Buckeye Bucks Football

From The GAZETTE by Dan Brown, Staff Writer 

YORK TWP. — Buckeye running back Cory Reisner had the letters MVP painted below each of his eyes Friday night.

Lutheran West’s football team got the message.

The junior back played like a most valuable player, finding the end zone four times in a 30-27 win over the Longhorns in a Patriot Athletic Conference cross-division tilt.

The self-motivated Reisner rushed for 180 yards on 19 carries and reached the end zone three times with his feet and once on a pass from quarterback Jesse Horton.

“I sat down and had a talk with him earlier this week, just about football,” said Buckeye coach Billy Burke, whose team has won two straight after dropping its first three. “But he doesn’t need anyone to talk to him. He has such a passion for competition and he will always find some way, some how to do it.”

The 5-foot-10, 160-pound Reisner might look small, but the crafty back ran through Lutheran West defenders all night, many times off direct snaps.

“I can get in the zone any time,” Reisner said of his motivation. “I know that every time our line is capable of making a hole, so I was pretty confident.”

That zone meant a long day for the Longhorns (3-2, 0-2). After a Lutheran West touchdown early in the fourth quarter, Reisner scampered in from 12 yards out with 8:30 to go for the go-ahead score.

The TD came on the fifth play of the drive and was set up by a big 33-yard gain by fellow back Shawn Cordes (5 carries, 79 yards).

“I thought their running backs did a great job of breaking tackles,” Longhorns coach Troy Fehrs said. “And with a very big and good offensive line, they did a great job.”

With more than half of the final period still to play, the Bucks (2-3, 2-0) needed a defensive stop.

Lutheran West strung together a 15-play drive that started on its own 20, spreading the field with quarterback Paul Fackler (14-for-25, 193 yards, TD) and running back James Ziegan (15 carries, 66 yards, 2 TDs).

It all came down to fourth-and-9 on the Bucks 24. When Fackler’s pass to Mike Beradinis on a fade route was short, the game was over.

“That’s what this game was about,” Burke said of the final stand. “We finally made a play.”

Buckeye’s defense did come up with big plays early in the game as well.

Senior Josh Varney blocked a 24-yard field goal attempt late in the first quarter, which Reisner picked up and returned to the Bucks 45. Seven plays later, Horton (7-for-9, 76 yards, TD) found Reisner on an 8-yard TD pass.

“We’ve finally found our groove,” Burke said. “We’re finding ways to win in different fashions. Last week we won a blowout (40-7 at Clearview) and this week we pulled out a close one.”

Kicker Darrin Read rounded out the scoring for Buckeye, connecting on a 20-yard field goal late in the first half.

Brown may be reached at wp.medina-gazette.com or dan_brown@ohio.net.

YORK TWP. — Like star player Cory Reisner on a pair of long touchdowns, Buckeye’s football team took some huge strides forward Friday night.

The winless Bucks still didn’t win, losing 32-14 to undefeated Midview in non-league action, but there were plenty of positives to build on as they prepare to enter Patriot Athletic Conference play.

“Losing is not an option. It never is,” first-year Buckeye coach Billy Burke said. “As a coach, you look for positives and you look for strides. Emotionally, we made some strides. Physically, we made some strides. Mentally, we still have some work to do.”

Down 20-7 at halftime, Buckeye got right back in the game when running back Reisner moved to quarterback, took a snap out of shotgun formation and raced 63 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the third period.

The Bucks nearly took the lead later in the quarter, but an apparent 6-yard TD pass by Jesse Horton off a fake field goal was called incomplete when Buckeye’s Josh Bennett was ruled to be out of the end zone.

Do-everything Middies quarterback Adam Koubek made Buckeye pay, completing a 91-yard bomb to Mike Schmittle just three plays later.

Just like that, the Bucks were down 26-14 instead of up 21-20.

“We didn’t get a score and they got a garbage score,” Burke said. “When you’re not playing well over the season, things like that don’t go in your favor. It was just a backyard football play that we didn’t react to.”

Buckeye never did figure out a way to stop Koubek, who finished the night 12-of-13 for 233 yards and three touchdowns. Operating out of Midview’s wing-T offense, he also rushed 12 times for 62 yards and a score.

However, there were a number of positives for the Bucks, who played their best game of the season.

Dan Novotny led a defense that was tough against the run, Darrin Read threw a 44-yard TD pass to Reisner off a fake punt, Shawn Cordes ran hard while accumulating 29 yards on nine carries and the offense came to life when Reisner shifted to quarterback and ran all over the field out of the shotgun formation.

“We were a better team today than we were yesterday,” said Reisner, who had 84 yards rushing and 57 receiving. “We finally have a heartbeat. We’re working our butts off every snap of the game.”

Buckeye’s passing game still needs a lot of work, as does its porous pass defense, but for the first time in three weeks the Bucks walked off the field confident they were headed in the right direction.

“I’m pretty comfortable with our team now,” Reisner said. “I feel a lot better than I did before.”

Noland may be reached at wp.medina-gazette.com or rickn@ohio.net.

From the GAZETTE, by Rick Noland, Assistant Sports Editor

YORK TWP. — Highland football coach Tom Lombardo and his staff issued a challenge. Their players met it.

The Hornets dominated from start to finish Friday night en route to an impressive 31-0 non-league victory over county foe Buckeye.

“We challenged them to come out and play physical and come out of the gate the right way,” said Lombardo, whose team was slow out of the blocks in a 42-20 loss to Rocky River in Week 1. “We thought if we came out of the gate the right way, good things would happen, and they did.”

Those good things happened early and often, as tailback Chris Snook had 111 of his game-high 151 yards rushing with 6:40 to play in the first quarter. Included was a 51-yard touchdown that opened the scoring just 1:52 into the game.

Quarterback Nick Knerem took over after that, completing 8-of-11 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns, with his favorite targets being Matt Gorbe (3 catches, 100 yards, TD) and Kyle Callari (3, 27, 1).

“We needed some confidence,” said Snook, who carried 20 times while also making several big hits from his linebacker spot. “Last week we took it on the chin a little bit, so we needed to get that attitude back.”

The Hornets accomplished that feat, finishing with a 354-68 edge in total offense. Highland’s run defense was particularly tough, as it held Buckeye to 32 yards on 32 carries, with 25 of that coming on a late-game tote by Cory Reisner (14 attempts, 50 yards).

“Last week we gave up 42 points, so it was huge getting the shutout,” said the 6-foot-2, 218-pound Snook, who got a lot of help from defensive cohorts Tyler Houska, Jarrod Swick and Billy Brooker. “Now we’ve got to keep it going the rest of the season. We can’t get our heads in the sky too much.”

The Hornets, who didn’t punt all night, were never in any real danger of losing their shutout, as Buckeye’s deepest penetration was the Highland 37.

 “We invested a lot of time and energy in saying we were going to push people around up front and we haven’t done that,” said Bucks coach Billy Burke, whose team has been outscored 69-7 in two games. “Now we go to Plan B. What Plan B is, I don’t know yet.”

The Bucks’ 32 yards rushing were the third-lowest total in school history. They had 4 yards against Manchester in 1975 and 25 vs. West Holmes in 2001. Buckeye’s 68 yards total offense represented its second-lowest total ever (46 vs. West Holmes in 2001).

The Bucks did get a 6-of-8 passing night from quarterback Jesse Horton, but those completions accounted for just 36 yards, with 20 coming on one play.

“I’ll take a lot of the responsibility because I’m the head coach,” Burke said. “We’ve got to find the right mix of what works for these kids. That’s my job.”

Noland may be reached at wp.medina-gazette.com or rickn@ohio.net.