From The GAZETTE: By Jason P. Skoda, Staff Writer
WILLARD — The Buckeye football program waited 50 years for its first playoff game, only to let it slip away in a 10-second span.
Willard defeated the Bucks 42-21 in a Division III regional playoff game Saturday after the Crimson Flashes scored 28 unanswered points in the first half, making the most of a total of seven Buckeye turnovers.
The Flashes (10-1) struggled on their first possession, but showed their quick-strike ability on their next drive as quarterback Nick Strance hit Nick Dials for a 64-yard bomb.
Then the Willard defense showed its quickness as
Buckeye quarterback Dan Cereshko fumbled after missing the handoff on a trap play. Willard defensive tackle Gabe Sanders scooped up the ball and scored on a 14-yard jaunt.
"My fault. I didn't get there in time," said Cereshko, who left the game in the third quarter with a knee injury. "It was kind of a downer. Before we knew it we were losing, but we still had a shot."
Buckeye, which scored on its opening drive with a 37-yard pass from Dan to Darren Cereshko, went from a 7-0 advantage to down 14-7 in a span of 10 seconds.
"That is a very good football team. They have a lot of great athletes," rookie Buck-eye coach Chris Medaglia said. "You watch them on film and they look very good and then when you see them in person, they're even better."
The Bucks had no answer to Strance and Willard's high-octane passing game. They were forced to put Dan Cereshko on defense more than they would have liked, and he ended up getting a knee injury making a tackle.
"It seemed like we were outnumbered out there," said Darren, who had four catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns. "No matter what defense we called they always seemed to have another receiver open. It was tough."
Strance completed 13-of-24 passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns, all to Dials. J.J. Ditz had five receptions for 67 yards, while Dials hauled in four passes for 111.
"Everybody stepped up tonight," said Dials, who also picked off a pass and forced a fumble in the first half. "If I got behind the (Buckeye) defense, I thought I could break open. That set some other things up. I just did what I could to help the team."
Willard pushed it to 20-7 with 2:46 left in the first quarter when Strance connected with Dials again, this time for 34 yards. The 6-foot-1, 170-pound senior beat Darren Cereshko on the play.
It was the first time Cereshko, who has 12 interceptions, was beaten deep all season.
Buckeye's third of seven turnovers, a Dan Cereshko fumble on the Bucks 1-yard line which was forced by and recovered by defensive tackle Brandon Viock, gave the Willard offense a short field once again and Strance scored from a yard out.
It was 28-7 with 7:47 left in the first half. A team with less pride could have folded, but Buckeye stayed in the face of the Flashes.
"The one thing I'm disappointed about is that we couldn't put them away," Willard coach Chris Hawkins said. "That's part us and part Buckeye. That is a very tough, hard-nosed team. We have faced teams who have given up in that situation, but Buckeye kept coming at us."
After a Willard fumble, the Bucks went 55 yards on 11 plays to pull within 28-14 before halftime as Dan (6-of-13 for 96 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT) scored from a yard out.
Willard scored on its second possession of the third quarter to open up a three-touchdown lead with just over 18 minutes left in the game. Buckeye managed one more score — a 14-yard Dan-to-Darren connection — but never truly threatened again.
"We made a lot of mistakes, but I'm not going to leave the field teary-eyed," Medaglia said. "Our kids have a lot to be proud of and I'm proud of the way they played. This was a special night.
"We walked on to this field and we felt special. That is a feeling these kids will never forget."
Senior defensive tackle Travs Travers, who finished with a team-high eight tackles, said the team left an imprint on Buckeye history.
"Hopefully this football program is on the rise. I know it is," said Travers, wearing his patented Stars and Stripes bandanna. "These seniors can walk away knowing we took the team to a new level."