Home, sweet home: Colonel Crawford breezes past East Knox in final nonleague test
NORTH ROBINSON - After just shy of 600 miles worth of travel the first two weeks of the season, Colonel Crawford suited up in front of the home crowd at H. J. Gary Field.
And to make it sweeter, it was senior night.
Fitting that two the Eagles seniors — Trevor Vogt and Micah Thomas — combined for five touchdowns and 241 yards on the ground in a 49-15 win over East Knox.
"Our first game was four hours away, second one was two hours in Toledo," Vogt said. "It's so much nicer being at home showing up an hour and 45 minutes before a game instead of a day before a game."
Vogt opened the game with a 75-yard kickoff return to set the tone early on. But coach Jake Bruner wasn't that confident until the Eagles started to pull away.
"From the viewpoint of fans it felt that way, but it didn't feel that way from a coaching standpoint," Bruner said. "We just felt like we were one score away from putting it away. The first quarter, my goodness, might have been the longest first quarter ever. It's what happens when you score on the opening kickoff."
That's how the Eagles hope to start every game, though.
"That's our cheer," Vogt said. "Every time we come out for kickoff — returners score on three — and we did it."
Vogt was a human highlight reel again throwing for 77 yards on 3-of-8 completions and a touchdown along with rushing for 123 yards and two more scores on the ground to go with his kickoff return. Vogt totaled 294 all-purpose yards and accounted for four touchdowns.
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"This year as quarterback it's just key that I have to be a leader and keep my composure," Vogt said. "If I got emotional a little bit (last year), it didn't matter as much. But this year I have to keep my composure and keep the guys together. Make sure that we aren't freaking out in hard situations like after they scored that touchdown."
And even with so many new faces in key positions, the Eagles are 3-0 to start the season and head into league play with a ton of momentum.
"We have so many juniors (and) sophomores playing right now," Vogt said. "And there's even freshmen players rotating in which is absolutely huge. We have those guys come in and know what they're doing without having to tell them every single play.
"And it's good for the future of the program, too."
Thomas carried the ball 17 times for 118 yards and two touchdowns, Conner McMichael rushed for 50 yards and a touchdown along with catching one touchdown pass for 57 yards.
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This article originally appeared on Bucyrus Telegraph-Forum: Colonel Crawford football wraps up nonleague with win over East Knox
