By Joe Catullo Jr.

sports@vindy.com

COLUMBIANA

Exhausted from playing on both sides of the gridiron at halftime Friday night, Collin Gilbert knew he could not let up.

“You’re just going to have to suck it up for 24 minutes here. You can feel bad tomorrow,” Crestview coach Paul Cusick said.

“That’s exactly what’s going to happen,” Gilbert replied.

Gilbert did what he promised, collecting 261 rushing yards, 97 passing and an interception in a 37-27 victory over Springfield. Three plays kept the Tigers (5-2, 2-1 Inter Tri-County League Tier One) from gaining any added momentum.

First, the Rebels (6-1, 2-1) faced third down and 33 yards to go late in the first half with the score tied at 7. If Crestview could not convert, the Tigers would have regained possession with two timeouts.

Instead, Gilbert broke to the outside and ran 63 yards to help set up a 9-yard touchdown pass to Jake Ferris.

“Gilbert does a heck of a job,” Springfield coach Sean Guerriero said. “We tried to keep him in the pocket, but there were a couple of times where he slipped to the outside and took it downfield. It was a challenge for our defense all night.”

Second, with the Tigers threatening in the red zone during the third quarter, Gilbert intercepted a Graham Mincher pass at the 3-yard line. Gilbert was flagged for pass interference on the previous play.

“We need him to make plays, and he does,” Cusick said. “We knew we were going to need him on defense, and he really did a good job at that.”

Finally, after the Tigers cut the deficit to 30-20 with 5:39 remaining in the game, Gilbert ran for a 53-yard touchdown 20 seconds later, even though Crestview wanted to take time off the clock.

“Coach said ‘If you can break it, score to put the pressure on them,’” Gilbert said.

The Rebels also got a tremendous effort from three other players in the run game. Crestview ran for 454 yards on 52 carries and four touchdowns overall.

The leading rusher besides Gilbert was Ferris. He rushed for 75 yards on just seven carries and two touchdowns to go with his receiving touchdown.

“He’s kind of overlooked a lot, probably underappreciated,” Cusick said. “We know that he’s always around the football. On offense, he just scores touchdowns. He’s always been like that, and maybe not the greatest athlete, the biggest or the fastest, but he’s a football player.”

The Tigers passed more often than they rushed. Mincher completed 12 passes on 25 attempts for 227 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.

“I think he did a good job,” Guerriero said. “He definitely ended up making some great reads for us. I think the line did a great job of letting him sit back there.”

The stands were packed on both sides Friday night, and one couldn’t help but feel the smell of playoffs in the atmosphere, especially the Rebels.

“All week, Coach said it’s a playoff game. We had to take it like a playoff game,” Gilbert said.