on the first back to back week. I think the thing that stood out is the second half we guarded. We only gave up 10 points the second half. On night number we gave up 35 and on the second night to give up 38 points our defensive effort was tremendous. It was a good win. They are very good basketball team coached by John Kurtz and it was a very physical basketball game. We knew Saturday-Tuesday were going to be very tough on us with two defending league champions in Mansfield Christian and Plymouth, a defending league champ that won 20 some games last year," said Sheldon.

Crawford (2-0) and Plymouth have a history having met twice in the district tournament in the last three years, Crawford won both of those, but the Big Red beat them in a regular season game last year (65-59) at Plymouth.

Sheldon says hey the pressure is on the Big Red because this is supposed to be their year. "This is the same team that we played when they were freshmen and sophomores when we were fortunate enough to win district championships and get to the regional and they are all now seniors. They are really talented. They have some special players, two 1,000 point scorers, they also have shooters surrounding them, so it is a very good basketball team. We are looking forward to this," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "The pressure is on them they are the ones that should be running the table and going undefeated with everything they have got back. I told the guys we are looking forward to the opportunity of going over there this is like a district tournament atmosphere and that's what you want in a non-league game. I know our guys will come out and give their best effort. Like Dickie "V" says we don't want cupcakes we want the top of the line teams. It is a great way to go into league play on Saturday playing against a very good Plymouth basketball team."

Tyrell Edmiston, a post player, and Tyson Beebe, a guard, are both 1,000 points scorers. Sheldon says Plymouth shoots it very well, but when they miss they the Eagles have to get the rebound. "It starts with Tyrell, but the thing about Tyrell is he is such a good passer too, so you have to be able to find other people because it's not like have guys that can't shoot, they put shooters all around him. You have to be able to defend Tyrell inside, but also match up with their shooters outside. The other thing we have to do is keep them from getting second shots. We have to keep them off the offensive glass so they can't turn it into a volleyball game tipping it all around. We have to box out and put bodies on people on every possession," said Sheldon.

Published 12/09/14

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Colonel Crawford Looks at Tough Start

Colonel Crawford is a young team this year and they are going to find out how good they are very quickly as they play three games in the first five days of the season.

They play Northmor on Friday, Mansfield Christian on Saturday and Plymouth on Tuesday.

They only have two players back that played much varsity basketball last year, but coach David Sheldon has been pretty impressed with the progress they have shown this year. "It has been a very good preseason and we have really grown over these four weeks. We have gotten better every scrimmage. That is the kind of growth you want to see in the preseason, especially with only two returning varsity players. These guys that were on our JV team last year have stepped up and gotten better. I am pleased with that. I think they are ready to tip it off for real on Friday night. It is always interesting to see how in game one when they turn the lights on how it goes. I have a lot of confidence in this group and how they have gotten better over the preseason. I think they are excited to get going and we have a bear of a schedule to start off with Friday, Saturday and Tuesday," said Sheldon.

To be a successful team everybody has to know what they need to do and Sheldon says his players understand their roles. "We talk about one possession at a time everyday in the program. The most important possession right now is the first one on Friday night against Northmor. I think the one thing this team has done over the last three, four weeks, they have bought into roles. We have always defined roles in this program. We set down and tell them for us to be successful this is what we need you to do as a part of this team. This group has really done that during the preseason," he said.

Northmor, of the blue division of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference, comes to North Robinson on Friday night for a non-conference game. Sheldon says the Golden Knights are young team with a very good player. "They always play with a lot of energy and emotion. They have a Donner boy back. He is 6'5" and he can play it all. He can play the point, the wing, the post and he is a really nice player. A matter of fact he got 30 against us last year over at their place. They are going to surround him with guys that are stepping on the varsity floor for the first time. They even have a couple of freshmen that are really nice players playing for them. They are sort of in the same situation as us with us only having two guys back and them having one. Donner is a special player. He will be one of the better players in the area. It will be a challenge with him and it will be interesting to see with two new squads basically who steps up on Friday night," he said.

Mansfield Christian is expecting to be very good this year and Sheldon knows they will be a big test for them. "They won the Mid-Buckeye Conference. They have four guys back that are very talented. The Smith boy is back from an injury. The Mount boy, the Brown boy, and the Cross kid have all played. Last year, down there we win by two. We had a dogfight down there. They were ahead most of the third and fourth quarters and we had to come back to win. This will be a great test for this young basketball team of mine to see where we are at and that's what we want," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "We challenge early on with some tough non-league game Friday with the Mid-Buckeye Conference champion that has everybody back Saturday and we turn around Tuesday and play Plymouth, the Firelands Conference champion, that has everybody back. We are at a point where we want to challenge ourselves before we get into league play. With Mansfield Christian John Kurtz does a great job. They are going to play man to man defense, they are going to get up in you. They are going to run their motion offense, they are patient, they do a very good job of being unselfish and you have to a great job of maintaining defensive patience versus a John Kurtz team anytime you play them."

Published 12/04/14

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Lady Eagles Maturing

Colonel Crawford struggled for much of last year in Kyle Fenner's return to the bench, but this year they are starting to make some more significant strides forward.

Fenner says they played pretty well for two quarters in a lost to Marion Pleasant (52-36) last Friday and then were able to put in all together in a (61-29) triumph over Northmor last Saturday. "We came out Friday night and played a really good first half. We executed and did things that we wanted to do, but for some reason didn't do those things in the third quarter. We kind of let Marion Pleasant have their way with us. On Saturday night, we went down to Northmor and had a really good effort. So, had a pretty opening weekend," said Fenner.

With some more experience this season Fenner says they don't have the same sort of peaks and valleys that they did a year ago. "We have the majority of the people back from last year. After struggling last year, we are more consistent and that starts in practice and we are having better practices this year and we are being more consistent. We have three seniors Cassie Sager, Katie Siegel, and Kristen Teglovic, who are doing a much, much better job this year and we need that," she said.

The Lady Eagles (1-1) will be favored when they play at Plymouth (0-1) in a non-conference game on Thursday night. However, Fenner says they can not take a win for granted. "It is on the road and they have two really good guards who are very capable. They are both seniors are very capable of shooting it and getting to the basket. We need to be ready because if we're not they will get us in foul trouble," she said.

Published 12/04/14

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Crawford will Field Inexperienced Team

Colonel Crawford has had as much success as any small school boys' basketball program in the area over the last several years, but this year they are going to be a lot younger than they have been.

They were (18-7) last year, finished as runners-up in the North Central Conference behind Buckeye Central, and lost to Huron in the division three district final. That being said, coach David Sheldon says they are don't have many guys back with varsity experience. "Expectations are always high in this program. The guys before this group have set a tradition with the success they have had the last three years with two regional appearances and a district runner-up. There are high expectations every time we step on the floor. We only have two returning lettermen back. We only have two guys that have played varsity basketball and I have always said that it is a big jump from JV to varsity with the speed of the game. We have a lot of freshmen and sophomores playing varsity basketball in this day and age. So, we have a lot of unanswered questions going into this season with this group," said Sheldon.

With not as much scoring punch this year, Sheldon says they are going to have to be good defenders and rebounders to win games. "I think we need work on the defensive end and we need to be able to rebound the basketball. We are not blessed with enormous size and we have top make sure we rebound the basketball on the defensive end and that is going to be a key for us being successful is not giving other teams second shots," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "On the offensive end we have two lettermen back in Todd Entenmann and Dylan Gulley and we have to see how that develops it is a little early to determine that now. There are just a lot of question marks with basically a new team taking the floor at the varsity level."

It is a new era for Crawford with the formation of the Northern 10 Athletic Conference form elements of the "NCC" and Midland Athletic League. Sheldon says it will be a tough grind week after week. "It is going to be a bear. Carey is loaded, Upper is loaded, Buckeye is loaded, Bucyrus has four starters back, Wynford has four or five lettermen back, Ridgedale was young last year. Crestline has had good teams down through and I think they have a great coach in Colby Bright. It is going to be a tough league playing a double round robin with 18 games it is going to be bear every night. When you look at the top three you look at Carey, Upper and Buckeye, but Bucyrus and Wynford have a lot of kids back. So, it is going to be a very tough basketball league," said Sheldon.

Published 11/18/14

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Crawford Still Has a Chance

Colonel Crawford stands in 13th place in division six, region 20 of the computer standings, but they still have a chance to make the top eight and qualify for the post season for the third straight year.

The first thing that has to happen in they must beat Carey, a team that is 10th in the same region, in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night.

One the reasons Colonel Crawford (7-2,5-2) is not higher in the rankings is their non-conference wins are over teams, Fostoria St. Wendelin (1-8) and Mt. Gilead (3-6), that haven't won many games. Last week, they buried the St. Wendelin Mohawks (72-10), but they didn't get many points for the win.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they were able to get some young players some quality time. "It's nice because you can get your guys some reps and get them out and get some young guys in. We were able to play our young guys throughout the second half, our JV guys and our freshmen guys, and they got a lot of good reps and that helps. Now we need a good week of practice and play well on Friday night," he said.

Carey (8-1,6-1) has lost only one game this year and that was by one point (14-13) to "N10" leader Wynford. Teglovic says their offense is scary good. "They are a good football team, they are an 8-1 football team. They have 21 seniors on their team. They have two backs in the backfield that they get the ball two and our dangerous. Their quarterback has thrown for over 1,000 yards already as well, so it's not like they can't throw the football. They are good up front. They have good speed and good athleticism. They haven no young kids that you can just hone in on. They are good and very balanced," said Teglovic.

Crawford has a solid team too and Teglovic says he told the players to just do the things they are asked to do. He says sometimes players try to do too much. "We talked to our guys (Monday) night about just doing their job. I think a lot of times in our society that people look at and try to control things that are out of their control," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "If they could learn to control things that they can control and do their job and do those jobs to the best of their ability every play then they will have some opportunities. You can't turn the ball over, we have to have ball security. You have to play with good speed. Your have to be solid in all three phases of the game. Just do your job as well as you can do it. Then you just let things fall where they may."

Published 10/29/14

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At Crawford it is Just Win Baby

Colonel Crawford remains 12th in its division six computer region and top eight make the playoffs, so they have to find their way to eighth place in order to make to the post season for the third straight year.

One of teams in front of them is Carey and they play them on week 10.

Running back Dalton Scott ran for three scores in the second half as the Eagles rallied to beat Buckeye Central (39-30) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game on Friday night. After giving up two first quarter scores to the Bucks, coach Ryan Teglovic says they found something in the second half. "It was a good win for us on the road. Buckeye came out and did some really good things early on and made some plays. Our kids hung in and stayed tough until halftime. I though we played a great second half and we played really hard. We were able to come out with a victory and keep some playoff hopes alive," said Teglovic.

With just two weeks left in the regular season, Teglovic says they can ill afford to lose anymore games. "That is the case again this week and our kids know if we are going to have a chance we have to win out. That means we have to win this week and the final week. We have to take them one week at a time, help ourselves, and then have someone help us out," he said.

Colonel Crawford (6-2) plays host to Fostoria St. Wendelin (1-7) in a non league game on Friday night. Teglovic says the Mohawks have struggled, their only win coming earlier this season against Toledo Horizon Science. He says they just don't have enough guys. "They got a win here a couple of weeks ago. They don't have a lot of kids. They have a couple of kids that are pretty decent in the backfield and some size up front. They are going through a numbers issue," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "It is the upper teens in regards to the number of kids. You have to have a little bit in numbers. They have kids that are working hard. I have seen some improvement, but the numbers are hurting them."

On the other hand Colonel Crawford has more than 60 players on their team.

Published 10/21/14

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Crawford and Buckeye Battle for Playoff Position

With two losses each in Northern 10 Athletic Conference play, and trailing by two games with three weeks left, both Colonel Crawford and Buckeye Central would appear to be out of the conference race, but they still have something to play for, mainly the playoffs.

Crawford is 12th in their region and Buckeye Central is 13th in theirs. The top eight in each region qualify for the post season.

The Eagles (5-2,4-2) hammered Crestline (54-14) last week in an "N10" game and coach Ryan Teglovic says they were able to get a lot of things done in a lot of areas. "I thought all around we played well. We go two special teams touchdowns. Offensively we were very efficient in the number of plays. Defensively except for a couple of plays I thought we made some progress there too. I feel we are making progress as the weeks go. Obviously, this is a good team we have coming up here and hopefully we can make more progress this week," said Teglovic.

Colonel Crawford has made the postseason the last two years and Buckeye Central advanced to the division VI state finals in 2012, so both are familiar with what it takes. Teglovic says this is a critical game for both sides. "There is stuff to play for an we have a 5-2 record right now. They are 4-3 and in division seven they have a couple of wins over bigger schools so they are in the playoff hunt too, so they are playing for some things as well. We are both playing for some things and it's a close rivalry. It's an "N10" game, it should be fun, lots to play for," he said.

Buckeye Central (4-3,3-2) lost last week to Bucyrus (48-14), but they are vastly improved for last year and Teglovic says that is most evident on defense. "They are better on the defensive side of the football. Their middle linebacker is a nice player. They have some speed on the back end of the defense too. They have some guys coming back there," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "They are balanced on offense, but it seems like their approach is they want to get the ball to Cody Roberts and let him run the football. The Loy kid is a good quarterback and they have some guys that can catch it."

Published 10/15/14

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Colonel Crawford Meets Crestline

After a disappointing loss to the Bucyrus Redmen on week five, the Colonel Crawford Eagles got back on the winning track with a thrashing of the Ridgedale Rockets last week.

Crawford punished Ridgedale (54-8) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game last week.

Coach Ryan Teglovic wasn't completely happy, but her says they did do a lot of good things against Ridgedale. "I thought we did some good things even when we broke down film. Obviously there were some breakdowns, especially in the third quarter, that we need to work on and we talked to our guys about that, but overall I was happy with how we came out. I thought we came out fast on both sides of the ball. I thought we were aggressive and I liked that. I thought we were more physical than we have been over the last couple of weeks. It was nice to get back on track," said Teglovic.

The thing that stood out the most for the Eagles last week was their aggressiveness. Teglovic feels they were able to amp up that part of the game a little more. "If you are passive you are in trouble. You have to get after the football. You linebackers have to fly to the football. Your defensive backs have to be right behind the box in position to make plays. That is a key and offensively too. We want to run the football and you have to be physical. I thought we were a lot better in that aspect last Friday and hopefully we can continue to do that," he said.

Colonel Crawford (4-2,3-2) plays at Crestline (0-6,0-5) on Friday night in conference play. The Bulldogs were beaten handily by Wynford (62-6) last week. Teglovic says they do have some skilled players that can do some things on offense for them. "They haven't got a win and when you look at their statistics you can get caught up in that and we have been telling our kids this what they do we and this is what we have to take advantage of," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday afternoon, "Crestline I think has one of the batter quarterbacks in the area and he is only a sophomore. He is 6'4", 190 pounds. He moves really well, he throws well. He is an athletic kid that can make plays. We will have our hands full with him. They have some nice speed out of the backfield and the Coffman kid at tight end has good hands. They are continuing to get better and we will have to go in and play well."

Published 10/08/14

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Crawford Moves on, Concentrates on Rest of Season

Colonel Crawford lost to Bucyrus last week when the Redmen scored a touchdown with about a minute and half to go. Now there focus is to win the rest of their games and let the cards fall where they may.

Trailing by four points Bucyrus scored on a short touchdown pass with 1:30 to play last week to get the win (29-27) over the Eagles. Coach Ryan Tgelovic says they just fell a little bit short. "It was tough. I was one of the toughest losses that we have been through in a while. You go through those as you grow as a team. I can't question our effort. That is one thing that I like about this group. We got down in the first half 17-7. We fought back and I thought executed well in the second half, but it wasn't enough to overcome that deficit. Bucyrus played a nice football game. It was a tough one and we talked to our guys about that we need to bounce back here in the next couple of weeks,' said Teglovic.

Crawford has been to playoffs the last two years and has at least shared in the conference title. Teglovic says the group he has this year may be less experienced, but they work hard. "I think they play together, I think there are some leaders on the team, I think they work hard. We still have a ways to go in terms of execution at the midpoint of the season. Some things have gotten better and some things still need to get better. Our guys we like them we like the way they work. It was a somber mood Saturday morning during film, but everybody was there and ready to go so we could get ready for this week," he said.

Ridgedale (2-3,1-2) will play at Colonel Crawford (3-2,2-2) on Friday night in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game. Ridgedale has been plagued by low numbers, but Teglovic believes the Rockets are an improved team. "They have won two games this week and did some nice things last week against Buckeye Central. I think they have gotten better. They have some size up front and they have a couple of athletic running backs," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "One of them is about 6'3" and 200 pounds with decent speed. The other back is about 6'4" and 240 pounds. They are both athletic and so is their quarterback, number 11, he is quick. The defensive backfield is athletic and they have some size up front. They don't have a lot of numbers, we know that, but still it is a team we will have to prepare for and play well."

Published 10/01/14

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Colonel Crawford and Bucyrus Meet in Key Game

Colonel Crawford, a game back in the N10 Athletic Conference football standings, will play one of the co-leaders this week when they test their metal against the Bucyrus Redmen.

After a little bit of a slow start last week against Seneca East the Eagles (3-1,2-1) put some things together and they beat the Tigers (41-20) in an N10 game. Coach Ryan Teglovic was pleased by how they responded to the loss the week before to Wynford. "I liked the way we played. Seneca East came with an on sides kick right off the bat and got the football on our 35, but the defense did well and they didn't score. Then you have to get back on your feet and I thought our kids were able to do that. We had a couple of turnovers the first half, but we continued to work. I thought we got better last week," said Teglovic.

Bucyrus senior quarterback Cole Murtiff threw a late touchdown pass to Cole Hollis last week in a (20-19) win over Mohawk. Teglovic says Murfitt has both experience and talent. "He is a three year starter at quarterback. He can beat you running the ball and he can beat you passing the ball. He has quite few targets he can throw to as well. He is the most experienced quarterback coming back in the N10. They are undefeated in the league and playing really well right now," he said.

Bucyrus (3-1,3-0) has topped Seneca East (29-14) and Mohawk the last two week in games that were still in the balance in the fourth quarter. Teglovic says those kinds of wins will give a team confidence. "When you are able to win those close games that gives you some confidence that if you continue to play you have an opportunity to win. They have played close games the last two weeks against Seneca East and Mohawk and they have been able to come out on top and have been playing good football," he said.

A loss to Bucyrus would put the Eagles two games back in the N10 standings with just three games to play. Teglovic isn't going to put added pressure on his kids. He says this is not a must win situation. "I don't think you can look at things that way," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "I don't look at things that way stressing outcomes and results. For me it's about getting better this week. That's what happened last week and obviously the outcome of the game the result was what we wanted. I think if we continue to play and get a little better we'll see what happens this Friday,"

Published 9/24/14

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Colonel Crawford Has to Get Back on the Beam

Colonel Crawford didn't just get beat by rival Wynford last week they were dominated by the Royals.

Wynford ran for more than 200 yards and forced four Eagle turnovers and beat Crawford (41-10) in a Northern 10 Athletic Conference game.

Eagles coach Ryan Teglovic says Wnford played very well, but also they did not play up to their potential. "I thought two things. First, Wynford we should give them credit they played very well. At the same time, I didn't think we played well, we didn't execute well. We misaligned defensively and did some strange things on the defensive line and we turned the ball over four times. You have to be able to do those things to beat a good football team. Hats off to them, but we have to bounce back and play much better this Friday," he said.

This week, the Eagles (2-1,1-1) play at Seneca East (0-3,0-2) in an N10 game on Friday night in suburban Attica. Teglovic says their assignment is to not just win, but to play well. "That is what we always say. That's what is most disappointing, a loss is one thing, but we pride ourselves in getting better every week and I'm not sure we did that last week. We have to get out there this week and be better than we were at the beginning of the year," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "That is what we have to get back too. We have to get back to basics in going out there and getting that accomplished this week. So, hopefully we can get out there this Friday and make some improvements."

Seneca East has been able to score points in their three losses this year to South Central (39-24), Buckeye Central (44-28) and Bucyrus (29-14) last week.

Teglovic says the Tigers can do a lot of things well on offense and they are going to have to play better defense than they did last week to stop them. "They have the number one rushing quarterback in the league, actually the number one rusher in the league, he is also the number two passer in the league, the have the number one receiver in the league. Statistically they are scary on offense. We have to be ready and keep them from the big play and make them drive the football. It's an 0-3 team, but they had opportunities in all three of those games, so it's a good Seneca East team," said Teglovic.

Published 9/19/14

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N10 Powers Colonel Crawford and Wynford Collide

Colonel Crawford and Wynford are two of the teams expected to contend for the Northern 10 Athletic Conference football title this year and they play Friday night in North Robinson.

Last week, Crawford (2-0) won their opener in N10 play as they crushed Mohawk (47-14) in game played over both Friday and Saturday due to thunderstorms.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says all things considered they did a pretty good job in the conference opener. "We played well especially considering it took two days and that is a frustrating thing for both teams. You come out and great ready for the second half, you make the adjustments, and are ready to go," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, " You are playing pretty well and you want to keep playing then lightning strikes and we end up having to go back to Mohawk the next morning. With those factors I thought overall we played pretty good football. Obviously we still have a lot of work to do, but I was pretty pleased overall."

With convincing wins the first two weeks of the season, Teglovic says they still have some execution issues to deal with because they can not always count on their athleticism to carry the day. "You get back and look at the film, especially on offense it is about execution. We might not have been stopped on a play, but we didn't do what we were supposed to do. It comes down to the fact that we have athletes that are good enough to make plays even what we don't execute well. You always have to get better. We have to execute better, especially on the defensive side, offensively too, but we have to be about to execute better on defense," said Teglovic.

The Crawford coach says that this year's Wynford team is one that has a lot of speed. "It's a good football team that got beat by a real good Liberty-Benton team on week one. It maybe a team that possess even a little bit more speed that usual. They have kids in several positions that have the capability to take it the distance. When they have that much speed on the field they can stretch you thin. Wynford has been one of the best teams in the area for a long time and I don't see any signs of that slowing down,' he said.

Published 9/10/14

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Crawford Tangles With Mohawk

It is kind of a new world for the Colonel Crawford Eagles, who are coming off a co-title in the North Central Conference last year and a division win the "NCC" the year before, but they are now in the newly formed Northern 10 and they start league play this week.

The Eagles (1-0) travel to Mohawk to face the Warriors.

Last week, Crawford scored 40 points in the first half and beat Mt. Gilead (51-24) on the first week of the season. Coach Ryan Teglovic says they did some good things on all three phases of the game. "Getting guys out there that have never seen varsity action. Our quarterback for his first start did a great job. He was six for nine in his first game and threw for a touchdown. The offensive line played well. The defense did some good things and was aggressive and ran to the ball. Special teams wise we made some good returns. We took a punt back for a touchdown. In the three phases of the game we did some good things, but we still have things to work on," said Teglovic.

Mohawk (0-1) was handled on week one by Marion Pleasant (48-6), but Teglovic knows that Pleasant is very good and it is difficult to scout Mohawk based on their performance against Pleasant. "Pleasant is a very good football team year in and year out, so I don't think you can use that as a gauge at all. We go to Mohawk and it is the opening N10 game. They have a running back that last year gained about 1,700 yards. When he gets the ball in open space he is very difficult to corral. They play good, solid fundamental football and we have to keep them in check," he said.

Continued improvement is the key for every team, win or lose on week one, and Teglovic says they have to be ready to play their best game on week two. "You have to be ready right out of the shoot. We tell our kids ever year that we get the most improvement between weeks one and two. You have finally got out there and played a whole game," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "You have seen yourself on film and you finally get to see all of the things the coaches have been telling you about. Now is the time that you have to make that improvement and there is a bit more urgency on it because it is a league game."

Published 9/014/14

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Crawford Looking Good

After two straight playoff appearances and a co-title last year in the North Central Conference, the Colonel Crawford Eagles have become consistent winners.

They travel to Mt. Gilead to kick off their season on Friday night.

Coach Ryan Teglovic, responsible for the resurgence of the football program, says he thinks this year's team can be pretty good too. "We like this team, we like this team. They have done a great job and they have gotten better, they have done what we have asked them to do. From that standpoint we are ready to go. There are always those first game jitters. Scrimmages are scrimmages and scrimmage film is scrimmage film. Until you get out there that first game you really never know what you have," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "You think you have a pretty good team, you think you have pretty good kids, but we really won't know until (Friday) night. As the season goes things will continue to grow and progress. We are pretty nervous about (Friday) night and you always are game one."

One aspect of the game that you don't get to see in scrimmage play are kicks and punts and Teglovic says that always leads to some trepidation on week one. "It's all about coverage teams. We talked the other night about that. We haven't done it in a while, it is kickoff coverage, it is punt coverage. You can run it in practice and do some things, but it is still different. That first kickoff, that first point, when you are covering those for the first time it can be a little scary," he said.

The Eagles have handled Mt. Gilead with relative ease the last two years, but Teglovic says this year the Indians are better and they are more athletic. "Mt. Gilead is a team that has a lot more speed than they have had the last couple of years. Their quarterback is quick and likes to run the ball. The will run some veer and he does that pretty well. He is a nice quarterback. He did not play against us last year, but he did play the last seven or eight games and had over 800 yards rushing last year. Their big lineman up from is about 6'4" 230, 240 and can move and is a pretty good looking kid. We have to travel down there, it will be an interesting evening and we will have to play well," said Teglovic.

Published 8/29/14

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Crawford Ready to Contend Again

It’s a new league for the Colonel Crawford Eagles, but they feel like they are going to be right in the thick of the football race in the new Northern 10 this fall.

Last season, the Eagles qualified for the state playoffs for the second straight year and shared the North Central Conference title with Galion.

This year they are helping to form the Northern 10 along with rivals Wynford, Buckeye Central, Bucyrus and Crestline from the old “NCC,” Carey, Mohawk, and Seneca East of the former Midland Athletic League and Ridgedale, who comes over from the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference.

Crawford coach Ryan Teglovic says they have good numbers this year on the team and so far they have had a good work ethic too. “In the preseason the kids have worked really hard, we have good numbers out. We had a scrimmage Tuesday against Tiffin Calvert, a playoff team last year and expect to do real well in their league this year. I thought we played well there. Now we need to continue to get better every day and do the things we need to do to improve every week,” he said.

Lost to graduation was four year starter at quarterback Nate Klingenbeger, but Teglovic says they have some guys coming back that are pretty good and they are going to have really good depth. “I wouldn’t call us a young team. Obviously we lost a quarterback that had over 30 starts in his career. That’s where it starts and we think we have a guy there that people might not know about, but I think he is a great replacement,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “He is very athletic. He plays hard and I think he will do a great job filling in there. We still have 15 seniors and 62 kids on the team, so we have good numbers and good replacements.”

It’s a new mix of teams this year for the Eagles to contend with and Teglovic feels like there will be some balance in the N-10 this year with a lot of talent on a number of the teams. “It’s going be a very good football league. Out of the old “NCC” we have Wynford, one of the finest programs in the area and Bucyrus that has had some very good teams lately. Then you add teams like Carey that has been a playoff team, they have 22 seniors this year, and Mohawk and Seneca East and those teams, so I feel like it is going to be a great football league. There are schools that are our size and we think it is going to be a good football league,” said Teglovic.

Published 8/15/14

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Colonel Crawford Has to Score

Colonel Crawford is used to winning low scoring softball games, but this year if they are to win they have to do it by scoring a lot of runs.

Veteran coach Chuck Huggins says they have a young pitching staff this year and that is has put more pressure on their offense. "We are setting here looking at a 6-8 record and we aren't used to that, but yet we understand because of a few of the injuries we have had to some key players, especially in the pitching circle we are definitely in a developing year. It's a situation where we have kids that would normally be our JV pitchers needing to play some varsity games. It's going to help us," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday night, "It is going to pay dividends down the road. but right now it is a little bit of a tough situation because at times we have plan on scoring double digit runs just to be competitive and that is nobody's fault it is just the way the situation has developed. It is just one those years where we are very, very young, especially in the circle, and we just have to make sure we develop our pitchers. How far we can go this year will be determined by how much our pitchers can improve here over the next several weeks."

With the kind of lineup they have this year and especially the pitching staff, Huggins says the team has to be patient and they have been. "I have always considered myself a patient type of coach. I have really admired the kids and their work ethic right now. They understand the situation that we are in. Nobody points fingers. Nobody places fault on anybody else they just realize that our young freshmen, sophomore pitchers are just working their tails off to get better, but the art of pitching is not something that just comes overnight," he said.

With the developing pitching staff this spring Huggins says he has been forced to change his traditional approach to the game of softball. "I am so used to coaching so we can manufacture a run so we can win a ballgame 2-1, 1-0, or 3-2 and a lot of times I can't go for that bunt or manufacture that run because I know we have to have to have a big inning either to get back in a ballgame or knowing the other team is probably going to score six, seven, eight, maybe even 10 runs in the ballgame so we have to play for big innings instead of trying to manufacture runs," he said.

Colonel Crawford (6-8,2-4) plays Riverdale on Tuesday and then Wynford on Wednesday and Thursday in North Central Conference games, if the weather allows, which it looks like it may not.

Published 4/29/14

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Crawford Battles Back

Courtney Tinkey had three hits and Colonel Crawford picked up its first conference win of the season in beating Galion (6-4) in North Robinson on Wednesday afternoon.

Freshman pitcher Kerri Reynolds improved her control, walking only two, and coach Chuck Huggins says she was able to keep them in the ballgame. "We got bumped off by them (Tuesday) and had a little bit of a sour taste in our mouth. Things just came together so much better for us (Wednesday). It helped that are young freshman pitcher had a lot better control. She only had two strikeouts, but zero walks. Anytime you can pitch a ballgame and keep your walks at zero you are doing well," he told Swankonsports.com after the win on Wednesday, "It was a much needed win. We have been on the short end and couldn't get a "W." Things just went well (Wednesday) night for the Eagles."

Galion had beaten the Lady Eagles (5-3) on Tuesday in the conference opener for both teams. The Lady Tigers scored three times in the seventh inning on Wednesday to make things tighter.

Colonel Crawford (3-4,1-1) is to host South Central on Thursday and play at Ridgedale in doubleheader on Saturday, all non-conference games, and then returns to conference play next Monday against Buckeye Central. Huggins says they need to continue the momentum. "It is just one of the situations where it is early in the season and Galion was our first "NCC" opponent, but still you don't want to go two games down that quick. I told the girls exactly that (Wednesday) night. We need to build on this and we need to make sure that we use this a stepping stone. It's kind of like walking up a stairway. You walk up the steps as a team and we don't want anymore slides down. I am very, very proud of my team," he said.

Breaking in a new pitcher is a process and Huggins, the Lady Eagles coach since the 1980's, says when the pitcher does well, Reynolds in this case, the whole team feels better about itself. "You don't have to be overpowering. I say this and say this there is no defense for walks. If you can make them put it in play we will go get it and make plays behind our pitcher, but we can't do that if there are four, five, six walks a game. That just gives teams extra outs and extra opportunities to score. It is true when your pitcher in on like (Wednesday) our team just came together. She was on and our team was on," said Huggins.

Published 4/10/14

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Crawford Ready to Start Improving

Over the first three games it was one up and two down for the Colonel Crawford Lady Eagles and that isn't bad for a team that is on the younger side, but their coach knows they can be better.

Veteran manager Chuck Huggins has been through a lot of first weeks and he says after a win over Carey (4-2) and looses to Willard (9-4) and Plymouth (3-2) it wasn't too bad. "It is just good getting out and getting the season started. Obviously, Mother Nature didn't take of us very well last weekend with the bad weather and the snow that came in. I have seen some good things. I have seen some kids that are trying to step up and really buy into what we are trying to do and what we have always tried to do and that is a good sign for us. We graduated a pretty good senior class off our state runner-up team last year. For those young kids to step up and help us was definitely a good sign for us," he said.

With the rain starting Thursday and running through at least Friday, Huggins says it is a good time to review some things. "I certainly would have liked to have played and finished out the rest of the week playing games, but sometimes it isn't bad to have a little bad weather coming in. You get a few games under your bet and you see some things that need improvement and you need to tweak a little bit, so I don't mind this happening it is going to give a us a great opportunity the next couple of days to just slow down a little bit and work on some things that we are not as sharp on as we can be and make sure we are working on those things and getting better," said Huggins.

The coach knows a thing or two about softball, but he says he wants his kids to tell him what they think too. "I go in with a practice plan and I have ideas and I know what we need to work on, but a lot of times I tell kids I'm not a mind reader. If you tell me situations that have happened and your not 100 percent sure of and if that situation happens again we have to make sure you are ready for it," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "I let them kind of give me some feedback, coach remember this play? Or the pitcher was pitching us this way and not really sure how to approach that. Just things like that. All year long I let them talk to me and tell me what they are thinking and that helps me understand where I can continue to help them."

They begin play in the North Central Conference next week with two games against Galion. Huggins says right now everyone is chasing the Bucyrus Lady Redmen. "In my preseason preview that I wrote up for our team they always ask me who I think is the favorite and without a doubt it is Bucyrus. I made the comment Bucyrus is absolutely loaded for bear this year and Colonel Crawford and Buckeye Central and Wynford and Galion and all the rest of the schools, Crestline could really gives Bucyrus a run, but the rest of us are loaded for rabbits and possum. I don't think we quite have to overall talent that they do, but stranger things have happened. Next week we start out the "NCC" and we are going to make sure we take it one game at a time, I know that is an old cliché, but for us coaches that is so important to do because you have to keep improving to make sure you can stay in the league race," said Huggins.

Published 4/04/14

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Crawford Gets it Together, beats Plymouth

If the weather cooperates Colonel Crawford is going to play seven games on the first week of the season and that gives them time to start to play with consistency.

Wednesday was a step in the right direction as they scored five times in the third inning to take the lead for good and went on to beat Plymouth (10-8) in non-conference play, the Eagles first win of the young season.

They had lost to Carey (4-2) on Monday and River Valley (12-6) on Tuesday and coach Joe Swartzmiller feels those really could have been wins for them too. "We kind of feel we let two slip away. Our fielding has been pretty bad. We have been hitting the crap out of the ball and unforced errors and unearned runs have been killing us. The kids came out (Wednesday) night at they put a "W" on the board," he said.

Defense has been a problem for the Eagles and Swartzmiller says that is something they have to continue to work on if they are going to become a good team because they just haven't been outside enough. "The hops are different, the conditions are different. We only got on the field once before our first game. I told the umpires before the first game that it was going to be an ugly game because Carey had only been on the field one time too, so I knew it was going to be ugly fielding wise," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday night, "It wasn't too bad I was pretty pleased for the most part. I thought after River Valley we need to be outside, we need to practice outside. We need to get a lot of grounders outside, we need to get a lot of pop flies outside, we need to do a lot of things outside."

Ethan Burkhart had four hits including a double in the win over Plymouth on Wednesday.

Can the Eagles compete in the "NCC," the short answer is yes, but Swantzmiller says the will probably be chasing Galion and Upper Sandusky, whom look good on paper. "I think it is probably a two horse league with Galion and Upper. I think with what they have coming back this year and what they have all around I think those are the two everybody is going to be chasing. Top to bottom I think it is going to be very competitive. I like to say we will be in the upper half. If everything clicks and comes together maybe we can be competitive for the conference championship. But, on paper and what everybody has coming back it is those two teams," said Swartzmiller.

The Eagles are scheduled to play South Central on Thursday, plays at Mansfield St. Peter's on Friday and hosts Seneca East for a doubleheader on Saturday, although it is supposed to rain each day.

Published 4/03/14

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Colonel Crawford Easing Into it

Colonel Crawford advanced to the state championship game last spring and they are always a factor in the North Central Conference race. Coach Chuck Huggins likes their position headed in the Saturday opener against Western Reserve, but he is always cautious.
He says they have been able to work on a lot of this month, but he knows there will always be something. "I would never say we're ready. I am happy with what we have in, but certainly not satisfied. Now we have been fortunate enough since last Friday to be out on our field almost everyday. I know it's been 30 degrees, but will bundle up and we got out there for a good hour, hour and 15 and work on things defensively. We keep our pitchers and catchers and our hitters in the gym, so we kind of spread it out,' he said.

Huggins, the Lady Eagles coach since the late 1980's, says there will always be some unknowns when you begin the season. "It doesn't matter how many years you have been at this, whether it be your first year or my 27th year you can think you have covered every single situation, every single scenario that you can cover, but there is always something that you realize come opening day or that first week that you realize you haven't covered as much as you needed to," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "We are doing an awful lot of good things at Colonel Crawford helping them get ready for the season, but I know there are going to be situations come up. As I say we coach on the run and that is exactly what we plan on doing Saturday when we open with Western Reserve."

One of the question marks headed into the season is who is going to pitch for the Lady Eagles. Huggins says that is something they are still working on. "We are still a work in progress and I say that is a positive way. We have some good young kids working at the game. I told the kids way back when we started the season quote unquote all hands on deck. Just because you haven't been a pitcher in the past doesn't mean you don't have the athletic ability and some kids can pick it up a lot quicker, a lot sooner. We have an awful lot of kids working on it. I am a firm believer that the cream will rise to the top and when it does we will find a good number one and number two pitcher that will be in that circle and helping us compete," said Huggins.

Published 3/27/14

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Colonel Crawford with Guarded Optimism

When Colonel Crawford has a great softball season they contend for the state championship, like last year, and when they have just a good season they make it to the regionals.

That is what it is like when you have one of the more consistent programs in North Central Ohio.

Veteran coach Chuck Huggins says they have good talent again this year, but they have to make sure they continue to prepare hard during the preseason. "I am very excited, but yet a little bit leery in that I know we lost an awful lot of firepower last year with our graduated seniors. I guess at this time of year I really, really like to fly under the radar in making sure we don't get big headed because we haven't done anything yet. We haven't won a single ball game yet it is still preseason. I just want to make sure we don't get overly excited," he said.

Probably the number one goal of the program is to find someone to put in the pitching circle after the graduation of Nickyla Gaverick, according to Huggins. "We have some kids back with some experience on the infield. We started two freshmen last year on the way to the state championship game. We have a nice group of four seniors and two juniors that are back and all who can contribute. So, we definitely have some experience back. Obviously our number one question mark will be in the pitching circle. I have never been one to rely on one pitcher because I think it is important to your program to keep developing pitchers and make sure you have pitching each and every year," said Huggins.

It was a cold, snowy winter and it has been a cold March so far, but Huggins says that is alright with him. "We are all in the same situation. It was a very, very tough winter, but the optimist in me has always thought that I would much rather have it like this with the bad weather and the cold and even stay inside right from day one and getting a lot of good fundamentals in and worked on and getting the little things down in practice inside and then go outside than to be out right from the get go," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "You get them outside and get them on the field and you get a lot of things done, but you don't get a chance to work on the fundamentals quite as much because you know there is more bad weather coming, so you get the team stuff done. It is almost like putting the cart before the horse. It is tough to take them back inside after early good weather, so as a veteran coach I would much rather have it like this having them inside and getting your fundamentals down and then get outside in your team concept of what you are doing offensively, defending the short game, and your cut offs, etc, etc, I would much rather have it that way."

Published 3/19/14

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Colonel Crawford Expects Good Season

This year Colonel Crawford shared the North Central Conference title in football and finished second in boys' basketball and they expect to enjoy a good season in baseball too.

The Eagles advanced to the district final last spring in baseball and coach Joe Swartzmiller says they have some quality kids back from that team and have added a couple to the mix. "We have a lot of returning lettermen. As people know we went all of the way to the district finals a year ago, so we have a lot of experience coming back. We picked up a couple of seniors this year that are really going to help the team. Overall, I think we are going to have a pretty good season," says Swartzmiller.

Pitching is key to success in baseball at any level and Swantzmiller says they have a good starting point. "I know we have one in Seth Keller. He is a legit number one for us, but right now we are looking for two through whatever. We won't know before we get into games and scrimmages and everything," he said.

The Eagles open the season on March 29 with a non-conference game with Western Reserve. They play in their first North Central Conference game on April 7 at Galion.

Swartzmiller sure would like to get out on the field and get some work in before the season starts, but he knows that everybody in this part of Ohio goes through the same thing. "We have been on the field one time so far and it doesn't look like it is going to be anytime soon, but everyone is kind of in the same boat," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "If your can get out before that first game that is going to help immensely. Weather is always a factor in Ohio. Hopefully, spring is right around the corner and we won't have to worry about this snow stuff anymore."

Published 3/14/14

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Crawford Responds; Advances

Connor McCreary's driving layup with :51 seconds to play gave Colonel Crawford the lead for good and they sealed the win by making five of six free throws in final :34 seconds and beat Pemberville Eastwood (42-36) in the division three district semi-final Thursday night at Ashland University.

The will play Huron (17-6) on Saturday night in the district title game. The Tigers beat Willard (41-37) in the first semi-final on Thursday.

After falling behind (36-35) with just under a minute play when Eastwood guard Steven Bradley stole the ball an scored, McCreary took the inbounds pass and took it the length of the floor to give the Eagles the lead back. "We have to be an unselfish basketball team and we did that at the offensive end tonight," said Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon.

After the Eagles took the lead, their defense forced two turnovers and blocked a shot in Eastwood's final three possessions. Eastwood has 12 turnovers and Crawford added seven steals on the night. "I am most proud of our defensive effort. I talked all week about Schmeltz, he is averaging 20 some a game, and we hold him to five points. That's a credit to Sager chasing him and all of the guys we put n the floor. I thought we did a much better job in the second half of keeping them off the offensive glass. We did a much better job of limiting them to one shot. When the game was on the line we got big stops. We talk all year about toughness and we did a great job with the game on the line of getting huge stops," said Sheldon.

Trailing (20-19) with under three minutes to play in the third quarter Todd Entenmann drained a three pointer from the right wing and Logan Sager followed with triples on consecutive possessions to give the Eagles a (28-20) lead with 1:55 to play in the period.

Jake Schmeltz has scored more than 1,000 points in his career, but Crawford went box and one on him and Sheldon felt it took him out of his rhythm a little bit. "We had seen other teams do that and we wanted to sort of play mind games a little bit and we got him standing a little bit. They had other guys step up and hit shots, but that's who we wanted hitting shots," he said.

Schmeltz's only field goals were a banked three pointer in the first quarter and a layup in the fourth. He finished 2-9 from the floor and didn't get to the foul line.

Eastwood out rebounded Crawford 30 to 23, but Sheldon feels they got some big boards. "We got some huge rebounds and like I said toughness. In the second half we did a much better job in traffic and going and getting the ball on the defensive end," he said.

Colonel Crawford (18-6) won district crowns in division four the last two seasons and Sheldon says they can't wait for Saturday night. "It's our third straight year of being in the district championship and that's something to be proud of and we are looking forward to coming back here," said Sheldon.

Huron missed 10 of its first 11 shots and found itself down 12-4 after one quarter, but they too did an outstanding defensive job as Willard made just 16 of 45 shots for 36% for the game and 10 of their final 35 for 29%.

Willard's leading scorer Carson Ebert was just 3-16 from the field and 1-12 on three point shots. Jordan Moore was Willard's, and the game's, leading scorer with 14 points.

The Flashes (15-9) cut it to three with :45 seconds to play on Moore's lay in, but could get no closer.

Sheldon knows they will be in for a real battle against the defending division three district champions. "They are very athletic and they have a couple of shooters with them. It's a very good basketball team and they were in this game last year, so this isn't knew. They play in a very good conference all year," said Sheldon.

Published 3/07/14

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Crawford Knows How to Do it

Colonel Crawford has had as much success in the post season tournament as any school in North Central Ohio in recent years with two straight appearances in the division four regional tournament, but this year they are in division three.

They play Pemberville Eastwood (18-6) in the division three district semi-finals on Thursday night at Ashland University.

Coach David Sheldon says they know how to prepare for tournament games because they have done it successfully before. "I think this time year the mental preparation as you are seeing teams that you haven't seen all year is huge. I have been really pleased this week with the focus our kids have had with regards to Eastwood and what we have to do to give ourselves the opportunity to win a basketball game Thursday night. These guys have seen what the previous teams have done. We have a scout team during tournament time and now a lot those guys in the limelight on the varsity squad. I definitely think the past helps because these guys have been through this over the years," said Sheldon.

He says they do things a little differently during the post season because the opponents are often unfamiliar to them. "We are really focusing on Eastwood and that is the thing from a defensive standpoint. Focusing on them on what we need to do to give ourselves the best opportunity to get stops every time down the floor. There is not as much fundamental work at this time of year it's more game preparation and a lot of shooting and getting kids in and out. That is usually what we do come tournament time. That has been our protocol over the years. We are just trying to keep it normal as far as past tournament experiences," he said.

Sheldon says the Eastwood Eagles have an outstanding individual player surrounded by some athletic kids. "He is averaging over 20 points a game, the Schmeltz kid. He reminds me a lot of Jake Heese that played at Crawford back in the day, but he is a little bit taller than Jake. He can shoot it, he can put it on the floor and get to the foul line," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "He is a very special player, but around him they have great athletes with size, they go 6'5", 6'4", 6'4". One of the critical keys come Thursday night is we have to limit them to one shot. We can not allow their athletes to turn this into a volleyball game by getting second shots, Hopefully we can put bodies in front of them to keep them off the glass."

When Colonel Crawford (17-6) has struggled this year it is because they haven't made shots. Sheldon says they have to get a quality shot every time down on Thursday night. "At this time year every possession is so vital. You don't see the 80's and 90's scores because you are running into great opponents. One thing we have done late in the season is we have shared the basketball. Multiple times we have had four kids in double figures. One thing we have stressed is every time down the floor you have to get a good shot. Even if we are running something on offense and it is not there, we pull it out and get into something else. We have to make sure we take care of the basketball. Eastwood is a team that plays very good man to man defense. They will get up in you and try top deny passing lanes. We have to capitalize on every possession of the basketball game."

Published 3/06/14

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Colonel Crawford Plays Old Rival is Sectional Final

Colonel Crawford plays probably its most traditional rival when they face Wynford in the division three sectional finals at Lexington High School on Friday night.

Crawford (16-6), the runner-up to Buckeye Central in the North Central Conference, has qualified for the regional tournament in each of the last two years in division four.

Coach David Sheldon thinks they are in pretty close to peak form. "I thought we bounced back well on Friday over at Crestline. After an emotional loss on Tuesday I was happy with how our kids bounced back and took care of business on the road last Friday. I think we have played very well down the stretch of the season. Unfortunately against Buckeye we lost one of our best players at the beginning of the second quarter and he couldn't play the rest of the game. We are clicking at the right time of the year," he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, "I think our kids are excited they have been focused in practice knowing what's at hand on Friday night and playing for a sectional championship. It's not the first time this program has been in this situation, so I think they know what it takes the focus has been on the mental and physical toughness of tournament basketball."

In a loss to Buckeye Central (52-47) in what amounted to the "NCC" title game last Tuesday they Eagles lost one of their leading scorers in Todd Entenmann. Sheldon says his status for Friday is uncertain. "We aren't sure yet. We are waiting to see. It is sort of up in the air. We aren't sure if he is going to be able to go or not. With the Crestline game we had a couple of days to prepare with a chance in the lineup. We were able to get some other guys playing time that haven't got it through the year. We will play with cards we are dealt on Friday night," he said.

Wynford (7-15) beat Crestview (50-37) in semi-final play on Tuesday night as Jake Glowaski scored 19 points for the Royals. Sheldon feels his alma mater is playing pretty well right now. "I think they are much improved. They have won four of their last five. They are playing their best basketball at the end of the year. They are playing with a lot of confidence. They are team that has really gotten better and that's a credit to Steve Mohr. With their big two in Glowaski and Mason Davis they have a good guard and a good post. The other kids have stepped up and played their roles down the stretch. It is a totally different team than we saw in the middle of February or even in early January when we played them the first time. There are no secrets they know us and we know them. We are looking forward to the opportunity on Friday night," said Sheldon.

The Eagles beat Wynford both times they played them this year (82-41) at home and (74-61) at home.

Sheldon says transition defense is always big against the Royals. "You have to get back. They do a great job of running the floor. Steve's teams always have. They do a great job of pushing the ball on the pass. It is a game where we have sprint in transition. They do change defenses a lot. In this stretch where they have played really well they have played predominately man to man. They have shown some zone looks and some junk defensive looks. You just have to prepare for every possible defense they have shown this year," Sheldon said.

Published 2/27/14

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Crawford Tangles With Buckeye in Sectional Final

Colonel Crawford faces Buckeye Central in the division four sectional finals at Ontario High School on Saturday night.

The Lady Eagles (6-16) have won their last three games, including a (48-40) win over Mansfield St. Peter's on Wednesday night in sectional semi-final play.

Coach Kyle Fenner says they have showed tremendous improvement since the beginning of the season in November. "We were young, we were short on varsity experience, but we had kids that worked hard and played hard and came to practice everyday with attitude to get better. We took some lumps at the beginning of the year and we played some very good teams and we have a great schedule and our conference has been really good. We have grown up within the last two weeks. We got a good win (Wednesday) night against St. Peter's and hopefully we can keep it going Saturday night," she said.

Colonel Crawford took an (11-1) lead after the first quarter against St. Peter's, but found itself behind (22-18) at the half. Fenner says they continued to battle all night. "The have a great point guard in Tiza Jones, who was definitely a challenge for us to guard. She had 24 points. It was a game where we kind of got out to a lead, a big lead, and they came back and took the lead. We could have folded, but we didn't, we found a way to come back and to fight back. At different times we had some different kids step up and that was good too," she said.

In both of their meetings with Buckeye Central (11-10) this year, Buckeye won by the same score (45-36), which is kind of odd. Buckeye handled Plymouth (53-47) in the semis on Wednesday. Fenner says the Buckeye Central is pretty good team. "They beat Riverdale, they really handed it to a pretty good Northmor team. We are going to have to play well to beat them," she told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "They have two seniors in Brooke Karl and Tyler Kimmel, who are very good. It is kind of that rivalry thing where we have played each other twice. I expect both teams to come out and play hard and play physical and be close down to the end."

Tournament games tend to be more possession by possession, especially ones that are a third meeting like this one, and Fenner they can't make mistakes, like turnovers, and win the game. "You have to limit turnovers and we talked about that (Wednesday) in our practice and our film session. We have to take care of the basketball and limit turnovers and we have to make good decisions," she said.

Published 2/21/14

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Crawford Counting on All Five

For the last couple of weeks all Colonel Crawford wanted was a chance and after wins over Wynford and Upper Sandusky last weekend that is exactly what they got.

They beat the Royals (74-61) and Upper Sandusky (61-50) for a chance to play Buckeye Central in New Washington on Tuesday night for a the opportunity to share the North Central Conference title with the Bucks.

Right now, Buckeye Central (18-2,11-1), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coach's poll in the small school division, leads Colonel Crawford (16-4,10-2), #4 in the same poll, by a game.

Crawford coach David Sheldon says they a lot of good things last weekend and need to play at an even higher level in order to compete with Buckeye. "We had a great double weekend in getting two league wins over at Wynford and Upper Sandusky on Saturday night. On both nights we had five different guys in double figures. Our kids are really stepping up and sharing the basketball. I think that is a key at this time of year when you have multiple scorers that helps if somebody tries to take one option away you have to have a guy that can step up. I have been very happy with that," he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, "Defensively we have been up and down all year. That is a big key too as we go to Buckeye on (Tuesday) night. The fist time around we held them to 48 points. They are very explosive offensively. It starts with Cade Kaple and Austin Wurm, but they have other guys that are really playing well for them. Right now we are happy to play for a championship the last week of the season. That is your goal from day one."

With all the starters capable of putting up big numbers Sheldon says they don't have to rely on one or two guys to do the scoring. "The balance makes you tougher to defend because you have different options you can go to. We try to exploit what different defenses are giving us. It definitely makes it nice when you have balanced scoring. This is the most balance I have ever had in my eight years at Colonel Crawford with the five guys we put on the floor," he said.

They have to play solid defense and when they have the ball in their hands they have to make sure they have good shot selection. "Number one you have top stop Cade and Wurm. They are their two go to guys and they have been through the wars over the years, but we have to keep in check their other kids as well. They have other kids step up as well. Offensively we just have to get a great shot every time down the floor. One thing we have stressed as of late with the balance that we have we have to make sure we get a great shot. Buckeye is a very good defensive team. We have to make sure we make them work on the defensive end and not just settle for the first good shot and get a great shot," said Sheldon.

This is the biggest game of the year in the "NCC" obviously and Sheldon says they relish the opportunity to be part of it. "I told the kids after Saturday night this is why you do all of the stuff in the summer. This is why you put the time in growing up and you get a chance to play for a piece of the championship on Tuesday night. I have the up most respect for the program. I think Phil Loy has done a phenomenal job in his 10 years there. They have a great team and there is a reason they are state ranked. We are looking forward to opportunity to play in a tremendous atmosphere with two communities right on Route 602. I know both teams will play hard and it will come down to kids making plays," said Sheldon.

Published 2/18/14

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It's Just win For Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford is the hunter right now and their goal is to get at least a piece of the North Central Conference title, in the final year of the league's existence.

Right now, they trail Buckeye Central by a game with four conference games remaining over the last two weeks of the season. This week, Colonel Crawford (14-4,8-2), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball poll in the small school division, travels to meet arch rival Wynford on Friday night and hosts Upper Sandusky on Saturday.

Last Saturday, the Eagles belted Riverdale (85-54) to keep its position behind Buckeye. Coach David Sheldon says they were able to make it tough for the Falcons to score. "We really played well. I was proud of our defensive effort. That is a team that scored a lot of points and we really, really guarded very well. That was a team I was worried about being explosive. Offensively we made shots. it was a good night, especially being able to stay in that league hunt," he said.

Crawford has been able to score on most nights and Sheldon says it is their defense often times that determines if they are going to win or lose. "When we guard people we are pretty good and that has to be the mindset every night out and that what we have been stressing down the stretch to our guys and I think they know what is at stake every night from here on out," he said.

Wynford (4-12,2-9) is not having its best season, but Sheldon says that doesn't really matter when it comes to the game between these two schools on the opposite sides of the City of Bucyrus. "It's a Crawford County rival and you throw our records, I always say that. They are going be excited no matter what their record is. It's a huge game for them. It is a game that could make their year. When you look at the magnitude of the rivalry over the years between Colonel Crawford and Wynford. It is a team that plays extremely hard. We have seen them several times. It is a team that is very good in transition," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "They have two go to guys in (Jake) Glowaski and Mason Davis. It is always a tough place to go over and play in the "House of Thrills" and we are looking forward to the opportunity on Friday night. I have said along the last couple of weeks that every league game right now is a league championship game for us because of Buckeye being in the driver's seat and us a game back."

Upper Sandusky (10-9,7-4) is a basketball team that has scored some points this year and Sheldon says they have scary potential. "They have been shooting it a lot better toward the end of the season. They are not just the Vent kid now they have other kids now stepping up and scoring for them. It is going to be a tough back to back double league weekend. It is late in the year and it means a lot for what we are playing for. It's good to be playing for something at this time of year," he said.

Published 2/12/14

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Crawford Must Win

Colonel Crawford knows what the assignment is and it isn't an easy one.

The Eagles trail North Central Conference leader Buckeye Central by a game with five conference games to play, including a meeting between the two leaders on February 19 at Buckeye.

On Tuesday night, the Eagles lost to Mansfield St. Peter's (54-48) in a non-conference game. Coach David Sheldon says they just didn't make shots an St. Peter's was successful in making it difficult to do so. "I hate to say it, but in three of our losses this year we just haven't shot it well. We were 19 for 52 from the field for about 36 percent. We didn't shoot the basketball well, but gives St. Peter's credit they played great man to man defense against us. We had it even in the third quarter and they made a run and we just could never stop that run and missed a lot of buckets in the fourth. We changed defenses up throughout the game. It was a tough loss. With four games in eight days I knew we were going to be in that stretch with a lot of make ups. Give St. Pete's credit. That's a good basketball team and Pat does a great job with them," said Sheldon.

In their losses this year the Eagles have not made perimeter shots and Sheldon says they don't have a reliable option inside. "We haven't seen any zone hardly at all this year. I think that is due to how we shoot it. We shoot about 40 percent behind the three point line. We have not seen a lot of zone, so mostly what we have seen this year is a lot of man to man. The problem is we don't have that big hog inside that we can throw it to and when you don't have that inside presence it hurts you on nights that you don't shoot it well," he said.

Riverdale (6-7,3-5) will be at Crawford (13-4,7-2), #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball coach's poll in the small school division, on Friday night. Sheldon calls for Falcons dangerous because they can make shots. "I think Riverdale is a very explosive offensive team. They have four guys averaging double figures. They can really score. They can shoot it well. They can really get it to the rim well. It is a very good basketball team. Last week they played Arlington, an 11-2 team, down to a five point game at Arlington. It is a very explosive offensive team. We were fortunate the get a win over there the first time. It is going to be a tough game Saturday night when they come to North Robinson," said Sheldon.

Trailing Buckeye by a game, Sheldon knows they have to win the rest if they are going to win the final "NCC" championship. "We are done with all of our non-league games, we have them out of the way now. Every game right now is a championship game then you go right into the sectional tournament. We are in a unique situation because every game we play right now is a championship game. We can't afford any slip ups. Buckeye is playing very well right now and they are in the driver's seat being up one," he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, "Our goal at the beginning of the year was, number one, to win a league championship, and two, to win a sectional championship. We have lost a couple that we are pretty disappointed in, we aren't going to sugarcoat it, but we still have the opportunity to play for a league championship. I would think our kids would be pretty hungry coming off back-to-back league titles in the silver division. They know what it's like to play in championship games."

Published 2/07/14

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Colonel Crawford Needs Revenge to Stay in Race

Colonel Crawford is the only team to beat North Central Conference leader Buckeye Central this year, but losses to Bucyrus and Galion have put them a game behind the Bucks in the standings.

They get a chance at some revenge on Friday night as they host Bucyrus in the re-match.

Playing on a frigid Monday night, the Eagles belted Crestline (87-36) in a conference game at Crestline. After playing only three games this month due to the weather, coach David Sheldon says they came out and made some shots. "it was just nice to get back on the floor. It has been a crazy schedule. I mean everybody in the State of Ohio has been dealing with this. We were even able to get an hour long walk through in on (Monday) and we came out and really played well, shot the ball well all year, I have said when this team shoots the ball well we are pretty good on the offensive end," he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, "The other thing that I was happy with was our defense. We held them to 36 points total. I have stressed all year that that is the key. We have just been so up and down defensively. To hold them to 36 points I was happy with out defense."

With a lot of games still to play, eight in fact, Sheldon says it was nice to get some other kids on the floor. "The whole second half we were able to play a lot of JV kids, just give them some varsity experience, which never huts this time of year. It was nice to rest some kids in the second half with all these games coming up," he said.

Bucyrus (8-6,4-4) beat Colonel Crawford (48-47) on December 27 and Sheldon says that was a night they didn't make many shots and they also didn't close out the game very well. "Number one we didn't shoot it very well and give Bucyrus credit they defended us very well with some very good man-to-man defense, which has been good for them all year. Second of all they were able to control the tempo. They are very patient at the offensive end. As bad as we shot the ball we had a chance to win it in the end. We are up three with 1:30 to go and we didn't take care of late game situations, so we were disappointed in that,' said Sheldon.

Obviously better shooting, but also tempo, are big keys on Friday night in North Robinson according to Sheldon. He says this is a must win. "Bucyrus is a good team they have played well all year. It's a team that has a lot of veterans, a lot of experience back from last year, and we knew going in they were going to be a good team. Give Bucyrus credit they are playing with a lot of confidence. They are going to come over hear Friday with a lot of confidence and what happened at their place. We are looking forward to the rematch. We have told our kids that every game in the league is a championship game. We have put ourselves behind the eight ball and we have to look at every game as a league championship game from here on out," said Sheldon.

With a loss in the first game, Sheldon says the Eagles (11-3,6-2), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys' basketball poll in the small school division, are looking forward to getting even with Bucyrus. "You would think you would have to say much to our kids after the first time losing over there, but like I said that wasn't a terrible loss. This is a good basketball team at Bucyrus. They have a winning record and they have had some great wins throughout the entire year. Like I said I give Bucyrus credit for the first time around and we are looking forward to the rematch when they come to our place on Friday night," he said.

Published 1/29/14

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Colonel Crawford Knows What it has to do

A loss to Galion on Saturday night has knocked Colonel Crawford from a share of the lead in the North Central Conference. They now trail Buckeye Central by a game.

They play the Bucks in New Washington on Saturday night.

This past Saturday night, Galion led for most of the game and they downed the Eagles (60-51) in North Robinson. Coach David Sheldon says they just didn't make many shots and that cost them. "We really struggled to shoot it. We missed a lot of layups. We didn't shoot well behind the line offensively. We were down for most of the night and cut it to a two point lead with about two to go. We just spent a lot of energy getting back into the game. We always get Galion's best shot every year," he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday, "Watkins played very well, he had 19 points. His athleticism really hurt us. He did some great things for them in the paint. Three of our top four scorers didn't shoot it well. When you don't shoot it well you are going to lose some games, especially to a team that is athletic and a team that can score like Galion."

A loss drops Crawford two games behind Buckeye in the conference race and Sheldon says they can't afford that. "It is definitely a must win. I mean give Buckeye credit they have taken care of business there only loss is at our place. They have had a business like approach and have done a great job. Nobody has been close to them. I think their closest game has been nine points. They are playing well. It was my prediction at the beginning of the season that they would be one of the top ones in the league. It's a team playing well and they play together really well. Phil is going a great job with them as he always does. It's a must win for us," he said.

Colonel Crawford (10-3,5-2) beat Buckeye at home (60-48) on December 20. Sheldon says there is no reason to believe they can't to it again. "Buckeye is in the catbird seat is the way I look at it. I told the guys (Saturday) night that last year we went over there and won a their place. It's not like this is a game we can't win. We played very well when we played them at our place. We shot the ball very well and defended them well. We defended them well holding them to 48 points the first time. Our defense has just been up and down all year. We are going to have to bring some defense on Saturday night at Buckeye. We have to make shots. We are a team that is mostly guard oriented and if we don't make shots sometimes it's tough for us to score," said Sheldon.

Austin Wurm (20.6 ppg) and Cade Kaple (13.7 ppg) are two the NCC's leading scorers this year. Sheldon says they have to contain them, but the other Bucks can score too. "They have been multi year lettermen. They have been very good players. They have been through the wars before and they are having great years. They thing about Cade is he is also a great passer. You worry about him scoring, but he is also a great passer. They have been playing well inside as well. There are multiple guys that can play on that team offensively. They share the basketball very well. They play together as a group," he said.

Published 1/20/14

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Colonel Crawford Faces a Tough Weekend in the “NCC”

Many times it is the tough double league weekends that determine conference champions and the North Central Conference has one on the schedule for this weekend.

Colonel Crawford (10-2,5-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the small school division, shares first with Buckeye Central, a game in front of Bucyrus.

They host Crestline (3-7,1-5) on Friday and Galion (4-7,3-3) on Saturday in their double.

Coach David Sheldon says he thinks his team has gotten better this year, but there is still room for improvement. “As a coach you are always trying to get better. We are satisfied where we are, but we are not all of the way happy yet. This is a great week because we have four days of practice. There have been weeks we haven’t had that because of all of the games we have played. We have played 12 games already. We have talked about let’s go everyday in the gym and make yourselves better as a player and as a team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We have definitely improved this season, but we are not where we need to be to win a league championship or compete in a tournament run. We just have keep getting better and fine tuning. I think focus in January is a big thing. We have went through two months already in November and December and it’s grind before you get to February and the home stretch. Our focus now is the next game and trying to win a league championship.”

With the way the “NCC” is this year, Sheldon knows they can’t afford to take any games off. “From top to bottom I think this is as balanced the North Central Conference has been in a long time, all of the way down. There are teams that have beaten people and competed with people. You are exactly right, every night out you have to bring your “A” game. If there is a night when you are not bringing it you have to find other ways offensively and defensively in a 14 game league schedule. We end the first round Friday and begin the second round Saturday, so it’s a tough double league weekend,” said Sheldon.

Crestline is a team that has shown improvement from last year. Sheldon says they have some firepower. “They have three kids that are really nice basketball players. The Hunger kid, the Kauffman kid, and the Hurst kid. Those kids can really play. They beat a good Riverdale team. They took Upper to a four point game. With Crestline this is a good basketball team that has competed night in and night out. So, we have to make sure we bring our “A” game. The nice thing is it is at our place on Friday night. We have eight league games left and five are at home and only three on the road. We have been on the road a lot so far, so it’s nice to get home both this Friday and Saturday,” he said.

Galion comes to North Robinson on Saturday for a rematch. The Eagles won the first game (57-48) on December 13. Sheldon looks for another good game. “The one thing about Galion, no matter what sport it is, when they play Colonel Crawford they get jacked up. I think this is a team that is going to come over here very excited to play us. We went down to the wire at their place at the beginning of the league season. They are very athletic and they have kids that can shoot the three from the outside. It is a very explosive offensive team. We are going to have to hold them in check and do the little things to win that basketball game come Saturday night. From day one I think we have said Galion is going to be good. Last weekend they got a big win at Bucyrus. It’s a team that has shown they can win on the road,” said Sheldon.

Published 1/15/14

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Colonel Crawford Stressing Defense

With wins over Riverdale and Wynford last week, Colonel Crawford has moved back into a share of first place in the North Central Conference.

The Eagles (9-2,4-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the small school division, downed Riverdale (64-47) on Friday and then hammered Wynford (82-41) on Saturday night.

Coach David Sheldon says they played particularly well in the second 16 minutes against rival Wynford. “Especially the second half. The first half was nip and tuck the whole way. In the third quarter they scored right away and cut it to six. Then we just sort of went on a run. We got decent stops, caused some turnovers, got some people back in transition, and before you know it the lead was way out there,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We got to play most of our subs the entire fourth quarter, which was good to get them some time as well, especially after having a hard fought game the night before at Riverdale.”

Sheldon believes the sweep of the double weekend of games was a big deal for them. “I was happy with the double league weekend. I said going in that going in that was a big weekend. The thing we have been saying is we have to worry about Colonel Crawford. That’s the number one thing. We just have to worry about Colonel Crawford every night out and not worry about other teams, except whoever we are playing that specific night,” he said.

After being unhappy with their defensive efforts the week before against Bucyrus and Plymouth, both losses, Sheldon says they played much better last week. “When we talked last week I was not happy with our defensive effort. We held our teams last week to 38 percent shooting. Where going in we were giving up 46 percent shooting. We held them to an average of 44 points compared to 54. I was very proud of our defensive effort. In practice we really got after it because we were not happy the week before with the way things turned out,” said Sheldon.

Crawford plays at Upper Sandusky (6-5,3-2) in an “NCC” game on Saturday night. Sheldon says the Rams do a lot of good things. “They are very athletic and a good sized team. They are led by a freshman that is going to be an unbelievable player in the Vent kid. He can go inside. He can go outside. He is just a very nice player overall. They are a team that can get out in transition. They are definitely playing a different style than in the past. They like to get out and run. You have to keep them off the offensive glass because of their size. Defensively they are predominantly a man to man team, but they do show some 2-3 zone. Coach Winslow is doing a great job with that team. I think it is a team that has surprised a lot of people this year with what they have done after losing a lot of people last year,” said Sheldon.

In order to come away with the road win, Sheldon says they must match Upper’s intensity. “It’s going to be a tough challenge and anytime you go on the road it’s always tough. They were in first place by themselves going into last weekend. They are going to be hungry to get back on the floor. The thing I see is they play so hard and we have to match that intensity when we step on the floor Saturday night,” he said.

Published 1/09/14

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A Win For Crawford is Important

Preseason choice Colonel Crawford suffered its first North Central Conference loss last Friday to Bucyrus and now they need to get back on the winning track as they face a double weekend in the conference.

Bucyrus got a big defensive play in the end and they edged the Eagles (48-47) last Friday. Crawford coach David Sheldon says they had a very chance to win the game and couldn’t cash in. “We didn’t make shots and give credit to Bucyrus’s defense. We had a lead late and let one get away and that is one thing we take pride in as a program if we have a lead late we take care of business and we did some uncharacteristic things. I knew going into Bucyrus we were going to have our hands full. Give Bucyrus credit they rose up to the occasion to get a big home win,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “It was our worst shooting night of the year and we just couldn’t get stops when the game was on the line. We were very disappointed, but we have to learn, and as I have said all year it is a 14 game league schedule, so one league game isn’t going to hurt you, but now you have to claw your way back every night to get back in the league race.”

Colonel Crawford (7-2,2-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the small school division, will be at Riverdale (3-4,0-3) on Friday night for an “NCC” game. Sheldon says they need a win and they need it now. “It is a very big game on Friday night. Riverdale is always a tough place to play. If you look at the league stats Riverdale is leading the league in scoring as a team. It is a very good team. They have lost some close games. They beat Carey, one of the best teams in our area small school, when Carey had everybody. One thing we talked about is we have to get better defensively. We have been very unhappy, especially in these games where we don’t think we have guard real well. I think to win games you have to guard because there are going to be nights when you don’t shoot it well. On those nights your defense can control things if you play good defense. We went back to basics this week working on fundamentals in defensive approach. The most important game right now if Friday night when we go over to Riverdale,” said Sheldon.

Wynford (3-5,1-2) will be down the road at Colonel Crawford on Saturday night. It will be Steve Mohr’s return to North Robinson, the last place he coached before taking the superintendent’s job at Wynford, and then returning to the bench this year. Sheldon says the Royals want a track meet. “Wynford is up tempo and they are going to press you and show multiple defensive looks. It’s a team that has won some good games. They beat Bucyrus by double figures at their place. I know they are coming off a tough loss last Saturday to Carey. I know Steve will have his kids ready to go this weekend. Overall this is a big weekend in the “NCC” because everybody has two league games. As we get to toward the end of the first round teams start to separate and we begin to see what is going to happen,” said Sheldon.

The Eagles share second in the “NCC” with Buckeye Central and Bcuryus, a game behind Upper Sandusky. Sheldon says they can still accomplish everything they have planned. “Even after Friday night our goals are still in our hand. Our goal is to win the league and one loss is not going to put you out of this thing,” he said.

Published 1/03/14

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Colonel Crawford Tries to Hold onto First Place

A big win last week over Buckeye Central put Colonel Crawford in the driver’s seat in the North Central Conference, but there is a long season ahead and the Eagles understand.

Colonel Crawford (7-0,2-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the small school division, downed Buckeye Central, #3 in the poll, (60-48) last week behind 20 points from senior Conner McCreary. Coach David Sheldon was especially happy with the way they played defense. “As I said last week it is one game out of 14 that you play for a league championship. It was definitely a good win because it is a good team coached by a good coach in coach Loy. Our kids rose to the occasion especially offensively. I was happy how we started and a couple of kids stepped up in Logan Sager and Dylan Gulley played nice offensive games along with Conner McCreary. That is what I have said all year there are multiple weapons, not just two or three on this team. When we share the basketball we are a pretty good team offensively. I’m happy with our offensive production and more happy with the way we guarded a very good offensive basketball team in Buckeye Central,” said Sheldon.

The Eagles travel to Bucyrus (4-3,1-1) for an “NCC” game on Friday night, Bucyrus wasted a big first half lead and lost to Wynford (55-42) last week. Sheldon says they know Bucyrus will be ready for them. “We knew it was going to be a very good basketball team this year. They only lost one guys from last year’s team. The thing about Bucyrus is when they play a team like Colonel Crawford or Wynford this is a big game for them. We were able to see them last Saturday against New Riegel, but these kids have always get up fro the county schools. This is a game that they have circled on their schedule. Last May when coach Rose was hired he even said that in an article the we want to beat Wynford and Colonel Crawford,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They are going to be all jacked up going to their place. The thing that we have to do is stick to the game plan and take one possession at a time an not get too high or low and not get into the emotion of the game. That is one thing this team has done pretty good so far. It’s a very good basketball team. They have some kids that can shoot it and put the ball on the floor. We are looking forward to the challenge of going to Bucyrus.”

Then on Saturday night it’s a big non-conference match-up at Plymouth (4-1), #5 in our small school poll, in a re-match from last year’s district title game won by the Eagles (49-48). Sheldon says they will be facing much the same team. “We have been very fortunate. We have played them the last two years in the district tournament. Two years ago beat them in the district semi-finals and last year in went down to the buzzer and beat them in the district championship and they have everybody back. I think this is one of the best small school teams in the area. It a great non-league game for us Saturday night to gauge where we are at. Unfortunately we are not going to be able to play them in the tournament this year with us moving up to D-3. This is a district tournament like opponent and that is what you want out of a non-league game. Our focus all week long is Friday night because our main goal is a league championship, but come Saturday morning when we put the game plan in for Plymouth we are looking forward to that opportunity because it will be a district tournament atmosphere and it’s on the road at Plymouth,” said Sheldon.

Published 12/27/13

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Crawford Says it’s NOT a Must Win

A pair of unbeaten teams that are favorites to win the North Central Conference play on Friday night in North Robinson as Colonel Crawford plays host to Buckeye Central.

The schools are also #1 and #2 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the small school division, with Crawford in the top spot.

Colonel Crawford improved to 6-0 on the season with a (78-70) win over Ridgedale in non-conference play on Tuesday. Coach David Sheldon is happy with the win, but knows they have to play better, especially on defense. “They are better this year than they were last. It’s a team that is young with a lot of freshmen and they have grown up into a pretty good team. They shot the ball really well. They hit 10 threes against us and shot over 50 percent. We had an 18 point lead in the fourth quarter, but they never quit and to their credit they battled back to make it an eight point final. One thing we talked about afterward is our defense has to get better before Friday night. This is a team that has shown they can guard, but sometimes in stretches we don’t and I think that is a big key against an explosive offensive team like Buckeye Central. We have to guard better than we did Tuesday night,” said Sheldon.

Why is Buckeye (5-0,1-0) so good? Sheldon has three every good reasons. “I think the biggest thing is Austin and Storm Wurm and Cade Kaple. I mean you have three and four year lettermen there. They are very explosive. They have four returning lettermen from last year and we knew this was going to be a very good team. I have said from day one that Buckeye Central is the favorite in this league,” he told Swanknsports.com, “I think Wurm and Kaple make them go, but I think they have good complementary players around them, who do some nice things as well. It is a team that shares the ball really well. They are getting out and running the floor a lot more than Buckeye teams in the past and they are very good in transition. It’s a tough task at hand Friday night, but we are looking forward to it.”

Sheldon knows there will be a great atmosphere for this game, but he has reminded his players that it is only one game. “This reminds me of growing up in the old school Crawford County basketball. You have two undefeated teams from two great communities 10 minutes apart. I told our kids the other day hat this is what you dream about playing in when you are in elementary basketball. Since days one our number one goal has been a league championship. This only one game of 14 league game. There are a lot of league games left in a very balanced league where one game is not going to determine the league championship come Friday night it’s early in the season,” he said.

Like most games between very good teams, Sheldon says this is likely to come down to a few big plays. “Both teams are going to be excited. Phil (Loy) does a nice job. I think he has been there 10 years and we have been here eight years at Crawford and they have become a great rival. Phil and I are great friends. We are going to play hard for 32 minutes and then we are going to be back helping each other out. It is going to come down to kids making plays and getting defensive stops. There are no secrets when you play a good team and a team that is going to be prepared. We are looking forward to the opportunity to play in front of a big crowd,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (6-0,1-0) is the school that is at home, but Sheldon says that isn’t that big of a difference when it comes down to the league. “I think last year we lost both of our games in the league at home and we won every road game. If you are going to win league championships you have two in both home games and road games. I definitely think it’s important. This is the most important game this week and come Friday and our philosophy is one possession at a time,” he said.

Published 12/20/13

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Colonel Crawford Faces First League Test

So far, Colonel Crawford is meeting expectations and those are high expectations.

In the first Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball poll, which was released Tuesday morning, the Eagles were ranked #1 in the small school division after a 4-0 start to the season.

That included a (61-42) win over Carey in non-conference play on Saturday night.

Coach David Sheldon was pleased with the win over one the favorites for the Midland Athletic League title. “We were very happy with that win. That’s a good team. The night before we had saw them and they beat Mohawk by 40. I left the gym Friday night thinking wow I hope we can compete with these guys. They are very athletic and had about three dunks the night before. One of the keys we had going into the game was limiting their second shots and we did a good job with that. We got some great play from Todd Entenmann and Conner McCreary, two of our guards, and Nate Klinenberger, one of our posts. Our veterans stepped up in a big game on Saturday and I was happy to get away with a victory against a good Carey basketball team,” said Sheldon.

The Eagles have a lot of guys that can score, but Sheldon believes that continuing to rebound will be one their keys to success this year. “We talk about completing a possession. You could have a great defensive possession, but is you give up an offensive rebound, a stick back, it negates everything. We talk about completing a possession, by getting a defensive rebound. I thought we did a pretty good job against an athletic Carey team in limiting them to one shot,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “You can also get easy shots at the offensive end if you do get offensive rebounds. We call those garbage points. When a shot goes up we tell our rebounders go get a path off a missed shot. I think rebounding is a big part of the game and it’s a stat we have watched very closely throughout the seasons.”

Colonel Crawford, the preseason choice to win the North Central Conference in its final year, plays at Galion (1-2) on Friday night in its conference opener. The Tigers got their first win of the season Tuesday night over Northmor (64-44) in non-league play. Sheldon says the Tigers have a lot of weapons. “I think they are one of the top teams in our league. The league has gotten very good if you look at the non-league records of the “NCC.” They have played some tough non-league games playing a very good North Union team and losing in overtime to Madison on Saturday. I think they have two very good shooters and scorers in the (Ridge) Durbin and the (Lucas) Bohach kids and then they have great athletes around them. Armistead is a great athlete and they get Dariean Watkins back. He becomes eligible this week is what I am hearing and that is another great athlete on the floor. This is a very athletic basketball team. A lot of those athletes you saw on the football field are now on the hardwood,” said Sheldon.

With the athletes that Galion puts on the floor, Sheldon says they have to handle their transition game. “We have to make sure we can contain their transition baskets and we have to limit them to one shot with their sputability. It’s on the road at Galion. It’s always a tough place to play. I think this is a very dangerous basketball team that has a chance to be a very good basketball team over the course of the year with their athletes. Ed (Rich) plays a lot of guys. He is playing nine, 10 guys. They are very deep as well, so they are going to try and run and wear you down. We have to make sure we take care of business with our philosophy on Friday night,” he said.

Published 12/11/13

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Defense the Answer For Colonel Crawford

If Colonel Crawford is going to continue to improve as a girls’ basketball team then defense is the answer for them and things are stating to move in the right direction.

The Lady Eagles (1-3,1-0) notched their first win of the season last Friday night when they got past Galion (45-39) in a North Central Conference game. Alexus Burkhart led the way scoring 13 points for Crawford.

Coach Kyle Fenner says that game was similar to some others that they have played early in this season, but this time they were able to make some plays in the fourth quarter that they weren’t in the previous games. “It was a much needed win. The girls have worked hard throughout the preseason and the first three games of the season. We just didn’t get things to go our way. We just didn’t make plays down the stretch, but Friday night we did that. I told our girls that we made some plays and got it done and got the win, so it makes everybody feel better,” she said.

Fenner, in her second tour as the Lady Eagles head coach, says they have been working hard to become a better defensive team, especially man-to-man defense. “We only had three girls back with any kind of varsity experience and only one of them was a starter. We have had to take a step back to work on our man defense, they didn’t play a whole lot of man defense the last three years, so we have been teaching them some fundamental defensive principals,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “What I have always believed is you have to defend and live off your defense. We are coming. We are still a work in progress, but I think as our defense gets better we will get better.”

In their second conference game of the year they host Buckeye Central (2-2,0-1) on Tuesday night in North Robinson. Buckeye lost (74-31) to Wynford in their first “NCC” test last Friday. Fenner believes ball handling and again defense are going to be the keys to their success. “They are going to play really, really hard. Greg Moore teams always play really hard and get after you. Defensively they are going to get after us in the floor court and we are going to have to handle the basketball. We are going to have to be patient offensively and run our sets and get good looks. As always we have to defend. We have to defend and take away what they want to do and I’m sure they are going to do the same thing to us, so it should be a good game (Tuesday) night,” said Fenner.

Published 12/10/13

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Colonel Crawford Finding a Way

When you are a good team you find ways to win games and that is what Colonel Crawford did last week and that is why they are a good team and probably a very good team.

After blasting Seneca East (105-56) last Friday, the Eagles rallied to beat Mansfield Christian (56-54) after trailing by 12 points at halftime. Coach David Sheldon says they were able to battle through adversity and get the win. “I was really proud of my kids they really showed a lot of character coming back in the second half Saturday night. We were down 14 in the third quarter and on the road in a tough place to play. We just battled back one possession at a time and found a way to take the lead late in the game. We really struggled in the first half,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We played a little selfishly in the first half on the offensive end and you have to credit Mansfield Christian. They played some very good defense and did some things against us in the first half. I was really happy with the adversity that our kids faced they hung in there and found a way to win on the road and sometimes you have to do that in a long season.”

It was defense and rebounding that was difference for Crawford against the Flames. Sheldon says when you aren’t shooting well it has to be execution of the other elements of the game that need to come to the forefront. “We didn’t shoot it really well. We struggled shooting a little bit that night and we found a way to get some offensive rebounds in the second half and got some steals off of our defense and got some easy hoops and were able to change the momentum a little bit late in the game. You have to give credit to our guys they found a way and battled through adversity. That is a very good Mansfield Christian team. They have four starters back from a team that won 17 games last year and they are going to win a lot of basketball games. John Kurtz does a great job down there at Mansfield Christian. They play hard and are very patient on offense and they get up into you defensively,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford visits Northmor of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference for a non-conference contest on Thursday night. Sheldon says the Golden Knights have some shooters. “It’s always a tough place to go down there and play. It is a road game during the week. The Donner boys are back, two really good outside shooters. It’s a good road test on Thursday before we come back Saturday against a really good Carey team, who is picked to win the “MAL,” and beat us last year at their place,” he said.

Carey (0-1) will be in North Robinson on Saturday night. Sheldon says that will a real battle for them. “They have four or five starters back. It is a team that is very athletic. They are picked to win the “MAL.” It’s Carey team that is always going to play hard. They are tough kids up there. It will be a challenge for us when they come to our place on Saturday,” he said.

Published 12/4/13

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Colonel Crawford a Veteran Team

Colonel Crawford is poised to make a run at another North Central Conference boys’ basketball title. They won division titles the last two years.

This has been a shorter preseason, which has been well documented here, and Crawford coach David Sheldon says having a lot of experience returning has been a real plus this year. “We have definitely made progress over the course of the last week. When we scrimmaged two Saturdays ago till our last scrimmage last Saturday the nice thing we made progress. I think we are getting our legs back from football season. I have been happy because our guys have really worked hard. Sometimes you worry about that coming off a long football year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They have really come into the gym with a great attitude and I think they are excited to get going. The nice thing is we have a veteran team. We have all juniors and seniors playing varsity, there are no freshmen and sophomores, so they know the expectations. They understand what’s at stake. It’s nice to have a veteran group with the short amount of practice we have had this preseason.”

If there are any lingering affects from the football season that saw the Eagles earn a conference co-title and make the playoffs, Sheldon says their depth will help them. “We go nine deep and that’s a good thing. With the depth if we have tired legs we can rotate in some guys early and I think that will help us. We have done a lot of full court drills this season. A lot of drills with the ball in our hands not just running to get us in shape for game like situations,” he said.

Crawford plays host to Seneca East in their first game on Friday night. Sheldon says they have a new coach in Joe Nowak. He says the Tigers will be athletic. “They have two kids back that started for them last year in the Caudill and Hall kids. It’s a new coach, he was part of the system a year ago. He was the JV coach, but they have two quality kids back. In our season a year ago we had six losses and this was one of them. We went on the road last year there and got beat late in the year. They are athletic. Caudill was a quarterback too. He is a nice athlete. They also had a good JV team,” said Sheldon.

There seem to be a lot of new coaches this year and there are always questions in terms of approach when that is the case. Sheldon says the Tigers look similar. “It’s going to be a tough match-up and you always wonder game one. You are happy to get game one under your belt and you know what kids can do. It’s a new coach, but it looks like they are going to do a lot of the same things they have done in the past,” he said.

They complete a double weekend at Mansfield Christian with a game at “The Furnace” on Saturday night. Sheldon expects tough man to man defense from the Flames. “They are going to be real good. They are coming off 17 wins a year ago. I think John Kurtz does a great job. I have always been impressed when I played him at Crestview or at Mansfield Christian. They have a lot of kids back and thing about them is they always play tough man to man defense. They are going to get in you and they are going to try and take stuff away. It’s their home opener when we go down their Saturday. Anytime you go down to Christian it’s always a tough place to play,” said Sheldon.

Published 11/27/13

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Fenner Back at Colonel Crawford

Kyle Fenner led the Colonel Crawford Lady Eagles to back to back state tournament appearances in 1999 and 2000 during a successful run as their head coach. After taking some years off to watch her son Grant play for Shelby she has returned to the Lady Eagles bench.

They open their season with a game at Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference member Marion Pleasant on Friday night in non-conference play.

Fenner told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday that it was just the right time in her life to get back into coaching, plus she believes these girls will play hard for her. “It just seemed to be the right thing to do in our life right now. The job just came open and my son just graduated last year (from Shelby) and my next is a sixth grader and we just have a little bit more time. It just seemed to be the right thing to do to get back into it,” said Fenner.

Crawford won the silver division of the North Central Conference last year, but they don’t return a lot of experience from that team and Fenner says they are a work in progress. “We’ve got to know each other. We are young and inexperienced. We have only one starter back, but we are working hard and making progress and getting better, so we will continue to do that every night,” she said.

For the Lady Eagles to be successful this season Fenner says the key is for them to play well on defense and be able to get on the boards consistently. “We have talked the girls about that fact that we have to defend every night and we have to rebound. We are looking to get better defensively. We are trying to learn some concepts and make sure that we defend every night. We need our young kids to come around, especially on the defensive end and rebound every night,” said Fenner.

There might be so growing pains at the beginning of the season, but Fenner believes by the end of the regular season the Lady Eagles are going to be pretty good. “One thing that I liked about these kids, I guess one of the reasons I took the job was because I had these kids in class when they were in junior high and knew that they worked really hard. I know they are going to work hard and as the season goes on we are going to get a lot better. We are going to be better in February,” said Fenner

Published 11/20/13

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Crawford Gunning For Another Title

Colonel Crawford has grown into one of the most consistent small school basketball programs in North Central Ohio.

This winter they will aiming for their third straight North Central Conference title in the final year for the league. There will be no divisions this time.

Coach David Sheldon says they will be talented again this season and the players except to have success. “This is our eighth year here at Colonel Crawford and we have the program where we expect to have success every year. We were very fortunate to get to the regionals the last two years. We have four lettermen off that team last year back, had a JV team that went undefeated, and a freshmen team that lost one. We expect success and with that we have to work hard. We had a great summer with our kids and in the fall for those not in a fall sport. We are excited to get going. It’s crazy it opens up two weeks from (today). Our football guys just got done. They just started this past Wednesday,” said Sheldon.

The Eagles lost in the first week of football playoff action and without a lot of time to get ready for their opener November 29 against Seneca East Sheldon says they are holding practice twice a day. “We are going two a days right now. You hear about that in football, but we have been going two a days all this week. Just getting our football guys we are trying to get ready with the season just two weeks away. The big thing now is just getting prepared and getting football guys into basketball shape. With what we are able to do in the summer now our guys come in knowing what we expect in offensive and defensive philosophy,” he said.

With as much success as they have had program wide over the last several years, Sheldon says they are have a lot of guys that are competing for playing time at the varsity level. “We have over 30 kids in the program. I always tell the guys it is totally different than football. In football you have 11 offensive guys and 11 defensive guys and all the special teams, well guess what in basketball we can only play five at the same time. We have a lot of competition just (Wednesday) the competition is really good in the gym and that just makes you better. We have kids competing in drills. We have winners and losers in every drill. The competition we get against each other is really great. We try to do everything at game speed. It’s a great thing to have competition within competition. Guys are fighting for spots to be able to play on Friday night,” said Sheldon.

Just because there are no longer divisions in the “NCC” Sheldon says that doesn’t mean their goals have changed, they remain the same. “Our number one goal every year is to compete for a league championship. We have been fortunate the last two years to win the silver division. Our goals are still the same to compete for a league championship, but that starts right now everyday coming into practice and getting better,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “You don’t compete for a league championship in February, right now we are trying to get better every day as individuals and as a team. With the success we have had the last seven years we always talk about what is this team’s legacy going to be? What is this team going to bring to the table? We challenge our guys by saying the past is the past and now it is a brand new chapter of Colonel Crawford basketball. This is a very balanced league as there are no longer any divisions. The one thing about the “NCC” is it’s a tough outing every time you take the floor.”

Published 11/15/13

Colonel Crawford Plays Pass Happy Wayne Trace

After never being there before the Colonel Crawford Eagles are making their second straight playoff appearance as they host Haviland Wayne Trace in a first round game in division six on Friday night.

Crawford (9-1) shared the North Central Conference title, in the last year of the league, with Galion after putting together a six game winning streak. Coach Ryan Teglovic says they have continued to work hard and have improved each week in the last six. “The last five games we have gotten better every week. We have beaten some pretty good football teams in that stretch. You know, we have won some close games too in that stretch. I think when we won some of those close games against good teams it gave the guys some confidence. Hopefully we can continue to improve every week,” said Teglovic.

In putting up some big offensive numbers the Eagles have played well with the ball, but they have played well without it too. Wins over Wynford (20-14) and Upper Sandusky (28-27) are examples. Teglovic says he is proud of that unit. “We have played better football defensively each week. I think we have played more consistent and a little bit more physical football. Not that we were bad in the beginning, but I just think that is a unit that is getting getter every week,” he said.

Wayne Trace (9-1) is an electric offensive football team. They average almost 50 points a game. They scored 80 in a shutout of Holgate and three other times more than 60. Their only loss comes to Defiance Tinora (27-16) on week eight. Teglovic says there is no doubt about it the Raiders want to throw the football. “They are good football team. There only loss of the year comes to Defiance Tinora, the number one seed in our region. They are a great football team,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They throw the ball all over the place. They have a quarterback that has thrown for 3,400 yards and has thrown for 40 touchdowns passes. They have averaged about 49 points a game. Offensively they are a scary football team with a lot of weapons.”

There have been some good offensive football teams that the Eagles have faced this year, however, Teglovic admits not any that throw it as much as Wayne Trace. “They are totally different. They are a throwing football team. Maybe the closest that we have seen is Bucyrus, but Bucyrus rushes the football and rushes the football quite a bit. These guys are pass first all of the way. They are going to sling it all over the field. They are a high octane offense and rely on their big play ability,” he said.

Published 11/07/13

Some Good Things Result From a Colonel Crawford Win

It has already been a good season for the Colonel Crawford Eagles and it can become a great one with a win over Crestline in North Robinson on Friday night.

A win gives the Eagles (8-1,5-1) no less than a share of the North Central Conference title, an Upper Sandusky win over Galion would give it to the Eagles outright. They already have a playoff spot for the second straight year, but another win would probably put them in North Robinson again next week in the first round.

This all became possible when Crawford edged Upper Sandusky (28-27) last week when Nate Klingenberger accounted for three scores. Coach Ryan Teglovic says both teams gave it all they had. “It was an excellent football game played by two pretty good football teams. It was two teams that played extremely hard and left it on the field,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “It was a privilege to be part of the Wynford game the week before and was a privilege to part of this game. Two good teams and two teams that went there playing hard. I’m proud of our kids and it was just a great win.”

After a tough loss to Galion (35-14) in their first “NCC” game of the year, the Eagles have put together a five game winning streak. Teglovic says they have done a great job of battling and consistently getting better each week. “That was a tough loss to start off your league going 0-1 after playing a real good Galion football team that beat us that first game. I was proud of our kids to be able to bounce back from that. We took things one week at a time. We able to put ourselves in position for some things by winning five games in a row against some real good football teams,” said Teglovic.

Colonel Crawford is a considerable favorite in this game as the Bulldogs (1-8,0-6) have just one win and that comes against winless South Central. Teglovic says Crestline has some size and a pretty good quarterback to go along with it. “They are one the bigger teams we have played. They are huge, a lot of big kids there. I have been really impressed by their quarterback. They played a couple of different kids due to injuries, but the Hurst kid is very good. He has good speed and you have to keep him contained in the pocket,” he said.

With another in on Friday Teglovic says his team can accomplish some pretty special things. “We would like to come out and continue to play good football as we have played good football these last five weeks and we certainly want to do that again on Friday night in the last regular season game. It is an opportunity for us to go 9-1 and that has only been done three other times in Colonel Crawford history. There is the possibility of a home playoff game. If we win we get a chance to share the “NCC,” so there is certainly a lot riding on the game,” said Teglovic.

Published 10/31/13

Colonel Crawford Facing Rival in Big Game

Colonel Crawford is involved in a wild race, with four teams tied at the top, in the North Central Conference with only three weeks remaining in the regular season.

The Eagles, Galion, Upper Sandusky and Wynford are all 3-1 in the “NCC” and Crawford hosts Wynford on Friday night in North Robinson.

Last week, the Eagles (6-1,3-1) hammered Riverdale (59-14) in an “NCC” game and coach Ryan Tgelovic says for the second straight week they played a complete game. “I thought it was a solid game. I thought it was something we needed to do. We made a couple of mistakes, but that happens out there on the field. I feel like offensively we played very well. I feel like defensively we played very well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We had a kickoff return for a touchdown as well, so we did some good things in the special teams. There are some things to work on there always are, but overall it was the kind of performance we were looking for.”

Dalton Scott ran for 181 yards last week against Riverdale and quarterback Nate Klingenberger has been running the ball well all year. Teglovic says they ran it pretty good last year and they have been able to continue that this fall. “It was kind of a nock on us from last year coming in that maybe we couldn’t run the ball. We did have a running back last year that was about two carries from 1,000 yards. We felt like we ran the ball fairly affectively last year and we felt like we could do it this year as well. It seems they have been worried about the passing game and when they take people out of the box we have been able to run the ball affectively,” said Teglovic.

Wynford (4-3,3-1) comes off a thrilling overtime win (14-13) over Galion last week. Teglovic has great respect for the Wynford football program. “It’s a great football team and a great football program. It was a big win for them last week against a great Galion team. They are riding high. They are playing for a lot. We are playing for a lot. It should be a great football game. Obviously we have five really good football teams in the “NCC.” From what you could see from the scores last week. All these teams in there competing for a conference title these last three weeks are going to be very exciting,” he said.

Wynford has played pretty solid defense all season long and Teglovic says they have to keep the Royals guessing. “Well we have to be balanced. We have to run the football and pass the football and try to keep people off balance. You have to have a good game plan and execute the things we are working on all week,” he said.

Published 10/15/13

Run Defense Key for Crawford

Colonel Crawford is game back in the North Central Conference standings and they stand fifth in their computer region and that means they have some important games to play down the stretch.

They are at Riverdale (1-5,1-2) on Friday night.

The Eagles (5-1,2-1) beat Bucyrus (20-10) last week and coach Ryan Teglovic thinks it might have been their best game of the season so far. “They have one of the better offenses in the “NCC” and they have been explosive, even in their non-conference games. Their offense has been good and they have a lot of weapons. I was very happy with the way our defense played,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I thought overall it was probably our best game, not just defensively, but I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage offensively as well and we ran the ball very effectively and has nice special teams as well.”

There have been games when they have scored more points this year, but Teglovic believes that last week against Bucyrus was their most consistent effort of the year. “It was nice Friday night to put the three phases together. I felt like at times the offense has played well, I felt like at times the defense has played well and the special teams, but I never felt like we had put all three of those together. Last Friday thought we put all three of those together,” he said.

Riverdale was punished in their non-league games, but since they have started play in the “NCC” they have been better. They beat Crestline (48-26) for their first win last week. Teglovic says there is a reason for that. “Riverdale has two very good running backs. One of the guys was out the first three games, so he is back. He is an exceptional player. He is a three year starter. Since he has been back he has averaged over 100 yards in all of those games. It just so happens that both of those guys play linebacker as well and they are pretty good linebackers. We’ll have to stand the guys up when they have the ball and get a hat on them when they are on defense,” said Teglovic.

Against the Falcons, a team that wants to run the ball, Teglovic knows the point of attack is going to be a big key for them. “They run the ball affectively. Our defensive line and out linebackers are going to have to do a good job of tackling and maintaining the line of scrimmage. Being physical is going to be a real key for us and then our offense being able to control the football,” he said

Published 10/11/13

Crawford Wants Complete Game

Colonel Crawford has played well in parts of games this season, but really not for a whole game and that has to change.

The Eagles (4-1,1-1) play at Bucyrus on Friday night in a North Central Conference game.

Last week, Crawford responded to a loss to Galion (35-14) the week before to beat Buckeye Central (38-13) in an “NCC: match-up. Coach Ryan Teglovic saw some good things, but really not enough. “It was a fairly important game after the Galion game trying to get back in the win column. I thought our kids did a pretty good job of that. I wasn’t overly pleased with the way we played. I thought at times we played well. I liked the way we ended up finishing the game. Overall we’ll take the win,” he said.

Bucyrus (2-3,1-1) has become more competitive this year. They lost by just one point to Wynford (41-40) when they failed to get a two point conversion. Teglovic says they have an explosive offense. “They have a nice team. They can both run it and pass it. They have thrown for over 1,000 yards already. He is also a very good rusher. They have a kid in the backfield by the name of White, who is a very good running back. They have put up some really good numbers offensively. They have done that all year. We will have our hands full there,” he said.

Teglovic knows they will have to play well to get past the Redmen and that means in all three phases of the game. “What we have talked to out kids about is playing an overall solid game. I’d like to see all three phases together, offense, defense and special teams,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “At times we have been good in special teams, at times we have been good in defense, and at times we have been good offensively, but we need to be able to put all three of those things together on (Friday) night and make sure we don’t turn over the football,.”

Bucyrus runs a spread offense with a quick tempo and Teglovic says that forces you be disciplined and quick decision makers when you are on defense. “It’s the new style teams are playing fast and are more and more athletic and get their kids out in space and try to make plays. That is the way offenses are going. You have got to be very sharp and tackle well. You have to make sure you are in the right position, in the right spot. In order to do all of those things it puts a lot of stress on you,” said Teglovic.

Published 10/4/13

Colonel Crawford Needs a Win

After a setback to Galion last week, their first of the season, the Colonel Crawford Eagles need to return to winning if they are to have a chance at capturing the North Central Conference title.

Last week, Galion beat the Eagles (35-14), but coach Ryan Teglovic felt they did some good things against the Tigers and have been working this week on things identified as areas that need to be strengthened. “Sometimes you can come out of a loss and really learn some things and really get better in some areas and I thought we did. I thought there were some areas that we actually improved on form the New London game to the Galion game. Overall, I was very happy with our kid’s effort. At times execution maybe not the greatest, but at times our executions was little bit better too. Galion obviously a very good football team. Dareian Watkins is a very good football player. He carried the ball 38 times against us. He averaged around 5.4 yards per carry on Friday night and that’s below his average, so he had a phenomenal game against us and he had 200 yards against us, but if you look inside there were some things I thought we did pretty well,” said Teglovic.

Buckeye Central (1-3,0-1) will be in North Robinson to battle the Eagles on Friday night. Teglovic says they can’t wait for Friday because they have some things to prove. “It is one of those weeks where Friday can’t come quick enough. I mean honestly we have to get some work done this week because we have Buckeye Central coming in. I think to some extent they are starting to get healthy. They have done some good things, so we are going to be pressed on Friday night. We have to get a good week of practice in and sure some things up and get better. Our kids want to get back on field. They want to improve on some things they didn’t do so well. We need to get back on the beam and hopefully we can get back out there and do what we need to do,” said Teglovic.

Now, this year the Bucks have been running the ball quite a bit, but Teglovic says that may change this week due to personnel. “They certainly have been, especially early on because both of their quarterbacks have been hurt. Both their starter and their back up went out during scrimmages, so they were starting a freshman young man at quarterback. He was doing a good job for them as a freshman, but you are certainly limited on what you are going to allow a freshman to do. They have had very good success early on running the ball with the Balldoser and Roberts kids. Those are two big, physical guys that are athletes, so it has been run first,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Now, I believe that one of those guys has been cleared to play quarterback. My guess is he will play a little bit Friday night. How much more they will do in the passing game remains to be seen. A couple of years ago when they had the Erwin kid at quarterback they were throwing it quite a bit. We will have to see what they do.”

Published 9/26/13

Colonel Crawford Faces Athletic Galion

It’s the first week of the last year of football in the North Central Conference, a league that dates back to the 1960’s and play in the “NCC” is highlighted this week by Colonel Crawford’s visit to Galion.

Last season, Colonel Crawford won the silver division and Galion the black division. This year with eight schools in the league there are no division, so only one title is going to be available.

Last week, Crawford downed New London (33-27) in non-conference play. Coach Ryan Teglovic says they played pretty sound on both sides of the ball. “I thought offensively we played extremely well and defensively we played well. We have to shore some things up, but we got stops when we needed too. We were good enough to get a victory over a pretty good football team,” he said.

Galion has an explosive offense led by quarterback Darin Watkins. Teglovic says they show very good balance. “Their offense is averaging about seven yards a carry and when they throw the football they have completed 19 passes on the year and six of them have been for touchdowns. That is the big thing is you have to be ready for whatever they do. You have to be on good balance and attack them,” said Teglovic.

The Tigers have not made the number of big plays that they did last year, but they have that potential anytime they have their hands on the ball. Teglovic told Swankonsports.com that they have to be able to tackle in space. “You have to tackle and you have to execute well at the point of attack. If they get into the second level there is just a lot of space that has to be accounted for. It’s going to be a difficult thing to do, but you have to limit the amount of space they have to run in. If they are going to gain yards at least they have to earn it,” he said.

Galion’s defense has not allowed more than two scores in any game this year. Teglovic says the Tigers are athletic in the defensive backfield and that gives them ability to bring some pressure. “On the defensive side of the ball they do a great job there. They limited Keystone to two touchdowns and Madison to just one. They never rush less than five guys and they have the athletes to cover your receivers and then they can put a lot of guys in the box,” said Teglovic.

Published 9/20/13

@Swankonsports.com

Colonel Crawford Needs to Play Fundamental Football

Colonel Crawford plays host to New London this week in a non-conference game that features two teams that have both won their first two games of the season.

The Eagles beat Northmor (52-13) last week. Coach Ryan Tgelovic saw some improvement from week one against Mt. Gilead, but they still have some things to refine. “I think we improved a lot between weeks one and two. I think we caught the ball a little better. I thought we played in the secondary a little better. I thought overall we made some strides. We still have some areas to work on. We had a lot of penalties. We have some problems scoring in the red zone. We have to get better on defense and on special teams. It was a nice improvement from week one to week two,” said Teglovic.

He says there have been a lot of teaching situations this week in practice. “You want to tell kids that we did things better. We did this better in this area. We want to let them know about things that if don’t get better it is going to come back to haunt you. We did some things better last week, but we have some things that we have to sure up this week,” he said.

New London has beaten Buckeye Central (20-7) and Oberlin Firelands (35-7) in their first two games. Teglovic says the Wildcats have some experience back. “Like us they are getting better. They are 2-0 coming in and won 35-7 last week over Firelands. In week one they had beaten Buckeye Central,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Their quarterback is back from last year. They have two running backs back from a year ago. They are a good football team. They have weapons offensively. They are physical defensively. It’s a battle of two 2-0 teams. It should be a good game all around for us.”

Like a lot of game featuring teams that have been playing well, Teglovic thinks this one might come down to turnovers and which team makes the fewest mistakes. “In a game where you are talking about a couple of teams that are playing pretty well often times it comes down to making sure you can take care of the ball. Make sure you do the little things well and maintain good field position. We need to continue to play fundamental football and improve the things that we didn’t do so well last week,” said Teglovic.

Published 9/10/13

Some Good and Some Bad For Colonel Crawford

The assessment of the coaching staff is Colonel Crawford did some good things last week against Mt. Gilead, but some bad things too. Probably more good though.

They railed in the final three quarters to beat the Indians going away (30-13) on the opening night.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says there were some ups and downs. “I thought it was a pretty typical opener. We did some things not very well. We did some things well. We obviously turned the ball over too much early on, some blocking assignments were missed, we had five dropped passes. There are some things we need to correct defensively, some technique things we need to work on. There were some good things too,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “I thought our kids played hard. I thought we played physical football. Mt. Gilead came out really physical and I thought we matched that physicality. We were diverse enough offensively and I think we can do a variety of things there.”

Last week, Northmor hammered Crestline (42-6) and had two backs, Jake Farley and Jamie Baldridge, go over 100 yards. Teglovic says the Golden Knights did some very good things. “They had a nice game. Not just against Crestline. They did well in their scrimmages. We have been able to see a variety of those and they have competed and competed well. The quarterback is a very nice player. Their halfback is a senior and a great player. Their kids up front have been improving every week. They have a lot of kids in the program now. They have been in the weight room. It is certainly a team on the rise. I think they are a greatly improved team,” he said.

Although they pilled up a lot of rushing yards, Teglovic says that doesn’t mean they can’t through the ball. He says quarterback Zach Carroll is, in his opinion, is the Knight’s best player. “Definitely I think their strong point is rushing the football, there is no question about that. They did throw the football in a variety of ways last week They do have some ability to do that. They are not totally one dimensional. I think one thing that they do very well is they screen very well even out of a full house set. They quarterback is their best player, so I don’t think they run the ball because they don’t think he can play because I think he is a pretty good player,” said Teglovic.

Published 9/04/13

Colonel Crawford Wants Balance

Colonel Crawford made the playoffs for the first time in school history last year and now they want to maintain that level of performance and build on it.

Coach Ryan Teglovic believes he has seen improvement in all areas of the team during the preseason work and scrimmages. “I feel like in our three scrimmages we have made improvements in between each of those and that is a good thing. Obviously we still have a long way to go and we need to make that week to week improvement. Hopefully we can continue on that process,” he said.

Over the last couple of years the Eagles have thrown the ball a lot more, but Teglovic says they have to run it to and they have proven they can do that. “Last year with the passing attack that we had with Nate (Klingenberger) having 2,000 yards passing and the receivers we had we still had a running back in Spencer Tacket just short of a 1,000 yards. We had a lot of rain last year, the last five or six games we played in bad conditions,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They weren’t conditions when we could throw the football and we were still able to run the ball. You have to be balanced and continue to be able to pass the ball and run the ball.”

The Eagles host the Mt. Gilead Indians in non-conference play in North Robinson on Friday night. Teglovic says there will be a lot of unknowns about the Indians this time. “There is a new coach in this year, so we are not has familiar with them as we have been. Their numbers are up. They have 50 kids on the roster this year. That is a lot more than they have had. Having seen them in person I think they are physical. They get off the ball. They play a physical style. On offense and defense they are going to come out and give great effort,” said Teglovic.

The Crawford coach says week one alone produces a lot of stress for coaches due to the number of things that have not been tested in the preseason that can go wrong, especially in the special teams. “I think week one is huge. You just don’t ever know what to expect. You don’t what to expect from the other team. You don’t necessarily know what to expect from your kids. Nobody has done special teams in a live format. Those kinds of things like kickoff returns and punt returns always scare you a little bit game one. Just overall the unexpected of what can happen on game one,” said Teglovic.

Published 8/29/13

Crawford Wants to be Physical

The Colonel Crawford Eagles have accomplished the goal of becoming winners and now comes the tougher part of remaining at that level.

Last year, they won a division title in the North Central Conference and made the playoffs for the first time. Winning the conference became harder this year with the reduction of two teams and the reducing to one division.

With the regular season still a week away coach Ryan Teglovic believes their practice sessions have still been crisp. “I think our guys have done a nice job of staying interested. The schedule is a little bit different this year and that can definitely pose some problems. We have started school and we don’t have a game for another week and a half. Often times we have played a game before the school year even started. It’s been a little different schedule this year for the kids to adjust too. We are scrimmaging while school is going on,” said Teglovic.

The Eagles host Grandview Heights in their last scrimmage this weekend and Teglovic says they will treat it more like a real game than the ones they have had so far. “Probably one of the main things I’d like to see from this last scrimmage is just game readiness. We will run that scrimmage a little bit more like a game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We will get our special teams guys on and off the field. We will look to see if we have the right personnel and make sure we get the offensive and defensive units on and off the field. Maybe try to make some halftime adjustments just to get the kids accustomed to what it will be like on game night so that first night they have some idea of what is going on.”

Crawford will have some of the better skilled athletes in the league if not the area, plus Teglovic has liked what he has seen in the trenches over the last couple of weeks. “I feel like we have been physical and that is with losing the amount of offensive lineman that we did. I think we have enough guys that can play physical football and that has been a real important thing for us. We like some the things we have seen there, but we obviously still have a long way to go. However, those are encouraging things,” he said.

Colonel Crawford Has Lofty Goals

Colonel Crawford won its first conference title in nearly 20 years and earned its first ever playoff berth in 2012.

This year the Eagles, with a lot of talent back, have a chance to be just as good if not better.

They saw their first action against another opponent on Tuesday and coach Ryan Teglovic says they played hard and did some good things. “We had a scrimmage (Tuesday) against Tiffin Calvert and South Central at Tiffin and I liked some things that we saw. The kids were aggressive. I thought we did some good things in that aspect. Obviously we have a lot to work on techniques and a lot of small things we can correct with film. Hopefully we can improve some of those things when we go out on the field against Ontario on Friday,” he said.

Tegolvic says they want to continue to get better as a team and take some positive steps when they play Ontario in a full scrimmage on Friday. “It’s a nice thing to have those three preseason games because that is what we want to do all year long is to go out and compete on the game field and give a great effort. I think we got a good effort (Tuesday) and then after that you want to go out and evaluate on film the things we want to do better technique wise and try and improve that for the next time out,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I talked our kids (Tuesday) that the constant in there is effort and playing hard and being aggressive and those things. As long as that’s going on everything else is just teaching and hopefully from week to week we will continue to teach and continue to improve.”

The Eagles have taken great strides over the last half decade and Teglovic says after last year they are in a different situation this season and they need to react well. “We are going to see how we respond to that. It is the first time these guys have been put in that situation. They are coming off a successful year and we have quite a few of those guys coming back, so now you are not sneaking up on people and the expectations are there for you to go out and compete well every night and that’s a different mind set. We are going to have to see how our guys respond to that. The expectations are a little higher,” said Teglovic.

This is the last year for the North Central Conference and there will not be divisions as their have been for the last two years with Ontario and Lucas no longer in the league. Teglovic says with teams like Galion, Upper Sandusky and Wynford this should be a very interesting year. “It’s a great mix. It’s a great league. It has been a really good football league for the last two years. We had four teams in the playoffs last year. I think it has the opportunity to be as good or better this year with the amount of good football teams we have in the league,” he said.

Colonel Crawford in Final Four

The Colonel Crawford Lady Eagles have a date with Rockford Parkway in the division four state semi finals on Thursday evening at Firestone Park in Akron.

Parkway (22-5) beat Edgerton (10-0) in six innings last Saturday at Findlay High School to earn their ticket to the state tournament.

Colonel Crawford coach Chuck Huggins says they will be facing another outstanding pitcher on Thursday. “The way I described them to the girls pitching wise, the girls always want to know about the pitcher, she is very, very, very similar to the Eagans girl from Vienna Matthews. She will bring it in the upper 50’s and maybe top out at 60 MPH. She really likes to go up and out in the strike zone to try and get you to chase. She is only a junior, so she is an underclassmen like the Eagans girl,” said Huggins.

Crawford (18-9) beat Vienna Mathews (3-0) in eight innings to win their regional title. Huggins believes that Parkway carries a little more punch on offense. “I think their offense is a couple of notches Vienna Mathews’ offense only because as I study their hitters they are just producing more runs right now. They just have a notch or two more offense in their holster,” he said.

When reviewing scouting reports and the like Huggins says the make up of the Parkway squad is a lot like many of the top level softball teams they face. “I try to give the girls and idea of individuals. We don’t talk a lot to our team about their entire line-up. They have that typical burner at the top, they have that good bunter in the number two spot, three through six are really good, quality RBI kids, seven, eight, and nine are kids will try to produce runs for their team. They are very typical in that way,” said Huggins.

In trying to compare Parkway to other teams, Huggins was able to come up with a couple. “Bucyrus is a lot like them when we played them. Convoy Crestview when we played them over in the Champions Challenge in Loudonville, they were very similar. Those are the teams that I sort of compared them to for our kids to what kind of offense we would be facing when we were out there on defense,” he said.

Any team that reaches the state tournament is playing well and with momentum. Huggins says that includes them. “It starts right here at home at Colonel Crawford. We feel it is not by a fluke or a chance. We have a bunch of kids that have bought into what we need to get done. We are playing our best softball and Parkway definitely is. In the other division four semi-final on Thursday between Strasburg and Covington they too are playing their best softball. It is going to be a great division four state tournament this year,” he said.

This is the sixth time Colonel Crawford has been in the state tournament, but the first time they have played at Firestone Park in Akron. Huggins says it a great facility. “It is a true fast pitch venue. The Akron Racers professional fast pitch softball team plays there. I took a page out of the book they gave us the other day at the state meeting that had pictures of Akron Firestone. I ran them off in color for the girls and we just sat and talked about them at practice (Wednesday) just to give them an idea of what they would be seeing. I didn’t want them to get there and be in awe of it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I told them we are going to be in the first base dugout. We just went through the whole itinerary just so they knew exactly how things were going to go. I have been fortunate to take six teams to the state tournament, but all of those were at Ashland Brookside Park. That was a nice facility don’t get me wrong, but the first time I went there and saw this facility I realized this how true a softball facility this is. We are going to go and have fun and give it our best shot.”

Colonel Crawford Enjoying the Ride

Colonel Crawford is one of the more consistent, if not the most consistent softball program in North Central Ohio, so it is never a surprise when they have tournament success.

However, this year, they seemed to struggle at times, and you thought maybe this wasn’t their year. Just then they got hot and starting to play very well beginning with the first week in May.

The Lady Eagles (18-9) play Rockford Parkway (21-5) in the division four state semi-finals on Thursday evening at Firestone Park in Akron.

They advanced to the state with a thrilling, eight inning, win (3-0) over Vienna Matthews last Saturday in the regional final at Kent State University.

Coach Chuck Huggins, the head coach of the Lady Eagles since 1988, says they wouldn’t have had a chance to win without some brilliant defense in the seventh inning. “It was a pitcher’s duel. It was 0-0 and Vienna Mathews happened to be home team. All of the sudden they have a girl standing on third base and no outs, that’s the winning run standing 60 feet away. We had to find some magic in our defense to find a way from keeping that one run from scoring. They bunted and we let that one go and she was on first. Obviously we had to let her go to second because we couldn’t take a chance on any kind of bad throw. They are standing there on second and third with no outs. They next girl up bunted and it went back to our pitcher, with her being six-foot-one her long arms reach out to about first base. She faked a throw and pulled it back and the girl broke towards home. It was a beautiful play, she threw it home and the catcher tagged her out. From there we just worked our way out of the inning by going strikeout, strikeout,” said Huggins.

Then came the eighth inning when the Lady Eagles came up with three runs in a most unexpected way. Huggins says he had to trust some players. “We hadn’t had very many hits. This girl that we are facing is a legitimate 60 MPH pitcher. We hadn’t been making much contact with her. I mean she ends up with 16 strikeouts in the game, so you can see that even putting the ball in play is premium. I talked to my number seven batter before she went up, what do you feel comfortable doing right now? I said I want you in your comfort zone. She said coach I would love to have an opportunity to bunt. I said you have been so close. I said get that bunt laid down and make sure you get out of the box quick. She laid down the perfect bunt. We get the number eight hitter, Cassie Sager, our rightfielder, lined a perfect slap single over the second baseman’s head. Our leftfielder hadn’t hit in more than a month. She had been working her tail off in practice, working on her offense, working on her hitting. I had just a gut feeling, just a hunch, that I needed to put her in and I did,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday night, “Sure enough our number nine hitter with two strikes, we tried to bunt twice and could get it laid down, I’ll be dog gone that she didn’t lace a single to right field and scored a run. After that we got a couple of more insurance runs with a hit and an error and we are sitting there 3-0 going to the bottom of the eighth.”

Huggins, a hall of fame coach, says he is just so very proud of his team. “We have gotten hot at the right time. We have had kids that have just stayed focused and believed in our program, and us as coaches, and we in turn believed in them. It is just neat to see them buy in to understanding that all of the sudden this is possible and they kept coming, and kept coming, and we kept getting better. Two words that I like to describe them is, yes, surprising, but what an outstanding effort from there to get our seventh opportunity to go to the state softball tournament,” said Huggins.

Colonel Crawford in Regionals Again

Colonel Crawford, although their record may not be as good, is making its sixth appearance in the regional semi-finals in the last seven years.

The Lady Eagles (16-10) face Jackson-Milton (22-9) in the division four regional semi-finals at Kent State University on Thursday.

On Tuesday night, the Lady Eagles played their final regular season game, losing (4-3) to Upper Sandusky in North Central Conference action. Coach Chuck Huggins says that loss might do them some good. “If there ever is a good loss this was a good loss on Tuesday night. It was a good tune up. Whenever we go to the regionals we always like to scrimmage. If we are going to play on Wednesday we like to scrimmage on Monday and if we play of Thursday we like to scrimmage on Tuesday. Luckily we had a game left, it didn’t matter in the league standings, it was just a good, good ballgame, just like we anticipate playing on Thursday. Yes, at the end of the game we were down by one run, but it was a just a great tune up for the kids. We got to see great pitching. We got to see good defense and we got to do a lot of the things that we plan on doing on Thursday. We got to be aggressive on the bases, bunt, and take advantage of the short game. It was good to be able to play it against live competition,” said Huggins.

Huggins is in the hall of fame and led Colonel Crawford to a state title in 1997. He says at this time of year, you have to be very sharp if you are going to advance. “On offense you have to be at the top of your game. You may only get one opportunity to get that bunt laid down and get that runner over. You may only get one opportunity to get that bunt laid down and get that runner in from third or hit that sacrifice fly or hit behind the runner and score that run. It’s just the little things that make such a huge difference,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Defense is the same way. If the other team tries to do anything you just have to be at the top of your game. We are going to have a good final tune up (Wednesday) at practice. All of those little things that we have been practicing since way back in March have to come together. You have to be at the top of your game at regional tine because everybody that is there is there for a reason.”

Jackson-Milton, like Crawford, plays in a good league, the Inter Tri-County League, and Huggins says they feel like they are prepared for what they will see on Thursday. “Both getting a chance to see them and getting a chance to talk to some different coaches. The internet is so good anymore. You can pull schedules up and rosters up and game stories on them. We have got the whole gambit. Those three things together we have a pretty good idea of what we are up against,” he said,

Knowing what the other team’s strengths and weaknesses are can be very important. However, according to Huggins, it is more important that they do their stuff well. “I always tell the kids this and they believe it. We need to take care of Colonel Crawford. It doesn’t matter what Jackson-Milton does. Yes, we have to be aware of who their speedsters are, who their power bats are, and what kind of pitcher we are facing. All of those things are very important, but the most important thing is that we take care of Colonel Crawford and we make sure we are on the top of our game because if we don’t do that it doesn’t matter what Jackson-Milton does,” said Huggins.

Crawford Blanks Plymouth

Click here to listen to an interview with coach Chuck Huggins

Colonel Crawford expects to have postseason success and they are winning in late May again this season.

Last year they were knocked off early by Mansfield Christian, but not this spring. They belted Plymouth (10-0) in the division four district semi-final on Wednesday night at Shelby High School.

Coach Chuck Huggins says the got off to a great start and that was key. “We were visitors (Wednesday) and we put six up on the board in the top of the first and that was huge. You want to get on the board first, but you certainly don’t expect six. The top of our lineup had 11 hits. They set the table because the bottom of our order ended up with all 10 of our RBI. I just thought that was huge that we were able to set the table with the top and the bottom was able to come through. That just shows that things are jelling right now and we are coming through and jelling one through nine in the battling order,” said Huggins.

Crawford had a number of girls contribute on offense and they did an outstanding job in field as well. Huggins says they were up to the challenge. “It just goes to show how important it is if you have that solid lineup it just makes it so much tougher to keep you off the scoreboard. They really came through (Wednesday). We had six different kids that scored runs and that’s huge. On the other end of it I was very pleased as good as Nickyla Gaverick, our pitcher, was, she only gave up three hits, only four of those were strikeouts,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “That tells me in a seven inning game that’s 21 outs, minus four, we had to make 17 plays and we did it almost flawlessly. So, both sides of the game are coming together and that’s a nice time of the season for that to happen.”

Nickyla Gaverick is one of the best pitchers in the area, but Huggins says it is calming when she knows ishe doesn’t have to strike out the side every inning. “When Nickyla knows she doesn’t have to strikeout every batter. She knows all she has to do is keep them off balance. That is big because she knows the defense is behind her and it doesn’t matter if the ball gets hit to the outfield, we have three solid gloves out there, or infield, the whole thing comes together,” he said.

Crawford faces Crestline in the division four district final on Saturday at Shelby. There is a lot of tradition in the game and Huggins knows it will likely be another thriller. “It is going to be a great district championship. Two very proud softball programs. It started back when Heath Sager won a state championship at Crestline. He still talks to this day about winning the state championship that year and not wining the conference championship because two of their losses were to Crawford. It has just developed from there. Three of the last four years it has been Colonel Crawford versus Crestline in the district championship. It’s just going to be a fun atmosphere, a huge crowd. To me it is just going to be fun to be part of it,” said Huggins.

Colonel Crawford Faces Must Win

Colonel Crawford trails Crestline by a game in the North Central Conference silver division softball standings and they play at Crestline on Friday night.
Crawford (16-6.7-3) beat Crestline (5-2) on Tuesday night to get back into the race and coach Chuck Huggins says it was a win hey had to have. “We dug ourselves a little bit of a hole early in the season. We got dinged up and hurt a little bit. We dropped a couple of games that we weren’t expected to drop. It happens. So we were two back going into (Wednesday) night’s Crestline game and we were lucky enough to get them at our place. We had a good practice (Thursday) night and now we are going to head over there to Bulldog Country and play them for the re-match (Friday) night. If we happen to get them (Friday) night that will tie us for the lead,” said Huggins.

The Lady Eagles certainly have their backs against the wall. Huggins says there is no room for error. “They already have a share that because they beat Galion (Thursday) night. They have a one game lead with one to go, but we are one behind them with three to go. The bottom line is we have to win out. We have to make sure that this is the most important game on the schedule because without it the other games, while important, won’t matter when it comes to outcome of the “NCC,” he said.

The first thought is all the Lady Eagles need a copy of Tuesday night performance, but Huggins says that is easier said than done. “Especially in high school baseball and softball when you think of just the angle of the bat. When the kids make connection with the ball if it is just a couple of inches this way or that way it’s a matter of a couple of feet one way or another it is the difference between a base hit or a line drive that gets caught,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday night, “There are just so many different things that can happen during a softball game you never really know. It would be nice to put a carbon copy together. We have some ideas on improving what we did and I’m sure Crestline has been working their strategy too. It’s just a fine line and when you get two good programs together between victory and defeat.”

Huggins says one thing is clear, the game will feature two of the better pitchers in the area and they need a solid effort from Nickyla Gaverick. “We got one (Wednesday) night from Nickayla. She had 11 strikeouts and 3 walks. Natalie Sayer had a nice night for Crestline. Those are two of the premier pitchers in the Mansfield area, in the Crawford County area. It’s just fun to watch those two go after each other. Sayer had a couple hits against Gaverick and Gaverick had a couple hits against Sayer. As far as Colonel Crawford is concerned that is exactly the key to our success right now. We have Nickyla back, and I don’t want to say she is 100 percent, but maybe 90 percent and her 90 percent is certainly good quality pitching. We are looking for another top quality pitching performance from her,” said Huggins.

Colonel Crawford Battling

Colonel Crawford is fighting injuries, but it appears this softball team has a lot of fight in it.

After losing a couple of starters, two of their better players, they railed to beat Riverdale (16-6) on Tuesday and keep themselves in the race for the title in the silver division of the North Central Conference.

Those injuries contributed to their only league loss last week to Buckeye Central (14-12) and now Thursday they face one their bigger challenges of the season when they face black division leader Bucyrus (9-3,3-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com softball coach’s poll in the small school division, in an inter-divisional match up. Hall of Fame coach Chuck Huggins says this is a rivalry game. “I have always said it takes two good teams and two good programs to make a rivalry. That certainly is Bucyrus because they are a very, very good ball team. I said from the beginning of the season that that black division is going to be a monster out there and they aren’t disappointing anybody. They have gotten off to a good start. With it being a Crawford County team and a “NCC” team it’s a going to make it all the more exciting. It’s going to be a good game for the area,” said Huggins.

On the injuries was suffered by one of the area’s top pitchers in Nickyla Gaverick. Huggins says they have done a good job rallying to the cause. “We were nicked up a little bit and had some injuries. One of the main injuries we had was to Nickyla Gaverick. We have talked about how important pitching is and she tuned an ankle and we had to do without here for a couple of games. I told the kids last Monday when we beat Buckeye up there it was a good win and it even made it more so when they came down to our place and bumped us off on Wednesday. We have responded well,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We came back against a very respectable Riverdale team and beat them pretty handily. The other thing I like about this team is they are really buying into what needs to be done in practice to get better.”

Huggins is the only softball coach the Lady Eagles have ever had and there aren’t many roads he hasn’t traveled. He says he likes the approach this year’s team has shown. “Especially the player that holds the ball every single play and that determines a lot of things in a softball game. The other injury was to our starting centerfielder, who has been with us for three years. She tore an “ACL” the other day and just had surgery (Wednesday) and we are going to miss her. It’s just part of the way sports works and that is the cruelty of sports. The kids have really stepped up to the challenge and have really come through. It gives the next person an opportunity and step up and show what they can do also. We have had some younger kids definitely do that,” he said.

On Friday and Saturday the Lady Eagles are in Loudonville for the “Champions Challenge” and Huggins knows the competition will do them good. “With the MVD tournament getting weathered out last week we didn’t get a chance to play Clear Fork. We knew that was going to be a great game for us. We are definitely looking forward to getting over to the champions challenge and playing Convoy Crestview. You know the opponents, win or lose, we are going to play some good competition. We have always felt like to become a better softball team you have to play better competition. We make sure we get some of those games. You don’t get to pick all of your opponents, but you can certainly pick your non-league ones. We like to play those types of teams. I know over the years it has paid dividends come tournament time,” said Huggins.

Growth Important for Colonel Crawford

It’s been a perfect start to the season for the Colonel Crawford Lady Eagles softball team. They have won all four of their games so far this year. However, there is still progress to be made.

Crawford (4-0) beat Plymouth (7-0) in a non-conference softball game on Wednesday evening. Still, coach Chuck Huggins can see a number of areas where improvement can be improved. “It is always nice to get off to a good start. It certainly beats the alternative. I’m optimistically positive. It’s a goof feeling that I know that we aren’t even close to being as good of a ball team as we can be. We pitched a shutout (Wednesday). Nickyla had a no hitter. That is always our number one goal every night is to try and get that shutout. It came our way (Wednesday), but there are still a lot of things that I see that we need to clean up,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win on Wednesday, “What it takes is just getting out there and getting innings in, getting used to each other and know who is going to be where. You can practice it in the gym all you want, but when the umpire says play ball and it’s live it makes a whole lot of difference. You can not emulate game speed and you can not emulate game situations. You can practice them, but it is still different when the game actually takes place.”

A key to this year for Crawford is the pitching of senior Nickyla Gaverick. One of the best in the area. Huggins says she is a kid that is always in the moment. “She is certainly in control. Nickyla Garverick is just one of those kids that doesn’t have time to really, really work on the game of softball in the off season because she is a very sought out talent in our school with her volleyball abilities and her basketball abilities. We don’t want to stretch her out too thin and tired her out. When she walks into the gym after a season of volleyball and a season of basketball and she is throwing strikes at about 60-62 MPH. We looked at each other and she is probably the only kid in our school that could do that. She just has that kind of athletic ability. Nothing rattles her. It doesn’t matter what the score is, it doesn’t matter what the count is, she is just completely in control out there. She is really, really starting to settle in now and get her off speed pitches to bite,” said Huggins.

Colonel Crawford plays South Central on Thursday and Seneca East in a doubleheader on Saturday. Huggins says this an important time of the year for them because they are trying to figure out what their best lineup is. “I am just a firm believer. I can never think of a year in all my years of coaching that the lineup has looked the same opening day as it does come district, or regional, or state tournament time. We are fortunate enough that success has bread success in our program and kids are right there fighting for positions and that’s good. I really try to take these non-league games and look at our kids to see exactly what we have and give everybody a good fair shot at it, just let them play it out on the field. We mix up the lineups and the batting orders and we even do that sometimes in league games too. I just think it is more fair and it gives the kids a big opportunity to step in and help our program,” said Huggins.

Colonel Crawford Fine Tuning

Colonel Crawford is always in a position where they are reloading not rebuilding and the Lady Eagles are always a factor in the North Central Conference softball race.

Veteran coach Chuck Huggins says although they haven’t been able to get on the field as much as they would have liked they are trying to make sure they are prepared for every possible situation. “You never know. There are always those unknowns, those uncertainties out there. Myself as a veteran coach I still like to make sure I have a checklist and make sure we have everything covered before we get to that first game, but you never know. There are always those things out there that you are not very familiar with. We got back outside (Tuesday) night even. We were on the black top. We didn’t get a chance to get on the field of course with all of the snow,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Everybody is in the same situation as we are. We have to deal with Mother Nature and the snow and the weather. I can remember years like this in the past where we had to deal with the same things. When they say play ball on Saturday for our opener against Western Reserve. We will be there and be ready.”

Fundamentals are very important in girls’ softball, especially in the small ball game. Huggins says they work on those a lot. “We really broke things down on black top (Tuesday) for them. We did a lot of good drills and then we got together and did some situational work to help the younger kids learn the game and to make sure our upperclassmen and continuing to get better. Just working on all of the little plays that you run when you need to stop a run or you need to manufacture a run. It was just good for the young kids to see how much there is out there in the game that they still have to learn. It was good for the veterans to go over things and keep sharp in there skills and be reminded from last year and the years before about what we want to get done,” said Huggins.

Bunting may seem easy on its face, but Huggins, who has taught a lot of players the skill, says it’s not. “It is a very complex skill to do it correctly, especially against top notch pitching because those pitchers know where to pitch the kids to keep them from making good contact or to be able to control where the bunt goes. Those are the kind of things that we are trying to teach our kids on offense as to what we need to do to manufacture runs and get that bunt laid down. On the same terms that runner is just every bit as important. If you are trying to get a runner over and they are not at the top of there game they could get thrown out. A lot of things could happen if you don’t execute the short game,” he said.

Colonel Crawford has won more titles in the “NCC” than anybody, but this year Huggins thinks everything is up for grabs. “I made the comment and I mean this sincerely. Our silver division is wide open. There are legitimately four teams that could win it. Of course, you always start with Crestline, Buckeye Central had a nice young team last year and Lucas tied with us last year for the “NCC” championship. There are four teams right there and Riverdale is always that unknown team because they are out west and we really don’t get a chance to see them. I know it doesn’t affect us, but we still have to play the black division teams one time. That division is a monster. They are going to have a heck of a time. It is going to be fun to watch who comes out in the big division also,” said Huggins.

Crawford Must Defend Height

Colonel Crawford is back in the division four regional tournament and this time they want a better result.

Last season, they lost to Edgerton (46-40) and Tuesday night they play Ottawa Hills in the semi-finals at the Stroh Center at Bowling Green State University.

Crawford (20-5) edged Plymouth (49-48) last Friday night when the Big Red missed a shot in the final moments of the game. Coach David Sheldon says it was an exciting game. “That’s what high school basketball is all about. It’s tournament time. It came down the last possession. I’ve talked during the whole tournament run every possession is so important. Fortunately we were able to get a stop at the end. Last year we got a shot at the end to beat St. Mary’s and this year we get a defensive stop at the end to beat Plymouth. Give Plymouth credit it was a great high school game. Troy’s kids were prepared. We were fortunate enough to move on to the sweet 16,” said Sheldon. The Eagles coach thinks his team’s tournament experience is a plus in these tight games. “Our kids never panicked. We have been in this before. This isn’t new. I think that is a big factor because games have high and lows. We had the lead and then they made a run and we made a run and it went back and forth. Our kids just never panicked. We always talk about next play, next play, next play, and that’s the most important play. I think that is big factor when you talk about a 32 minute game this time of year,” he said.

Ottawa Hills has tremendous height and Sheldon says those players all have skills. He says they have to keep them off the offensive glass. “First of all they have great size. They go 6’9”, 6’6”, and 6’4”. Those are their three best players. The 6’6” kid, Beans, is their best player. He is a clone of Austin Smith, who played for me in 2009. He is a lefty that can go inside and out and they have bigs inside. We have to limit their post scores with some things guarding the post, helping inside. I think one of the major factors is we have to box out. We have to put bodies on bodies on every possession. We can’t allow then to get second and third shots,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We have to use our strength to move them away and not allow them to get offensive rebounds. We have to try and get them to go over our backs. Defensively they are going to show man and 2-3 zone. They will also press a little bit with a 2-2-1. It is a very good basketball team. Whenever you get down to the last 16 in the State of Ohio when there are over 200 schools in division four you know you are going to face a good basketball team. We will give it our best shot on Tuesday night.”

The Eagles have some size themselves with Klingenberger and Jury, but Sheldon says they have not faced this kind of height. “We haven’t seen this size all year. We have seen maybe one big, but not three different bigs like this. It really doesn’t remind me of any team we have played this year,” he said.

You don’t want to make big changes to your approach at tournament time, but Sheldon says they will make some minor changes in order to hopefully contain Ottawa Hills. “We are going to make some minor tweaks on how we guard the post and change defenses throughout the game to show them different looks. It’s a thing where you have to make minor tweaks and we have always done that here at Colonel Crawford. We adjust defensively to who we are playing. I am not one to be stubborn and say this is the way we are going to play. I am one that says we are going to break down film and see what is the best way to defend the team at hand. The kids have been focused and that’s a great thing. (Sunday) we were in classroom for 45 minutes discussing what’s happening. That is a great thing about this basketball team. They study the scouters and films to understand what the game plan is going in defensively,” said Sheldon.

Being their second trip to the regionals in as many years, Sheldon hopes that gives then a leg up in the contest. “I think it is huge. My five starters were all on the floor last year. We go down to the wire with Edgerton. We have the lead with two to go and lost it at the end to an undefeated team. We are not going to be aye struck by going up to the new Stroh Center. We have been there, it’s not new, we have been through this routine before. We have tried to keep the same routine all year. Ottawa Hills have never been there. This is a first for them playing in this arena. They are going to be a little star struck I hope. I think it is huge having that experience. My kids have been on this floor and they know what this is all about,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford One Step For Regionals

Back to back district titles come around about as often as Oscar quality Sylvester Stalone performances.

Colonel Crawford (19-5) meets Plymouth (14-11) in the division four district final Friday night at Willard High School.

In the semi-finals on Tuesday night, Crawford beat back a challenge from Norwalk St. Paul (70-65) to advance. Coach David Sheldon says their experience allowed them to remain calm under pressure. “It was a great high school basketball game. We knew it was going to be a tough game. That was a game that could go either way. We got a lead out of the gate in the third quarter. I just told our guys that you have to take it one possession at a time St Paul is going to make a run. To St. Paul’s credit they did make a run. We just never panicked. We got a lead late and were able to maintain it. Fortunately we made enough plays to advance to the district championship on Friday night,” said Sheldon.

The starting lineup for the Eagles all has a boatload of tournament experience based in their performance the last several years. Sheldon says his kids are hungry for another district title. “Our five starters have been in this situation before last year. I look back at that Upper Sandusky game was huge, that last game of the year. It was for the championship of our division and it was a game that went down to the wire. We held on and I think that experience helps going through the tournament lhaving a game like that late. Our kids are hungry right now and they are very focused basketball team whether we are in the classroom, talking about an opponent or on the court,” said Sheldon.

Plymouth has won eight straight games and Sheldon says despite being only three games over .500 they are a very dangerous ball club. “I think you throw the records out the door at this time of year. The have won eight in a row. They went through a stretch in the middle of the season where coach Keene had to give some discipline out. I think after that these guys have really stepped up and have responded to Troy,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “It is a team that everybody knows revolves around Tyrell and then Beebe, those are their two top guns. I think what has really helped them is the Crager kid has really stepped up, the Bailey kid, they have the Collins kid off the bench and Roberts. Tyrell and Bebbe are their best, but the other kids have stepped up during this stretch of eight games.”

Crawford has won the silver division title in the North Central Conference and the sectional title and Sheldon says they are ready for the next goal. “We are happy to be playing Friday night that was a goal. Our third goal of the year is to get back to that district championship and we will see what happens on Friday night,” he said.

One of Plymouth’s big weapons is the press, but they didn’t use it in a semi-final win over Buckeye Central (43-37) on Tuesday night. Sheldon says he isn’t sure what Plymouth will employ. “They have done well pressing. The first time we played them in late December we did very well against the press and got some easy hoops. You have to prepare for everything. They have shown zone. They have shown man. They show a lot of formations on offense. We will prepare for everything and see how it goes Friday night,” said Sheldon.

The Eagles have good guard play, a number of guys that can handle the ball. Sheldon says they like it when they see pressure. “Every time we see the press our eyes light up and think it a chance to score with numbers, whether it’s four on three or three on two. If you break the press you are going to have good numbers attacking the rim. We want to score anytime anyone presses us,” he said.

Crawford Counting on Experience

Last year, Colonel Crawford won the district title and advanced to the regionals and they believe the tournament experience they return might allow them to do it again.

They face Norwalk St. Paul (18-6) in the division four district semi-finals at Willard High School on Tuesday night.

The Eagles (18-5) are silver division champions of the North Central Conference. They took a first quarter lead (15-1) and went on to down Mansfield Christian (57-47) in the sectional final last Friday night at Ontario High School. Coach David Sheldon says it was not just a tournament win, it was a quality win because the Flames challenged them. “They did, which is good for a tournament game. We want a little test and we got that from Christian. I think the world of what John Kurtz has done over there. You look at what he has done with that program. That’s a good team. They went 17-8. Everybody talks about their injuries, but heck they won three of their last four coming in. We got on them early and hung through the rest of the game and got a sectional championship. It was a good win and we are excited to go over to Willard on Tuesday night,” said Sheldon.

When you look at the rosters of the teams, Sheldon thinks they are very similar. “I think they are very comparable to us. They have two bigs inside, 6’4”, 6’4”, sort of like us, with Griffin and Harwood. You know, Griffin is a load. He is a good player around the rim, he is a good offensive rebounder, and they have three guards, it starts with Sortino, they have a great shooter in Sauderback, and Smitty’s kid that runs the show for them at the point,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They run a couple of different offenses with the dribble drive and the three around two. They are very good basketball team. They are very well coached. I have the utmost respect for Mike Smith. He’s done a great job. A guy with over 300 wins.”

Sheldon doesn’t think the win will be determined by some brilliant strategy. He says it’s going to be who makes the big plays in thee end. “It is going to be a game where it comes down to guys making plays. We are going to know what they do and they are going to know what we do and it is going to come down to kids making plays. The farther you go down the tournament trail that’s what it turns into,” he said.

St. Paul features the dribble drive offense and Sheldon says that is something they have seen before this year during the regular season. “In their dribble drive they try to drive it hard into the lane and they have shooters around outside. The nice thing is this isn’t the first time we have seen this offense this year. We have played against several teams that have run the dribble drive. It’s going to come down to some toughness points too. We need to keep them off the offensive glass and limit their transition points,” he said.

How much does being there before really matter? Sheldon hopes in matters a lot. “It’s a team that’s on a role right now. They are playing well with a lot of confidence, but the nice thing is my five starters have been in this situation before with the experience of last year’s district tournament. I think that helps to have a little taste of the tournament. Tournament basketball is so important, the atmosphere, and every possession is so important, so I like the experience we have taking over there on Tuesday night,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford Ready For the Tournament

With one goal under their belt, the Colonel Crawford Eagles are now set to accomplish some more in the postseason.

A second straight trip to the regional tournament would be a nice one.

They face Mansfield Christian (17-6) in the division four sectional final on Friday night at Ontario High School.

Colonel Crawford (17-5) earned a silver division title in the North Central Conference with a win (45-39) over Upper Sandusky last week. Coach David Sheldon liked the effort and felt it was a good barometer on whether or not they would be ready to play this Friday. “I felt last Friday we really made a big step with the win at Upper. Upper is a very good basketball team and (Tuesday) night they beat Shelby in the division two tournament. That was a huge step I thought because we had been so up and down. We played every possession with a sense of urgency, which I have been trying to preach all year with this group,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “They came in Monday and there was some excitement. There is nothing like tournament basketball. My five seniors have all been through the ringer. They were all players on that team last year that made the run. The biggest thing is we have to execute and play together. Coming off a 17-5 year a lot of guys say I should be happy, but we think we have had an up down year. I think last Friday was a big step. I have seen the focus this week in practice.”

This is a team that is heavy with seniors and Sheldon believes that is a good thing, especially at tournament time. “They realize this is there last hurrah. Some of my guys are going to go on to play college athletics, none of them in basketball, but I have a golfer, a tack guy, a baseball guy and they realize this is the last time they are going to put the shoes and the jersey on. We talk about every possession being the most important one and the next play. I think they realize that seeing the light at end of the tunnel. Hopefully, it doesn’t end too soon,” he said.

Mansfield Christian has lost Bryce Ernsberger and Ryan Smith to injury, but Sheldon says they found a way to play well. “Everybody has talked about their injures, but they have won three of their last four. It is a team, even with a couple of injuries, is playing every well. Credit John Kurtz, I always says when we play a John Kurtz coached team, they defend. They play great man-to-man defense. They are going to be up in you. They deny things, they take things away and they get after you. Offensively I really like the Young and Mount kids. They have really stepped up and had great end of the seasons for them,” he said.

The Flames have had an outstanding year and Sheldon knows they are going to come into the game expecting to be successful. “They are playing with a lot of confidence. They play extremely hard. In this latest streak when they have won three out of four those injured kids have not been there. I think they are a team that has been hungry and they have played great all year. It’s going to be a battle Friday night when we go over to Ontario to play them,” he said.

It is often a more physical game in the tournament with fewer fouls called. You have to sort of survive and move on and Sheldon says they understand that. “You have to be strong with the basketball. That why I go back to last Friday night being so important because Upper is so physical defensively. We sort of got a taste of what it is all about last Friday. Mansfield Christian is going to do the same things they have a way they get into you, deny pass lanes, and hand check and stuff. They let you play a little more in the tournament and you have to have the mental approach that you have to be strong every time you step on the floor at both ends,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford Knows What’s at Stake

It’s been their goal all season and now the Colonel Crawford Eagles have a chance to accomplish it by winning the North Central Conference silver division title.

They need a win at Upper Sandusky on Friday night or a loss by Buckeye Central at home to Wynford. Right now, the Eagles and Bucks are tied for first place in the division with 10-2 records.

Crawford coach David Sheldon says they been able to win the games they have absolutely had to over the last month of the season. “We have been fortunate after the loss to Buckeye in January that we have taken care of business in the league. Credit Buckeye as well they have taken care of business as well. It comes down to Friday night whether we share the league title, don’t have anything or you have it by yourself. There are three outcomes that can come from Friday night. At the beginning of the year back at the beginning of November our ultimate goal was to win the silver division and it comes down to Friday night when we go over to Upper Sandusky,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford did lose to their second Midland Athletic League school in less than a week when Seneca East blasted them (57-43) last Saturday. Sheldon says they just had a lot of trouble putting the ball in the basket. “Last Saturday at Seneca East we were 12-51 from the field. We just couldn’t throw it the ocean. We really struggled to make baskets on Saturday night. We got hurt inside. We gave up some offensive rebounds at the defensive end. On nights the shots don’t go you have to get compete defensive stops. We weren’t able to do that,” he told Swamkonsports.com on Thursday, “This has been a team that has bounced back every time something has happened. I look at the New Riegel game and we bounce back and win by 30 some over Wynford. Now coming off Seneca East we will see what happens on Friday. This is a week I shouldn’t have to say much. I mean you are playing for a league championship. I reminded the guys that when you were growing up that’s what the ultimate goal was to play for a league championship and then a tournament championship. These guys have it hand. They have a chance to go back to back wining the silver division last year. It just comes down to us being ready to go Friday night and playing basketball.”

Sheldon says the shooting woes were do to just unlucky shooting and the fact that they didn’t try to get the ball inside against the Seneca East zone. “We got good shots, but we probably didn’t get enough post touches. Seneca East stayed in a zone all night. When they are in the zone its hard to get post touches with them packing it in. Our all district guard Conner McCreary goes 2-11 from the field. He is shooting over 40 percent on threes for the year. I think it was a combination, we got good shots, but sometimes we settled for things instead of trying to go inside-out throughout the night,” he said.

The pressure will be on Crawford (16-5,10-2) on Friday night. Sheldon says they are ready to execute against a very disciplined Upper Sandusky (12-9,8-4) team. “When you look at the great players they are gammers in the big games. We are going to have to have some guys step up and play like that for us. Upper is a very disciplined basketball team we all know the style they play. They are going to make sure they get a good shot every time down the floor. Defensively they are going to be all man and get into your stuff and try and take things away. It is not a complicated team that you are playing that is going to run a lot of stuff or change up defenses. We know what we are going to see. I think in games like this it comes down to being mentally tough for 32 minutes. They make 10 to 12 passes and then on the offensive end you have to make sure you get a good look every time down the floor because of the limited possessions,” said Sheldon.

Buckeye was able to break the trend when they got behind Upper Sandusky last week, yet railed to win. Sheldon says that is not their plan of attack. “Give Buckeye a lot of credit. I watched that film and they were down 13 early. What Phil’s kids have done all season is they didn’t panic. They played one possession at a time. They just chipped away at it. Against Upper you can’t panic, you just have to go one possession at a time and get the most out of every possession at the offensive and defensive end,” he said.

Colonel Crawford Has to Fight Back

Colonel Crawford received their worst pounding in more than two years Monday night from New Riegel, but that did not affect their standing in the North Central Conference.

Monday night in non-conference play New Riegel whipped the Eagles (67-36), handing them just their fourth loss of the season. Crawford coach David Sheldon was disappointed in his team’s effort against the Blue Jackets. “They are very good basketball team. They are 17-3 for a reason. We sort of took some punches early from them and didn’t respond really well. It was just an old fashion butt kicking that is the best way to say it. We had turnovers and lack of hustle plays. It was a very disappointing loss. It was a tough one to take, just the nature of it,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We are going to go back to work (Tuesday) and we are going to show clips from (Monday) night and show things that didn’t go right and things that have to get better for us over the next couple of weeks. There isn’t much good to says about (Monday) night except you move on and learn.”

Losses are all bad, but some are worse than others. The really bad ones are the ones you don’t learn anything from. Sheldon says they aren’t going to let that happen. “The nice thing about film is it doesn’t lie. We will have a half hour film session (Tuesday) and talk about some of those things and point things out and hopefully correct them on the floor. Give New Riegel credit too, they just came out and manhandled us for 32 minutes. I’m very impressed by how hard they play and the togetherness they play with. Rhinehart, I think he is the best player in the district. When we come to all district voting this Sunday I wouldn’t be surprised if he is district player of the year,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (14-4,9-2) plays perhaps its biggest rival in the Wynford Royals (8-11,5-5) in North Robinson on Friday. This has not been the best season for the Royals record wise, but they played well in their first meeting with Crawford leading most of the game before falling (58-49) in late December. Sheldon knows Wynford will give its all. “I think it’s going to be a tough challenge. It is going to be a good gut check time for our team to see how we respond after (Monday) night at New Riegel. The last time Wynford had us down through three quarters. They were up seven on us and we made a run late in the fourth quarter to come away with a victory. The thing about Wynford is I love how hard those guys are playing for Tim. These kids play hard and they are trying to do the things he wants. They are going to come over here all excited because of the county rivalry. We are going to have our hands full,” said Sheldon.

Tied with Buckeye Central for the silver division lead, Sheldon says they understand this is the most important game of the week. “That is what we are going to talk about. We took a whoopin’ (Monday) night, but guess what our number one goal is to win our division and that is still in hand. That is still in front of us. Our number two goal is to win a sectional championship. So, goals are still ahead. Hopefully our kids will take that to heart and we move past this and we come ready to go Friday night,” he said.

Colonel Crawford With Important Games

Colonel Crawford is still tied with Buckeye Central for first place in the silver division of the North Central Conference and they are itching to get back on the floor.

They play at Crestline in a silver division game on Saturday night and then finally get to play Midland Athletic League power New Riegel on Monday in a game that has been postponed twice.

Coach David Sheldon is a little concerned that his starters have not been on the floor very much lately. “Last Friday we played Lucas, but our starters only played half of the game, so it’s been like two weeks only playing half of a game. We practiced last Sunday assuming we were going to play Monday and then the snow storm came in and we didn’t get to play Monday. It’s just been a lot of practices. We have got a lot of shooting in. We broke down some fundamentals in defense, some things we are struggling with. We are actually playing some quarters. (Wednesday) night we played a quarter assuming some situations just to get the kids going up and down a little bit,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “It’s been just trying to change things up. Practices at this time you just shorten them down a little bit because coming up Saturday we have four games in eight days, so it’s not like we aren’t going to play, it’s just been the way the schedule worked and with the weather canceling the New Riegel game a couple of times. It’s just trying to stay sharp and a lot of shooting during the week during practice.”

Crawford (14-3,8-2) isn’t expecting any favors from the rest of the “NCC” Sheldon knows they are going to have to win the rest of their games, which is the same theory Buckeye Central coach Phil Loy is employing. “I agree with Phil, I think the same of Buckeye Central. Their three toughest league games left are all at home. The tough thing with us is we still have to go on the road to Upper, we have a rival in Wynford here. We have to make sure we take care of us every night. To Phil’s credit they have been playing very well over there at Buckeye Central. We are not assuming any help we just have to take care of things ourselves. There are some tough games left on our schedule with Wynford and then Seneca East and then at Upper. This thing is far from being over from our standpoint. We have some tough games coming up and some we have to go on the road and play too. Buckeye has been playing well as of late. I think they have won eight of their last 10. The main thing is for us to go out and prepare for our opponent, no matter who it might be,” said Sheldon.

The assignment on Saturday night is to beat Crestline (3-15,1-8) at their place. Sheldon says Crestline has been a tough venue for them. “They have struggled with a new coach coming over. They are excited playing in their new gym now, so we get to play over there Saturday night in the new facility. It’s a game where we have to come in and defend and extend the floor on Saturday night. Then offensively take advantage of what we can. We have never really played very well over at Crestline. Hopefully with the new gym we can change our tune there. Like I said we have to worry about Colonel Crawford number one before we get into anything else with other teams,” he said.

On Monday night it is the New Riegel Blue Jackets. Sheldon says it seems like they have been waiting to play them forever. “I feel like I have been preparing for them for two weeks. All last week even playing Lucas we are working on New Riegel stuff. Then we came in and practiced Sunday thinking we were going to play Monday and didn’t get to play. I feel like if our guys don’t know New Riegel they aren’t going to know anybody because we have had so much time with the cancellations. I am really looking forward to that game on Monday night. They are going to get a seed over in their sectional. It is a great tournament style opponent to go on the road and play. I think it’s a great test for us to see where we are at. They have the Rhinehart kid, who is a load inside. They have some guards that can shoot it. It’s going to come down to some good execution on our part and not turning the ball over and we have to defend in the half court against them,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford at Form

With the help of Ontario, Colonel Crawford has regained a share of first place in the silver division of the North Central Conference and now they need to keep winning.

Last Saturday, while Ontario was beating Buckeye Central, the Eagles beat Bucyrus (51-37) to move back into a share of first after at 7-2 in the league after Buckeye had beaten them the week before.

Coach David Sheldon liked the unselfishness he saw on offense and their overall play on defense against Bucyrus. “I was really happy that is a tough place to go over and play. Bucyrus kids get all jacked up when they play a county school, you know, us or Wynford, and they have been playing good basketball. You talk about only four kids scoring, every time our posts touched it, Jury or Klingenberger, the put two or three guys on them, they double or tripped teamed them. They did a great job of passing out of double teams and our guards got good looks,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They tried to take away our posts and Austin Adams and Conner McCreary step up and have 21 and 20. I was really happy with the unselfishness of our post players. Defensively I was tremendously happy to hold them to 37 points. We made some adjustments on the way we guarded them from the first time and real happy with the defensive performance at their place.”

Crawford (13-3,7-2), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball poll in the small school division, hosts Lucas (0-14,0-8) on Friday night in North Robinson. In their first meeting the Eagles won 85-14. Sheldon says they have to come in with a sense of focus. “Since we got beat by Buckeye we have told them every game is a championship game in our league. Right now we are tied with Buckeye in the silver division and that’s they way we have got to look at it. Every league game is a championship game. Lucas has had it’s struggles this year. We have to make sure we come out and take care of Colonel Crawford on Friday,” he said.

On Saturday night, Crawford heads for New Riegel (14-2), #4 in the Swankonsports.com poll, for what looks like an exciting non-conference contest. Sheldon says the Blue Jackets and more than 6’3” Brandon Rhinehart. “Every year it’s a great non-league game for us. The Rhinehart kid is averaging 23 a game and he is a load inside. It is a basketball powerhouse. They don’t have football and year they turn out great basketball teams. We are really looking forward to going over there Saturday. It is going to be a great non-league game in preparation for tournaments. They have beaten some very good basketball teams. It’s a great challenge, but it’s a great game this time of year, that’s what we want to play at this time of year,” said Sheldon.

With the depth in the silver division of the “NCC” being down this year, Sheldon is looking forward to the challenge. “They have kids that can score from all spots. They are team you have got to guard. They are explosive. They have shooters around Rhinehart. It will be a great atmosphere over there at New Riegel and it will be a good test for our kids to see where we are at in early February,” he said.

Colonel Crawford Has to Find a Way

Colonel Crawford needs to dig deep because after an upset loss to Buckeye Central last week they are not in first place for the first time since the North Central Conference went to divisions last year.

Last Friday, Buckeye went to Crawford and beat the Eagles (49-42) to grab first place in the silver division standings. Crawford coach David Sheldon says sometimes they just couldn’t buy a basket. “We just didn’t shoot the ball well we were 13 of 43 from the field for 30 percent. I think there were a few factors in that. First give credit to Buckeye they defended us well, second we just missed some shots and third some of our shot selection wasn’t the greatest,” he told Swankonsports.com Wednesday, “We just struggled to put the ball in the hoop. Second of all I think Buckeye played one of their best games of the year. Give them credit, they shot an unbelievable percentage from two points and they did what they need to do to win.”

It was just one of those nights for the Eagles when all of their players had sub par nights. Sheldon says that usually ends up in a loss. “We talked after the game that not one of our guys played well. On some nights you might have a couple kids have off nights, but we just didn’t play well. I don’t know if our guys just thought we could show up and win. I think it is a little bit of a wake up call for them as we head down the stretch. We are going to need a little help in the silver division. We still have some good games coming up. Number one we have to worry about Colonel Crawford getting better. We look at every league game now as a championship game,” he said.

Colonel Crawford was able to battle back and get a win (65-55) at Riverdale on Saturday night. Sheldon says they passed the first exam of the mental test they are facing. “We talked Saturday morning about how is this team going to handle adversity? This is the first time we have lost two games in a role in three years in our program. We are going to see how tough this team is now mentally because its our longest road trip. We went to Riverdale. They got one of their kids back, the Frye kid that was suspended. They were at full strength. We shot the ball well on Saturday. It’s amazing what happens when you make shots in this game. We had a 15 point lead in the fourth and ended up winning by 10. I give them credit for bouncing back and getting a league win after a tough loss,” said Sheldon.

The Eagles (12-3,6-2), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball poll in the small school division, take the short trip to Bucyrus to meet the Redmen (3-11,2-6) in an “NCC” game on Saturday night. “They have been playing well. Last weekend they took Galion to a two-point game. They were up 12 on Ontario. It is a team that has been playing well, they just haven’t gotten over the hump to get some wins. Anytime Crawford-Bucyrus it is a Super Bowl for Bucyrus. This is a big game for them. It’s a county rival. The last time they came over here it went OT. We are going to have our hands full Saturday going over to their place. The nice thing is this is the first time we have had a whole week of practice and only one game. The whole season with all of these games. It is a week we have gotten back to fundamentals. It is things you forget about when you have two games a week to prepare for,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford Needs Win to Maintain Lead

Colonel Crawford was everybody’s favorite to win the North Central Conference silver division this season, but the Buckeye Central Bucks are making things interesting.

Right, now Crawford is 5-1 and Buckeye Central 4-1 in conference play this year.

The Eagles lost their first conference game of the year on Saturday night when black division leader Ontario beat them (67-62) in North Robinson. Eagles coach David Sheldon says they had their chances, but Ontario made the big plays. “I thought our kids played hard. We were right there. It was a two point game with 30 seconds to go. It was back and forth all night. We just couldn’t get a couple of stops. They really hurt us inside the three. They were 21 of 31 inside the three. One of our focuses was they were good shooters and we didn’t want to help off of shooters. We gave up some penetration drives to the point guard and then Mack inside really hurt us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I was happy with our kid’s effort. They really played well. That’s very athletic team. They are probably one of the best D-3 teams in this area. I couldn’t fault our kid’s effort we just came up a little bit short. We talked about some lessons we learned on Monday when we came back. Our number one goal is to win the silver division and we have a big game this Friday if we want to do that.”

With only two losses this season there hasn’t been much time for these discussions, but Sheldon feels they did learn from the setback to Ontario. “One of the tings that we talked about is every possession is so valuable. There was a stretch in the first half when we had three straight turnovers and they converted points off of all of those turnovers. There were some times when we didn’t have communication on defense in some of our coverages. There was a possession when we are up one in the fourth and the inbounder just throws the ball off our guys and scores. It was just little things in those possessions and when you are playing a good team they multiply,” said Sheldon.

Buckeye Central (6-6,4-1) is at Colonel Crawford (11-2,5-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the small school division, for a big one in the silver division. Crawford won the first meeting (50-43) in New Washington. However, Sheldon says the Bucks are a lot better. “They are very much improved. They have Kaple back and he is playing really well for them. Wurm is having a great year. He is their top scorer, but Kaple makes a big difference. He can play every spot on the floor. The other guys around him are maturing and just playing a lot better than they were earlier in the year. They still have a young team. They have really grown up. They’ve had some great wins and played some great basketball. This is a totally different basketball team than we faced early in December, but I think we have grown. This is a basketball team of ours that has gotten better. We are looking forward to the match-up and the rivalry when they come to our house on Friday night,” said Sheldon.

With a win Sheldon believes his team not only puts some space between them and Buckeye, but can make a statement. “We never want to lose don’t get me wrong. Our focus this week in practice has been really good. They know what is at hand. We want to win a silver division title like we did last year. This is a big game if want to do that. Even though we beat them and Buckeye still has to play Ontario. We want to sort of try to win that thing outright. We sort of want to make a statement going into the tournament. We really think we are the one seed. We have beaten everybody in our bracket. We beat Christian by 22, St. Pete’s by 18 and here is another opportunity against Buckeye, another very good team in our sectional. There area lot of things riding on this game Friday night. I am pretty confident that our kids will come ready to go and be focused on what we need to do to win the game,” said Sheldon.

Leaders Meet in the “NCC”

Perhaps the toughest ticket in North Central Ohio this weekend won’t be to the new movie “Zero Dark 30,” but instead to a high school basketball game between Ontario and Colonel Crawford in the Village of North Robinson.

The two schools lead their divisions in the North Central Conference. Both are unbeaten in conference play and neither play on Friday night. Crawford coach David Sheldon says that doesn’t bother them. “I don’t think it messes with us at all. We had a game Tuesday night and it’s nice having that extra day before we play Saturday. It’s nice having three days to prepare for Ontario. There are a lot of times we only play a Saturday game throughout the year with the girls playing Friday night. I don’t look at it as a difference. We are used to having Saturday games. We come in Saturday morning and have a shoot around and walk through,” he said.

Ontario (8-3,4-0), #1 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the small school division, is very athletic this year. Sheldon says they run the floor, they have shooters and they get on the offensive boards. “I think there are three things that stand out. They are just so athletic. They get a lot of points off their press getting you to turn it over. I think they are very good in transition offense. They can get out and go. They have shooters. They can line up around the three or they can throw it inside. I think they get to the offensive glass. It is the most athletic team we will face all year. They have great athletes over there. They have shooters. It’s a great basketball team. I think it is probably the best D-3, D-4 team in the area. When you look at their losses they play the toughest schedule for a D-3, D-4 tea in the area. Their losses being to Willard, Lex and Norwalk. We have a lot of respect for them. We are looking forward to the challenge when they come to our place. Joe’s kids are going to know what we do and we know what they do and it comes down to kids making plays. It’s going to be who handles the ball and ultimately who makes plays. There aren’t a lot of secrets when the two of us play each other,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (11-1,5-0), #3 in our poll, has focused on running the floor too. Sheldon says they aren’t going to back away from that philosophy. “I just think we have to make sure we get a good shot every time down. If we went out to the track right now they would beat us in every sprint. They are better athletes. I think we want to push the ball don’t get me wrong, but we have to make sure we get a good shot every time. We just can’t force a shot in transition. We have to get good shots and we have to get post touches. One of our emphasizes this year has been post touches. We want to get the ball inside. We have made more free throws than or opponents have shot because we are attacking the rim. Our goal is to go inside out,” said Sheldon.

In the game between two very good teams, Sheldon hopes they get a little of a home court advantage. “I told our kids the atmosphere we play in on Saturday night is what basketball is all about. It’s going to be in our small little gym. It is not like we are going to the O-rena, it’s going to be a packed house here. Our place reminds me a lot of Ontario’s before they got the new arena. I remember many years when you had to be there for the JV game to watch Ontario-Wynford. I still love playing in our house the old school style,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “It’s not the plush arena, but we enjoy playing here. It will be 100 degrees in our gym as it always is with the pool and everything. We are looking forward too it. We are both leading our divisions and there will be two champions when everything is said and done. This is a great basketball team. This is one we would have to see in a district tournament or in a regional. There is no coach in this area that I have more respect for than Joe Balogh.”

Crawford Faces St. Peter’s

Colonel Crawford remains unbeaten and in first place in the silver division of the North Central Conference after two more wins this weekend.

The Eagles stomped on Lucas (85-14) on Friday and Crestline (62-32) in games within their division over the weekend. Coach David Sheldon says it allowed them to do some things like get some younger kids some significant varsity minutes. “We were happy the way we got off to fast starts. Friday night we get off to a 29-2 start after the first and then Saturday we get off to a 20-2 lead after the first. That is what you want to do in games like that is set the tone,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday night, “We were able to play a lot of kids both nights. We cleared the bench and let them play the whole fourth quarter both nights. It’s good because those are the guys that are going to have to step up when we lose are four seniors.”

Colonel Crawford has a 5-0 league record and has already started to pull away its division. Buckeye Central and Riverdale each have two wins. Sheldon says they are in solid position. “It was a productive weekend, two more wins in the league. We have played everybody within our division so far and we are undefeated, so it’s a good first round. It’s crazy we are halfway through the year already, but there is a lot of basketball to be played before we get to tournament time,” he said.

The lopsided victories also allowed Crawford to rest senior Austin Adams, who has been nursing an injury. “Our starters only played two and half, three quarters both nights. We were able to rest Austin Adams, a three year starter for us. He did not play Friday or Saturday. He just had a nagging injury. We sat him out this part week and just got him in the swimming pool to keep him in condition. We went in Sunday night and worked him out and he looks like he is 100 percent. Which is good we have some big games this week and we wanted to get back to full strength which I felt we are for this week,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (10-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the small school division, plays host to Mansfield St. Peter’s (6-4) in a non-conference game on Tuesday night. Sheldon feels the Spartans are greatly improved. “I think St. Peter’s is very good. They are the last team we play right now in our sectional. We have played everybody else. This could make a difference come tournament time. It is a team that has everybody back from last year. They have played very well this year and the games they have lost have been very tight ones. It is going to be a tough non-league match-up come on Tuesday night. I have a lot of respect for their team and coach Durham. We are looking forward to a tough game.

The Eagles play black division leader Ontario on Saturday night in a big “NCC” game, but Sheldon says they are not looking past St. Peter’s. “A couple of possession here and there and they are 9-1. It is a very good team. It’s the last team in our sectional that we haven’t played and that can make a difference come seeding time when we get ready for March.

Crawford Looking to Maintain

Colonel Crawford was expected to be head and shoulders above everyone else in the silver division of the North Central Conference and so far they have been.

They play Lucas and Crestline, neither has won a conference game, in their two silver division games this week.

Last Saturday, Eagles beat Plymouth (55-48) in a non-conference game that Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon feels could be a preview of a game in March. “It was a really good game. We looked at that as a district tournament game because if we were fortunate enough to get to the districts that is a team we could see. It is a team that has a lot back from last year’s district team we played,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “It was a game we got up big early and Plymouth made a run in the third quarter and we withstood that run and came out with a victory in the fourth. It was a high energy game and I was happy with our kids play, especially on a back to back weekend, playing on a Friday night at Galion and coming back with an opponent like Plymouth we were happy to get out of that with two wins.”

Sheldon says he was very happy with the way his team responded to the run that Plymouth made at them in the second half of the game. “Even if you are up early or down, with us being a solid basketball team, you know runs are going to come. Basketball is a game of momentum where there are runs back and forth. Give Plymouth credit when we got up they made a great run at us. With Edmiston and Bebee they have a really nice solid team, but give our kids credit they withstood the run,” he said.

Crawford (8-1,3-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the small school division, is at Lucas (0-7,0-3) in “NCC” play. Sheldon wants to take care of business early. “Let’s not kid ourselves it is a team that has really struggled record wise. The kids play hard, but they have struggled. This has been a week when we have focused a lot on Colonel Crawford. We had three of our former All-Ohioans, alumni, in and several other alumni coming in and beating on us this week. We have probably seen one of the best teams we will see all year in our alumni. Lucas is a team that runs a dribble drive and they mix up defenses. When you go down to Lucas you have make sure you come out of the gate strong. It is going to be a game where we have to set the tone early. Our number one goal is to win the silver division. Right now we are on top of that and we don’t want any slip ups along the way like going down to Lucas on Friday night,” said Sheldon.

Then on Saturday night, the Eagles host Crestline (2-6,0-2) in a conference game. Sheldon is a little nervous when it comes to the Bulldogs. “I think it is a team that has gotten better. Watching some films they have gotten better from the beginning of the year. They are getting used to the new system. They took Riverdale to a 12-14 point game last week. They have two lettermen back from last year in the Armstrong and Reynolds kids. They took us down to the wire last year at their place. It will be a tough back to back because they don’t play a game until Saturday. All week they are focused on us. We have to come back Saturday morning at get prepared for Crestline. They always get excited to play us. After this weekend we have played everybody in our division,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford Still Pushing

Colonel Crawford is a basketball team that nearly everybody thought would be really good this year and they are. However, their coach and his players know they can still improve.

They meet Galion in an inter-divisional game in the North Central Conference on Friday night. The Tigers (2-3,1-0) have been wildly inconsistent this year, but Crawford coach David Sheldon feels they are going to see the best out of the Tigers this time. “I compare them to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. They have played some really good basketball against some good teams. I saw them play against Lex and Bucyrus and they played really well. Then there have been some games when maybe they haven’t came out. We know we are going to get their “A” effort (Friday). They always get up to play us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Every year it seems like one of their best games is against Crawford. We know it’s going to be a tough game when we go over there on (Friday). This is a league game and our number one goal is two win a league championship. It’s going to be a tough game because they are going to be all jacked up to play us like they are every year.”

Galion has two very good players in Ridge Durbin and Austin Prosser. Sheldon knows they have to control them. “Ridge is leading them in scoring. I also think the Prosser kid is really good. I think Durbin and Prosser are their two best players. We have to limit their touches. Every shot they get we have to have contested. They are a very quick and athletic team. They scare me on the drive. They are very good at putting the basketball on the floor and they have some three point shooters. It’s a tough match up for us with some of their personnel and our personnel. We also like our chances of throwing the ball inside as well,” he said.

The Eagles (6-1,2-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the small school division, has played some solid ball this year. However, Sheldon believes they have yet to reach their potential. “I don’t think we have put four quarters together yet. We are 6-1 right now and I don’t think we have played our best basketball. We have had spurts where we have played well. Last week, at Wynford we score 30 points through three quarters and then we score 28 in the fourth. We have not put four good quarters together yet. We want to be playing our best basketball in February going into March. Our kids know we still have a lot of work left to do to become a very good basketball team. We are happy with were we are at, but we have a long way to go to be where we want to be,” said Sheldon. He says they players understand that too. “They have high expectations. We set down before the year and every one of them has high expectations. The good thing is every day they come into practice and are working hard. I am happy with this group and how we are and our practices have been some battles. Our kids aren’t satisfied. They realize we haven’t played our best basketball yet. The kids are still hungry to get better every day,” said Sheldon.

League games are always the focus, but Colonel Crawford has an interesting game on Saturday night too when they host the Plymouth Big Red (4-2) out of the Firelands Conference in a rematch from last year’s district tournament. “I think Saturday night is a district tournament atmosphere. This is a team that we could see in the district tournament come March. It is a team a team we beat by five or six in the district semi-finals last year. It’s a great non-league game. It will be test like if we were fortunate to get to a district tournament in March. Tyrell Edmiston is one of the best post players around. He is an unbelievable athlete. They have the Bebbe kid that can shoot it. Their point guard, I really like the Bailey kid. It’s a good team and they are playing well. They beat St. Paul by 20 last week,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford Battling Injuries

Colonel Crawford was able to win a couple of games over the weekend, but not without a cost.

They suffered two injuries, but the had enough depth to secure wins over Buckeye Central (50-43) and Bucyrus (59-53 in overtime) in games played on Friday and Saturday. The Bucyrus game does not count in the league standings.

Coach David Sheldon says they were able to get off to a quick start against Buckeye before an injury to one of their more experienced players in senior Austin Adams. “Friday we got up about 15 in the second quarter. Then in the third quarter we went through a dry spell, had some turnovers, and only scored six. We hung in there to get a nice road win over at Buckeye. We lost Austin Adams with an ankle at the beginning of the third quarter, a three year letterman. Saturday, he tried to go and really just couldn’t,” he said.

Sheldon says in the overtime game with Bucyrus they had another injury and really had to call on their bench. “Saturday again came out and got up 10 in the second quarter and then the Jury boy goes to hospital with stitches. We dealt with a lot of adversity, but our kids fought through it on Saturday. We had a chance to win it regulation and didn’t make it. We came out strong in overtime and got a win over a county rival. The Bucyrus kids came in all jacked up. Give Nate’s kids credit,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “The Purcell kid played really well. Logan Plummley hits four threes for them, he hadn’t made, maybe one all year. With the injuries that is a credit to our seventh and eighth men, who had to come in and play a lot of minutes on Saturday. They stepped up and filled in really well. Anytime you can get two wins on a double weekend that is a good weekend, especially with all of the games we are playing right now.”

Crawford has some firepower and Sheldon knows it’s on defense where they have to show their most improvement if they are going to fill their potential. “Last week we changed up defenses a lot on Friday and Saturday. We didn’t stay strictly man to man. I have been a man to man guy a lot over the years, but now we just started changing up defenses a lot just to see of that would help us with our defensive struggles. That has helped throwing different looks rather than staying in one defense. I think Saturday night we ran four different defenses throughout the game. We have sort of changed up our philosophy a little bit. We still have to get better. The defensive end of the floor is definitely the end of the floor where we have to make the most improvement as we progress through the season,” said Sheldon.

The Eagles (4-1,1-0), #5 in the Swankonsports.com boys’ basketball coach’s poll in the small school division, plays host to the Riverdale Falcons (1-3,0-1) in a silver division game. Riverdale lost their conference opener to Wynford (47-40) last week. “The Holderman kid has played varsity basketball since his freshmen year. He is a very nice player. They have the Fox kid. Early in the year they lost to Carey by three points and last week took Wynford right down to the wire. I think they felling their way back after Craig Taylor took back over as coach. He has done a great job over there and they are going to come in here ready to play. I told our kids every night people are going to be shooting for you. It was nice to get up on Buckeye last week, but this is another league game within our division where every game like that matters because our goal is to win our division,” said Sheldon.

Then in another non-conference game with a conference opponent Crawford travels to Wynford (4-2) for a Saturday night game. Sheldon says the Royals play very hard for coach Tim Ehresman. “You get to go over to the “House of Thrills” and it’s a county rival again. You know those Wynford kids are playing so hard. I really like this team of Tim’s this year. They are playing so hard for him. The Carter kid is a load inside. Powers and Fortner are the guards. They are good players. They have gotten off to a great start. I think they are playing with a lot of confidence. It will be a tough back to back, especially going on the road to Wynford. It’s a good way to start Christmas with a little Crawford vs. Wynford action. It will be a great crowd an atmosphere with everybody home for the holidays. That is what high school basketball is all about tin Crawford County,” said Sheldon.

Tempo Big in Crawford-Buckeye Match-up

Colonel Crawford is a big favorite to repeat as silver division champions in the last year of the North Central Conference, but they have to prove that on the court.

Carey will be in Crawford’s league starting next year and Blue Devils beat the Eagles last Saturday (64-57 in overtime) in a non-conference game. Crawford coach David Sheldon says they just didn’t do the job defensively against Carey. “It was a tough loss for us. We went up there and we are down one after the first half. We come out and go up one going into the fourth. We have the ball with the lead with a minute and half to go. We turn it over and foul and we got two great looks at the end of regulation to win it and they didn’t go,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday. “They capitalized in the overtime and got a couple of buckets early and had us on the back of our feet. The thing I was most unhappy with was our defense. This group has got to get better defensively. We are really struggling on the defensive end getting stops. Our offense production has been very good, but the defensive end is area we have to improve if we want to become a better basketball team. We have really challenged this group all week as we prepare for Buckeye and Bucyrus.”

Colonel Crawford (2-1,0-0), number #4 in the Swankonsports.com basketball coach’s poll in the small school division, is at Buckeye Central (2-2,0-0) in the North Central Conference opener for both on Friday night. Sheldon says the Bucks give 110% when they are on the floor. “Phil (Loy) has these guys playing well. They play so hard for him. Austin Wurm is their premier player, but all of the kids are giving him a lot of production. The thing I see when I watch a few films of them is they play so hard. Offensively, defensively, they run through walls. They are getting things done. They are off to a great start. It’s going to be a tough challenge as we go over the Buckeye on Friday night,” said Sheldon.

Buckeye can be methodical and Sheldon says they want to make the game be more high scoring. “We want to speed the game up. We definitely want to get it going up and down. They are more of a half court team, but they get out in transition well. If they get in the half court they are a little bit patient at times. We definitely want to have the tempo high and going fast the entire night, but when it is going fast we have to take care of the ball as well,” said Sheldon.

Crawford has a longer bench and Sheldon hopes through tempo they can get into the Buckeye bench a little bit. “The have Kaple injured now for them. We probably do have more depth, but the thing is they play hard the entire time for 32 minutes. They were down 10 in the fourth quarter to St. Pete’s and come back and pull off a victory right at the end. I mean they never quit,” he said.

Colonel Crawford Must Play Solid Defense

Colonel Crawford has one notch in the gun and now the Eagles face two tough games this weekend.

They downed Mansfield Christian (63-41) in their first game of the year on Saturday night. Coach David Sheldon was pleased, but knows they have to get a lot better. “I was real happy with how our kids came out. We have a lot of improvement to do. We are talking about being a better basketball team every time we step in the gym whether it be in a practice or a game. We have leaps and bounds to go to get to where we want to be. You are happy to come out with a 22 point win, especially when the night before Mansfield Christian won by 37,” he said.

Crawford is one of the deeper teams in the area, especially for a small school, and that showed last week. However, Sheldon says they also did some fouling due to bad technique. “There were some good things we had 10 guys in the scoring column and that sort of shows the depth we have this year. We have a lot of guys we can play. We still need to cut down some mistakes. We did a lot of fouling, just playing with our hands and not moving our feet defensively and sending them to the foul line too much. Overall anytime you can open up with a 22 point victory that’s a good thing,” said Sheldon. He says that depth can come into play in a single game or as it relates to the long 22-game regular season. “You never know about what injuries or sickness could come over a two, three month period of a basketball season. I think what our depth does is wear people down. We have been picking people up full court and by the fourth quarter I thought Mansfield Christian was very exhausted. That is an advantage that we have when our kids understand when they are in there for four, five minutes playing all out because there is going to be a breather. No one on our basketball team is going to play 32 minutes a game,” said Sheldon.

On Thursday night the Eagles host Northmor (1-1) for a non-conference game. The Golden Knights beat Centerburg (63-59) in their first game and then lost to Galion (64-54) in their second. Sheldon this is a team that can do a lot on offense. “They love to shoot the three. Against Galion they shot 32 last Saturday. They love to drive. They push the ball tremendously in transition. They like to get quick shots. They have guys that can really shoot it. Wiseman, Doner and Kaucher are three guys that are back that were very good last year. This was one of our five loses last year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “We went over to their place and lost last year. It’s going to be a tough challenge Thursday night and I think our kids are looking forward to it. Having someone on our schedule this is one that beat us last year. This is what we like out of a non-conference team to test us with league play starting next week.”

Defense is the key says Sheldon. He says they have to keep Northmor out of the paint and get a hand in the face of shooters. “You have to play good one on one defense because they can kick it out to shooters too. It’s a double edged sword because they can get to the basket and they can also kick it out to shooters. We have worked on lot on the one on one driving by keeping the ball in front of you and then closing out hard to shooters,” he said.

The Eagles travel to Carey of Midland Athletic League on Saturday. Of course this will be a league game starting next season.

Colonel Crawford Understands High Expectations

Colonel Crawford was the winner of the silver division of the North Central Conference and made it to the regional tournament last year. They are expected to do at least as well if not better this year.

Coach David Sheldon says they have been working very hard this preseason as there is great competition for playing time. “We have gotten through a tough preseason. We scheduled three division two and two division three scrimmages, so we will not have played a division four school until this Saturday. There is excitement. Anytime you are getting ready to tip it off there is excitement and I think our kids are excited to get it going. We have big expectations for this year. Our preseason has been very competitive in practice. With all of the talent we have from one all of the way down to 14 it has been very competitive and ugly at times in our practices. That’s good thing because competition within you team helps your team get better not only for this year, but for the years to come as well,” said Sheldon.

He says they players and the coaching staff realize that they have a rare opportunity to accomplish some things this year. “We have talked a lot about there being a bull’s eye on your back. Every night you are going to get every team’s best effort because it’s a Super Bowl for a lot of teams on our schedule. We have to come ready to go every night, but I have also told my kids I would rather have the target on my back then being at the bottom of the barrel rebuilding. That is a good thing that we have established here with our JVs last year 17-3 and even our freshmen last year went 14-4. So, we are happy to have that target on our backs,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We have five seniors and we are relying a lot on their leadership. This is their last hurrah. Sometimes kids don’t realize that you don’t get a chance to do this again. Some day when you are 26, 27 years old and you look back and say man I wish I had one more opportunity to play with my teammates in that Friday night Saturday night experience. Our motto with our guys is what is this team’s legacy going to be? When we get to the end of March what is this team going to leave Colonel Crawford with the 2012-2013 season?”

With some solid experience returning to the team Sheldon says this has not been a preseason when there has been a lot of teaching on what they want to do on the floor. “I am excited to get these guys out on the floor. We talk about taking the show on the road. Our community is excited with the success we had last year. Every night, home or away, we have a great following, which we are very fortunate and blessed to have here at Colonel Crawford. When you have six lettermen back they know what it is like to play on Friday nights. It’s not like we are going out there with a brand new team. They are used to going out there and playing in big games. These guys have played in big games their whole career here. I probably have less nervousness than previous years because of the returners we have back. We have a long way to go. We are not a great basketball team right now, but we want to be a great team in February and March when we are competing for league championships are a tournament run,” said Sheldon.

Mansfield Christian will be the first opponent for the Eagles this year as the Flames visit North Robinson on Saturday night. Sheldon says Christian plays outstanding defense. “The one thing about Mansfield Christian John Kurtz does a great job. They are going to get up in us and try to take away passing lanes. He is a big man-to-man player. He has the Ernsberger kid back from lat year. The Smith kid is coming off an injury from last year is a real nice player. They play hard and they are going to come over here and give us their best effort. We were fortunate enough to beat them last year in the sectional championship. Right there is a target, they ended their season with us. This is their chance to come back over here and make a statement. The first three days of practice we have been focusing on Colonel Crawford. Beginning Thursday and Friday we will start looking at Mansfield Christian,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford Knows They are the Favorite

Last season was an outstanding year for the Colonel Crawford Eagles, but that was last year.

Coach David Sheldon says he has been impressed by the work ethic he has seem from his kids every since they lost last year to Edgerton in the regional tournament. “We are happy to be where the program has grown in my seven years as I start number seven. We had a very successful year last year making it to the regional basketball tournament and winning our division in the “NCC.” Coming back we have six lettermen. We lost two kids that played a lot on that team in Matt Metcalf, an All-Ohioan and Jordon Shell. We have six core pieces coming back and over 40 points a game that those guys averaged. The kids are excited. I think the neat thing is we were disappointed last March losing up at BG,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “These guys went to work right away. They have had a great off season spending a lot time on their own in the gym. We always said don’t be satisfied. That’s a credit to our kids. It’s very competitive with six lettermen back there is not a lot of movement for seven, eight and nine. Our JV team was 17-3 and right now our practices are very competitive with guys trying to crack their way into a piece of that varsity puzzle.”

Even with a lot of talent back Sheldon knows they will have to work hard to replace Metcalf and Shell and that other players will have to accept knew roles on the team. “I think the biggest thing is Jordan Shell for the last three years has been our point guard and we are going to have a new point guard. Our new point guard is going to be Conner McCreary. Conner his freshmen and sophomore year played the two and three and now he is going to move over to the one. He is coming off being an all-district player. It’s an adjustment he is going from being a wing to now leading our show as our point guard. I always talk about our point guard as being a coach on the floor. I think that is a big adjustment with a brand new point guard. Conner has played the point too when Jordon wasn’t out there. Matt was just a do all kind of kid that led us in rebounding and scoring. I think definitely we have some people that can step up and hopefully try to fill his shoes,” said Sheldon.

Ten days ago in the playoff football game Nate Klingenberger injured his ankle. Sheldon says nothing is broken, but they are going to be very patent with Nate and let him mend. “Nate is probably two or three weeks away from coming back. He hurt that ankle pretty bad. The good thing is there was no major fracture. Nate is a letterman and had a heck of a summer for us. He made the Vegas all-star team and got to go out in July and play on a Vegas all-star team. He really came into his own in the month of June and was able to do some things. It is not like we are playing for a league championship right now or a tournament run. We want to get him all the way healthy. We know what Nate can do and we want to get him healthy before we let him go,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford won the silver division last year and Sheldon knows they are the favorite to repeat and that means they have to play well every night. “In the black division I think Joe (Balogh) is really good at Ontario. He has a lot of guys back off a team that got to the district tournament. Behind them Upper has three of their starting guards back. I think Joe by far is the favorite in the black. I think Joe Balogh has one of the best, if not the best program, in this part of Ohio. In the silver division, it’s us as the favorite. When you are the favorite everyone wants a piece of that. We have the most guys back of anyone in the league. That is a different position than we have been in the past. Now it’s every night you have to have your “A” game because everybody is going to want a piece of you. I think Buckeye will be strong they have Worm and Kaple back. Riverdale has Holderman and the Frye kid. Crestline has three starters back,” said Sheldon.

It’s All New to Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford is in uncharted waters.

The Eagles (8-2), #5 in the Swankonsports.com football coach’s poll in the small school division, have qualified for the postseason playoffs for the first time in school history. They play at Glouster Trimble in a division six playoff game on Friday night.

Trimble is located in Athens County in Southeast Ohio. It will be a long trip for the Eagles, but coach Ryan Teglovic says it is one they are very excited to make. “We told our kids several weeks ago that we didn’t care where it was we had to travel, but we would like that opportunity to get into the postseason for the first time. Regardless of where we are going we are honored and privileged and very excited to be playing on week 11,” he said.

Sometimes when teams accomplish a goal they become satisfied, especially this first time they are able to do it. Teglovic hopes they aren’t done winning. “This is the first time that we have been here. The focus now is this is the first time we have been here and you don’t know when you will get back. You have to make the best of your opportunity,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We have an opportunity to not just play in a playoff game, but an opportunity to win a playoff game. That needs to be our focus right now. We need to get beyond being satisfied and go out and compete and hopefully get a playoff win.”

Trimble won the Tri-Valley Conference this fall and stands at 9-1 on the season. Teglovic says they are led by a talented quarterback. “The film we have watched the last several days. They have a very nice quarterback. He is a dual threat. He is close to 1,000 yards in passing and in rushing. He is a very athletic. They are a 9-1 football team. They have good size up front on both sides of the ball. They will be a tremendous challenge for us,” he said.

Teglovic says Trimble can do a lot of things on offense and they run a defense that has eight players near the line of scrimmage. “They are pretty different from what we have seen. Defensively they run a lot of 5-3. We don’t see a lot of teams that run the “53.” That is a different scheme for our offensive line to take a look at. Offensively they are pretty multiple with a lot of different things. They run an unbalanced. They are pro and twins and a couple of other formations as well. There are some trick plays in there. They do a variety of different things on offense,” said Teglovic.

Buckeye Central made it all the way to the state finals out of this region in 2011. Teglovic says Buckeye coach Jason Ratliff address his players about keys to success last week. “I think the way to do that is to focus in on that game 11. Coach Ratliff of Buckeye Central was kind enough to talk to our kids after our game on Friday night. That was really what he talked to our kids about to focus in on week at a time. It is very much like the regular season you focus in on Trimble on week 11. Hopefully, who knows what can happen if you can keep your kids focused in on one week at a time. You want to execute what you do and try to get better every week who knows what can happen,” said Teglovic.

Crawford Wants to do Some Special Things

Colonel Crawford is on the verge of doing some things they have never done or least not done in a long time.

The Eagles (7-2,4-2) will win the outright silver division title in the North Central Conference and earn a division six playoff berth with a win over Buckeye Central on Friday night. They have not won an “NCC” title since 1993 and have never played a playoff game.

Last week, they clinched no less than a share of the division title with a win (27-7) win over Riverdale, who at the time was tied for first place in the division with Crawford. Coming of a bitter defeat against Wynford (48-7) coach Ryan Teglovic felt they turned in a good effort against the Falcons. “I thought it was a good night for us in a lot of ways. First of all we beat a very solid Riverdale football team that was competing with us for the silver division championship. They still have an opportunity to share that with us, but we were able to at least we were able to clinch a share with a victory the other night,” said Teglovic.

Crawford had put up some pretty impressive passing numbers over the first eight weeks of the season. Teglovic feels they adapted pretty well to last week’s rainy conditions. “To do it in those conditions with a spread team with the rain that we had all night. I think Nate (Klingenerberger) was seven of 11 throwing the football for I think it was 180 yards and with the other kid we had in there we ended up with more than 200 yards. I also thought our defense played well too,” he said.

Already with a piece of the division title, Teglovic says they really aren’t in the mood to share anything. “It’s not something we would like to share. We would like to get this win on Friday night against a Buckeye Central program that has had a lot of success recently. They have a great coaching staff over there. They have 11 seniors on that football team, so they are coming in with a lot of pride. They are going to come in and give us their best game. We are going to have to be able to play because there is a lot on the line. Not just trying to win the league outright, but also trying to assure ourselves of a playoff position,” said Teglovic.

Crawford hosts Buckeye Central (2-7,1-5) in North Robison on Friday night. Teglovic says the Bucks have a strong running game that features a couple of backs. “They have some size up front for them and they have two really good running backs in Michael Adkins, back from last year when he did a fantastic job in the playoff run. He is a big, strong kid, who runs hard. I think maybe they are a little scarier in the backfield this year because they have the Trapp kid that has ran the ball well, especially over the last couple of weeks from the halfback position. Last year in the running game you might have been able to focus a little more on one kid in the run game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “This year I feel they have two really good running backs. They have shown the ability to throw the football. The McDonald kid, back from last year, has had some good catches for them. The junior quarterback Jones has made some throws for them in the passing offense.”

In 2001, Buckeye Central beat Colonel Crawford (30-27 in overtime) on their way to a runner-up finish in division six. Teglovic hopes they can start such a run on Friday night. “It’s game 10, so it’s the last time Buckeye Central is going to put the pads on. Hopefully, not for us. Typically week 10 you get a good effort from both sides. It’s a good atmosphere, it’s a backyard rivalry. It was a fantastic game against them last year. We expect that type of environment on Friday night,” he said.

Colonel Crawford Must Play With Heart

Colonel Crawford got it handed to them pretty good last week by rival Wynford, but they still have a lot to play for this week when they host Riverdale.

Last week, the Eagles (6-2,3-2) got blitzed by Wynford (48-7) in an inter-divisional game in the North Central Conference. Coach Ryan Teglovic says it was simple Wynford handed it to them physically, plain and simple. “We obviously got beat up up front. I mean physically I felt they got after us and got after us like a team hasn’t done all year. Sometimes you come out of those games that you get your butt physically whipped the big thing is to step up the next week and wipe the dust off and hopefully get back in it,” he said.

On Friday night, Crawford plays host to surprising Riverdale (4-4,3-2) in a game in the silver division. The Falcons share first place in the division with the Eagles. However, they were waxed pretty good by Bucyrus (33-7) last week. Teglovic says they run the ball well and that is something they didn’t stop last week. “They have a lot of skilled kids back. They have their quarterback back and really both running backs back from last year, plus another running back that is a sophomore this year that is pretty good. Then on top of that they have a good tight end that is a heck of a player too,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “They do a lot of things well offensively. They pound the ball. They are best when they run the football off tackle. It’s going to be a great test for us. We are going to have to play a lot more physical. We are going to have to sure up the run defense. That is going to be a key this week.”

Teglovic feels that Riverdale will be a physical challenge for them and they have to suck it up and be ready to play football. “You come back to work this week and you stress being physical, you stress being fundamental, you stress pad level, you stress playing with some heart, playing with intensity, and playing with some pride. We are playing for an “NCC” championship on Friday night. Riverdale comes in at 3-2 in the league and we are 3-2 in the league. Whoever wins this has a tremendous advantage in winning the silver division championship. We’ve got something to play for and so do they. It’s about coming out and playing hard,” said Teglovic.

Right now, Colonel Crawford stands fifth in division six, region 23 of the state playoff computer rankings. The top eight qualify for the postseason. Teglovic says if they play to their potential they can claim some pretty special things. “I thought we had a pretty good practice on Monday. We had a good talk with the seniors after practice on Monday. They seem focused and locked in. There is an understanding that all over our goals and still in front of us. Last Friday night, outside of the fact we got beat badly by a good football team in terms of bearing on our season it really doesn’t have a lot. We can come out here and play well Friday night we can secure an “NCC” championship. If we can play well there and the next week we still have a good opportunity to make the playoffs,” said Teglovic.

Colonel Crawford Excited to Play Wynford

In a game that could end up being very important for them in their league race and a possible playoff berth, the Colonel Crawford Eagles travel to Wynford to play the rivals Royals on Friday night.

Both teams are 6-1 on the season. Wynford trails Galion by a game in the black division of the North Central Conference. Colonel Crawford shares first place with Riverdale in the silver division.

Last week, Colonel Crawford responded to its only loss of the season (50-38) to Galion to beat Bucyrus (47-10) in “NCC” game. Coach Ryan Teglovic was proud of his kids. “It was a big game you always wonder how you are going to bounce back form the Galion game, which was really an emotional game. I thought our kids played hard, but they suffered a loss against a good Galion football team. You always wonder how you are going to bounce back from those types of football games. I felt our kids bounced back really well. Bucyrus even drew first blood against us by getting the first touchdown on their first drive of the game. For our kids to then respond from that and the tough loss from the week before I thought they did a great job,” said Teglovic.

Crawford has had one of the most explosive offenses in the area the year, but what about the defense? Teglovic says they have been pretty pleased there too. “There are some things we can do better. That is what we work on every week on both sides of the ball. There are always things that you can do better. I was pleased with our performance last week. I think we did some good things against what I thought was a pretty good offense. Going into last week it was an offense that averaged 27 points a game,” he told Swankonsports.com, “For our guys to come in and be able to hold them to 10 points I was pleased with how our guys performed in that game. Really with the exception of the Galion game, and parts of the Lucas game, we have been very pleased with the defense. Lucas and Galion will present a lot of teams with problems. We’ve got work to do defensively, but overall I’m pleased with our performance.”

Gabe Helbert took over this season as the head coach at Wynford after eight years as an assistant. Teglovic says he has turned out another pretty good team at Wynford. “Gabe has been there for a while and they are still Wynford and they are still doing good things. They still have great athletes over there. The Brown kid is a fantastic athlete. He averages 7.6 yards per carry. I’ll tell you he is doing a great job. You look at the Williamson kid that has stepped in at quarterback has like only one interception on the year. He has thrown for over 800 yards his first year at quarterback. You have the Hartz kid at receiver and he is very explosive. He is averaging a lot of yards per catch. They have a lot of weapons over there and they are always good defensively. They play a sound 4-3. They do what they do and they do it very well,” said Teglovic.

What’s it going to take to beat Wynford? Teglovic says nothing special, just the same things it takes every week. “It is the same thing every week. You execute, you perform things you have worked on all week. You do your responsibility. You do it to the best of your ability and you trust they guys around you are going to the same thing. That is in every phase of the game. I think it’s going to be a good football game. The team that goes out and executes the best will win,” he said.

Of course, Wynford (6-1,3-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coach’s poll in the small school division, had their 63 game regular season win streak snapped two weeks ago by Ontario. Teglovic says they certainly think they can beat Wynford. “They certainly bounced back very well last week against Upper Sandusky. You have to give their kids and their coaching staff credit for that after that tough loss to Ontario and beating a good Upper Sandusky team. I think our kids have a belief they can win and compete. Two years ago we went over there and played very well. I think mentally our kids have that belief. I think now it’s just going out an executing,” said Teglovic.

Crawford Must Bounce Back

Colonel Crawford lost its first game of the season last week to Galion and now they must bounce back as they host Bucyrus in another inter-divisional game in the North Central Conference.

Last week, the Eagles (5-1,2-1), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coach’s poll in the small school division, took a 35-12 lead at Galion, only to lose 50-35. Coach Ryan Teglovic says once Galion got going they couldn’t stop them. “We did start well and play with a lot of emotion and sometimes it’s difficult to sustain that. We knew we were playing a good football team. They got the momentum late in the second quarter. After they got the momentum we just couldn’t get in back,” he said.

Galion’s David Ney rushed for 259 yards in the game. He had an 82 yard kick return and a 79 yard run for scores. Teglovic says he killed them on big plays. “What gives everybody problems is David Ney. He is a fantastic football player and a hardworking kid and does a great job. He had well over 200 yards rushing. Big plays, I guess, most of all. We have to try and get better this week and try to cut down on big plays,” said Teglovic.

Bucyrus (3-3,1-2) comes calling on Friday night and Teglovic knows that getting back on the winning track is very important for them. “It’s an important game, that’s why I told you that last week that the Galion game was a big game, but every game from here on out was a big game. It’s going to be about us continuing to get back up Friday night and prepare to play, prepare throughout the week, practice well, and be able to focus in on every week,” said Teglovic.

Riverdale (3-0) actually leads the silver division standings right now by a game over Colonel Crawford.

Bucyrus has a new coach this year in young Aaron Eckert and Teglovic says they are kind of explosive. “Offensively they play very well. They are averaging about 27 points a game. They have a young quarterback that is athletic. They have the Purcell kid that is up in the area as far as receptions. They have a couple of guys back on their offensive line as well. They have a great kicker, probably the best kicker in the league. He had two field goals last week. This is going to be a big test for us this week,” said Teglovic.

Bucyrus has some athletes and Teglovic understands that once again they are going to have to be able to tackle in the open field. “A lot of teams have gone spread run. That is one of the trends here in this day and age. Offenses spread you to run the football. It is key that you tackle well in the open field,” he said.

Crawford to Face Biggest Test

Colonel Crawford survived last week and they remain unbeaten going into a big game at streaking Galion on Friday night in North Central Conference action.

The Eagles (5-0,2-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coach’s poll in the small school division, had to come back Saturday to finish off the Lucas Cubs (48-34) in an “NCC” game. The offense was again outstanding, but the Eagles allowed more than 300 yards in the ground and that has Crawford coach Ryan Teglovic at least a little bit concerned. “We did give up quite few yards rushing. They had more than 300 yards rushing and anytime you do that it’s not a good thing. I think there are some things we can do a little bit better. I think overall you have to give Lucas credit. We knew they were a good rushing team coming in. Their kids play hard. They have two very good running backs. They rushed the ball 64 times on us, so give them credit for just coming out and playing smash mouth football. It was good for us to see and I think,” said Tegloivic.

Colonel Crawford quarterback Nate Klingenberger has enjoyed a super season so far for the Eagles, as he is one of the area’s leaders in passing. Teglovic says their passing game has been very affective this year. “We have a quarterback that has thrown for over 1,200 yards in five games. He has a completion percentage of about 65 percent and has thrown 14 touchdowns with one interception. He has thrown to a variety of different guys too. We have one receiver with over 500 yards and we have another receiver with over 300 yards. So, it can come from different guys. We feel we have protected well up front on the offensive line,” said Teglovic.

Galion (4-1,2-0), #4 in the Swankonsports.com football coach’s poll in the small school division, has put together four straight wins including “NCC” victories over Upper Sandusky (28-0) and Bucyrus (41-14) the last two weeks. Teglovic says the Tigers have speed to burn. “They have great speed offensively and defensively. That is what impresses you most from them. They have playmakers on the offensive and defensive side of the ball regardless if it is Darien Watkins playing quarterback or Prosser playing quarterback,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They both have great speed. Ney is one of the best backs not just in the area, but the state. They have a tremendous amount of athletes. This is the best team we have played we know that. I think our guys are ready for that challenge.”

Galion has produced a number of big plays, scoring plays of over 40 yards this season. Teglovic says they must play fundamental defense and be sure tacklers. “We have to tackle well. I think we have to try and take away their strengths the best we can and make the uncomfortable on offense. That’s easier said than done. They have a variety of ways to beat you. Tackling is going to be extremely important. I think switching up our looks and those kinds of things,” he said.

Teglovic understands that when you have two very good football teams things get magnified, but he says they have to keep things in prospective. “It’s a big one, but with our guys I hope we are getting into the mindset of not lifting up one game anymore than another. I think last week can show you the importance of that. Every week that we go out is really important. We have put ourselves in position to play for some things in the second half of the year. Every week we go out to me is going to be the same amount of importance. I think our guys understand that and hopefully we are going to be business like in our approach,” said Teglovic.

Colonel Crawford Doing What They Should

Colonel Crawford has won all four of their games so far and they seem to be getting better each and every week.

Last week, they blasted Crestline (54-20) in a game they lead (47-0) by a large margin at halftime. Coach Ryan Teglovic says they continue to run on all cylinders on both sides of the ball. “Offensively and defensively we executed very well. In the first half we were able to throw the football well. Nate was 10 for 11 in the first half throwing the football. Spencer Tacket had 111 yards running the football in the first half,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “Defensively we gave up two first downs in the first half. The quarterback escaped form a us a couple of times, but give credit to Nick Reynolds. He is a nice player and played hard through the game and I thought he just did a nice job for them. Our special teams played well as well.”

The Eagles have shown very good balance between running and passing on offense all year. Teglovic says that is because they have quality personnel. “Why aren’t all coaches balanced, well it comes down to personnel. It comes down to the players you have at those positions that you want to be balanced with. We are fortunate right now to have guys at the running back position, guys at the receiver position, guys at the quarterback position, and guys at the offensive line that allow us to be able to do that. It’s a great luxury for the coaching staff,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (4-0,1-0), #3 in the Swankonsports.com football coach’s poll in the small school division, will be at home in North Robinson Friday night for the Lucas Cubs (1-3,0-1) in North Central Conference action. Teglovic says the Cubs have a running game that is difficult to stop. “The Swainheart kid and the Harris kids both present you with a lot of problems. It’s an unconventional offense that you don’t see a whole lot. It’s an offense that their coaching staff does a very good job of teaching. You throw both of those backs into that offense and it can be a scary thing for your defense. They keep the ball in their hands and try to grind it out. They do a nice job. They are 1-3 right now, but they were in position to win the Fredericktown game. They have moved the ball well all year and we are going to have a fight on our hands,” said Teglovic.

These are teenagers after all and Teglovic says the coaching staff is working hard to keep the players focused this week for Lucas. “You are concerned always about that. We talk about that probably every day. They probably get tied of hearing me talk about it. The most important game is always the one that you are going to play. I feel like our guys have done a good job of being focused. They have practiced pretty well and they continue to respond. Even if that is the case we are going to continue to talk about it,” he said.

Crawford Not Looking Past Crestline

Colonel Crawford might have one of the best teams in school history, but they need to continue to prove that on the football field.

Dreams of conference titles and playoff berths can be dashed pretty quickly if you aren’t careful.

After wins over Mt. Gilead (42-12), Upper Sandusky (34-6) and New London (33-13) the Eagles are 3-0 and really haven’t been challenged this season. Coach Ryan Teglovic says they have played hard on every play and they have been able to do a number of this on offense. “I like the way our kids have played from an intensity standpoint. They play hard and I think we play physical football with some guys that are fairly inexperienced. You always wonder how that is going to come into play on Friday night,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “I have been pleased with the way we have physically played the game on Friday night. We have practiced pretty well and we have practiced better. I have been pleased with the balance we have had offensively with the numbers we have put up there.”

They travel just down the road to Crestline (0-3) for their North Central Conference opener on Friday night. Teglovic says you always enter that first league game with some butterflies in your stomach. “They played their best game last week. You are always nervous heading into that league opener. It’s like week one overall. Week one overall you are always nervous about getting that first one under your belt and you are nervous about getting that first league win under your belt,” he said.

Crestline played its best game of the season in a loss to South Central (20-19) last week. Teglovic says the Bulldogs quarterback Nick Reynolds is top quality player. “They have a quarterback that in Nick Reynolds that is very good player. He is a leader and a great kid. He can beat you with his arm and beat you with his feet as well. They spread things out and they are big up front on the offensive line, so they can be physical up there. When you have a quarterback that is a dual threat that makes it dangerous for us,” said Teglovic.

When Reynolds gets out of the pocket Teglovic says he will force the Eagles defense to be good decision makers, just like he is. “We have talked to our guys about staying in rush lanes and those things. Overall, what Nick does is he makes good decisions. If things aren’t open down field he will pull things down and make some things happen with his feet. We will have our work cut out for us in containing him,” said Teglovic.

Colonel Crawford Moving Forward

Colonel Crawford has been established as the clear favorite for the silver division title in the North Central Conference and the Eagles look to complete their non-conference schedule at 3-0 with win this week at New London.

Last week, Crawford hammered Upper Sandusky (34-6) to keep their record unblemished. Coach Ryan Teglovic says he was proud of the improvement they made from week one. “I thought it was our best performance of the year against a pretty solid Upper Sandusky football team. I thought both sides of the ball we played very well,” he told Swankonsports.com, “I thought we made a lot of improvement between week one and week two, which is certainly what you are looking for. I thought the kids executed really well. The coaches did a good job preparing the kids and overall it was a good win for us.”

Quarterback Nate Klingenberger completed 21 of 31 passes for over 300 yards and three scores against Upper. Teglovic says that was a very good improvement. “We said week one we were less than 50 percent passing the football. We wanted to make sure that we completed a higher percentage. We completed 21 of 31 passes. Nate threw for more than 300 yards. His decision making really improved. On week two I thought he did a great job of making plays even when there wasn’t a play to be made. The offensive line continued to do a good job. We had several receivers step up and make some grabs in the game as well,” said Teglovic.

In order to enjoy a good season, Teglovic says the players have to focused on every task at hand. “It is a very big game for us here on week three. We have an hour trip. You always worry about how they are going to respond to that and how you are going to respond to a big win the week before. We want to make sure that we focus on every game. We have to make the same improvement this week that we did last week,” he said.

New London (1-1) beat Oberlin Firelands (27-7) last week to pick up their first win of the season. Teglovic feels the Wildcats have some talented players. “New London has some good athletes. They have a three year guy at one of their running back positions. They have another kid that plays tight end and also comes in plays some wildcat quarterback. He is a tremendous athlete. They have another good receiver in the Held kid. They have pretty good size up front. They do some good things and they are playing well right now and will be tough challenge on the road,” said Teglovic.

Of course this is a big game for Colonel Crawford in terms of the playoffs. The non-conference games always are. Teglovic says they have had discussion with the players about the importance of the game. “Those are things that are being said in the community and we figure we might as well talk to the kids about that. It’s a big game in that sense and every game is that kind of game. As big as the Upper Sandusky game was last week, this game is just as big and every week from here on out we hope to be playing for something,” said Teglovic.

Colonel Crawford Not Satisfied

Colonel Crawford took apart Mt. Gilead in their first game of the season, but they understand that can’t be their best game of the year and they need to strive to be better.

Crawford rolled up more than 400 yards of offense in dismantling the Mt. Gilead Indians (42-12) last week. Coach Ryan Teglovic says they did some good things, but there can be some things they need to improve a bunch for them to be the football team he thinks they can be. “Defensively we stopped the run well and gave up a couple of big plays in the pass game,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “There were a couple of misalignment mistakes that we can take care of. Offensively we put up 470 yards of total offense. We felt like we could have played even a little better, especially in the pass game. We need to complete a few more passes. We were only 12 for 25. Overall a petty good first performance.”

Teglovic says they certainly have some teaching points this week, but it is better to get those in a win, rather than a loss. “It’s a lot easier to take those lessons in a victory. The kids have worked hard for three, four week here. They busted their tail off and you like to reward them on Friday night, so it’s nice to get those guys a win,” he said.

This week the Eagles play a conference opponent in a non-conference game when the meet the Upper Sandusky Rams (1-0) on Friday night. There were not a lot people talking about the Rams before the season started, but Teglovic says that is different now. “I think the whisper probably got a little louder when they beat Carey. Carey is perennially a good football team. Upper has a lot of good players back from last years team. It definitely starts with their quarterback, who is also their MIC linebacker. He is just a fantastic athlete. He is a big, strong, great competitor. He has a lot of good kids around him too,” said Teglovic. Upper beat Carey (26-12) in their first game last week.

After looking at film of the Mt. Gilead game, Teglovic points out some areas where the Eagles need to get better if they are going to beat a fine Upper Sandusky team. “We would like to limit big plays a little better defensively. We need to be better on the kickoff team. We need to complete a higher percentage of passes. We need to improve those things this week,” he said.

Colonel Crawford Ready to Take Next Step

Colonel Crawford is a football program on the rise, but are they ready to take the next step? We begin to find out when they travel to Mt. Gilead for a non conference game on Friday night.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says they have worked hard to make sure they have covered every aspect of their preparation. “I like the way our kids have worked. I like the way most of the time they have paid attention to detail. They are trying to improve and trying to pay attention to what the coaches say and watch film and do the little things that it takes to continue to get better,” he said.

The Eagles offensive and defensive lines have a lot of seniors, but Teglovic says the younger players in the skilled positions have played well in the preseason. “Going into the season we thought that we had a lot of experience on the offensive and defensive lines. I still think that we do and we have played pretty well there. I have been pleasantly surprised with our skilled kids too and the way they have played and progressed over the two scrimmages,” said Teglovic.

Mt. Gilead outlasted Crawford 14-6 last season and Teglovic believes the Indians have the personnel to give them trouble again this season. “They lost a really good quarterback last year in Justin Carver, a three year starter and a dual threat. He was a big kid that could pass and run. I didn’t know how they were going to replace that kid and they have,” he told Swankonsports.com, “They have found a quarterback. Their scrimmage against Northwestern last Friday night I feel like he came into his own. He presents the same kind of thing. He runs the ball well and has good quickness. He is an accurate passer too and they have some good size to go along with him.” Teglovic says say a dual threat QB makes defensive players be good decision makers. “He spreads you thin. You can be out of position. You have to make sure you are lined up right first. You have to be in the right spot and you can’t make a lot of mistakes. If you do he is going to make you pay with his arm or his feet,” said Teglovic.

Colonel Crawford has some lofty goals this year like a division title and the school’s first ever postseason berth. Teglovic says a win on Friday night is critical for them. “It is very important to get off to a good start. It is important to have a sense of urgency regardless what is going on in life. We talked to our kids on Tuesday night that you have opportunities in life and you want to make sure you take advantage of those. We will never have another opportunity to play game one again in 2012. That is the kind of urgency our kids need to have as we approach the game Friday night,” said Teglovic.

Colonel Crawford Feeling Good

Colonel Crawford is a football program that continues to grow and the Eagles have a real chance to have and outstanding season this year.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says so far they have been able to stay healthy through the preseason and he hopes they can continue to improve as a team. “We have two two a days left (Tuesday) and (Wednesday) and then we are back down to one practice on Thursday then we have our last scrimmage on Friday night. I felt like there was a lot of progress between scrimmage one and scrimmage two. We are decently healthy right now. The kids are eager to get better. I like where we are at at this point of the season. We hope we can make another step on Friday night,” he said.

Right now, Teglovic says they are refining things they are doing on defense and offense to make sure they are ready to go when the season comes on August 24 at Mt. Gilead. “Defensively you have all of your schemes in. At this point in the season it’s about how well we are doing things. Are we able to adjust to different formations? Can we read the keys that we are suppose to read? Or does our focus take our eyes elsewhere? Those are a couple of things defensively we are working on,” he told Swankonsports.com, “At this point I think you start doing some game situation stuff. How do close out a half when the other team is trying to drive with 40 seconds left. Put yourself in some goal line offensive and defensive situations.”

Teglovic says he believes the Eagles this year are some pretty intelligent football players who understand the game. “I think our kids have some fantastic natural instinct. They say a lot of times that linebackers have tremendous instincts and just know how a play is going to develop offensively. They are just born with it or have been around the game a lot in their lives, but I think also some of that can be taught and we hope week to week that ours is getting better,” he said.

Buckeye Central turned a North Central Conference silver division title into a playoff berth a year ago. Teglovic hopes they can do that this year. “Our number one goal is to get better every week and if we continue to do that then I think the other goals come into play. We absolutely want to be a better team in week 10 then we are now. We have also talked to our kids about playing for an “NCC” silver division championship. We have also talked to our kids about making the playoffs for the first time in school history. A lot of things have to happen before that. Those are things that we are throwing out to our kids and things we will work toward every day,” said Teglovic.

Eagles Ready to Attack

Last year Colonel Crawford finished second in the silver division of the North Central Conference and now they are ready to take the next step.

Coach Ryan Teglovic says it’s great to see kids on the field and they are ready to start what they believe can be a good year for the Eagles. “It’s exciting to get everybody out there and competing and see the guys you are going to have and see guys step up from last year. We are excited about the prospects of a good year,” he said.

Crawford was 5-5 a year ago and gave Buckeye Central a real scare on the final week of the regular season. Teglovic says they will have some guys returning to their offense that played some good football for them a year ago. “We return quite few guys up front on the offensive line. I think that is going to be a key spot for us this year. We return our quarterback in Nate Klingenberger, who got to start the last five games last year. He missed the first five because of injury. He will be a junior this year and we are counting on some big things out of him. Alec Hessell returns too, he was a receiver for us last year,” he told Swankonsports.com, “We feel like we have a real good nucleus of guys. Running back Spencer Tacket has had some carries in the past. He’s a senior that is stepping in and taking that spot and running with it. We feel like we return enough guys and with the guys we are bringing up from JV hopefully we can continue to compete.” With Klingenberger expected for the whole season, Teglovic says that can make a big difference for them. “The quarterback position is the position on your team. He is the leader offensively, but he also affects a lot of what you do on defense as well. He is the guy that makes things run. He had some experience as a freshman. He started seven games for as a freshman, so he has good experience and he is a very good athlete. He is a good leader,” he said.

For the Eagles to be able to make the next step they have to show some balance between run and pass this year. Teglovic says that has to start from week one. “We were not able to incorporate that as much last year as we wanted to. We had Nate injured early and some other issues early. We weren’t able to hit an offensive stride until late in the season. I thought our best offensive rhythm was in week 10, so hopefully we can do that early. I think you will definitely see a different Eagles team putting the ball in the air a little more, but also we have to be able to run the football as well. We look to be balanced this year,” said Teglovic. Colonel Crawford lost 30-27 in overtime to eventual state runner-up Buckeye Central in a division title game last season.

On defense, Teglovic believes they have some difference makers. He says they will have to have some guys step up in the defensive backfield. “We return a lot of guys on the offensive line, guys with some experience. We have three or four guys up there that have a good amount of experience. We are pretty deep on the defensive line. From a linebacker standpoint we have two guys back that played a lot for us. Spencer Tacket played a lot for us last year. He was our second leading tackler last year,” he said, “Ashton Van Meter had quite few reps last year at a couple of different positions. We are going to have some kids coming up from the JV team to compete for that other spot. In the defensive backfield is where we are a little inexperienced, but I think we have probably about seven guys, maybe even eight, working for three spots. Alec Hessell returns, he will be a three year starter for us at corner.” Teglovice says the seven on seven scrimmages and other preseason work is going to be very important for those defensive backs. “If you go back even ten years the defensive back position was nearly as critical as it is today. These teams are multiple formations. They can confuse you very easily because they are spreading the football passing it around and spreading it to run. With all of the different formations the kids back there have to be on the same page. They have to know what they are doing, so they can play fast,” said Teglovic.

This will be the last season for North Central Conference and Teglovic thinks it’s going to be a lot of fun. “It was a nice set up last year with the two division “NCC.” We have the same thing this year and I think that makes for a good thing. You’re competing and hopefully you have a chance to compete for a league title. I think we have a pretty good football league. We ended up sending a couple of teams to the playoffs last year that competed very well and we had a couple of other 8-2 teams in our league that didn’t make it to the playoffs, so we have a tough league. It’s a good league and we enjoy playing in it,” said Teglovic.

Colonel Crawford Plays For Titles

Colonel Crawford softball players expect to be successful and this week they have the opportunity to win a sectional title and a silver division title in the North Central Conference.

The Lady Eagles (17-9) beat Mansfield St. Peter’s (25-0) in the sectional semi-finals at Crawford on Saturday. Coach Chuck Huggins says they were able to get some younger players in the lineup. “I knew when I chose to play St. Pete’s instead of taking the bye that they had not won a game at that point of the season. We talked last week about every team being 0-0 and we certainly didn’t want St. Pete’s to get any momentum against us. We were fortunate enough to get out ahead. We scored two in the first inning, but then we had a big second inning. After that it gave me a chance to get some of my young kids in,” said Huggins.

The veteran coach was particularly impressed with how his younger players did the job on defense. “They realized they were playing for something. Our number one pitcher had a no-hitter going against St. Pete’s before they were even through the line-up one complete time we had our second group in. Everybody knew what was going on. I left my pitcher in. I had my young, freshmen pitcher warmed up and ready to go. If that first hit ever came we were going to change immediately. I thought I owed it to Nacatla to go after the no-hitter,” he told Swankonsports.com on Sunday night, “It gave the young kids something to really play for. It was kind of neat because the outfielders knew. If there is a no-hitter going then you go after everything trying to make every single catch, you are diving after everything. Those are things we practice everyday in practice, so they were chomping at the bit hoping they would get a chance to make one of those great catches. It was great the see the excitement and how much they wanted to get the no-hitter for Nacatla.”

On Monday afternoon, Colonel Crawford plays an improved Mansfield Christian team in the sectional finals in North Robinson. Huggins says this will be a much better game than Saturday. “They have put together a nice season. They are not the same type of Mansfield Christian team that we have seen in the past. After I commended the girls on how well they played in that first round against St. Pete’s the next thing out my mouth was we turn right around and play Monday. This Christian team is a very, very much improved team. We need to be at the top of our game. I have seen them play once and have a pretty good scouting report on them. They have the number one hitter in the area this year and a couple other kids that are right there in the top ten. Their pitcher leads the area in ERA and has over 100 strikeouts,” he said.

Huggins has always referred to May as championship month and he has reminded his players about what is on the line on this week for the Lady Eagles. “I left the girls Saturday saying this is another chance for us to win a championship. We can win a sectional championship on Monday. If we take care of business we can put the tournament a side for a week and concentrate on the “NCC.” We have two huge games with Crestline. By the end of this week we have an opportunity to be both sectional champions and “NCC” champions,” said Huggins.

Colonel Crawford is actually the visitors on their own field and Huggins says there is a reason for that. “People wondered when they looked at the bracket why I chose to be visitors. There are two reasons really. We are hosting the tournament at Colonel Crawford and the away team goes in the third base dugout and that’s our home. I didn’t want to take the girls out of their environment and put them over in the first base dugout. The other reason I had in my mind was because with that opportunity to score first we need to take advantage of that. If we can get a few runs early and get ahead and make sure we continue to put pressure on them,” said Huggins.

Colonel Crawford Takes Command

A convincing 12-1 victory over Lucas on Monday night gave the Colonel Crawford Lady Eagles a two-game lead over the Lucas Lady Cubs in the silver division of the North Central Conference.

Crawford (15-7,7-1) is the defending conference champ and coach Chuck Huggins says they got off the bus acting like they didn’t want to give it up. He says they were able to get off to a good start. “I told the kids how proud of them I was after the game. I just felt like we got off of the bus and the kids got ready quick because it’s a long trip. I just told them that in the next hour and a half, two hours, we are either going to be tied with Lucas for first place or we are going to be two games up. That was my way of letting them know how big of a game it was,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win Monday night, “I am certainly proud of the way they came out of the shoot with fire and determination. We got four runs in the first and then Lucas scored one and then a couple of innings later we got an inside the park grand slam home run. That certainly helped to keep things going. I was just proud of how focused we were and how determined we were. It just came together. You couldn’t have planned it any better as a coach.”

Colonel Crawford has been able to put some runs on the scoreboard this season and they have needed it sometimes. Huggins says Monday wasn’t one of those, but there will be times down the road. “The offense just needs to come through sometimes because we have had two all-state pitchers the last two years. In 2010, my daughter Natalie was our number one and then last year Michaela Rader was our number one and both have graduated and Nacatla Garverick has stepped up to that number one and done a great job. With that said you can never have too much offense. That is the way it has had to be several times. We have had to step up and get some runs. (Monday) obviously she pitched a gem and we really didn’t need all of those runs, but it was good to see the bats really come together. We strung some hits together and were really able to execute offensively and that’s going to be huge down the road,” said Huggins.

The lead over Lucas (9-7,6-3) can go away quickly too. Huggins says it’s a tough week for them and they have to be ready to play starting with Tuesday night against Wynford. “I use the words be happy, but not satisfied. We certainly had a little time after the game to go to the boys’ baseball field and sat together and enjoyed it and just talked about it a little bit. I told them go home and enjoy it for a few hours, but when your heads come off the pillow (Tuesday) it’s right back to business again because we have a huge make up game with Wynford (Tuesday) night and then Lucas will be coming to our place on Wednesday. There is definitely no let up here. We have to be ready (Tuesday) for a very good Wynford softball team,” said Huggins.

Colonel Crawford Seeking Improvement

Colonel Crawford leads the silver division standings in the North Central Conference by a game over the Lucas Lady Cubs and they play Lucas in an important two game series next week.

Crawford (13-5,6-1), #5 in the Swankonsports.com softball coach’s poll, is the defending conference champion and they have a tremendous history of success in the post season tournament, including a state title in 1997. Coach Chuck Huggins says they understand they will soon be entering championship month. “At the end of practice (Thursday) that is exactly what we talked about. Obviously, we still have the April calendar up, but in a few days it’s going to turn to May. We had practice inside (Thursday) and I told the girls we are pretty proud of the championship banners that are in the gym. We talked about how in May you get a chance to win five championships. You have to take care of each one of them and treat each one of them special. We going down to the Champions Challenge in Loudonville this weekend and playing good competition and getting better,” said Huggins.

There are four tough “NCC” games on the schedule next week for the Lady Eagles. Huggins says they will have to be ready for each one. “Next week is huge for us. We have a very, very vastly improved Lucas squad on Monday and Wednesday, we are going to have our make up game with Wynford on Tuesday, and then we play Upper Sandusky, who beat Bucyrus the other night 8-7, Bucyrus leads the big division. So, it’s a big week for us,” he said.

Huggins says when you play well in April, as they have, you put yourself in position and now they have to take advantage. “I pointed out to the girls that we put ourselves in a position to make these games important and meaningful. We are fortunate enough to be setting on the top of the “NCC” silver division and that means something to us obviously,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “It means we have to make sure that there are no slip ups from here on. We are preparing for that. We making sure we are at the top of our game. That’s why we play in the tournaments we do on the weekend, and play the Akron Spingfields and those teams, to make sure we get better as the season progresses.”

Friday, Crawford travels to Loudonville for the Champions Challenge Tournament where they will play Akron Springfield. Huggins says tough teams only make you better. “Good competition has a way of showing you where you need to improve and that will certainly happen this weekend. I have some ideas myself obviously and we have been working on shoring those up. They will be a great opponent for us. Whether it be offensively where we need to be more consistent and scoring runs or defensively, it will show up. It will help us with the “NCC” and hopefully the tournament also,” he said.

The sectional draw is on Sunday and Huggins says it’s hard to predict what will happen. “Well, Crestline is having a nice season again like always. I mentioned Lucas a little bit ago and they are the surprise team there in that they beat Crestline twice. It’s going to be a very good sectional. I don’t know what to expect as far as what the other teams are thinking and who they are going to vote for. I guess we just have to show up and see,” he said.

Colonel Crawford Prepared for Big Test

If any small school girls’ softball team in North Central Ohio plays a better schedule than Colonel Crawford than we don’t cover them on Swankonsports.com.

That difficult schedule prepares them well for the riggers of the North Central Conference schedule.

The Lady Eagles (12-4,5-0) played in the MVD tournament in Ashland last weekend and went 1-2 against tough competition. Coach Chuck Huggins believes they grew as a team playing Mohawk, Shelby, and Hillsdale. “We have always talked about how we like to beef up our non-league schedule. The MVD certainly does that. We opened up on Friday with a very good Mohawk team. They kicked our butt pretty handily. We turn around and play Shelby on Saturday morning. We were fortunate enough to beat them. It’s crazy because two hours later Shelby beats Mohawk. It was just a very evenly matched tournament, anybody could beat anybody at any given game of time. We also got in a pretty good donnybrook of a softball game with Hillsdale. There have been some awfully good Hillsdale-Colonel Crawford games over the years. We actually out hit them and had fewer errors than them, but they have a shortstop that hit about a 250 foot home run and then she turns around and manufactures their second run. They ended beating us 2-0. We certainly came away from the MVD knowing we were a better team playing in it,’ said Huggins.

Crawford leads the silver division of the “NCC” after two wins this week over Riverdale. Huggins thinks they got off to a good start by beating a good Buckeye Central team twice last week. “We knew that Buckeye had the nucleus of their team coming back from last year. It was a good start because we knew we had to be at the top of our game right off the get go early in the season. We were fortunate enough to manufacture some runs up at their place,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “The very next night they came back to our place. We played some pretty stellar defense and get another nice pitching performance from our junior ace Nickyla Garverick. We were able to shut them out 6-0. They turn around and beat Crestline (Wednesday) night. It is very definitely a wide open league race. I have said that from day one. This conference one through ten is as good as I have seen the “NCC” in a long time.”

Friday afternoon, it’s a battle of division leaders in the “NCC” as Colonel Crawford plays host to Bucyrus (9-5,5-0) in North Robinson. Huggins says Bucyrus will be a huge challenge for them. “I know Bucyrus has kind of done what we have done. I have kind of watched them because they are local obviously. They have beefed up their schedule. They have played some pretty tough competition and it has certainly helped them get off to a good start in the “NCC.” They are going to come out to our place on Friday. It’s just going to be a great fast pitch softball game. I have a lot of respect for Pudge Hargis and old friend Jack Hughett, a great pitching legend around the area. He’s still helping them out. They have some real good pitchers right now. They are definitely a team to be reckoned with. To be successful we are going to have to be at the top of our game,” said Huggins.

Defending Champ Wins Opener

Colonel Crawford is the defending North Central Conference softball champion, but this is a new era for the “NCC.” However, Crawford got a big win while its arch rival lost their first game.

Crawford (8-2,2-0) beat Buckeye Central (4-0) on a three hitter by Nickyla Garverick. Meanwhile, Lucas upset the Crestline Lady Bulldogs (5-2), handing them their first loss of the season.

Coach Chuck Huggins says the win they got Wednesday over a very good Buckeye Central (5-3,0-1) team was very important to their season. He says they played a complete game. “We had to go up to Buckeye (Wednesday) and they gave us everything we wanted for seven innings. We were able to scratch a couple of runs across in the first and then scratch a couple of more across in the second and got a 4-0 lead. We worked hard enough for seven innings to shut them out. Our number one pitcher Nickyla Garverick pitched a nice game. She had eight strike outs and no walks. It was a very, very sold game for us (Wednesday), but Buckeye is going to be a load. The thing about Buckeye is down the road we match up with their sectional in the district. They will be coming our way if we can both get out of our sectional,” said Huggins.

In other “NCC” games, Wynford beat Riverdale (10-2), Upper Sandusky outscored Ontario (18-17) and Bucyrus belted Galion (12-2) on the opening night for most. Huggins says he knows the “NCC” will be a battle. “Just happy to get away with a win. After I heard some of the other scores I just know this conference is going to be very, very, very balanced. It’s going to be a dogfight for 13 games,’ he said.

There is more offense in softball now then there was for many years, but Huggins, the only softball coach the program has ever had, says you still need an outstanding pitcher. “Even though the mound is back to 43 feet and we have seen that open things up more offensively, but the whole key to your success starts right there at the pitcher’s mound, the pitcher’s circle. You have to have solid pitching every night,” he told Swankonsports.com after the win, “When you have eight strikeouts that means there are only 13 times your defense has to make plays. We have confidence in our defense, but every time there is a strike out that one less time that they have to make a play. The thing that impressed me most about Nickyla’s performance (Wednesday) was the zero walks. She was really, really tough and was in total command. When you don’t give the other team extra base runners with walks it certainly helps because there is never a defense against the base on balls.”

At 2-0 in the silver division, the Lady Eagles enjoy a half game lead over Lucas. However, Huggins knows that won’t last long if they don’t keep there focus. “We are very, very happy, but not satisfied because we know when our heads come off the pillow (Thursday) we’ve got Buckeye coming to our place. We go right back to 0-0 and we have to play well again (Thursday) night,” he said.

Buckeye Central will be in North Robinson on Thursday for the re-match with Crawford. Huggins says a win in that game is just as important. “My words to the girls afterward were we need to enjoy this. We worked hard for this win. At the same time (Thursday) when that bell goes off for the school day it’s time to put that Colonel Crawford softball uniform back on and it’s time to get back after it because doesn’t start out 4-0 (Thursday) it starts out at 0-0. We are right back to square one and we have to figure out a way to be successful again. I just really like our team’s mental approach to things right now. We are just finding a way to get good solid pitching and solid defense and some timely hitting. I think that is really the success to our team right now,” Huggins said.

Colonel Crawford Gets the First One

Colonel Crawford, the defending North Central Conference softball champ, began its 2012 league schedule with a win over Ontario on Thursday night.

The Lady Eagles (7-2) blasted Ontario (11-1) in the game and took the lead in what is going to be a very competitive silver division this spring. Veteran coach Chuck Huggins says the win over the Lady Warriors was pretty important. “We were very happy to get the win (Thursday night) because Ontario spanked us last year. We went 13-1 in the conference. We were 13-0 in the conference going over there and we already had it wrapped up, but they beat us last year. Going over there (Thursday) was key for us. Not even with revenge in mind just getting off to a good start for the 2012 “NCC” league schedule,” said Huggins.

There are 13 “NCC” games this season in the redesigned two division set up, but Huggins says that first game is always important when it comes to the league race. “I have always said if you aren’t the lead dog the view always the same from behind. It is just one of those things where if you take care of business you don’t have to worry about what the other teams are doing. I have always talked to our kids about making sure we take care of Colonel Crawford first. It doesn’t matter what the other teams are doing it just matters what we are doing. We need to take care of Colonel Crawford,” Huggins said.

Colonel Crawford has averaged nearly 10 runs a game over their last five and Huggins says they have worked hard to take advantage of their offensive opportunities. “We soon forget that this is the second year now for the pitching rubber being at 43 feet. We learned last year when they moved it form 40 feet back to 43 feet that it tuned it into a little bit more of an offensive game and more runs were scored. It’s no different this year, probably even more so this year because everybody has gotten used to it and doesn’t even thing about it now,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “That extra three feet can make a big difference for the hitters. Your better hitters, you one through four, or one through five, or one through six hitters, they are going to be able to put the bat on the ball from 40 feet, but this opens it up for those hitters that were maybe border line they have become an offensive threat too. It’s made it a whole different game. We have put some runs on the board and it’s because we are really tuned in our practices and our kids are anxious to learn. We have put some quality time in with this good weather we have had.”

Crawford is off to a good start to the season, but so are fellow silver division rivals Crestline (5-0) and Buckeye Central (5-2). Huggins knows it is going to be a battle this spring. “I made that comment in my preseason previews that it’s going to be a tough silver division. Everybody says Colonel Crawford, Crestline, Colonel Crawford, Crestline, but we can’t forget about Buckeye Central. Last year, we beat them by one run in the second “NCC” game and we had to come from behind twice in the district semis to knock them off in tournament. They have a good nucleus back. It is going to be challenging. It’s just going to be a good race overall. We can’t forget about these black division games, even though we only play them once, they still count as part of our 13 “NCC” games,” Huggins said.

Colonel Crawford Putting Things Together

Colonel Crawford is almost always going to be one of the better girls’ softball teams in the North Central Ohio area and despite some inexperience at some positions, this spring should be no different.

Crawford (3-2) beat Plymouth (11-0) on Wednesday night to get back over the .500 mark. Veteran coach Chuck Huggins says they play a couple of very good teams on Monday and Tuesday and came away with two losses. “We lost to a very good Willard team (Tuesday) night and we got beat by Carey on Monday. It was kind of a sweet defeat for me. One of my former players is the head coach at Carey. This was her very first game. She came back to her alma mater and knocked us off 8-7. You never want to get beat, but when it’s one of your own it is pretty sweet. I congratulated her and I hope she has great success in the coaching profession,’ said Huggins.

Colonel Crawford won the state title in 1997 and they have been to the regional level many times, including he last two years. Huggins sees some good things in the Lady Eagles play this year, but he knows there is still a long way to go. “I like a lot of things that we are doing. I think the kids are really focusing in. They take great pride in our program. It’s just a little bit of everything that needs to get better. You really don’t want to peak the first week of the season. If you peak the first week that’s not good. We certainly have not,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “I think we really need to fine tune our defense. We have had a couple of uncharacteristic errors and that is unusual for us. The kids are really buying in to what we need to do there. Offensively, the swings just aren’t there yet. There is still a little bit of rust on them. I don’t have a lot of mechanical hitters up there. I try to treat every player individually and their swing individually. We are really working right now on breaking down swings and make sure we fine tune everything each night.”

Crawford plays South Central Thursday and Seneca East in a doubleheader on Saturday before beginning “NCC” play next week against Ontario. Huggins says they always seek quality competition for their non-league portion of the schedule. “I said guys if you see our schedule it hasn’t changed any. We don’t play the little sisters of the poor and we aren’t going too. We really try to beef up our non-league schedule. It starts with our non-league opponents and then over the weekends we get into the MVD tournament over at Ashland, we go down to Loudonville for the champion’s challenge, in year’s past we have gone to the Wendy’s. We really, really beef up our schedule and I really think it pays dividends for us come tournament time because we have seen good pitching. We’ve seen good defense. We’ve had to manufacture runs. Sometimes we have to come from behind. By the time we get into the tournament we have pretty much seen everything that can be thrown at us,’ said Huggins.

Colonel Crawford Faces Big Test

As one would expect when you get to the regional level all of the teams are going to be very good. Colonel Crawford will need to be outstanding when they face unbeaten Edgerton in the division four regional semi-finals on Tuesday night at Bowling Green State University.

Crawford coach David Sheldon says that Edgerton (23-0) isn’t unbeaten for no reason. He says they have a balanced team that can beat you in a lot of ways. “It’s a very good basketball team. They are 23-0 in ranked third in the state. Their best player is Brody Flegal. He averages about 14 points a game and was the district seven player of the year. He is a 6-4, 6-5 wing player that can go inside too. The point guard Nathan Stark is a very good shooter that runs the show for them. They have a wing slash post Ben Riley. He is about a 6-4 slasher and can go inside. Then they have a big post player inside. He is 6-2, but he is a very strong kid in Jacob Adams. He’s a load inside and has been playing very well in their post season run,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They are a very balanced basketball team, they don’t have a 20 point scorer, they are just very balanced. They can score from all the positions. They run a little of the dribble drive offense, which was have seen all year. They let their slashers slash to get the score or to create for their post players or shooters. Then they run some sets. Defensively, we are going to see some man to man and 1-2-2 zone. They will extend that 1-2-2 zone with some pressure. It is a very quick, athletic, lengthy team and that makes them a pretty good at the defensive end of the floor.”

Bowling Green has a brand new arena in the Stoh Center, which is hosing basketball games for the first time this year. Sheldon likes the arena and thinks playing there won’t have a big affect on the game. “We got to go up there Sunday for all of the meetings. It’s a beautiful facility. It’s top shelf. But, like in “Hoosiers” the hoop is still 10 feet and the court still the same length. It’s going out and playing basketball. We don’t talk about that. We play on so many courts and venues during the summer time. It’s just on the bigger stage now,” he said.

Like most games between top level teams ball handling is going to be key and Sheldon says they have to be the ones that make the big plays at the critical times. “The bottom line is it’s time for your players to make plays. We are going to be prepared. We think we have everything we need. We know what their tendencies are. It comes down to players making plays. We have to defend. Friday, we didn’t do a good job defending, but we have to do a good job defending on (Tuesday) night their strengths and try and take them away. Then on offense we have to execute our stuff. It’s not like you are putting in new stuff at this time of year. It’s just about being sharp and taking care of the basketball. Every possession is so valuable and you must take care of the basketball at that end to get some good looks and also get some offensive rebounds to get some put backs,” said Sheldon.

When you reach the sweet 16 of the high school basketball tournament the whole community gets involved, especially with a small school like Colonel Crawford. Sheldon says they have to remember they are there to play a basketball game. “We talked about now you have to put all distractions aside and focus on the 15 guys in this family and this basketball team. What is our goal? What do we have to concentrate on against an excellent basketball team? This team has done a great job of moving on from game to game this year. We came in and had a great practice Sunday. The mental breakdown and then on the floor we were very in tune. I think that is the biggest thing concentrating on playing an excellent basketball team in Edgerton and not everything else that is going on the community and what people are saying. We really hit hard about going up and playing our game. One possession at a time, our way, that we have preached since November,” said Sheldon.

Defense to Key for Crawford

A win on Friday night will give the Colonel Crawford Eagles their second district title in the last four years.

The Eagles (18-4) face Sandusky Sat. Mary’s (14-9) in the division four district finals at Willard High School.

They railed to beat Plymouth (43-38) in semi-final play on Tuesday night at Willard. Eagles coach David Sheldon thought defense was the difference in the final minutes. “It was a very physical basketball game. It was a defensive battle. We hung around and got a couple of big steals late in the fourth to get us the lead and made some free throws. I think the key in the fourth quarter was we held them to seven points. That was huge and that’s why we were able to get a lead in the fourth quarter and move on to the next level,” he said.

It appeared Plymouth made a three pointer with about 15 second left to tie the score, but coach Troy Keene had called a time out right before the shot. The Big Red then missed a similar shot after the time out. Sheldon says they were able to make Plymouth take difficult shots. “We have talked the last couple of weeks and I really believe that defense wins games this time of year. It is possession by possession late in the game. You have to get stops. I really think defense sets the tone if you are going to be successful on the tournament trail,” said Sheldon.

Sheldon thinks that defense will be the key for the rest of this postseason for the Eagles. He says defense is about understanding what to do and just playing hard. “It comes down to toughness and pride. That’s a big part of defense is the toughness. Kids that want to play “D” are tough kids. I think that’s a big thing. There are also rotations depending on where the ball is and just knowing assignments in the half court,” he said.

When Colonel Crawford reached the division three regional tournament in 2009. They did it with great play by their seniors. Sheldon says this season has been no different. “Our two captains and leaders are our two seniors in Jordan Shell and Matt Metcalf. They have been the glue for us all year. They are two of the best leaders I have had in my 10 years of coaching. They are vocal to their teammates and they are also tough kids. They bring that toughness to the floor every night and they are two of our best defenders too that set the tone at the defensive end,” said Sheldon.

St. Mary’s has played some excellent basketball this year, especially during the second half of the year. They gave Sandusky Perkins as good a test as anyone in the “SBC.” Sheldon says they have a lot of weapons at their disposal. “They are a very good basketball team. They play in an excellent league in the Sandusky Bay Conference. They are the only division four playing twos and threes all year. They play a great schedule during the regular season. Youskievicz is a load inside, but they have four guys around him that can play too,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “They can take you off the dribble, they have shooters. They are a very, very good basketball team that puts a lot points on the board. It’s a team that is going to change defenses throughout the night. I think the biggest thing is their offense. They are explosive at the offensive end with many, many weapons.”

Sheldon says they must play great half court defense if they are going to slow down the Panthers. “We have talked all week it comes down to good shell defense in half court. You have to be able to get over help side to Youskievicz. Also with their driving and the rotating it’s going to be a big night of team defense when you talk about the offensive power that they have,” he said.

When they are on defense, Sheldon thinks the biggest key is to get the rebounds when shots are missed. “I think defensively we have to control the paint with their driving and get to their shooters and Youskievicz. We have to limit them to one shot. I have said all along rebounding is a big key. Offensively we have to run our stuff. We have to recognize what defense they are in, whether it’s man or zone, and attack all night long,” said Sheldon.

Crawford Not Going to Stop Running

Colonel Crawford is going to attempt to do the same things that have made them a successful basketball team all season long as they play Plymouth in the division four district semi-finals on Tuesday night at Willard High School.

The Eagles (17-4) downed Mansfield Christian (55-21) to earn a sectional title last Friday night. As the number one seed, Crawford coach David Sheldon wanted to erase all doubt early in the game and they were able to do that. “I thought it started with our defensive pressure. They came out and tried to slow the game down and ran some five wide. We were able to get some steals and turnovers and conversions. Once we got a lead they weren’t able to hold it. I think it really started with our defense. In the first half we hold them to eight points and that is a credit to our kids. Defense is a big focus, especially come tournament time. Every possession is so important. It slows down a little bit in the tournament. I think it’s going to come down to defense if we are going to do something this week as well,” said Sheldon.

Sometimes coaches get more conservative during the tournament and even teams that have featured the fast break become more of a half court team. Sheldon does not want that to happen for the Eagles. “We are going to keep pushing it. That’s our goal offensively. We have some many weapons right now. We have had seven guys during the season lead us in scoring at one time or anther. If our guys play unselfishly, find the next guy and play together we are a pretty good basketball team because there are so many options,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “It’s not like we just have one player that can play. You have to guard everyone on the floor when we are out there. We want to push the ball and be up tempo, but if it is not there we have to pull it out, get in our half court offense and be disciplined.”

After a slower that expected start to the season, Plymouth has won 10 of their last 12 games and Sheldon believes that is because they have become more used to varsity basketball. “I think the reason they played so well late is those freshmen have grown up. They start two freshmen in the Bebee kid and Edmiston. Then you have the seniors around them in Miller, Hicks and Benfer. I think it was a team that jelled and that’s why they played so well down the stretch. They play with a lot of emotion.

“I think one of the keys is going to rebounding come Tuesday night. We have got to control the glass on the offensive and defensive end because it’s a team that rebounds pretty well. They go around Edmiston. He is their man, he is averaging about 19 a game,” he said, “We just have to come out and play one possession at a time. We talk a lot about not getting too high or too low and the next possession is the most important on Tuesday night. We have talked all year that goal number two was a sectional championship and we were able to check that off last Friday. Now, we go onto goal number three,” said Sheldon.

Plymouth (15-6) was able to outscore Norwalk St. Paul last week 17-2 to begin the second half and they did that with their press. Sheldon says they are going to have to handle the pressure. “They run a very nice full court press with the big kid Edmiston on the top of it and that’s where they turned the game. We were at that game on Friday night with St. Paul. That press caused some turnovers. We are definitely going to have to handle their full court pressure. They live off that a little bit to get some easy points and turnovers. So that is one thing that we are going to have to do on Tuesday night. They are a team no matter what the score is they are going to keep playing. We have to maintain our composure the entire night,” said Sheldon.

Crawford Not Looking Past Christian

Colonel Crawford, the sectionals number one seed, plays Mansfield Christian in the division four sectional final on Friday night at Ontario High School.

If you go back to the first weekend in December the Eagles crushed (62-27) the Flames in the second game of the season for both. Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon says the Flames are a lot more mature team now that is used to what their coach expects from them. “I think it’s a team that has gotten better over the course of the year. When you think about it, we played them the first weekend and this is John’s first year there. They have really grown. John Kurtz does a great job. His teams have always been known for lockdown man-to-man defense,” he said.

Mansfield Christian (9-12) beat Lucas (45-33) on Tuesday night in semi-final play. Sheldon says they have developed some players that can score the basketball for the Flames. “They have two premier players in Josh Stanford and the Ernsberger kid. Stanford can take you off the dribble, shoot the three, and do a little bit of everything. Ernsberger is a lights out shooter from long range. They are team that is going to come out off a big win on Tuesday excited to play in a sectional championship,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We have to make sure we bring our “A” game to compete and achieve goal number two of what we have set in front of us a sectional championship. It’s a good team coached very well by John. We are looking forward to it (Friday) night. We are no longer 16-4, we are 0-0. I think our kids have had great focus all week and the focus this week has been on Mansfield Christian.”

Sheldon says Mansfield Christian coach John Kurtz is somewhat of a defensive guru and he knows they will have to be able to execute against mostly a very sticky man-to-man defense. “They are very tight on the ball. They are very good at getting in passing lanes. You have to be strong with the ball and take care of the basketball. You have to be sharp in you execution against a team that plays defense like this. They have shown some 2-3 zone too. We have prepared a little bit for both. Kurtz’s staple has been his man-to-man defense. Here and when he was at Crestview his teams always played great man-to-man defense and we respect that in a great way,” Sheldon said.

Colonel Crawford (16-4), #4 in the final Swankonsports.com basketball power poll for smaller schools, has to be rated as the favorite and Sheldon says they don’t want to let this game be decided in the second half. He says they want to take control early. “We have to set the tone right from the get go. The nice thing is we have played at Ontario for many years and we played there this year already. It’s not like our kids are unfamiliar with that. We have five returners that played in a sectional tournament last year. This isn’t going to be anything new for out guys. I think it’s key against Mansfield Christian to set the tone early in the way we are going to play and hopefully build on that,” said Sheldon.

With some guys that have already gotten their feet wet in tournament play last year, Sheldon hopes that gives them an advantage. “Tournament basketball is a different level than the regular season. Having some of that experience back will definitely be an advantage for us. Christian got to play there Tuesday, so they have gotten to play a tournament basketball game too. Once the ball is tipped it’s about playing basketball,” he said.

Colonel Crawford Wants This Test

The two division winners in the North Central Conference collide in the final regular season game for both on Friday night as Upper Sandusky visits Colonel Crawford.

In Ohio’s big cities division winners will square off in a city league championship game on the final weekend of the season, but according to Crawford coach David Sheldon, even unofficially, that is not what is happening here. “We have already won the league and we are not looking at it as conference championship game. We are looking at it as a game that will prepare us for tournaments. As a division four team to end with a division two team that’s 16-3 you couldn’t ask for a better preparation going into next week’s sectional tournament,” he said.

However, Sheldon is sure Upper Sandusky (16-3,11-1), #4 in the Swankonsports.com basketball power poll for big schools, is a very good team that is very consistent in their approach to the game and what works for them. “We are very looking forward to the challenge. They have one the best post players in our league, if not the best, in the Logsdon kid. He is a very good player. The Maddux kid is a nice player. It is a very disciplined team. On the offensive end they are going to get a very good shot every time down the floor. Rarely if ever do they take a bad shot, they are very patient. At the defensive end, they play some great man-to-man defense. They are going to get up in you and that is their staple, their defense. Coach Adams has done a great job over there. It’s a great credit to him with what they have installed in the two years he has been there,” said Sheldon.

Upper Sandusky plays really like no other team in this area. They are extremely patient with the basketball and they have won more than half of their games this year not scoring 40 points. Sheldon believes they have to show defensive patience. “We have to have defensive patience and not gamble, not break down. They want you to break down so they can get the shot they want. At the defensive end we have really been working on long possessions all week,” he told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “With this kind of game you are not going to have the number of possessions that you have in a normal game. We have to make sure we take advantage of every possession, take care of the ball on our end because there aren’t going to be the number of possessions as a normal game we like to play. We are going to try and speed the tempo up in various ways, but if doesn’t happen then we have to play smart basketball. We have gotten caught in some slow temp games this year. It’s not like this is the first time we have seen something like this this year.”

Colonel Crawford (16-3,10-2), #2 in the Swankonsports.com basketball power poll for smaller schools, has featured full court pressure all season long with great results. Sheldon says they are going to do their best to make the Rams play faster too. “We are going to try to speed it up with the full court press. Even on misses not allowing them to just walk the ball up the floor. We will put a little token pressure on even on misses. They will just walk it up and take six, eight seconds to get past the time line. Make or miss we are going to try and speed it up. They are a very disciplined team and hopefully we can get them to play a little faster, but they have shown all year that they can get the tempo in their favor,” he said.

The Eagles are the top seed in the division four sectional tournament at Ontario High and have the potential to make a lengthy tournament run. Sheldon says this game with Upper Sandusky with prepare them for what lies ahead. “Every possession is valuable come tournament time. You see some people become more conservative come tournament time. Like I said last week, what a great two weeks with Wynford at their place an now we get Upper Sandusky. You couldn’t ask for two better teams going into tournaments to prepare us for the goals we have come tournament time,” he said.

Colonel Crawford Trying New Things

A win last week over the Crestline Bulldogs gave Colonel Crawford an outright title in the silver division of the North Central Conference.

With 15 wins in 18 games, the Eagles have done a lot already this season, but coach David Sheldon says his players are not satisfied with what they have done so far and they definitely want more. “No not at all. Our goal number one was a league championship and we conquered that outright last week. Goal number two is a sectional championship and then down the road. These next two games, first Friday night with Wynford and then next Friday with Upper Sandusky, are great tune up games going into the tournament. Two tremendous basketball teams that have really been playing well as of late,” Sheldon told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday, “Those are great games before the tournament. There is nothing to lose, nothing to lose at all. It’s just preparation and getting us ready for tournaments. We have already accomplished a league championship. I look at these two games as like district tournament opponents. That is great way to finish. I’d rather play teams of high caliber than maybe some teams that are struggling late in the year.”

Crawford (15-3,9-2) has lived on fast break points, three point shots and sound defense. However, Sheldon says other coaches know the stuff they are running now, so they need to work in some new things. “We put some new wrinkles in at the end of the year. We always go with some new wrinkles that we want to look at going into the tournament. There are definitely some things we will work on over these last two games and keep getting better at executing what we have been doing so far to this part of the season. The execution has to be sharp at this time of year. People know what you are doing so we always add new wrinkles. There is something new every week that we always look to add. We always looking at things that we can do different to make us a better basketball team,” said Sheldon.

Sometimes a long tournament run can be started by seniors that don’t want their season to end. Sheldon believes they have gotten some solid leadership from their seniors this year. “I think our two leaders, and our captains, in Matt Metcalf and Jordan Shell are sort of on a mission. They are three year letterman. Matt saw his brother get to a regional tournament, win a league championship. Jordan was on that team just as a reserve basically when we did that in 2009. These two seniors are very, very focused right now. I couldn’t have better leadership right now at the end of February from them. They have some high goals and they are keeping the others focused as well. We always talk about one possession at a time and one game at a time in our program. I think the determination in their eyes every night, not just in games, but practice, has been phenomenal. That’s a big reason we have been successful the first 18 games of this year,” Sheldon said.

The Eagles travel to Wynford (11-6,7-3) for an inter-divisional match-up in the “NCC” on Friday night. Of course, they are long time rivals. Crawford crushed Wynford (72-45) back in December. Sheldon says this is a different team they will see on Friday. “The Royals are playing very well. This is a totally different team in February than what you saw in December. They are out of the football legs and they are playing at high levels. It’s a very good team. It’s a team that has been successful. The last three years they have been on some very good regional basketball teams. They are led by Rall and Chatlin, the two leading scorers in our league. They are phenomenal basketball players. It will be a tough challenge going over to the “House of Thrills” Friday night, but we are taking it one step at a time and looking forward to it,” said Sheldon.

Title Time For Eagles

It should come as no surprise because the Colonel Crawford Eagles have been the best team all season, but they can wrap up a share of the Silver Division title in the North Central Conference with a win at home Saturday night against Crestline.

The Eagles (14-3,8-2), #2 in the Swankonsports.com basketball power rankings, lead Buckeye Central by two games with three to play.

They hammered Lucas in an “NCC” game (65-35) last Friday and then beat Midland Athletic League co-leader New Riegel, #5 in the Swankonsports.com poll, in a non-conference game (62-56) on Saturday night. Crawford coach David Sheldon believes the New Riegel game had a tournament feel to it. “That was a non-league game that was like a district tournament game. It was a very physical game against an opponent that was 13-2 at that time. It was a great non-league game and our kids rose to the occasion. We made a lot of hustle plays and played with passion for 32 minutes. It was a great atmosphere Saturday night at Crawford. That was a big non-league win. That is a team that is very successful. They are leading the Midland Athletic League. To get a win over a quality opponent is nice at this time of year,” said Sheldon.

Saturday night is something the Eagles have been looking forward to for three months and Sheldon says they don’t want to mess around. He says they want to take care of business. “We have talked from day one back on the first week of November our goal number one is to win our league. Being up two games with three to go in our league our kids have put us in a good opportunity and have chance to clinch a piece of it this Saturday night at home. That is one thing we have talked about focusing one game at a time. We don’t want to drag this thing out,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We want to be greedy and hopefully get a piece of it Saturday and hopefully clinch it out right down the stretch. The last time we won the league was 2009 with that group that went to the regional. It is a credit to our kids. We have stayed focused through 17 games so far. It’s nice to be in that situation here in February and not necessarily coming down to the last game of the year. Our kids are excited and very focused. Even after a big win we have talked about what you did yesterday doesn’t mean anything today. We have to keep getting better down the stretch and as we enter the tournament in March madness.”

Crestline (4-12,3-6) has not lived up to their potential this season in terms of wins and losses, but they are still a very dangerous team. In fact, they almost beat Colonel Crawford in their first game of the year, losing (55-52) on January 7 at Crestline. Sheldon says his team has to play with the same intensity they showed against New Riegel. “We were down 14 in the fourth and came back to pull out a three point win at their place. It is a veteran team and their record is not reflective of how good they are. It’s a veteran team that is trying to move up in the seeding come Sunday. We are going to have our hands full because they have some very good players. The big thing with us is just coming out focused and playing with the passion we did last Saturday. With the game being at our place it always helps. They are a very dangerous team Crestline. They got a win Tuesday night over a Ridgemont team that has a winning record. They are going to be excited coming here off a “W” and with the way they played us the first time. So, it’s definitely going to be a tough challenge for us, but we are looking forward to it, embracing it, going into Saturday night,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford in Good Position

Colonel Crawford was supposed to win the silver division of the North Central Conference and they are on the verge of accomplishing the goal. They can clinch a share of the title with a win Friday night at Lucas, but Buckeye Central also must lose to Riverdale.

Last Saturday night, the Eagles outlasted Bucyrus (48-47) in an inter-divisional game. Crawford coach David Sheldon admits they were not at the top of the game, but good teams win when they aren’t at their best. “We talk about winning championships. Our goal number one is winning our league championship in our division. Good teams find a way to win even in nights when they are off. We have done that a couple of times throughout this year,” Sheldon told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “We have put ourselves in a good situation up two games with four to go in our league. Bucyrus, give credit to them, the played extremely well when they came over here on Saturday night. We didn’t shoot it very well. We had some uncharacteristic turnovers that we haven’t been doing this year. Our senior leader Matt Metcalf stepped up and had 19 points and 14 rebounds. They have been through the trenches. January, you always call it the dog days, and we are happy to get out of it with a “W” Saturday night.”

The Eagles (12-3,7-2), #2 in the Swankonsports.com basketball power poll in the small school division, travel to Lucas to face the Cubs (0-13,0-8) in a silver division game on Friday night. Sheldon knows this hasn’t been the best year for the Cubs, but they have to take care of business and that starts with a quick start. “We have talked all week about being concerned about Colonel Crawford and making us a better basketball team. Lucas is having a down year, but it’s always a tough to go down there. The things is we have to set the tone right from the get go come Friday night when we go down to Lucas. We have had four good days of practice. We have been concerned about Colonel Crawford and areas where we need to get better as we head into February and the tournament run,” he said. Colonel Crawford beat Lucas (73-27) in their first meeting on January 6.

In one of the more intriguing non-conference game of the season, New Riegel (13-2) comes to North Robinson to play the Eagles. The Blue Jackets are coming off a thrashing of Bettsville (98-18) in Midland Athletic League game on Thursday night. Sheldon says New Riegel is very talented and they are looking forward to the game. “We are excited to play Saturday night against them. A great non-league game this late in the season. It is sort of like a tournament game. It is sort of going to check us out and see where we are at this time of year. They are 13-2 and they are very good. They have a lot of kids back form last year. They are a veteran team. It’s going to be like a tournament game with that style of play with them coming to our place on Saturday night. It’s going to be a great test, non-league, nothing to lose in the conference. We are excited about the challenge on Saturday night. First things first with Lucas and then on Saturday morning we will turn our attention to New Riegel,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford Takes Command in the Silver Division

Wins over Buckeye Central and Riverdale have given Colonel Crawford sole possession of first place in the silver division of the North Central Conference.

They host Bucyrus in a inter divisional game in the “NCC” on Saturday night.

Generally speaking most people thought Colonel Crawford and Buckeye Central were the two best teams in the division at the start of the year and now Crawford has beaten Buckeye twice after a win (58-46) last Friday night. Eagles coach David Sheldon says that put them in pretty good position. “We came out and played just a really good 32 minutes over at Buckeye. We were up eight at the half. They made some runs in the second half. We stopped those and made some runs of our own. That was a big game in our division because we were tied. To beat them twice now within the year that will help us come tournament seeding time as well. They are one of the top teams in our sectional tournament. So, that was a good win for the program Friday night,” said Sheldon.

The Eagles got a scare Saturday night in North Robinson when Riverdale attempted to hold the ball on them and Crawford came away with a four point win (37-33) over the Falcons. Sheldon says he was proud of the patience they showed on defense. “Riverdale came out and held the ball on us. I remember doing that several times over my six years here when we were maybe not as good as some teams. It was the first time we have ever had that done to us,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “They came out and were patient and didn’t shoot it. It was just a slow methodical game. We tried pressing in the full court and didn’t get much. It’s hard to trap teams because you always give up lay ups. We always had the lead, but you don’t want to give that up. We did have some defensive patience and we did come away with a four point win. It was definitely a different pace than we have been used to all year long.” With their depth and athleticism at division four level it may not be the last time Crawford sees such a tactic. Sheldon felt they responded well. “You are going to see different styles here toward the end of the year. It was the second time (Riverdale) played us. We had beaten them by 20 some at there place. I give their coach a ton of credit. It gave them a chance to win in the end. Also, come tournament time you are going to see different styles. I was really happy with how our kids responded. They didn’t lose their composure,” he said.

Colonel Crawford (11-3,6-2), #3 in the Swankonsports.com basketball power rankings in the small school division, has been a very consistent team this year and coach Sheldon believes one that is still getting better. “We are getting a little more post play production. Nate Klingenberger Saturday night as 11 points and eight rebounds in the post. That was one thing I talked with you about we have to get some post play. I think it’s definitely been a team that has grown. It’s nice that we have gotten 14 games in already. That’s probably the most of anybody in the area, so now we can get some legs some rest as we go down the finish end of our number one goal of getting a league championship in our division,” said Sheldon.

Bucyrus (4-9,2-5) will be in North Robinson on Saturday night. Sheldon says they better be ready because the Redmen get up to play them. “They have a lot of returners from last year. You know, they have played a tough schedule to date. They have played a lot of people close as well. They’ve got good guard play. The Jackson kid is one of the better players in their league. When Bucyrus comes over here it’s the super bowl for them. That’s how it is and we have to be ready to go,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford Needs Offensive Rebounds

Offensive rebounding saved the day for Colonel Crawford last week and they are going to need more of those as they travel to Ontario for a North Central Conference game on Saturday night.

Colonel Crawford (9-2,4-1), ranked #2 in the Swankonsports.com basketball power poll for smaller schools, railed to beat Crestline (55-52) last Saturday in a silver division game. Coach David Sheldon says they had to put the screws to their press and get on the offensive glass to get the win in the game. “We went over there are we didn’t shoot it well at all. We shot like 17 percent from three and 36 percent even inside of the line, 27 percent total. We were down 14 in the fourth. When we went into the fourth I just said guys we have to play this one possession at a time. We aren’t shooting it well tonight so we have to get to the offensive glass. In the fourth quarter we scored 23 and a lot off the offensive glass. We got some turnovers off our press and we ended up with like 27 offensive rebounds,” Sheldon told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “The guys just willed their way. It was a night where we didn’t shoot it well. In a 20 game season, and a 14 game league season, there are going to be nights when we don’t shoot it well. I give our guys credit for hanging in there and not getting too frustrated. We were very fortunate to get out of there with a “W” and a big “W” in our division. You know, we had three games last week, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday and to win all three league games that was a big week for us last week.” The Eagles also beat Buckeye Central (69-56) and Lucas (73-27) last week.

They have been a very good three point shooting team this year. They are making more than 40 percent of their attempts. But, Sheldon says there are nights they aren’t going to shoot well and they need to find other ways to win. “We know we are going to shoot the three, but every time a shot goes up the other guys need to get to the offensive glass. They have to think that’s a pass to them. They have to be thinking miss. Like I said fortunately we were able to get a lot of offensive rebounds on a night we didn’t shoot it well. We got some put backs and some and ones. That’s just toughness, rebounding. I always talk about it’s not always position all the time, there is a toughness factor,” said Sheldon.

Anytime you travel to “The House that Joe Built” at Ontario High School you are going to be in for a tough game. Ontario (5-5,2-2) has been up and down this season, but Sheldon knows what kind of talent the Warriors have on the roster. “They play the toughest schedule in our league. You look at their schedule, them and Galion, play some of the toughest opponents non-league wise. You really can’t look at their record. It’s a team that is going to play extremely hard. They are very athletic. They have a lot of athletes and speed on the floor. Anytime you go against coach Balogh, he is a legend in this area if you ask me. They are going to be ready to go. We are going to know what they do and they know what we do and it’s going to come down to kids making plays. It’s going to be a good test for us to go over there and experience a very good basketball team and measure where we are at at the halfway point of the league,” said Sheldon.

Ontario has had games when they have rebounded well too and Sheldon believes the glass may tell the story again. “They are very athletic and we have to keep them off the offensive glass. On the other end we are going to try and get to the offensive glass. We have got to limit them to one shot. I think another thing against Ontario is you have to control the paint. They are good at driving and getting into the paint. We must have good team defense and keeping the ball out of the paint with the quickness they have on the floor at the offensive end,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford Needs to Bounce Back

It looked like Colonel Crawford might be good enough to slice through the North Central Conference, but Galion proved on Friday night that wasn’t going to be the case.

Galion upset the Eagles (59-44) behind 18 points from sophomore Ridge Durbin. Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon says they don’t want to dwell on the loss, but they want to learn from it. “We talked about hey this is a learning experience. We pointed some things out on that Galion film where we didn’t execute real well, especially our communication on defense. We have to learn from that,” he told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “Now we move on to a big league game within our division with Buckeye on Tuesday night. Buckeye is a very veteran team with one of the best players in the area in Tyler Erwin. It’s nice to get on the floor Tuesday night and play, but this is a very good basketball team. You look at two teams in the silver division and I think us and Buckeye are two of the best. We had a setback Friday, but have tried to move on from that.”

Colonel Crawford (6-2,1-1) had been shooting 45 percent from three point range, but they only made three on Friday night. Sheldon adds when they got the ball inside, they didn’t get to the basket. “It was our worse shooting performance of the year from behind the line. We did get some post touches, but we didn’t finish inside. We fell in love with fade aways instead of attacking the rim. Hands down it was the worse shooting performance we have had all year. We only had eight turnovers in the game, but we just didn’t shoot the ball well. When you don’t make shots you are in trouble. Galion is a scary team. They played a tough schedule. They have a veteran team back and they came in here and played very well,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford, ranked #4 in the small school division of the Swankonsports.com basketball power poll, plays host to the Buckeye Central Bucks (3-1,2-0) in a huge game in the silver division of the “NCC.” They game was originally to be played December 16, but was moved due to Buckeye’s run in the football playoffs. Sheldon says they have to contain Tyler Erwin. “He plays anywhere. On our scouting report we have him as a post, a wing and a point. He is a do it all kind of guy. He is a big game player. You know, he is going to be a tough match-up for us. They are not real deep and hopefully our pressure can wear them down over time. Those kids that do play, play hard for Phil. It’s going to be a war in North Robinson,” said Sheldon.

Buckeye Central also has Bryce Collins, who is a 6-1, 290 pound post player. “We have to limit his touches in the post. He has a soft touch around inside. He is a very good player and is a wide body to get around, so it’s our goal to limit his touches,” said Sheldon.

Crawford Has to Keep Focused

Colonel Crawford is playing as well as any basketball team in the Greater Mansfield area right now, but they have to continue to be focused on improvement.

They hammered rival Wynford (72-45) in a non-conference game between conference rivals on Tuesday night. Crawford coach David Sheldon says they just shot the lights out in the second and third quarters of the game. “We really opened it up in the second quarter. We scored 31 points in the second and again our defense was pretty good in the full court, which created a lot of offense. The first quarter was back and fourth and the second quarter we kind of broke it open. Then we came out on fire again after halftime and had 22 points in the third. It was a good win against a great program that I have the up most respect for. It was a good win for us, but we have to keep on rolling and hopefully come back strong this Friday,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford (6-1,1-0) is a division four school, but they have depth that is more often associated with a division one program. Sheldon says that gives them great flexibility. “This is the first time in my six years at Crawford that we have been able to play nine guys. We have been able to go to our bench and not lose a beat. We have multiple guys that can score,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “You have to guard everybody and it makes it tough. There have been some years in the past we have had one or two great players, but you didn’t have to guard the other guys. It makes us tough to guard because of our depth and being able to score at multiple positions.”

It’s a guard oriented kind of program with multiple perimeter shooters, but Sheldon says they have been getting more post touches and that is critical to their future success. “Since Austin Adams came back we have been able to move Matt Metcalf back to the post. With Matt in the post and Jerry Clamber we have gotten a few more post touches. We still have to get more though. I still think that is the one area that we have to keep getting better. Sometimes that doesn’t happen because we shoot the three so well. We are shooting 43 percent behind the line, but we still stress about post touches because there is going to be a night when we don’t shoot as well and we have to be able to throw it inside,” said Sheldon.

Friday night the Eagles host Galion (1-6,0-2) in a inter-divisional game in the “NCC.” Sheldon says don’t be fooled by the Tigers record. He says they have a lot of good players. “They have a lot of guys back. They have six guys back that played varsity basketball last year. They have some weapons McCuen, the Durbin kid, Prosser. This is always a big rivalry too, Galion-Crawford. We are going to get their best effort on Friday night. We really have to guard the three point line. They shoot it pretty well. Their record does not in any way, shape or form show what this team is like. They have played a tough schedule too,” he said.

Sheldon says they are not going into this game just thinking they are going to win by walking onto the floor. He says they need to keep that focus that all good teams have. “There are no easy wins and we are sort of in the gantlet right now. We played Tuesday night and now we go Friday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday, so we have a lot of basketball games over this next week. We always talk about one possession at a time and you can’t look ahead to the next opponent. Ultimately our goal is to win a league championship. We want to win our silver division and from day one our kids have talked about that. We are 6-1, but we have only played one league game, so we still have 12 league games and there is a long haul in front of us,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford Looking to Score More Inside

Colonel Crawford has lost only one game in five outings this season and that was to unbeaten Northmor, still the Eagles have a lot ways to improve as they prepare for their North Central Conference opener.

Last Saturday, Austin Adams scored 24 points and the Eagles blasted Bucyrus in a non-conference game 69-45. Adams had been suspended for the first four games due to disciplinary issues. Crawford coach David Sheldon says it was nice to have him back. “He is an all-district player and an all-league player form last year. You know, Austin has a knack to score. It just gives us another weapon on the offensive end. Defensively with the full court defense we are playing it just gives us another guy to keep people fresh for 32 minutes. He had a great first start. The nice thing is the guys accepted him back. He started right out of the gate. It’s nice to have him back and to have our complete team together now after not playing with him over the first four games,” said Sheldon.

Crawford has done an excellent job spreading the ball around and getting scores off their defense or from the perimeter in the half court. However, Sheldon wants to get to ball down on the block. “We have to get more post touches. We just aren’t getting the ball inside enough. I think we are missing opportunities to throw it inside. We are really working this week to get some more post touches when we get into the half court offense,” he said.

Points have been coming fast, but in order to beat some of the better teams they play, Sheldon knows they must improve on defense too. “Defensively it is making sure we are guarding in the half court. Our full court pressure if we don’t get stuff out of it we have to make sure we can still defend in the half court. One of the areas is our post defense. We have to get better defending the post. We have to improve if we are going to achieve our number one goal, which is a league championship. The first step in that is when we go over to Riverdale for our first league game,” said Sheldon.

Riverdale (2-3) plays host to Crawford in their league opener on Friday night. The Eagles game with Buckeye Central last Friday was moved to January 3. Sheldon wants to get into the bench of the Falcons, where he believes they have an advantage. “They have a new coach over there. It’s a different offensive system that they are running. They have five players that can play. Their starting five is very good. The have a good post player in the Hill kid. You know, we want to really pressure them in full court because the one area we see as a weakness is their bench,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “We are going to try and wear them down like we have the last five games. They have a nice squad. They have a couple of kids that can really shoot the basketball, so we have to contest shots. At the defensive end they are going to play man and mix in some zones. It’s always a tough trip going over to Indiana I say. We have to stay focused and worry about Colonel Crawford while knowing their tendencies at the offensive end,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford to Get Better

Colonel Crawford has already proven to be one of the better basketball teams around here this year with only one loss in four outings so far and now with one their better players back that are likely going to be even better.

Crawford lost its first game of the season last Saturday when Northmor, the blue division favorite in the “MOAC,” beat them 68-62. Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon believes they learned from that experience. “It was a tough loss Saturday, give Northmor credit they played really well. They were like 9-14 from threes. They played really well together and we had a tough time guarding them on the perimeter. We had some great looks down the stretch to try and send it to OT, they just didn’t fall. It was just a step in the process,” said Sheldon.

The Eagles came back to beat Mansfield St. Peter’s on Monday night 66-52 and Sheldon feels their focus was pretty good for that game against the Spartans. “I am happy with how our kids responded on Monday. Going over to St. Pete’s on a Monday night, that’s an odd night to play, but to get a victory in double figures over at their house was a good way to come back,” he added.

To show even more what kind of team the Eagles can have this season all of their games so far have been on the road and that continues with a visit to Bucyrus for a non-conference game between conference rivals on Saturday night. “Bucyrus has four starters back. They are 1-1 and run their dribble drive offense. We have to keep the ball out of the paint and contest shots all night. We are looking forward to the challenge. We are on the home stretch of our west coast trip. We have five games in a row on the road. I have been telling the kids we are on the west coast trip of the NBA. If we can get wins on the road, that’s a plus,” said Sheldon.

Depth has already been a plus this year for Colonel Crawford and now they are going to get even deeper with the return of guard Austin Adams from suspension in time for the Bucyrus game. Sheldon says Adams has great tools. “We have Austin Adams coming back this week. He has been suspended the first four games due to disciplinary issues. Now we have him back and he was an all-district player last year,” he told Swankonsports.com on Wednesday, “He hasn’t stepped on the floor this year other than practices and preseason scrimmages. So, we just added another piece this week. We are trying to use that to our advantage by playing nine guys are wearing people out. Our kids have accepted roles and been very unselfish the first four games of the season.”

Bucyrus has a team made up of a lot of seniors and they had just an 8-14 record a year ago, many felt that was a little disappointing considering their talent level. Sheldon knows the Redmen will come out with fire in their eyes. “They have a lot of letterman back and they had a great summer of with Nate this last summer and put a lot of time in. They are hungry for success up there. Anytime it’s Crawford and Bucyrus it’s a rivalry and we go over there. They wanted to come out and prove something early in the year. We know we are going to get their best shot and we have to worry about Colonel Crawford. Try to push the tempo and do the things we do to be successful,” he said.

Colonel Crawford Wants to Keep Rolling

Colonel Crawford looked as good as any small school in the North Central Ohio area last weekend in posting two wins to the begin the season.

They hammered an athletic Seneca East team (72-48) in their first game and then dominated a young Mansfield Christian (62-27) unit on Saturday. “We were pretty satisfied with how we came out of the gate. I think it all started with out defensive pressure. You know, our full court defense really helped us to create offense both Friday and Saturday, coach David Sheldon told Swankonsports.com on Thursday, “Saturday we had to go down to Christian and that’s always a tough place to play. We got on them right away and that helped the momentum and that helped us through the entire game.”

Sheldon says they want to be aggressive and push the ball on offense and press a lot on defense. He says they never want to slow down and he explained that to the kids on Saturday night. “We talked about that at halftime. We were up 35-10 and we said hey this is a brand new half let’s go out and play a brand new half. We did that in the third quarter, we played most of our guys and then in the fourth quarter we got some of our JV guys in there. That’s good experience, those are kids that are going to help us down the road. We talk about it no matter what kid comes in for 32 minutes we are going to play as hard as we can and do what we need. We don’t care what the scoreboard says. Our kids did that,” he said.

Colonel Crawford will visit Northmor (2-0) of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference for a non-conference match-up on Saturday night. Sheldon says the Golden Knights are expecting a very good season and he knows they are in for a battle. “They were above .500 last year and had a successful season. They won their opener against Centerburg in double figures. They have kids that can really shoot it. They run the dribble drive offense. They have very good range from multiple kids. It’s going to be a very good non-league test on Saturday night. We are going down there and play in their new gym. They will be excited they are just opening that gym this week. With the success they are having it will be a tough environment to play in over there,” said Sheldon. Northmor played its first game in that gym on Thursday night and beat Ridgedale 65-50 in a “MOAC” game.

In order to put another game in the win column, Sheldon says it’s gin to start with defense for the Eagles. “The number one thing is we have to contest shots all night because they have great shooters. We can’t loose them. We have to play great man to man defense because they like to drive to set up their shooters.

Colonel Crawford Looking Good

Colonel Crawford is the preseason choice to win the silver division of the North Central Conference with four of their five starters returning from a good team last year.

They host Seneca East of the Midland Athletic League on Friday night and travel to face Mansfield Christian on Saturday night.

Coach David Sheldon says he has been pleased with progress made by what is an experienced group in North Robinson. “I think in the last four weeks we have gotten better as a basketball team. We have improved from our first scrimmage to our fifth scrimmage in the areas we thought we needed to get better at,” he told Swankonsports.com, “I think our practices have been very intense. This is a veteran group so we are pushing them pretty good. Sure, we have a long way to go. We have to keep improving every day. Right now, we are concerned about the Eagles and improving every day in practice to get the goals we have set and what we want to do this year.”

Since the beginning of November Sheldon believes his team has shown better ball security, but he still wants them to be more consistent in how they play defense in the half court. “We have taken care of the basketball a lot more on the offensive end. Defensively, it’s still a work in progress, especially in the half court. We are picking up full court this year, which is a change in philosophy. When we do get in the half court we have to sit down and defend. We have shown some strides, but there is still a long way to go,” he said.

Seneca East brings an athletic squad with some experience to North Robinson for the opener for both sides on Friday night. “This will be a great opener. They have three all-league players back from last year, so they bring experience back at the varsity level,” said Sheldon, “They have a 6-5 post player in the Hailer boy. They have probably one of the best athletes we will see all year in Jamie Shafer, he is a 6-2 wing/forward. He is a very good athlete. They have a guard that can really shoot it in Billy Dean. In the “MAL” preview he won the three-point shooting contest. They are going to play a lot of zone defense. We are going to have to attack the zone inside-out.”

Mansfield Christian will field a young team this season and they host Crawford on Saturday night. Sheldon likes playing two games right off the bat. “I like it as a coach,” he said, “As the “AD,” I schedule it that way because you get two games right out of the gate. They are two non-league games. You can evaluate before you get into the heart of the league. We enjoy playing Friday-Saturday. We are going to see more of that in the future when we go to 22 games.”

Colonel Crawford Looking for Identity

Colonel Crawford is looking for some leadership on the basketball floor after an injury has put its senior leader on the sidelines for now.

New Riegel beat Crawford 50-27 in their first game last Friday and coach Amber Rall believes they need to have some younger players step up into different roles with the team if they are going to be successful. “I think the biggest thing is mentally we have to be ready to go. Our point guard is out right now, she has a torn ACL, so we just need to adjust,” she told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We had 29 turnovers and we need to take care of the ball. We need to get some more shots up. We out rebounded them, which was a plus. We just need to handle the pressure and some of my younger girls need to step up.”

Krista Horning, a 5-7 senior, averaged 15 points per game a year ago for a Crawford team that lost to Mansfield St. Peter’s in the division four district final. She was first team All-NCC and second team all district last year for the Lady Eagles. “The younger kids have really looked up to her because she is a senior this year. Now it’s their time to step up,” said Rall. Colonel Crawford was just 11 for 49 from the field in the opener against New Riegel.

On Tuesday night, Crawford plays at Marion Pleasant of the Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference. It will be the Lady Spartans first game of the season. Rall says Pleasant is always good, but right now she is more worried about the state of her own team. “This is their opener. They have a couple of nice players. First of all, we need to take care of our own game with the turnover problem we are going to focus on what we need to do. Defensively we need to step up and get some stops and then execute on offense,” she said.

Colonel Crawford is part of the new look North Central Conference with 10 teams and two divisions. Rall was an All-Ohio guard for Wynford and helped lead the Lady Royals to a state tournament appearance in 2002. “The “NCC” is different from when I played, but I think it’s a good situation that we are in now. I think with us being in the smaller division, the silver division, we have a chance to compete to be at the top along with Riverdale. Everybody is going to come ready to play. You can’t leave out Buckeye, Crestline and Lucas. I think if we play together as a team we can be at the top of the silver division,” said Rall.

Colonel Crawford Ready to Compete

Colonel Crawford was a pretty good basketball team a year ago and the Eagles have the personnel and the experience to be improved this year and that could result in a division championship for them this season.

Crawford returns most of its scoring and looks to hit the ground running when they open the season at home against Seneca East on December 2. “We are still a work in progress. We are very fortunate we have five letterman back from last year and our top four scorers. Everyday we are trying to push each other in practice to get better. We are trying to speed up the game a little bit, which in the past we haven’t. We go about eight, nine deep. It’s a change getting that mindset to our guys. We still have a lot to do before opening night, but that’s what the preseason is for,” said Colonel Crawford coach David Sheldon.

With over two weeks left before the first game, Sheldon says nothing is set in stone and they have been having very competitive practices and that’s they way he wants it to be. “So far the chemistry has been very well. We have five letterman and then have brought some JV’s into the mix. Last year’s JV’s won 16 games. Guys are pushing each other and that’s the nice thing about depth in practice we have a lot of guys fighting for positions knowing there are a lot of guys and if they aren’t getting the job done there are other guys to turn to. The competition in practice has been very intense. We make everything a competition. Every drill we do there are winners and losers,” said Sheldon.

In order to be a good basketball team this year Sheldon told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday that they must play better defense and they have to handle the ball better than they did in their first scrimmage. “There are two things that stick out. We have to get better as a man-to-man defensive team. We have always taken pride in our defensive end of the floor. We have to get better at the defensive end. At the offensive end we have to take care of the basketball. We turned the ball over a little bit this past weekend and I think some of that is trying to speed up the game. You still have to make good decisions and not throw the ball all over the gym,” he said.

This of course is a new era for the North Central Conference with a large school, or black, division and a small school, or silver, division. Sheldon believes they can compete for a division title, but they are going to be pushed, especially by Buckeye Central. “Buckeye Central is going to be very strong. They have a lot of kids back. Their success in football is only going to help them when it comes to the basketball floor. I think another team to look out for in the silver division is Crestline. They have everybody back,” said Sheldon.

Colonel Crawford Can’t Get Caught

Colonel Crawford has a chance to play for a small school division title in the North Central Conference next week, but they still have to take care of business on Friday night when the Eagles visit Riverdale.

Last week, Crawford (4-4) got smacked around pretty good by Wynford as the Royals beat them 32-14. Eagles coach Ryan Teglovic knew playing talented Wynford was going to be a tremendous challenge. “We played a great football team, not just one of the best football teams in the area, but one that could fair well in the postseason. They are a senior dominated team that does a lot of good things. You pretty much have to be perfect offensively. We went into the game with them only giving up six points a game. I thought at least our kids played very hard,” he said. Wynford allowed only 222 total yards and did not permit a score in the second half of the game.

Riverdale (2-6) stands in fourth place in the small school division after a 14-12 loss to Bucyrus last week. That was the first win of the season for the Redmen. Teglovic believes the young Falcons are showing improvement. “They played one of their best games last week against Bucyrus. They are a young team and I feel like they have gotten a little bit better each week. They are running the ball very well. Their coaching staff does a very good job offensively of doing just a few basic things and trying to get better on those as the year progresses and I feel like they have done that. They have nice running backs and their quarterback has a strong arm,” he told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday.

Going into the game as the favorite Teglovic knows they can’t let the Falcons hang around in the first half. “You don’t want these guys to hand around. If they do they can grind it on you a little bit. They can get three yards here and four yards there. You want to get some quick scores and if you can do that you’ll be okay,” he said.

Right now, Colonel Crawford shares first place with the Buckeye Central Bucks in the small school division and the two play each other next week. However, Teglovic understands that is they don’t beat Riverdale the game next week doesn’t mean as much. “Next week doesn’t mean anything if you don’t win this week. We have talked to our kids that it doesn’t do you any good to look past Riverdale because if we don’t win this week then we aren’t playing for much next week,” he said.

Colonel Crawford Facing Biggest Challenge of the Season

Colonel Crawford is tied for first place in the small school division of the North Central Conference with Buckeye Central, but to stay there they might have to beat Wynford, who hasn’t lost a conference game since Butch Davis was the Browns head coach.

Crawford and Buckeye are 3-1 in conference play, while Lucas is 2-2.

Last week, Colonel Crawford outscored Bucyrus (0-7) 41-28, behind the efforts of running backs C.J. Smith (144 yards rushing), Tyler Smith (117 yards rushing) and quarterback Nate Klingenberger (8 of 16 for 132 yards passing) and a talented offensive line. “I thought we threw it well early. We had 130 yards passing and most of that came in the first half. It allowed our backs to get going in the running game going late. Now with our quarterback back I feel we have more balance,” Colonel Crawford coach Ryan Teglovic told Swankonsports.com on Tuesday.

Wynford (7-0) shares the lead in the NCC’s large school division with Galion and the Royals, ranked #2 in the Swankonsports.com football power poll for smaller schools, are enjoying a fine season. Tegolvic thinks they have players all over the field. “They are a solid football team in every aspect of the game. They are solid every year. When you look at them offensively and defensively I just don’t see a lot of weaknesses. At every position they have a kid that can play very well. It’s not like we can look at their offense and say this is a guy we can attack or look at their defense and say this is a guy we want to go after,” he said.

The Wynford high school quarterback is developing into being along the same line as, say, the University of Texas at the college level. It’s a position where stars are born and this year shinning is senior Zach Chatlain. “I would think their best play probably is the power from the quarterback position. Just get him in the shotgun and lead with the big fullback that they have and run behind that big tight end that they have. When he is running the football he is just as dangerous as when he is throwing the football,” said Teglovic of Chatlain. However, Wynford has other players too. “The Miller kid at fullback is very good and they are good up front. Things do run through Chatlain and we will have our hands full trying to stop him on Friday,” he added.

Last season, Colonel Crawford was in position to snap Wynford’s long (now 51 game) conference winning streak until the Royals scored with under a minute to play and went on to win 27-20. Teglovic feels to beat Wynford you have to have the right mental approach. “Last year, our guys did a great job of going in and just realizing that the way to beat a good football team is not do anything extraordinary or do anything out of the norm. You go in and prepare well and everybody does their job and it gives you a chance to win. We have quite few of those kids back this year and we are hoping that we can take that experience into the game this year. Maybe take it a step further,” he said.

A Win a Must for Colonel Crawford

Colonel Crawford stands in a three way tie for first place in the small school division of the North Central Conference with Buckeye Central and Lucas with four games left to play.

This week the Eagles (3-3) are at winless Bucyrus (0-6) for an inter-divisional game in the “NCC.”

After winning three games in a row Colonel Crawford was handled 36-6 by the Galion Tigers last week. Crawford coach Ryan Teglovic acknowledges that Galion is a fine team, but he says they did a pretty good job of hurting themselves too. “They are a very good team. We told our kids Saturday morning overall our effort was pretty good. We actually made some improvements in some areas,” Teglovic told Swankonsports.com, “We didn’t execute as well as we wanted too. We jumped offside and they were able to extend their drives. You can’t give a team like Galion extra chances to score on you. We have to bounce back this week and play a little better.”

Teglovic says Bucyrus may be 0-6, but the Redmen are not without players. “They have very good football players. They have been right there in some situations and ready to win some games. They lost by two to Willard and last week they lost a close one to Lucas. They have a senior quarterback that is a good player in Chandler. They have a senior running back that’s good in the Howard kid. Defensively, they have the leading tackler in the league in Doug Agler,” said Teglovic.

Colonel Crawford has a real chance to win the title in the small school division, but they have to take care of business this week and Teglovic knows that very well. “It’s a big one and we told our kids that this is really a big game for us. We need to take advantage of the big play and cut down on our turnovers. We need to get off to a good start. We need to play solid football this week. We need to make them work offensively and be able to stretch them a little defensively,” he said.

Colonel Crawford Must Make Good Decisions

Colonel Crawford shares first place in the North Central Conference’s small school division with Buckeye Central and they face a big test in an inter-divisional game at home against the Galion Tigers on Friday night in North Robinson.

Crawford has won its last three games and Galion takes a four game winning streak into the game. The Eagles downed Lucas 41-14 last week, while Galion socked it to the Bucyrus Redmen 37-7.

Colonel Crawford outscored Lucas 21-0 in the third and fourth quarters. “I think we played a good football game. Lucas is a tough, physical football team that has a great running game. We made a few adjustments at halftime. I felt like we played well in the second half,” said Crawford coach Ryan Teglovic. Lucas had totaled almost 1,000 yards rushing the previous two weeks and Teglovic feels like they did a much better job in the second half defending Lucas. “They have two excellent running backs in the Harris and Swainheart kids and not just that their offensive line is pretty good too. They are senior dominated and they are big and physical. You have to stay low because if you don’t it won’t be good. If you play with a high pad level they just push you back into the linebackers. Those guys will find room to make cuts. I felt as the game went on our guys started to do a better job,” he said.

Galion is new to the “NCC” this year and Teglovic knows they come calling with a lot of athletes on both sides of the football. “They are the fastest team we have played this year,” he told Swankonsports.com, “They possess a tremendous amount of speed defensively and offensively. Defensively they like to blitz and move people around and keep you guessing. They play very hard. They run to the football and they really fly. Offensively they have a lot of weapons, in particular the Nay kid at running back. The kid is one of the best running backs in our league. Then you throw in there a solid receiving core, a very athletic quarterback and a very solid offensive line.”

Nay ran for ran for 241 yards last week against Bucyrus, but Teglovic believes Galion quarterback Dareian Watkins is an excellent quarterback too. “They are going to do what spread teams do. They are going to look at how many guys you have in the box. If they feel you don’t have enough guys in the box they are going to run it at you. If they feel like you have too many people in the box they are going to throw the football. They are one of those teams that have enough athletes to run or throw. You have to change your looks or they will exploit you,” said Teglovic.

How do you stop an explosive offense? You keep the ball in your hands and that’s what the Eagles want to do. Teglovic thinks they will have to make some big passes to do it. “The last couple of weeks we have really run the ball affectively and that would be nice. If we can posses the ball and keep our offense on the field that’s less time for their offense to make plays. We need to be able to make some passes too,” he said.

Crawford and Lucas Both Want to Run

It’s only two games into the conference schedule, but the winner of the Colonel Crawford versus Lucas game on Friday night will emerge as the leader in the small school division of the North Central Conference.

Both teams won last week in their conference openers with Lucas beating Riverdale 24-22 and Crawford manhandling Crestline 56-0.

“I thought our kids played well on both sides of the ball,” Colonel Crawford coach Ryan Teglovic told Swankonsports.com on Monday, “We were able to run the football well Tyler Smith had some 260 yards on the night. We had another back in C.J. Smith that went for over 100 yards, so obviously the offensive line played very well. Defensively, I felt like we flew around and hit well.” Tegolvic believes this was likely the Eagles (2-2) best performance of the season so far. “I would think so. I think it was our best effort. I think every week we are getting a little better. As we continue to get some guys back and healthy we can improve every week,” he said.

Lucas, like Crawford, has won their last two games and they have also done it with a strong rushing attack. The Cubs have run for nearly 1,000 yards combined against Ridgeway Ridgemont and Riverdale. “They are big and physical up front for one. They have three offensive lineman back from last year’s team. I think all three are very good lineman. They have a tight end that is back from last year. All four of those kids are big and physical. They have two very good running backs in Swainhart and Harris. They both not only possess size, but strength and athleticism,” said Teglovic. Levi Harris had set a school record for rushing yards with over 300 against Ridgemont. He totaled 144 on Riverdale, while Nick Swainhart had 181 on 23 carries against Riverdale.

With both teams running affectively this season Friday night is going to be a battle in the trenches and Teglovic believes the team that wins at the point of attack will likely win the game. “Whoever wins the battle up front is going to have a leg up. We also would like to control the tempo a little bit more. We would like to get some big plays as well,” he said.

Colonel Crawford has probably been hurt by injuries more than any team in this area outside of possibly Norwalk St. Paul. “I think we will return one more this week. We will probably go into Friday night being down three starters and that’s a far cry from where we were,” Teglovic said.

Colonel Crawford Getting Healthier, Better

Colonel Crawford faces its first test in the new North Central Conference on Friday night when they host the Crestline Bulldogs in North Robinson.

Crawford is 1-2 after picking up its first win of the season last week over New London, beating the Wildcats 28-25. “Our play in the second half was very good,” Eagles coach Ryan Teglovic told Swankonsports.com, “The ability to make big plays is always helpful. Tyler Orwiller, our quarterback, and Alec Kessler, our receiver, made two really big plays for us and when you can do that it just opens everything up for you offensively and gives the team a little confidence. When you have to drive the ball eight or ten plays every time it makes things a little more difficult.” Teglovic believes the defense took a step back last week and they have to be better in conference play. “We played real well on week one and week two we did some good things there, but we gave up too many big plays. I was a little disappointed by our defense last week, especially in the first half. I thought we made some mistakes we shouldn’t have made. I think we took care of a lot of those things in the second half,” he said.

Crestline has been surprising over the first three games with wins over Northmor (42-12), Ridgeway Ridgemont (30-12) and South Central (27-8), all in impressive fashion. “Anytime you can go from 0-3 one year to 3-0 the next that’s a heck of a turnaround. They have the number one rated pass offense right now in the “NCC” and the number one rated passer in Reynolds. He’s doing a great job, he can run the ball, he’s a year old, he’s a junior now. He has a couple of weapons to throw it to. They spread you out and make you cover the whole field,” said Teglovic.

If Colonel Crawford is to compete for a division title in the “NCC” they need to have a win over Crestline. “Yeah, it’s an important game, Teglovic said, “We feel like very week we are going to get a little healthier. We are going to get at least one guy back this week. If we can continue to get better I think we are going to be a good football team.”

Colonel Crawford Needs Win

The Colonel Crawford Eagles have played the first two weeks of the season without a number of their better players due to injury and discipline, but many of those kids will be returning this week as the Eagles host New London, of the Firelands Conference, in non-conference play.

An early score last week versus Upper Sandusky gave the Eagles the lead, but they committed seven turnovers in losing 28-7. “We turned the ball over seven times on Friday night and anytime you put yourself in a hole like that it’s going to be difficult to win a football game. We did have a majority of kids going both ways,” Crawford coach Ryan Teglovic told Swankonsports.com on Monday.

Some of the players serving a suspension due to a violation of team rules return this week and Teglovic hopes that gives them a needed boost. “We get a few guys rollin’ here this week and we’re excited about that, so I think that’s going to be good for our football team. We have some younger guys getting some experience, but they don’t have to go both ways now,” he said. The Eagles will still be without the services of quarterback Nate Klingenberger, who is out with an injured hand.

New London (0-2) has lost non-conference games to Buckeye Central and Oberlin Firelands. “They are very athletic, offensively they have the Hall kid at quarterback and he’s a good player and they have one of the better receivers we have seen too. They do a lot of things offensively to attack you on the edge,” said Teglovic.

Colonel Crawford expects to be one of the better teams in their division of the North Central Conference this season, but Teglovic believes they have to get some momentum this week. “It’s a big game for us, we know that,” he said, “We are getting some guys back right before the conference schedule. It’s a big game in many ways. We can’t play tight either, you have to go out there and do what you’re taught.”

Colonel Crawford Hit Hard

Colonel Crawford played without eight varsity members due to injury or discipline in their first game against Mt. Gilead last week and it likely cost them a win.

The Indians won the game 14-6.

Nate Klingenberger, projected as the Eagles starting quarterback, is out with an injury and it’s going to be a couple of weeks before he gets back into the lineup. “He is week to week,” coach Ryan Teglovic told Swankonsports.com, “Probably in a couple of weeks we will have him back. He is allowed to do some throwing and he has been doing a little bit of jogging. The young man we have in there now is doing a good job, he has just been put in a bad situation.” Logan Sager got the start in place of Klingenberger against Mt. Gilead and he is expected to get the call when the Eagles play at Upper Sandusky on Friday night.

Despite the hurdles Teglovic thought they gave everything they could against Mt. Gilead. “I felt like our effort was really good. I felt we played hard. Now, we need to execute a little better. We started talking about those things right after the game,” he said.

Upper Sandusky was drilled 42-13 by Carey in their first game, but Teglovic knows they have the potential to be a very good football team because they have a lot of talent in their younger grades. “They had an excellent freshmen class last year. Their freshmen won the “NOL” and those guys are sophomores now and they are playing a lot. They have a really good quarterback, he’s a sophomore, he’s very athletic. The have a nice tailback too,” said Tegolvic.

Upper has been in a number of formations on both offense and defense this year. They have run a basic 4-3 and also a 3-5 look on defense. On offense, they have shown an “I” formation and have also run some plays out of a spread. Teglovic knows they are going to have to be able to adapt. “I think that is the thing offensively and defensively,” he said, “You can’t prepare them for every given scenario. We want to be able to make adjustments based on a given set of rules.”

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