Announcement
From The GAZETTE By Brad Bournival, Staff Writer
YORK TWP. — It was a position sixth-seeded New Concord John Glenn had been in before. For the third-seeded Buckeye Bucks football team, not so much.
In a game that was a tale of two halves and a contest that went down to the end, Buckeye lost its first and only game of the year to the Little Muskies in a 10-6 Division III, Region 11 quarterfinal.
As a result, the Bucks, who are 0-3 in the playoffs, finish 10-1, while John Glenn (9-2) plays second-seeded Newark Licking Valley next Friday.
That the Bucks had only trailed once all season, by three points, while John Glenn lost twice and came from behind to win one other time, played a big role in this postseason opener.
"They're a good football team that didn't want to lose," John Glenn coach John Kelley said. "But we have kids that don't quit. We gutted it out and found a way to win. We could have folded our tents, but when you get to this level you leave everything on the field."
The Muskies could have folded and might have had they not been there and done that. A team that has now played five playoff teams this season, John Glenn didn't collapse when Adam Read (16-of-26, 219 yards, TD) found Matt Dash (4 catches, 88 yards) on an 18-yard touchdown pass with 9:58 to go before intermission.
Led by Mike Arena (9 tackles), the Bucks did everything they wanted, holding the Muskies to 19 yards of offense at the break and no first downs to go into halftime with a 6-0 lead.
John Glenn didn't cross midfield until 4:54 remained in the third quarter and didn't get its initial first down until 3:34 remained in the third frame.
"We knew coming in how good they were," John Glenn wingback Brad Bradley said. "We just kept our focus. Our
second-half motto is about being finishers. That's how we break the huddle and it's why this team wins. We've been down before. To us it was no big deal."
Showing the patience of a squad that's played in close games, the Muskies chipped away at the Bucks, making it 6-3 when Aaron Bates kicked a 27-yard field goal with 45 seconds remaining in the third.
Though the Muskies amassed just 143 yards total offense against the vaunted Buckeye front, they went 82 yards in eight plays to win their fifth postseason game in 10 tries.
Bradley (7 carries, 35 yards) did the damage, punching it in from the right side on a 15-yard run with 7:12 remaining.
The Bucks had their chances — Dash had a 64-yard punt return to the John Glenn 3 negated by a penalty — but couldn't execute. Despite finishing 5-of-13 on third-down conversions, Buckeye shot itself in the foot more often than not.
With Dustin Supan struggling — he rushed for 21 yards on 13 carries — Read and the Bucks went into halftime holding a 218-19 advantage in total yards and a 15:05 to 8:55 advantage in time of possession.
But penalties turned third-and-short situations into medium-range attempts.
"You've got to make plays," Buckeye coach Chris Medaglia said. "They made more plays than we did. It came back to bite us in the end."
So did the Muskies defense. A unit that gave up an average of 128 yards on the ground and 83 yards through the air buckled down in the second half. Read threw for 70 yards and Buckeye runners, who average 235 yards rushing, picked up only 34 yards after intermission.
Though the Bucks outgained the Muskies 322-143, just 103 were amassed without the arm of Read, who was under heavy pressure most of the second half.
"I got my butt kicked," Read said. "It was unbelievable. In the second half they dropped two safeties back and we couldn't do anything. It hurts."
Buckeye had one last chance in the fourth, but Chaz Jordan (7 catches, 92 yards) came up one foot short on a fourth-and-17 screen pass from the Bucks 40.
"If you're on defense and you have guys who know what they're doing and listen to what their coaches say, you'll shut down any offense," Buckeye two-way lineman Nick Tavernelli said. "I don't care who you are."
Bournival may be reached at Bournival929@sbcglobal.net or 330-721-4045.
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