Cincinnati Landmark Eagles soar to win over Illinois Crossroad Crusaders 41-7

Tagged under: Beyond The Keystone, Game Photos, Gameday Hub, News

David Burnworth | October 30, 2022

Yesterday I drove over three hours from Columbus, Ohio to Marion, Indiana to catch the Landmark Eagles battle the Crossroad Crusaders on the campus of Indiana Wesleyan. This would mark my time catching a game in Marion and also the first time seeing the Crusaders. I know head coach Mike Goodpastor from Landmark and he has also treated PAFOOTBALLNEWS well when I cover his games.

The Eagles defense would get an excellent play from Hudson Mortimer when he got to Austin Albus for a loss of seven at the 10:07 mark of the first quarter. Chase Davis would throw a nice little pass to Chris Durbin who after making the grab he powered his way for a gain of thirty taking the ball all the way to the Eagles ten. The drive came to a screeching stop after a fumble that the Eagles defense came up with.

The Eagles would get two nice runs that total 25-yards by Hudson Mortimer but the Crusaders defense bared down and put a quick in to the drive soon after. After getting back on the field Davis had to scramble for his life before firing the ball to Dean Foster for a big gain of 34-yards, with 1:25 left on the clock. Fullback Parker Anderson would have his bell rung when the Eagles Dakota Reardon crushed him holding the bruiser no no gain on the play. Davis would end the hard-hitting quarter with two completions, the first to Chris Durbin and the second to Austin Albus setting up a first and goal from the ten to start the second quarter.

Davis would need just six seconds of that second quarter to again find Albus to make this a 6-0 game, after Kyle Chrusciel connected on the point after kick we had a 7-0 game. The Eagles did not look fazed as they found themselves on the short end of the score and as their offense took the field this would show in a big way when Caleb Vetter let fly a pass that Jacob Newton brought in for a 41-yard gain. Coach Goodpastor would say after the game he had just started to allow his young talented quarterback to sling the rock. Vetter capped off the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. Levi Sanders would snap the ball to Justin Wilson where Caden Vonderhaar easily nailed the point after kick to lock this game up at seven, with 9:21 left in the half.

A bull-like power run of 16-yards from Albus got the ball rolling for the Crusaders on the ensuing drive but the Eagles defense would come up huge at the 7:10 mark of the quarter on that drive where they stopped a fourth and three attempt with Jayden Brogden sacking Davis for the 16-yard loss. The game changed for the good on that play for the Eagles as they would start a 34-point run to close out the game.

Vetter would use his arm again this time finding Caleb Bush for the 14-yard score making this a 14-7 game, with 5:01 left in the half. A short time later he would hit Bush for a 36-yard gain to set up the next score that came on his own 8-yard run making this a 20-7 game, with 2:27 on the clock.

After Reardon sacked Davis for a loss of two Peyton May picked off a Davis pass with 23.6 seconds left to put the Eagles high soaring offense back on the field. Vetter would find Newton for the 28-yard touchdown that was followed by a two-point conversion run by Hudson Mortimer making this a 28-7 game as the two teams headed into the locker rooms.

In the third quarter, Vetter found Newton for a 35-yard gain to help set up the next score which came on a 13-yard catch by May making this a 35-7 game. The Eagles would get an interception from Justin Wilson to get the offense back on the field. One play later Vetter stuck again when he connected with May for the 50-yard score to make this a 41-7 game. The last big play of the quarter and the game came from Reardon who picked off a Davis pass with a little under 5:00 minutes left in the quarter.

The fourth and final frame ended without either team scoring in a large part because the Eagles played a lot of their second unit on both sides of the ball with the defense playing very well and the offense basically just going through the motions only because the Eagles was showing a lot of class by not running up the score.

My Stats

Illinois Crusaders

50 plays

194 yards

Passing, 9-15 1 TD, 2 Ints

Eagles

51 plays

395 yards

Passing, 10-15 TD’S