Staff report

NEW WATERFORD

Norwayne’s second trip to the OHSAA Division V football playoffs would be much better than their first, but it wasn’t as easy as they hoped.

The Bobcats scored on fourth and goal from the half-yard line in overtime to give them their first playoff win in school history, 26-20, over Crestview, on Saturday night.

“All we cared about was this win tonight,” said Norwayne coach Joe Harbour. “We weren’t looking ahead, we just wanted this one.”

The Bobcats got the ball back with 1:39 left in regulation on Crestview’s 48-yard line down 20-14. Quarterback Adam Wallace led his offense down the field, completing a third and 10 pass to Zac Vance for 33 yards.

“We knew coming in that [Wallace] was going to be a big time player and he proved that tonight,” Crestview coach Paul Cusick said. “Watching him on film, he made plays and he plays hard.”

Two plays later, Wallace scored on a 15-yard run, making it 20-20 with 1:04 left and an extra point attempt left to give them the lead.

Crestview’s special teams stepped up at crucial points throughout the night. The Rebels blocked a 28-yard field goal attempt and returned it 90 yards for a touchdown, giving them 13-7 lead. Crestview also blocked a punt deep in Norwayne territory, then blocked the extra point attempt to send the game to overtime.

“We kept telling our guys all week that it was going to be a four-quarter war, and it ended up being five quarters,” said Cusick. “We had some opportunities but just didn’t take advantage of it. We shot ourselves in the foot and made some costly mistakes.”

Norwayne’s defense was able to hold Crestview’s offensive attack to just 254 yards. The Bobcats held Carter Hill to 98 yards rushing on 25 attempts.

“They did a nice job with field position and keeping us really deep,” said Cusick. “I felt like we were always just one block away, and we just couldn’t get it done.”