Announcement
Buckeye Falls To Revere In Overtime (8/27/2016)
BATH TWP. The graduation of Gazette MVP Trevor Thome, all-county quarterback Nathan Polidori and a host of other talented players from a 10-1 team likely would have been surmountable. Losing new varsity quarterback Adam Fauver to injury and having Division III All-Ohio lineman Hunter Gray available only to snap on extra points and field goals proved too much, however, as the Buckeye football team dropped a 34-28 overtime heartbreaker to Revere on Friday in a non-league season opener. “They’re understanding the process, but they don’t understand the whole process,” Bucks coach Mark Pinzone said. “A lot of these guys played a lot on Saturday mornings (in junior varsity games) last year. There’s a big difference once you get under the lights. It’s a lot different than playing in the sunshine.
The young Bucks, who will play arguably the toughest team on their schedule when they host Rocky River next week, led 21-14 and never trailed by more than a score, but their defense sprung some big leaks at very inopportune times. Revere’s Clayton Langdon, who finished with 261 yards on 29 carries, had touchdown runs of 65, 6, 72 and 7 yards, the latter ending things in OT. Langdon, who owns sub 4.5-second speed in the 40-yard dash, got his 65-yarder on a basic third-and-21 draw play on the first series of the game, while his 72-yarder came on the Minutemen’s second play of the second half. “I want the ball every time. Every single time,” the 6-foot, 190-pound senior said. “I understand it doesn’t work like that, but I’m gonna bust a long one eventually, as long as I get one hole.
Expected to be back next week, Gray’s 6-2, 240-pound presence on the defensive line certainly would have helped the Bucks, who overpursued on several occasions, allowing Langdon to make one quick cut and sprint to daylight. We had some guys who didn’t make plays because they weren’t in their gaps,Pinzone said. When you violate that, a big hole is gonna happen.
Equally costly was a knee injury suffered by Fauver (7-for-10 passing, 45 yards; 7 carries, 39 yards) early in the second quarter. It occurred when the junior was scrambling right, jammed his foot into the turf and went to the ground without being touched. The Bucks were facing second-and-9 from the Revere 11 when Fauver went down — Pinzone is hopeful his QB has just a sprain and no ligament damage — but backup signal caller Eric Keller fumbled away a shotgun snap on his first play.
Despite limited first-team reps and being placed in a very tough position, the senior acquitted himself nicely after that. Keller finished 6-for-12 for 110 yards, including a 29-yard dart to Ricky VanBoxel that tied the game at 28 with 4:20 left in the third period. Keller also hit Jonathon Neel (6 catches, 81 yards) for a great 47-yard catch one series after fumbling, which set up a 10-yard TD run by Michael Doerge that tied the game at 14 with 5:34 left in the first half. On the negative side, Keller put the ball on the ground three times, losing two. The last came on Buckeye’s second play of OT, when he caught the shotgun snap but dropped the ball as he started to move out of the pocket. Two plays later, Langdon scored his fourth TD to end the game. We threw him to the lions tonight,” Pinzone said of Keller. “He stepped up and made some plays. (The last fumble) might have been from a lack of reps, but he handled it well. We’ll rep it up next week so that doesn’t happen again. I’m very proud of him.
Doerge (11 carries, 80 yards) added a 25-yard touchdown run that gave Buckeye a 21-14 lead with 3:16 left in the second quarter, while Justin Canedy (11 carries, 110 yards) went 57 yards for a score on the Bucks’ third play of the game to tie things at 7. Up 21-14 at halftime, Buckeye’s lead could have been greater. It lost potential points on Keller’s first fumble, had penalties turn second-and-goal at the 4 into third-and-goal at the 20 before turning the ball over on downs and missed a 38-yard field goal on the last play of the first half.
Penalties were a big problem for both teams in a game that took 3 hours, 18 minutes, including 3:10 for regulation. Revere was penalized 14 times for 129 yards and the Bucks 10 for 88. We were inside the 5 and came up empty,” Pinzone said. “That can’t happen.
Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com.
