Announcement
From the GAZETTE, By Jason P. Skoda, Staff Writer.
Dan Cereshko's first varsity football season ended with surgery.
Darren Cereshko's finished with a trip around the proverbial banquet circuit collecting awards.
Darren was named the Gazette's MVP, the Mohican Area Conference Defensive Player of the Year and shared Defensive Player of the Year honors in Ohio for Division III.
They are twin brothers, who shared the same bedroom for so many years, faced with different fates.
One got all the accolades, while the other dealt with rehabilitating his right knee.
It appears Dan got the short end of the stick, but really, it gave the Buckeye senior an edge.
"I was happy for Darren; he had a great year," Dan said. "He deserved everything, but it also motivated me to be at my best. I wanted to come back bigger and stronger."
It started soon after the medial meniscus in his right knee was injured in the Bucks' 42-21 loss against Willard during the Division III playoffs last season.
Dan, the team's quarterback, was pressed into duty on defense against the pass-happy Crimson Flashes, only to have his knee wrecked while making a tackle.
He sat on the team's bench with his leg elevated while his teammates tried to mount a comeback in the school's first OHSAA postseason game.
The comeback proved futile, but Cereshko's time alone on the sideline wasn't.
"I knew then I was going to have to work to get better and I wanted to be back for baseball," he said. "I wanted to make sure I was ready for football."
Cereshko didn't miss any time on the diamond and he's been sparkling so far this season in football.
The Bucks are off to a 5-0 start, he set the school's single-game record for passing yards (302) and ranks first in career touchdown passes (22) at Buckeye.
He's on pace to shatter the Buckeye record for passing yards in a season (1,266 by Tim Devericks in 1995) and could make a run at the career mark of 2,515 (also Devericks).
It's safe to say there's no hitch in his giddy-up.
"Dan has been tremendous," Buckeye coach Chris Medaglia said. "He is more mature, the game has slowed down for him and he's basically another coach on the field."
Cereshko ranks first in Medina County in TD passes (10) and second in passing yards (969). Overall, he is 59-of-111 (.532) with 10 scores and four interceptions.
The difference in his command of the Buckeye offense from his first start last season to his 17th tonight at Triway is vast.
"Last year, Dan was one of the athletes running around making plays," offensive coordinator Scott Sorrell said. "Now, he is the general out there.
"He's reading defenses. When the defense goes one way, he goes the other."
It's what Medaglia and Sorrell imagined when they chose offenses before last season.
They knew they had a 5-foot-11, 170-pound athlete, so instead of sitting in the pocket, they have Cereshko doing sprintouts on passing plays, where he can throw balls 55 yards on the run.
Putting him on the edge with the option to run or pass is an enviable position.
Unless, of course, you're the opposition.
"The kid's a great athlete and he fits perfectly into their system," Black River coach Al Young said. "He's very efficient and you never know what he is going to do with the ball."
Cereshko, who set the school record for completion percentage (.504) last season, ran for 522 yards last season, but he's just starting to commit to the run this year.
Against Columbus Bishop Ready last week, he picked up 37 of his 92 yards on the ground this year. Most of that came on a 23-yard scamper where he escaped a sack and dove for extra yardage at the end of the run.
"That was a backyard football play," Sorrell said. "Dan is at his best when he is running and throwing.
"It puts defenses on their heels because they aren't sure what he is going to do."
Cereshko's drive also comes from trying to surpass last year's first share of the Mohican Area Conference title and playoff appearance.
"We're not as big, but I think we are quicker," said Cereshko, who has visited or plans to visit Heidelberg, Baldwin-Wallace and Kent State this fall. "We have to get on some of the little guys, but we are getting better."
It's no coincidence Buckeye's resurgence — the Bucks have won 14 of their last 15 regular-season games — has coincided with Cereshko's emergence.
"I'm willing to do whatever the team needs to win," Cereshko said. "We were down for so long none of us want to go back."
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