Knights ready to play

Mark Morgan / The Item Crestwood wide receiver Andrew Sexton (82) runs with the football with a 40-yard completion to the Lakewood 2-yard line in the Knights’ 49-0 win last Friday. Crestwood travels to Langley on Friday to face Midland Valley in the first round of the 3A state playoffs.

By PATRICK ENZOR
Item Assistant Sports Editor
penzor@theitem.com

Whether it was fate, destiny, divine intervention or just a good old-fashioned break, Crestwood High School head football coach Keith Crolley doesn’t care. He’s just glad to be in the playoffs.

It took Wilson High booting itself from the playoffs by returning a kickoff for a touchdown in the waning minutes, but here the Knights are in the 3A state playoffs. They will travel to Langley on Friday to face 8-2 Midland Valley, which finished second in Region V.

“I just feel like we’ve done our share,” said Crolley, whose team is 5-5 after winning the last two games of the regular season. “I think we are a playoff team. Sometimes you catch breaks along the way. Any championship team will tell you that you don’t get there without a few breaks. Things have gone against us for a long time.

“We fortunate to be in there, but to come out of this region as the No. 3 seed is tough to do anyway,” he added.

Crolley and the Knights pride themselves on their difficult schedule in preparation for the playoffs. This year is no different.

Of the 10 teams that Crestwood played this season, only two aren’t making the playoffs — Wilson and Lakewood. The Knights’ opponents, which included three 4A teams, a 2A team and six 3A teams, went a combined 61-37 this season.

“You have to raise your level of play in the playoffs,” said Crolley. “Our schedule proves you have to be ready to play week in and week out... We’ve held our own.

We had our chances in all our ball games,” he added. “If we keep giving ourselves a chance, good things can happen.”

Compared to the Mustangs, whose opponents, which included three 2A teams, a 1A team and a 4A team, went just 50-50. Midland Valley defeated the three 2A teams — Batesburg-Leesville, Mid-Carolina and Silver Bluff — by just a combined 14 points.

“They’re a good football team,” Crolley said of the Mustangs. “They have good football players and the defensive front seven are real active. We have to be ready to play.

“We can’t go into any game and think we’re going to roll,” he added. “Really and truly in the playoffs everyone is 0-0. What you did in regular season doesn’t count for anything if you are living off of that.”

Midland Valley quarterback Marquett Carr had 1,186 yards of offense heading into the final two games of the season. He’s rushed for 569 yards and passed for 617 yards.

Running back Jeremy Robinson rushed for 774 yards.

Crestwood, of course, will be running its Wing T offense. Crolley said the Mustangs have faced two Wing T teams this season, but is hoping the Knights bring something a little different to the table.

“We hope that’s to our advantage,” said Crolley. “I know they’ve played two Wing T teams, but we’d like to think that we do some things that they haven’t seen. It all comes down to blocking and tackling. Hopefully, we can go in and do that on Friday night.”

Quarterback Willie Glover, who broke his on school record with 139 passing yards in the Gator’s 49-0 rout of Lakewood on Friday, has thrown for 503 yards and seven scores this year while rushing for 569 and four TDs. Running back Robert Simon leads the team with 870 yards and seven touchdowns.

While the wins haven’t necessarily been there for Crestwood this season, the defense definitely has. In five region games, which pound for pound is one of the toughest in the state, the Knights surrendered just 50 points.

Marquise Parker leads the Knights with 121 tackles on the season, 17 for loss. Darius Wallace has 11 quarterback sacks and Raphael Aiken has 10.

“We played good the last couple weeks,” said Crolley. “Defensively, I think we are playing better than we did at the beginning of the year. Offensively, we’re coming back into our own. We’re getting better.”