Staff photo / Preston Byers Crestview’s Mikey Proctor lines up for a play during practice Wednesday in Columbiana.

COLUMBIANA — When Dominic Perry took over as Crestview’s head football coach in 2023, instant success did not follow.

Under their new coach, the Rebels lost each of their first four games, all by at least three scores. And while a four-game win streak helped even out the season, they finished 5-6 and without a playoff victory for a third straight year.

“We were kind of young,” Perry said of the 2023 team. “These guys, these seniors, were sophomores. A lot of them were starting as sophomores. Not to make excuses, but we were really young and didn’t have a whole lot of reps.”

Year 2 proved to be a step in the right direction; after a season-opening defeat to Western Reserve, Crestview rattled off seven consecutive victories by an average margin of 38 points, setting up a game vs. Garfield for the Mahoning Valley Athletic Conference Grey Tier championship.

The 23-22 loss, in which Crestview failed a two-point conversion before the G-Men scored the go-ahead touchdown and extra point, still stings, just like the 48-41 loss to Martins Ferry in the first round of the postseason.

“Our number-one goal every season coming in is winning the league title,” Perry said. “We had a little bit of letdown in that game, and then we came back and we lost in the playoff game. We talked about that a lot in the offseason.”

The bitter defeats have fueled the Rebels, who are off to their best start since 2015, when they began the season 6-0; through its first five games, Crestview has largely steamrolled opponents, pitching a pair of shutouts and winning four of its matchups by a combined score of 145-14.

“I’ve been here for a long time, and we talked a lot in the last couple of years about getting back to the way we used to be,” Perry said. “And these guys, these seniors, have really bought into that. We stressed a lot about accountability in the offseason. Our seniors, especially, they have missed zero time in the weight room. They’re here. They’re leaders. They’re buying in, they’re doing extra stuff.

“We used to fly around the field and knock people’s heads off, and that’s what we’re getting back to – being fundamentally sound.”

Before the season, Perry had expected his defense to be a particularly strong unit. But his offensive line, conversely, was a point of concern after replacing starters from last year’s team with underclassmen.

Fortunately, Perry, senior quarterback Jake Noling and center Brody Hoon have seen notable progress.

“To be honest, I don’t really have any concerns with the line,” Noling said. “I knew the older guys on the line would get the younger guys in shape. So I really wasn’t concerned about that, and I’m really proud of how they came along.”

In five weeks, the only close call for the Rebels was in their meeting with previously undefeated Liberty, which Crestview needed to score twice late to beat.

The win over the Leopards two weeks ago has seemingly set Crestview on another collision course with Garfield, with which the Rebels are tied atop the MVAC. Crestview and Garfield, the two-time defending conference champion, are set to meet during the penultimate week of the regular season.

Both teams have plenty of work to do before then, though, with the G-Men notably yet to play Liberty, and the Rebels refusing to overlook anyone, including tonight’s opponent, Brookfield.

“You’ve got to just keep looking game by game because anything can happen, truly,” Hoon said. “Even last year with that game against Garfield … anything can happen. So you just got to take it week by week.”

“We don’t talk about anything other than Brookfield this week,” Perry said. “To be honest, we talk a lot about that kind of stuff, showing up and playing the game. You’ve got to show up every game and play every game.”