Announcement
Buckeye Keeps Perfect Record Intact
10/20/2017 - By CHRIS SWEENEY The Gazette
LAGRANGE TWP. - For the fifth straight year, the Buckeye football team will have at least a piece of the Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division championship and appear in the Division III playoffs.
The Bucks rolled to a 37-2 victory over Keystone on Friday, keeping their perfect record intact at 9-0 and clinching a postseason spot in Region 9.
A win next week against Brookside (2-7, 1-3) would give the Bucks their fourth straight outright Stars Division championship.
The Bucks have not lost a Stars game since 2013, extending their streak to 22.
“It’s always good to win a piece of the title,” coach Greg Dennison said. “The kids are excited, but we have a lot ahead of us. There are some things we can learn from tonight.”
It took Buckeye a quarter to find its groove. Quarterback Adam Fauver was sacked twice and the Wildcats blocked a punt for a safety for the only score of the quarter as the Bucks managed just one first down and minus-6 yards on their first two drives.
“We knew coming in that defensively, especially up front, they’re really good,” Dennison said. “They do things right, they’re really well coached and I think early on they were a little more physical than us up front. Once we adjusted to that, I think we started to roll a little bit, but it wasn’t easy and I’m proud of the way our kids responded.”
Buckeye got its spark on the opening drive of the second quarter. One play after Keystone gave Buckeye new life by jumping offside on fourth-and-1, Justin Canedy burned the Wildcats for a 23-yard run off a reverse from Anthony Watkins.
Fauver followed with a 13-yard completion, his first of the game. Two plays later, Fauver took Buckeye to the 6-yard line with an 18-yard run and Dominic Monaco capped the drive with the first of his four touchdown runs.
“We just needed to come out and play harder,” Fauver said. “We weren’t playing like ourselves, like we know we can play. We just didn’t show up and we got smacked for it."
From there, Buckeye had all the answers for Keystone (4-5, 2-2). It didn’t help that Bobby Webber, the Wildcats’ starting quarterback, was knocked out of the game with a right ankle injury on the fourth play of the game. He returned in the second half but managed just 19 yards rushing and completed 1-of-7 for 7 yards.
Buckeye’s defense smothered the Wildcats, limiting them to just three first downs until the final drive of the game, when Keystone got its only two double-digit gains — against the second unit. Linebacker Gage Williams also sacked Jacob Shackleford in the end zone for a safety, and the Bucks benefited from three first downs off penalties.
Despite the big win, Buckeye remains focused on the road ahead.
“It’s a great feeling, but we want it outright and we’ve got one more to play,” Fauver said. “We just need to learn from our mistakes and come out strong. We need to learn from our bad start.”
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