Announcement
Bucks Avoid Major Upset
Fauver, Monaco Make Sure Colts' Streak Keeps Going
9/8/2017 - By TOM HARDESTY The Post Contributor
WESTFIELD TWP. - Buckeye’s football team wasn’t at its best Sept. 8. The Bucks were good enough when it mattered most, coming through with big plays down the stretch to defeat host Cloverleaf 28-14 and avoid a monumental non-league upset. The Bucks handed Cloverleaf its 21st consecutive loss, a streak dating to Week 3 of the 2015 season, but it wasn’t easy. In fact, the Bucks didn’t cement the win until junior tailback Dominic Monaco scored on a 27-yard run with 1:09 left to account for the final margin.
Until then, Buckeye (3-0) was fighting for its life to keep from becoming the Colts’ first victim in nearly two calendar years. “We went into this game with the wrong mentality,” said Monaco, who rushed for 124 yards on 18 carries. “Based on last year’s game we knew Cloverleaf was going to come out strong against us. We knew they would compete and play hard, and we love it. But we were lackadaisical in warmups and it kind of carried over into the game.”
The Bucks bolted out to a 14-0 first-half lead on scoring passes of 23 and 27 yards from senior quarterback Adam Fauver to junior Anthony Watkins and senior Jonathan Neel, respectively, and it seemed like the Bucks had things in hand. But the Colts (0-3) managed to get off the ropes behind the physical running of senior quarterback Travis Hissom, whose 1-yard TD run just 34.9 seconds before halftime cut the deficit to 14-7.
From that point on it was a dog fight. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy,” Buckeye coach Greg Dennison said. “This will be a good learning point for us. It’s good to come away with the win even with all the mistakes that we made.” The Bucks had trouble hanging onto the ball throughout the game, putting it on the ground several times but managing to recover most of their own fumbles. One they didn’t get back, however, came early in the third quarter with the ball at the Cloverleaf 3-yard line.
The Colts recovered a fumble in the end zone to end the threat, keeping the score at 14-7. With the Bucks clinging to that one-touchdown lead, pinned deep in their own territory and needing someone to make a play, Fauver and the offensive line delivered. On third-and-8 from the Buckeye 16, Fauver took the snap, burst through a huge hole on the left side of the line, veered toward the sideline and raced 84 yards to the end zone for a 21-7 lead and some much-needed breathing room. Fauver had a superb night, completing 9-of-13 passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns while rushing for 109 yards on 14 carries, including the long TD run.
“Coach gave us a good speech at halftime and it got us going,” Monaco said. “We’ll bounce back from this. We’re excited to get into league play next week. We have a lot to look at on film and we’ll get better.” Dennison was just happy to escape with a victory. “I thought we had a good week of practice, but we weren’t ready,” he said. “But we made enough plays to win the game and that’s all that matters.”
