Announcement
Buckeye Pulls Together To Defeat Cloverleaf (9/10/2016)
YORK TWP. — The Buckeye football team played its best when things looked the worst Friday night. Clinging to a four-point lead and about to play the second half without slotback Justin Canedy and receiver Jonathon Neel, the Bucks pulled together behind quarterback Michael Doerge, a determined offensive line and a stout defense to defeat Cloverleaf 28-10 in non-league action. Doerge, who moved from running back to quarterback in Week 2 after starting QB Adam Fauver hurt his knee in a season-opening overtime loss to Revere, rushed 20 times for 196 yards and two scores and was 4-for-4 passing for 38 yards as Buckeye improved to 2-1. “He’s a great leader, a hard worker and he’s very intelligent,” Bucks coach Mark Pinzone said. “He’s a smart player who takes over when we need it. He’s done it two games in a row.”
With the Bucks leading stubborn Cloverleaf (0-3) just 7-3 at intermission, Canedy (13 carries, 69 yards) out for the rest of the night with a hamstring injury and Neel sidelined with what could possibly be a broken collarbone, Buckeye looked like it could be in trouble. But the 5-foot-10, 195-pound Doerge used some great blocking to rush 10 times for 148 yards in the second half, including fourth-quarter scores of 65 and 18 yards that broke the game open. “We needed to do stuff,” the senior said. “I did it. Not just me. I can’t do anything without the offensive line doing what they do. They stepped to the plate.” With Canedy and Ryan Smith recovering fumbles, Keaton Sander coming up with an interception and Josh England, Jacob Kohler and Dustin McCullough making plays all over the field, the Buckeye defense held Cloverleaf to 221 yards on 58 plays.
Colts quarterback Travis Hissom was 12-for-20 passing for 103 yards — Ryan Curtis had three receptions for 41 yards and Nick Soika had five for 31 — but Cloverleaf managed just 118 yards rushing on 38 carries.
More telling, the Colts had just two rushes go for more than 9 yards — 14 was the long — and 19 go for 2 or less. “Offensively, we just have to finish drives,” Cloverleaf coach Justin Vorhies said. “That’s the killer right now. “We have to execute play after play. We know we don’t have that one dominant player — Soika is probably the closest — but we have guys that can get it done.” After Canedy carried six times for 51 yards, including a 7-yard TD, on an 11-play, 75-yard scoring drive that gave Buckeye a 7-0 lead just 3:35 into the game, the Colts outplayed the Bucks the rest of the first half. Cloverleaf’s best drive ended in a 23-yard Hissom field goal with 1:54 left in the half, but the Colts wasted a golden opportunity when Al Kozma fumbled at the Buckeye 20.
Still, things looked promising for the Colts, who got great play from linebacker Cory Stallings and a fumble recovery from Chase Eby. “Our defense played well in the first half except for the first drive,” Vorhies said. “We have to get over that.” Just when it looked like anyone’s game, Doerge went nuts in the second half. His 41-yard run — and three other carries for 13 yards — set up a 5-yard TD by Dominic Monaco that put Buckeye up 14-3 with 6:20 left in the third period. Doerge then went 65 yards through a gigantic hole on the left side of the line to make it a 21-3 game with 10:47 left. After Cloverleaf’s Vorhies unsuccessfully went for it on fourth-and-10 from his own 20 — “It’s 21-3. You can’t win if you punt,” he said — Doerge scored from 18 yards on Buckeye’s first play to erase all doubt about the outcome.
The Colts made the final score respectable when Diego Rivera scored from 2 yards against the Bucks’ second string, but Buckeye’s starters had already stopped sweating — figuratively and literally — by that point. “I had faith we were going to be OK,” Doerge said. “I’m a confident quarterback, but it’s not natural to me quite yet.”
"I had faith we were going to be OK,” Doerge said. “I’m a confident quarterback, but it’s not natural to me quite yet.” It might not matter, as Doerge could move back to running back if or when Fauver is cleared to play. “I’d almost prefer to have him take all the stress of running the offense,” Doerge said with a smile. “Then I can just concentrate on running the ball.”
Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4061 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Like him on Facebook and follow him @RickNoland on Twitter.
