Buckeye Bucks Football

HENRIETTA TWP. — Trevor Thome’s ability to make opposing defenses miss has made him one of the premier running backs in the area.

That trend continued Friday night, as the Buckeye junior answered the call by finding the end zone three times to help the Bucks to a 28-7 Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division road win over Firelands.

The victory helped Buckeye (8-2, 5-0) capture the outright division title and a Division III, Region 8 playoff berth.

With fellow speedster Nathan Scott out for undisclosed reasons, Thome carried the bulk of the load en route to picking up a game-high 195 yards on 18 carries in just three quarters.

“I don’t know if he’s in a class by himself, but whatever class he’s in, it sure as (heck) doesn’t take a long time to call roll call, I can tell you that,” Bucks coach Mark Pinzone said. “He’s a special kind of young man. He’s a grinder and a gritter, yet he’s still athletic and a great football player.”

Clinging to a 14-7 lead at the half thanks to Thome and quarterback Nate Polidori (4-for-7, 80 yards) capping long drives with short touchdown runs, Buckeye scored on its first two possessions of the third period to lock up the win.

Thome ended both drives with impressive runs — the first a 15-yard sprint when he broke through the interior of the Falcons line and the other an 8-yard dance that came thanks to a nifty spin move that made a defender miss.

The plays put down a pesky Firelands team that kept coming at the Bucks in the opening two quarters, including a 1-yard dive by quarterback Brad Thrasher (23 carries, 147 yards) to close the half.

“We grinded it out, but we were fine,” Pinzone said. “It was 14-0 and we played hard the last defensive series of the first half, but just had a couple of bad breaks that resulted in a touchdown.

“I told our guys that we had some goals to accomplish in the second half, and I’m real proud of the guys for stepping up.”

The defense limited Thrasher to just two completions and 37 yards after halftime. Buckeye also limited Thrasher’s chances on the ground, holding the 1,000-yard rusher to just 77 outside of the 70-yard carry he had against second-string defenders in the closing minute.

The Bucks added a stop on fourth-and-2 midway through the third and a first-half interception by Hayden Roskey.

“Our defense was fantastic,” Pinzone said. “I actually questioned our team, and I rarely do that, at halftime about our intensity level. You know, the rah-rah stuff. We were flat on the sideline and we were flat on the field, and we had to pick them up and that’s my job. The defense took the nod, went out there and played hard.”

Whatever the second-year coach said, it worked, and the Bucks find themselves in the postseason for the second year in a row.

“No matter how the chips fall, we’re just having fun,” Pinzone said. “I’m proud of our kids, I’m proud of our program and I’m proud of our community.”

Note

Contact Dan Brown at sports@medina-gazette.com

Buckeye 28, Firelands 7

YORK TWP. — As Buckeye’s football team walked off the field after a 55-16 thrashing of Oberlin, Braeden Stauffer helped carry some equipment into the locker room.

You would never know the sophomore scored a touchdown he will never forget.

Stauffer’s first career score in the closing seconds — an exclamation point on an easy Patriot Athletic Conference cross-division victory — was one of several plays in a stat-stuffing night that carried the Bucks (2-2, 1-0) to their second straight win at Edwin Steingass Field.

Stauffer’s interception in the final seconds, however, was the talk among fans as they walked to their cars.

“It was just an instinct thing. You don’t plan that,” said Stauffer, who is in his first year playing football at any level. “It was great.”

With the game clock at zero, Oberlin quarterback David Payne’s pass bounced off the hands of his intended receiver. Stauffer was there to scoop the ball out of the air and go 90 yards.

“I just reacted,” he said. “I read the quarterback and when he threw, I just popped up. I was lucky that (the receiver) bobbled it and I just made a play.”

It was one of several plays made by Buckeye players from the opening possession, which lasted three plays before quarterback Nate Polidori found John Garner from 13 yards. A three-touchdown quarter by Trevor Thome made it 28-0 at the end of the first.

“I think we were pretty confident and that relaxed us,” said Polidori, who also rushed for 83 yards on eight carries. “We really took it to them and, from the first drive, we knew this was our night.”

After the opening score, the Phoenix (1-3, 0-1) went three-and-out, giving way to the first of two punt return touchdowns from Thome. The 5-foot-9, 165-pound junior returned the first kick 75 yards for a score and then, after recording another score on a 2-yard dive, ran through a truck-size hole for a school-record 85-yard return.

“It felt pretty great,” Thome said. “I have to give all the credit to the punt return team, who set up some great blocks. I had huge lanes to run through.”

The first-quarter performance wasn’t a surprise Buckeye coach Mark Pinzone.

“We were just doing things right,” he said. “Our kids came out ready to play. We talked all week about how it was nice to have the win last week (against Cloverleaf), but we had to put that away and get to the next week. I was very happy with what we did tonight.”

Oberlin snapped the run with a 14-yard scamper by Elijah Briggs, but Buckeye closed the half with rushing TDs by Michael Doerge and Nathan Scott to lead 42-7.

Doerge, who took over the reigns at quarterback in the fourth quarter, also had a 16-yard score to finish with 72 yards on eight carries.

“We kind of could’ve done whatever we wanted,” Polidori said. “It was fun, but there are a lot of things we can clean up. I think I heard (Browns coach) Mike Pettine say once that, ‘I would rather take negatives out of win than positives out of a loss,’ so we have a lot to clean up.”

Note

Contact Dan Brown at sports@medina-gazette.com.

Buckeye 55, Oberlin 16

Team Records - Season

 * 1st Medina County All Time (Only 3 Listed)

Christian Petek, our 2013 senior captain and quarterback/defensive back received the Northeast Ohio Chapter of the National Football Foundation’s Academic and athletic scholar athlete award.

 If you see Christian, please be sure to congratulate him on this very prestigious award.

 Mark Pinzone

Head Coach

GO BUCKS!!!