Albert Grindle
The Gazette
ROCKY RIVER — Nathan Polidori flashed a million-dollar smile and, other than sweaty, jet black hair, appeared no worse for wear.
Buckeye offensive coordinator Bill Turner’s faith in his quarterback was rewarded.
Polidori rushed for three touchdowns, threw another and returned a kickoff to the house Friday, leading the Bucks to a well-earned 42-28 non-league victory over athletic but mistake-prone Rocky River.
The road to 10-0 is 20 percent complete.
“I’m really in shock,” the 5-foot-11, 175-pound Polidori said after a hug from Turner. “I knew we had it in us, but I didn’t know if we were going to show up today. But we did.”
With Turner calling the counter play “Q-skin” nearly 20 times, Polidori rushed 23 times for 219 yards while jukin’ and jivin’ defenders all over the FieldTurf. He also completed 6-of-11 passes for 62 yards, including a 14-yard TD strike to Nathan Scott, and returned the opening kickoff 90 yards to paydirt.
While All-Ohioan Trevor Thome (15 carries, 79 yards, TD) and Scott (10, 69) also were productive on the ground, Polidori was the heart and soul of an offense that posted 453 yards (391, 62), converted 6-of-8 third downs and didn’t punt in the second half.
Polidori was money on the most important drive of the game, too, with four carries for 58 yards on a nine-play, 92-yard march. He capped it by juking two defenders on a 17-yard TD run that put the Bucks up by 14 with 4:40 remaining.
“Our offensive line did fantastic,” Polidori said of Jalin Brock, Hunter Gray, Jack Schroeder, Bruce Barnby, Brad Calta and Co.
The game was in doubt heading into the fourth quarter, as Buckeye had taken a 35-28 lead on a 29-yard TD scamper by Polidori with 3:34 left in the third. The Pirates (1-1), who had scored 491 points over their prior 11 games, kept firing back with a dynamic offense of their own that put up 354 yards.
Johnny Manziel-impersonator Eric Jones masterfully eluded pressure for 3½ quarters and finished with 18 carries for 107 yards while completing 10-of-19 passes for 128 yards. Jitterbug tailback Dameon Crawford (18 carries, 74) sliced and diced for 59 yards in the first half, while long-striding speedster Evan Nugent scored two touchdowns.
Rocky River’s problem was five fumbles, including two lost. The most costly ones were on consecutive snaps, as the exchange was botched on third-and-1 from the Buckeye 11 and a quick-hitter to the fullback resulted in a fumble that ended up in Thome’s arms with 8:45 left and the Bucks up 35-28.
Despite all its miscues, Rocky River put up a valiant last stand and had first-and-10 from the Buckeye 11 with three minutes left. That’s where the Bucks defense stood tall, as Kyle Svagerko or Brock sacked Jones on three consecutive plays to essentially clinch a victory.
“I really didn’t know what to expect,” Brock said. “We watched film and things like that. We came out strong and they came out strong, but we wanted to win more than they did.
“At halftime we kind of had our heads down. We were thinking, ‘Why are our heads down? We’re tied right now. Four out of five people (in The Gazette Pick-It Line) thought we were going to lose this game. If we come out and win we’ll show a lot of people what we can do.’”
Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.
Buckeye 42, Rocky River 28
BUCKEYE 14 7 14 7 — 42
ROCKY RIVER 14 7 7 0 — 28
FIRST
B — Nathan Polidori 90 kickoff return (Richard Gatt kick), 11:46.
R — Eric Jones 8 run (Matt Goepfert kick), 10:52.
R — Jack Rodgers 1 run (Goepfert kick), 6:57.
B — Nathan Scott 14 pass from Polidori (Gatt kick), 3:50.
SECOND
B — Trevor Thome 1 run (Gatt kick), 7:56.
R — Evan Nugent 22 pass from Jones (Goepfert kick), 0:45.8
THIRD
B — Polidori 24 run (Gatt kick), 8:23.
R — Nugent 31 run (Goepfert kick), 7:02.
B — Polidori 29 run (Gatt kick), 3:34.
FOUTRH
B — Polidori 17 run (Gatt kick), 4:40.