NORTH ROBINSON - It wasn't perfect by any means, but the new look Colonel Crawford Eagles opened the season with a win.
"We've had eight months prepare, and we have a young team," acting head coach Chris Solis said. "Kids are gonna make mistakes, but we were very proud of their effort tonight."
For the second consecutive year the Eagles won big over Fairbanks. And, just as he did a year prior, Parker Weithman put on a show against the Panthers scoring a trio of touchdowns — 11-yard reception, 35-yard jet sweep, 99-yard kickoff return.
"Parker is just a kid who is fun, but he's competitive," Solis said. "Kids love him, coaches love him, the community loves him ... kids feed off his energy and he's a great leader."
As thrilling as it was to watch every time Weithman touched the ball, he gives credit to his senior classmate for setting the tone early. Roen Thew, taking over quarterback duties, ripped off an 80-yard run down the Fairbanks sideline on the first offensive play of the game after Weithman downed the opening kickoff for a touchback.
"I was hyped," Weithman said. "That was exciting (and) it definitely turned the mood. We were all a little nervous, but it got us going for sure."
It sparked a three-touchdown first quarter for the Eagles with Weithman's reception being the second and Avery Powers' 46-yard scamper the third. Thew connected with Carson Rader for the fourth score of the half in response to Fairbanks getting on the board via a Max Winner quarterback keeper from 25 yards out.
Thew scrambled for a four-yard score and then Weithman's jet sweep late in the third brought the running clock into effect, but Fairbanks would halt it with back-to-back touchdowns in the fourth from Carson Shope and Brennan Peffer before Weithman's big return capped off the scoring.
"There's still things to improve on for sure," Weithman said. "We're looking forward to get that fixed this week and come out ready to play next week."
It's like he had just heard his coach say something similar in the postgame huddle.
"There's some things we gotta clean up, but I'm proud of them and we were able to get almost 72 kids on the field tonight — that's something," Solis said. "We're going to continue to build that depth and that's something that has been a staple of ours the last couple years, next man up."
He heaped praise on Thew's debut performance as QB1, as well.
"The thing that really impresses me about him is that he's very unselfish," Solis said. "He waited his turn and then the whole offseason he prepared. He didn't just show up in July and start playing quarterback, he did the little things during the summer and during the offseason to prepare to be successful in his first game.
"(And) anytime you can get a big play like that and set the tone, it just knocks the wind out of the other team. The offensive coaches did an excellent job ... that was them working on it the entire week, our kids just went out there (and did it). You could see we could throw the ball, we can run the ball, we're multi-dimensional and there's not just one kid carrying the load — we're hard to defend."
Fairbanks coach Dave Carroll knew turnovers were going to be costly against a team like Colonel Crawford, and throwing an interception on the Panthers' opening drive after already allowing Thew's touchdown on the first play was a less than ideal way to start the season. They were also stopped on 4th-and-1 late in the first before throwing two more interceptions and adding a fumble in the second quarter.
"Those turnovers killed us," Carroll said. "(But) our kids are in the making, we're predominately sophomores. We have a quarterback who was a running back/receiver type who we turned into a quarterback, just a tough kid who had quite a few rushing yards. Then the kid we put in at the end of the game, we can sling it and we've held him back a little bit because he forgot to come to some stuff and he's kind of in the doghouse, but he's working his way back."
Winner scored the team's opening touchdown and was eventually replaced by Aidan Hafner in the fourth quarter to give him some reps under center.
"The plan was to have both playing because one's a great thrower and the other is a great runner, so that gives people problems," Carroll said. "But these kids work hard ... you're seeing sophomores across the board, and our nose tackle came out for football for the first time, he's just going to keep getting better and better. We got some things we gotta shore up and get better at."
And they'll have to do it quick with Indian Lake coming to Scotts Miracle-Gro Stadium next week. Yes, that's two state semifinalists — that lost to eventual state champions — back-to-back for the Panthers.
"I told our AD this is crazy," Carroll said. "When we get into the league, it gets a little more like us. We just gotta be patient with the youngsters ... they all played as freshmen, they're gradaully maturing and getting better, we just gotta keep going."
Before he walked off the field, Carroll was able to reminisce on fond memories of H.J. Gary Field.
"Chris Solis and I coached together way back in the day, and I've known Jake (Bruner) most of his adult life," Carroll said. "Jake had be over here a couple years ago to talk to the team ... but way back when I first started coaching in '84 I was at Pleasant in the old NCC when Mike Cauley was coach, we battled here and here for five years.
"What a tradition (they've built), then with (Ryan) Teglovic, and now Jake is doing a great job."
zholden@gannett.com | 419-617-6018 | Twitter/X: @Zachary_Holden
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Colonel Crawford's dynamic offense on full display in season opener
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