Announcement
From The GAZETTE: By Jason P. Skoda, Staff Writer
YORK TWP. — For the first time in school history the Buckeye football program has more than 10 dominoes to worry about.
Of course, the concept of 10 dominoes equaling 10 regular-season games never entered the picture until first-year coach Chris Medaglia brought it up in the preseason.
After Ryan Hoover's 29-yard field with 2:12 left lifted the Bucks to a 10-9 win over Black River on Friday night in what was basically a Mohican Area Conference title game, Medaglia can set up five more and see how far Buckeye can go in the first playoff appearance in school history.
"I've talked about it all year," Medaglia said. "Knock one down and move on to the other. I brought it up again on Monday.
"We didn't worry about the MAC or the playoffs. All we cared about was beating Black River."
In doing so, Buckeye (9-1, 4-1) wrapped up a share of the MAC title with Black River (8-2, 4-1), while Triway finished third after a loss to West Holmes.
"This is unbelievable," senior running back Forest Mercer said. "We've worked so hard, but we feel we have more to do."
That additional work was made possible by Hoover's kick, two Buckeye goal-line stands, Darren Cereshko's nose for the ball and the Pirates' inability to hang on to it.
Nursing a 9-7 lead with just over four minutes to go, the Pirates got the ball on their 5-yard line after a 65-yard punt by Carl Waller.
The Pirates picked up one first down but fumbled twice — one by quarterback Kyle Clark and the other by running back Brian Ensign — without being hit on third-and-4 from the 22.
Buckeye's Cereshko, who had three interceptions, recovered at the Pirates 16 to set up Hoover's game-winner.
"(Quarterback) Dan (Cereshko) said, ‘Put it through,'" said Hoover. "Everything went silent. I concentrated on squaring up and getting lift on it.
"All I can say is we are going to the playoffs, baby."
It might not have been the case if the Pirates, who lost three of their seven fumbles, had been able to hang on to the ball.
"The conditions were wet, but, my gosh, this is the 10th week of the season," Black River coach Al Young said. "We have to be able to hang on to the ball. We gave up the ball too much."
The Pirates, who are in danger of having to travel for the first round of the Division IV playoffs, took the lead with 11:16 left on a 2-yard sweep by Ensign. The vital extra point was blocked by a host of Bucks.
The drive was typical Black River, as senior Brett Hastings (29 carries, 143 yards), Clark and Ensign moved the sticks on the 13-play, 72-yard march.
It was the only drive the Pirates were able to finish all game. Twice they had first-and-goal and couldn't find the end zone.
On their third drive of the game, which was set up by Darren Cereshko's fumble of a punt, Black River got down to the Buckeye 3, but two fumbled snaps forced the Pirates to settle for a 21-yard field goal by Clark.
On Black River's first possession of the second half —Mercer fumbled the kickoff — the Pirates got inside the Buckeye 10. They couldn't score on three tries from the 3, however, as Hastings was stopped on fourth-and-1 by seniors Travs Travers and Brian Vasel.
"We had plenty of opportunities," Young said. "We should have scored down there, both times. We didn't and that was the difference."
After getting only 43 yards rushing in the first half, Buckeye come out throwing the ball in the third period.
On the Bucks' second possession, Dan Cereshko warmed up, completing 4-of-6 to drive Buckeye down the field. He finished the drive with a 16-yard pass to Tyler Van Drei to give Buckeye its first score of the game with 4:29 left in the third quarter.
Right about then, that 10th domino began to tilt in the Bucks' favor.
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