Buckeye Bucks Football

** 5th Medina County All Time

*** 6th Medina County All Time

From The GAZETTE by RICK NOLAND, Assistant Sports Editor

YORK TWP. — The Buckeye football team has done a 180-degree turn. After losing their first four games, the Bucks have now won four straight, the latest a pivotal 42-14 Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division triumph over county rival Black River on Friday night at Edwin M. Steingass Field. Buckeye (4-4, 4-1), which won for the 300th time in school history, now sits alone atop the Stars Division with two weeks to play. Black River (3-5, 3-2) isn’t out of the race, but the Pirates need help.

“We had so many turnovers the first four games,” said Buckeye quar­terback Mike Kelly, who had touchdown runs of 80, 56 and 30 yards. “I wish we could go back. We’re a lot better team now than we were then.” The Bucks went forward against the Pirates, as they amassed 382 yards on 34 rushing attempts, a whop­ping 11.2-yard average. Kelly finished with eight carries for 165 yards, Cory Reisner had 15 attempts for 130 yards and three touch­downs and Shawn Cordes gained 78 yards on eight attempts. 

Black River’s defense actually played well at times, but five Buckeye runs — Kelly’s three TD scampers, a 54-yard Reisner score and Cordes’ 57-yard romp to the 1 — totaled an amazing 277 yards. “We got beat on big plays,” Black River coach Al Young said. “They’ve got bet­ter speed. We’re young and they exploited it tonight.”

The game was tied 6­6 after one— the Bucks scored on a 14-yard Reisner run and Black River answered with a 32-yard pass from Anthony O’Connor to Jake O’Connor — before the Bucks blew the game open by scoring 22 points in a 4:39 span of the second quarter. Reisner started things with a 1-yard plunge. Just 2:04 later, Kelly executed a great fake and went 80 yards around right end. The junior then scored from 56 yards out 2:35 after that before cap­ping his huge night with a 30-yard romp late in the third quarter.

“We were so worried about Cory Reisner,” Young said. “He’s a tremendous back and you’ve got to pay attention to him. (Kelly) caught us on some keeps and we got burned.” Kelly didn’t do it all by himself, as he got great downfield blocks from Darren Boulton, Reisner and Carlton Watkins, respectively, on his TD runs. “Their whole defense focused on Cory,” Kelly said. “It left me wide open. On all my runs, none of them were expecting me.”

The Bucks had 270 yards rushing with 4:39 to play in the first half, then turned things over to a defense led by Matt Shaw (2 sacks), Cody Muhek (sack), Zack Yohman and Zach Max­worthy. “We’re starting to believe,” Muhek said. 

Black River moved the ball well at times, but had trouble finishing drives. The best example came at the start of the third peri­od, when the Pirates went 78 yards on 15 plays that took 6:52 off the clock before turning the ball over on downs at the Buckeye 2. “We’ve got to finish,” Young said. “We executed, but we weren’t able to cash in. Credit to them for a great defensive stand. They came to play tonight.” 

Matt Joppeck had 12 car­ries for 99 yards and a TD for the Pirates, while Anthony O’Conner had 18 attempts for 97 yards and Jake O’Connor rushed seven times for 91 yards. Jake O’Connor also had five catches for 45 yards, while brother Anthony was 9-of-19 passing for 73 yards.

The story of the night, however, was the all-around solid play of the Bucks, who beat their county and Stars Division rival decisively despite attempting just three passes. “This is huge,” Muhek said. “This is our biggest rival. We were pumped for this game.” Noland may be reached at rickn@ohio.net or 330.721.4061.

From the GAZETTE, by Albert Grindle, Staff Writer 

BUCKEYE (3-4, 3-1): On Cory Reisner’s highly controversial 62-yard TD run that capped off the Bucks’ 62-21 win over Columbia, the senior broke not one, but two county milestones. Thanks to 32 points in the game, Reisner became the only player in area history to record two career games of 30-plus.

He also became the just the sixth player to hit 3,000 career rushing yards. … Reisner needs 13 rushing TDs to pass Ron Brant (54, 1977-79) for the all-time career county mark, which might not be a stretch considering an average Keytone squad and winless Brookside are still on the schedule.…

You think Buckeye doesn’t love Patriot Athletic Conference play? Since the start of 2007, the Bucks have a 32.2-15.9 scoring advantage and 381.7-276.7 yardage advantage in 11 contests, going 9-2 in the process.… Buckeye had zero passing yards Friday, which hadn’t happened since 1998 against Wooster Triway.…

The Bucks have yet to score in the third quarter this season. LW: W, 62-21 vs. Columbia. TW: vs. Black River (3-4, 3-1). NW: at Keystone (3-4, 2-2).

From The GAZETTE by Albert Grindle, Staff Writer

Sole possession of first place in the Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division, pride and those ever-so sweet bragging rights. Black River at Buckeye has so much riding on the line tonight and my, that’s a sweet thing.

Both teams are playing their best football of the season and are cur­rently 3-1 in the PAC and it’s easy to see why both squads are more excited than a 4­year-old on Christmas Eve for kickoff. “It means a lot just from starting slow at first (for a chance) to get the PACcham­pionship,” Bucks running back Cory Reisner said.

Behind its dynamite run­ning game of quarterback Mike Kelly and running backs Reisner, Ryan McCor­mick and Shawn Cordes, two-time division champ Buckeye has been rolling since a 14-7 loss to Division III state-ranked Clearview. After spanking Lutheran West 34-18, the Bucks clipped Wellington (28-19) and crushed Columbia (62-21). Over those three games, coach Billy Burke’s unit has averaged 41.3 points and seemingly everything is clicking on the offensive side of the ball.

"We’re pretty confident in our offense,” said Reisner, who has rushed for 948 yards and 13 scores. “We’ve been going into every game thinking that no one can stop us.” The key to Buckeye taking the always hard-hitting rivalry is the trenches. If the Bucks can grind away at Black River’s defense, it could be only a matter of time before someone uncorks a big play. 

“It’s what we emphasized in practice all week: stopping the first couple plays, shut­ting them down and demoralizing them,” two-way lineman Cody Muhek said. “One of the most important things is controlling them, not letting them get the lead and out­performing us in any part of (the game).” Defensively, Buckeye could have its hands full. If it bottles up hard-nosed Pirates run­ning back Matt Joppeck (704 yards rushing), game-breaking slot backJake O’Connor (907 all-purpose yards, 8 TDs) is still there to pick up the slack.

Whether it’s inside or outside, Buckeye, which allows over 300 yards per game, could get burned if all 11 men don’t execute. “We have to play disciplined and read our keys,” Burke said. “That’s the biggest thing. If we’re just watching the football, we’re doing to be confused with counter action and other things that they do.”

Black River, meanwhile, is oozing with momentum. After beating up Oberlin (28­8), the Pirates fell to the Clippers 34-6, but have since rebounded with triumphs over Brookside (35-6) and the Dukes (23-21). The passing game of quarterback Anthony O’Connor and receiver Jake O’Connor has taken off during the run and Joppeck has been keeping defenses honest with consistent 5-yard gains on the ground. Starting on a positive note and prov­ing they belong will be crucial to the underdogs. Black River coach Al Young is confident his ultra-young team can stay on the porch with the big boys.

“Last year, they tacked up two (touch­downs) before we even got warmed up,” Young said. “Hopefully maybe this year we can change that a little bit and slow them down.” The Pirates’ defense, allowing 247.0 yards in PAC action, has a big chore ahead trying to prevent Buckeye from controlling the pigskin. 

That begins with containing Reisner, who has 319 yards on 38 carries and five touchdowns in two career starts against Black River. Throw in McCormick run­ning jet sweeps and Kelly juking and jiv­ing on QB counters and the Bucks have a plethora of options. “It’s big if we can slow them down,” Young said. “They’re very effective and, of course, Cory Reisner is a tremendous runner. They’re very balanced with Cordes, McCormick and Kelly. We got our hands full.”

Put it all together and a good old, smashmouth football game between two of the best teams in the conference will take place at Edwin Steingass Field. "It’s really nice (for this to be a big game),” Young said. “It’s exciting for us as coaches, it’s exciting for us as players and we’re looking forward to it.” Grindle may be reached at agrindle@ohio.net or 330.721.4043.

From The GAZETTE by Albert Grindle, Staff Writer

What a huge, huge week for Medina County football. Brunswick at Strongs­ville with first place in the Northeast Ohio Confer­ence Valley Division at stake.  Black River at Buckeye for Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division supremacy. Highland at Wadsworth with Suburban League title hopes hanging in the balance. 

You might as well change Friday night to Judgment Night. The Brunswick game is, without question, the big­gest, with the teams sport­ing a combined record of 13-1. The Mustangs’ loss came to powerful Lake­wood St. Edward. The Blue Devils might be drained after an emo­tional roller coaster against Solon on FSN, but just when you think they might actually lose a game, coach Rich Nowak’s troops prove you wrong. Strongsville quarter­back Kellen Pagel, son of former Browns signal caller Mike Pagel, is a stud and an untested Brunswick secondary could have its hands full. My head says 24-23 Strongsville, but my gut says 24-23 Brunswick. Hopefully for the Blue Devils, Jeff Kravetz will be ready if he needs to kick another game-win­ner. 

Black River-Buckeye is, in my humble opinion, pound-for-pound the best rivalry in the county. Yeah, Medina and Wadsworth don’t like each other. Highland and Cloverleaf hate the Grizzlies, but the feeling isn’t mutual yet. But there’s no question the Pirates and Bucks would like nothing better than to pound one another into submission. It’s great that the con­test actually means some­thing for the first time since 2002, too. Back then it was the Mohican Area Conference on the line and Buckeye’s defense made two goal-line stands, Darren Cereshko recovered a late Pirates fumble, and Ryan Hoover’s field goal with 2:12 left gave the Bucks a 10-9 win. 

Friday’s game won’t be that low scoring with a pair of defenses that give up over 300 yards a game, but I forsee a 35-28 Buckeye win — only because the Bucks’ size up front and the three-pronged running attack of Cory Reisner, Mike Kelly and Ryan McCormick will be the dif­ference. 

Wadsworth-Highland is a game that has late-season meaning for the first time since 2001, when both teams were 7-0. Last sea­son’s Week 4 contest — won 36-21 by Wadsworth — simply was too early on the schedule. The Hornets are rolling behind a stellar defense (7.6 ppg) and a balanced offense. The Grizzlies are coming off a 21-7 loss to Tallmadge, the best 4­3 team in Division II. 

Wadsworth wide receiv­er Anthony Schrock’s injury status — indica­tions are he will play — could play a crucial role. If the 6-foot-3 junior can go, he’ll face two smaller cor­nerbacks — Jarrod Swick (5-9) and either Aaron Maslowski (5-10) or Kyle Callari (6-0) — and could cause major matchup prob­lems. If Schrock doesn’t suit up, the passing game prob­ably won’t be the same. Louden Gordon can only do so much by himself. Slippery quarterback Caleb Busson is a night­mare, though, and speedy Aarick Jones can bust a big one at any moment. 

I’ll give the edge to the Hornets 24-17, but don’t be surpised if they can’t get recent history out of their heads and Wadsworth pulls it out. Reason being, in 2006 Highland thought it had tied the game in overtime when Josh Darling rum­bled into the end zone, but the play was called back for aiding the runner. Wadsworth won 20-14. Last year, the Grizzlies scored 23 unanswered points in the fourth to win by 15. All that aside, it should be another great one.