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Try as it might, fifth-seeded Buckeye stumbled out of the box and it led to a 41-7 loss to No. 4 Bowling Green in a Division III, Region 8 playoff opener.
The Bobcats (8-3) move on to play postseason regular and top-seeded Toledo Central Catholic (9-2). The Fighting Irish knocked off No. 8 Rocky River 70-48.
The Bucks (8-3) stubbed their toes early and Bowling Green took advantage at Bobcats Stadium.
“It was hard to recover from that, and we simply couldn’t,” Buckeye coach Mark Pinzone said. “They made the plays and we couldn’t.
“Offensively, we couldn’t put anything together the first couple of series. When you can’t get off the field (defensively), things like that are going to happen.”
The Bobcats pretty much dominated the first 12 minutes, as Buckeye ran only 10 plays for 34 yards and had the ball for only 3:32.
By the time the first frame ended, the Bucks found themselves digging out of a 14-point deficit, as Bowling Green quarterback Devon Garcia showed glimpses of what was to come the rest of the way.
The Bucks went three-and-out on their first possession, fumbled the ball away on their second and then followed with another three-and-out.
The Bobcats scored on three of their first four possessions and before Buckeye could get settled in, it was 21-7 with 7:55 left before intermission.
“We weren’t ready,” Buckeye slotback Trevor Thome said. “They played a lot harder than we did. They jumped on us early. They got us down on ourselves and we couldn’t battle back.”
The Bucks, who turned the ball over four times, were down 28-7 at intermission.
Much of that had to do with the Bobcats front four defensively, as Jeremy Christoff (4 tackles, 4 sacks, forced fumble), Gavin Winters (3 tackles, 1 for loss), Michael Koldan (2 tackles, forced fumble) and Parker Schaible (pass deflection) had strong showings.
Add linebackers Hogan Pash (2 tackles for loss, forced fumble, fumble recovery) and Nathan Meyer (2 sacks) and Buckeye quarterback Nate Polidori was in trouble much of the evening.
Bowling Green accounted for eight sacks and 10 tackles for loss to make things rough for the Bucks.
“They came hard,” Pinzone said. “They’re well-coached. They’re physical up front. We just couldn’t match up well with them. It was a little bit of everything. We weren’t able to get our reads. When you put that together, you have a disaster happening.”
Bowling Green wasn’t bad on offense, either. Garcia finished 14-of-21 for 233 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions. Ryan Emans had eight catches for 191 yards and two scores.
Throw in a strong outing from David Espen (19 carries, 109 yards, TD) and the Bobcats made the most of their first playoff appearance since 2000.
“We saw it on film,” Pinzone said. “We just couldn’t make the plays. They ran their routes and we couldn’t get in the quarterback’s face. They did what they needed to do and we couldn’t.”
While Buckeye couldn’t get out of the chute early, it was able to put up some decent numbers. Polidori rushed for 143 yards on 23 carries, including a 70-yard score in the second quarter. Thome had two catches for 35 yards and ran five times for 68.
“I had a couple of mistakes myself,” Polidori said. “We kind of got down on ourselves at the beginning. “In that second half, we were ready to go and played better.”
While Buckeye’s season ended on a sour note, the good news is the Bucks, who have never won a playoff game, were able to rattle off eight straight wins prior to Friday.
With a gaggle of players coming back, 2015 might be a season everyone at Buckeye will talk about for years.
“We’re going to be a lot better,” Polidori said. “We’re going to make history.”
Contact Brad Bournival at sports@medina-gazette.com.
