News and Announcements
Golden Buck Award: Christian Petek
Iron Antler Award: Zak Diaz
Most Valuable Player Award: Cody Fortney
PAC All Conference Awards
Open Letter From New Head Coach Mark Pinzone
Open Letter From New Head Coach Mark Pinzone
Dear Buckeye Football Parents, Alumni, Youth coaches, players, parents, community members, administration, teaching staff, etc...:
The 2013 Buckeye Varsity Football season is already underway. Your varsity football team has been working hard all summer to prepare for the upcoming season. As the new head football coach at Buckeye, I would like to personnally invite you to our Buckeye Football community morning practice on Saturday morning Aug. 10th.
This event is open to any and all Buckeye football fans, supporters or community members. Its all FREE! If you would like to attend here is what you do:
1. Simply RSVP Email my office at: mpinzone@buckeyeschool.org by Thursday Aug 8th with the number of you attending so we can have an idea of the head count.
2. Show up at the Buckeye High School cafeteria by 10:00 AM for Donuts and juice and a brief intro by Coach Pinzone. Donuts available while they last first come first serve.
3. Come on out to the field for the second session of varsity football practice. All those who attend will be able to come right onto the field and be with the players and coaches up close and personal. Observe our warm ups, drills, group drills and team plays right on the field. Participants can ask players and coaches questions at any time during the practice. Younger participants should be accompanied by an adult and supervised for safety reasons. Experience what your favorite players or child is doing right on the field.
4. Experience and be right next to our end of practice conditioning and "CIRCLE OF CHAMPIONS" DRILL similar to what Ohio State does. Players really look forward to this.
5. Practice ends at approx. 12:45 PM. With the exception of thunder and lighting, we practice rain or shine. Please dress for the weather.
This event should be a fun morning for all of our community and family as the 2013 Varsity football program gets underway. Please forward this email to any and all Buckeye fans and community members who may be interested in attending.
I look forward to seeing everyone on Sat. Aug. 10th. at 10:00 AM.
Sincerely,
Coach Mark Pinzone
Head Varsity Football Coach
Buckeye High School
GO BUCKS!!!
YORK TWP. — Mark Pinzone passed the test and, as a result, the Buckeye football team selected the 15th head coach in school history Monday.
Pinzone is expected to be approved at the May 14 school board meeting.
“The first thing was it was absolutely a good fit for my family,” he said. “It was fantastic because it’s closer to my home in Strongsville. It was better for my wife (Tami), my son (Anthony, 6) and my daughter (Megan, 16).
“That’s the main reason. It’s a real nice fit. It’s also a good fit for my coaching staff. I am bringing my coaching staff with me and they live in the immediate area.”
Pinzone spent the past three seasons leading Holy Name. The 42-year-old inherited a 1-9 team, but led the Green Wave to the North Coast League White Division championship in just his second season.
The owner of Pinzone Financial Services and business teacher at Brunswick High is probably better known as a highly regarded assistant for the Blue Devils from 1995-2009. Brunswick qualified for the playoffs 12 times, was Division I runner-up in 1995 and reached the state semifinals in 2007.
Pinzone, a finalist for the Brunswick job before Luke Beal was hired prior to the 2010 season, beat out 30 other applicants, including previous interim coach Rich Schuler. The committee included a handful of players, parents and boys basketball coach Matt Saunders, who was the offensive coordinator last season.
Athletic director Glen Reisner had the committee rank the candidates, and everyone involved agreed Pinzone was the clear-cut choice.
“He put a good package together, especially in proving his knowledge of sports and how he attacks everything,” Reisner said. “He’s definitely a football guru.”
Pinzone’s assistants have impressive resumes. Two big names to Medina County fans are offensive coordinator Rich Nowak, the second-winningest coach in county history, and former Brunswick and Medina coach Tom Fasko, who will be a defensive assistant. They are the only coaches in county history to reach the state semifinals.
Former Blue Devils assistant Mark Weidus (defensive coordinator) and standouts Jamison Hultine (offensive line) and Brit Musal (receivers) are the others.
Pinzone plans on implementing Nowak’s spread offense that heavily involves the quarterback and slotbacks in the run game. Holy Name averaged 20.1, 36.6 and 26.7 points the last three seasons.
Buckeye, which has finished 3-7 each of the last three years, appears to have the personnel for the system, be it All-PAC defensive back Christian Petek or youngster Nathan Polidori at quarterback. Running backs Matt Hritz and Trevor Thome are also slated to return, as are All-PAC selections John Maslanka (OT/DT) and Ryan Grauel (K).
Pinzone, who went out of his way to thank everyone at Holy Name, plans on running a 3-5 defense and spending a significant amount of time with the youth and middle school programs.
“Basically, there are three things,” Pinzone said. “No. 1, get the best coaching staff you can possibly get. We’re well on our way. I’m very blessed to have a great coaching staff.
“Step two, get the net out in the hallways and get every possible athlete in all grade levels to come out and play football. That’s going to take an effort from everybody, be it speaking with kids, calling kids or going to their homes.
“Step three, get everybody involved. They have to buy in. They have to buy into our program and system. I think I have a system that is a great system that will work. If they buy in, we’re going to have a great experience at Buckeye.”
Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.
Most Improved Player: Alex Green
Coach's Award: Zach Diaz
Most Valuable Player: Anthony Kisiday & Rick Monroe
Iron Antler Award: Rick Monroe
Golden Buck Award: Anthony Kisiday
PAC All Conference Awards
First Team: Ryan Grauel (K), Anthony Kisiday (LB), John Maslanka (DT) Ricky Monroe (RB), Christian Petek (DB) & Alex Stanley (TE)
Honorable Mention: Alex Green (QB)
2012 All Gazette Football Team
Honorable Mention: Ricky Monroe (RB) & Alex Stanley (WR)
2012 Bucks
The 2012 Bucks went 3-7 under Rick Schuler in his 1st season as Head Coach. They again went 3-4 in the PAC for the third time in a row, however this season they lost to Black River and Keystone by one point each. Assistant Coaches were Matt Saunders, Bill Busse, Darren Cereshko and Paul Fowler. They scored 187 points and gave up 294.
QB Alex Green was 39 of 106 for 584 yards passing with 4 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. Green picked up 288 yards rushing with 4 Touchdowns on 102 carries. Alex Stanley was the leading receiver with 16 catches for 258 yards and 2 TDs. Kicker Ryan Grauel was 23 of 25 on extra points and 2 of 3 on Field Goals for 29 points on the season.
