Bucyrus throttles rival Buckeye Central for first series win since '22
· Yahoo Sports
NEW WASHINGTON - The last time Bucyrus beat Buckeye Central was in Week 9 of the 2022 season.
The following fall John Butchko took over a program that would go on to have back-to-back winless seasons before snapping a 22-game losing streak last season, going 1-9.
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After Friday's dominant 41-14 win over the Bucks, Bucyrus is 3-2 at the midway point of the regular season for the first time in 12 years and just the eighth time since 2000.
"They're a local rival and somebody we haven't been very successful against," Butchko said after his first win over Buckeye Central. "My first year here they came over (55-14) and had us scouted really well ... and last year (34-13) we thought we were closer to them than we were ... and the last time we came here (42-24) they had 22 up before the bus even got parked. It was good to go out and exorcise another demon."
Bucyrus did it by coming out of the gates hot.
The opening possession was extended by the Bucks jumping offsides on fourth down, which allowed Isaac Makeever to connect with Da'Shawn Cosey for the opening score. And after forcing a turnover on downs thanks to a Hayden Butcher sack, Makeever found an open Paten Deskins over the middle for a 40-yard strike to double the advantage.
Makeever ripped off a 46-yard run early in the second quarter as the first of three touchdowns in the span of 56 seconds. The second was from Buckeye Central's Madden Alt who returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for the Bucks' first score 15 seconds after the quarterback keeper, and 41 seconds after that it was Wyatt Makeever joining in the fun with a 63-yard rushing touchdown.
Isaac Makeever connected with Cosey again before the half to make it 34-7 at the intermission.
"That was what we thought we had to do against these guys," Butchko said. "We know they're battling adversity — and that's adversity we've recently battled — so we had a game plan from probably what's going on in their locker room ... we thought if we could get them running around pre-snap, show some of our speed and pace, we were going to make things really tough for them."
Makeever-to-Brody Corfman from 29 yards out with 7:59 in the third quarter brought the running clock into effect and it proceeded to tick all the way down to 17 seconds remaining in the fourth before the Bucks stopped it on a Jackson Earnest to Lane Caudill 10-yard pass.
"They went up-tempo early in the game and I think that caught our guys by surprise a little bit," Buckeye Central coach Jordan Phillips said. "This is the best version of their team they've had (in a long time). They play fast, they know what their job is, and they do it.
"(And) we're playing a lot of young guys. The thing about playing young guys is you grow faster because you're figuring everything out for the first time. I thought there was a lot of good today, we moved the ball better than we have the last few weeks. Defensively, just too many big plays ... some of that needs to get cleaned up, but definitely some steps in the right direction. It just has to come faster."
It was Buckeye Central's first game without track star Collin Perry, who was out with an injury suffered against Wynford last week, and with Earnest operating as QB1. He finished 5-of-9 with 70 yards and a touchdown, Chance Hawley logged 14 carries for 70 yards, Madden Alt six carries for 46 yards, Austin Bogner rushed six times for 23 yards.
The Bucks are hovering just above 20 healthy players through Week 5.
"That's why it's so key for us on offense to get first downs, you gotta sit on the ball a little bit ... (it's like) you're playing half-court offense," Phillips said. "We gotta do a better job executing on offense to make sure we're winning the time of possession."
Bucyrus was led by a balanced offensive effort from Isaac Makeever (8-of-12, 197 yards, 4 TD; 6 carries, 54 yards, TD), Wyatt Makeever (4 carries, 104 yards, TD), and Da'Shawn Cosey (3 catches, 107 yards, 2 TD). Four others logged carries on the night and five others nabbed a reception.
"We've been as adaptable and dynamic as we can being as fast as we've been for a long time, and I think you saw some of that tonight," Butchko said. "Da'Shawn is as fast as anybody you know, Isaac and Wyatt are our big play machines, then we had some other guys filling in good pieces and parts around them."
Three wins already matches the team's total over the last four seasons combined, and ties the most in a season since going 5-5 in 2019.
"This is a good group of people first of all, and they're having a great time playing football," Butchko said. "There's not a whole lot of selfish going on, we got guys going into this group or that group, going into this package or that package defensively ... they just all embrace their roles and worry about what's god for the team.
"That makes life really, really easy and that's why — for the first time since 2014 — we've above .500 at the turn."
Instead of a win over Buckeye Central sparking a lengthy losing streak, this one has potential to push the Redmen into replicating the success seen six years ago and maybe even be in the mix to suit up in Week 11.
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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Bucyrus throttles rival Buckeye Central for first series win since '22