Announcement
From the GAZETTE: By Craig Gifford, Special to The Gazette
YORK TWP. — The Buckeye football team couldn't decide which would be sweeter: Opening the season with a 3-0 record or doing it by pitching a shutout.
In the end, it decided to have its cake and eat it too.
The Bucks shut down the Avon Eagles 21-0 Friday to open a season 3-0 for the first time since 1991.
"The shutout feels good, but being undefeated feels a whole lot better," Buckeye defensive tackle Travs Travers said.
The defense was solid from the start. It held Avon without a first down in the opening quarter and allowed only four in the entire game. The Bucks also held the Eagles to 26 yards on 26 carries.
In the first quarter, the Eagles (2-1) had a first down at the Bucks 11 and turned the ball over on downs at the 6.
Not to be outdone, the Buckeye offense took the field and marched 94 yards in 12 plays for a Tyler Van Drei touchdown run.
On the drive, the Bucks converted two third-and-longs — including a 56-yard sprint by Tim Maxworthy on third-and-7 — and Van Drei's 6-yard scoring rumble came on fourth down.
"We physically handled them," Maxworthy said. "We just wanted it more than they did."
"Our kids have heart," Buckeye coach Chris Medaglia said. "We kept getting long fields and our kids just kept playing. We've taken long drives in all three of our games so far this year."
In what turned into a game of one-upmanship, the Buckeye defense proceeded to block a field goal and intercept a pass on the next two Eagles possessions.
Then it knocked Avon starting quarterback Jason O'Rouke (1-of-8, 46 yards, 1 int.) out of the game with a knee injury at the end of the first half.
Following Dan Cereshko's interception of O'Rouke in the second quarter, he led the Bucks 51 yards in four plays, capping the drive with a 16-yard fade pass to Darren Cereshko in the back of the end zone.
"That touchdown was just pretty much throw it up and see what happens," said Dan Cereshko, who finished 7-of-13 for 114 yards.
Led by sophomore backup quarterback Shawn Stencil, Avon ventured inside the Buckeye 5-yard line twice in the second half, only to be rejected each time.
On fourth-and-goal from the 1, the Eagles' Dan Siegfried never got a handle on the pitch and fumbled it into the end zone, where Buckeye recovered.
Then with less than 3 minutes left in the game, Avon had third-and-goal from the 4. But Stencil was intercepted by Dan Cereshko to seal the shutout.
"Our defense played phenomenal tonight," Medaglia said. "It means a lot to get the shutout."
Maxworthy finished the scoring on a 2-yard plunge with 1:56 left in the third quarter. For the game, he contributed 93 of Buckeye's 233 yards rushing.
"The stats are good, but it's all about getting the ‘W,'" Maxworthy said.
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