SULLIVAN TWP. — Accepting anything less than perfection is not an option for Justin Lowry, Trevor Thome and the rest of the Buckeye football team.
Buckeye’s Justin Lowry (11) breaks up a pass intended for Black River’s Allan Benson during the second quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)
Minutes after slowly but surely beating the tar out of archrival Black River 48-7 Friday, Lowry and Thome all but thanked the Pirates for giving them a game for 2ﾽ quarters.
With the Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division game of the year on tap next week when Firelands (6-1, 2-0) travels to Edwin Steingass Field, the Bucks (7-0, 2-0) needed to find out what their flaws were, no matter how minor they might seem to the average fan.
Buckeye trailed 7-6 after one quarter and had to make two red zone stops to prevent Black River from cutting the deficit to two touchdowns. The Bucks again did a ton of things well and the defense was stellar, but they clearly were caught off-guard when the struggling Pirates (3-4, 0-2) played physically early on.
That can’t happen against Falcons All-Ohio quarterback Brad Thrasher next week.
“(The win) feels great, but you know what? I don’t think we played our greatest,” Lowry said. “We haven’t really gotten hit, and I think (Black River) came ready to play and we were expecting another easy win. But, you know what? I think we got in the zone and starting playing good.
“It shows us we’re not as great as we think we (are), but we can be great if we’re focused.”
The game still readily belonged to Buckeye despite the slow start.
Lowry had two touchdown receptions from Nathan Polidori (9 carries, 39 yards, TD; 5-for-7, 84 yards, 3 TDs), picked off Mike Hazlett on fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line late in the first half and broke up two other passes, while the inside running game made possible by linemen Brad Calta, Bruce Barnby, Jack Schroeder, Jalin Brock, Jaret Yohman and Hunter Gray shined after it became clear Black River was focused on containing the Bucks’ signature jet sweep.
The inside run game allowed Thome to have another standout night. The All-Ohioan had 13 carries for a season-high 171 yards, including TDs of 7 and 76 yards. He also had no fewer than 21 rushing yards on four of Buckeye’s first five scoring drives and set up the other with a 61-yard punt return.
Justin Canedy (11-yard reception) and backup quarterback Adam Fauver (37-yard run) found the end zone as well as the Bucks increased their scoring average to 44.7 points.
“It was kind of a wake-up call, you know?” Thome said. “Teams aren’t just going to roll over when we come out here and play just because we’re undefeated. This was good for us.”
With the Bucks’ Yohman, Calta, Barnby Kyle Svagerko, Dustin McCullough and Dominick Kriz factoring in tackles for loss when the score was still respectable, Black River couldn’t string much together outside of a seven-play, 52-yard scoring drive that ended in a Travis Sexton 15-yard TD with 1:15 left in the first quarter.
The Pirates trailed 28-7 late in the half when Hazlett (8-for-17, 78 yards) scrambled for 19 yards on fourth-and-13 to set up first-and-goal from the 3. The drive stalled on fourth down when Lowry intercepted a slant intended for Medina County leading receiver Allan Benson.
“I knew it was a crucial play,” Lowry said. “No 13, Benson, he’s a great athlete. … I had a feeling that was going to be the play call.”
A similar story happened to start the third, as Black River recovered an onside kick and burned 4:33 off the clock. First-and-10 from the 17 resulted in zero points, as Kriz sacked Hazlett on fourth down.
“I knew they were an explosive team,” said Pirates coach Al Young, whose team also dropped an interception while trailing 14-7. “They’re fast. They’re a good team — a great team — and I knew we had to have a lot of things go our way. … We left a couple touchdowns out there that hurt.”
That was really all the Pirates had left in the tank, as Thome trucked a defender in front of his own sideline on the 76-yard TD — his eighth career score of more than 50 yards — and Lowry caught a textbook 27-yard fade from Polidori late in the third.
The rest of the night belonged to Buckeye’s backups, as Fauver was the game’s second-leading rusher with 75 yards on five carries despite Black River gaining 20, 10 and 13 yards on the final three plays.
“Discipline played a big part in it,” Thome said. “Everyone was disciplined and did their job. Do your job and things take care of themselves. That’s what we did.”
Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.
Buckeye 48, Black River 7
BUCKEYE 6 22 14 6 — 48
BLACK RIVER 7 0 0 0 — 7
First
Bu — Justin Lowry 31 pass from Nathan Polidori (kick failed), 8:06.
BR — Travis Sexton 15 run (Corey Bartolic kick), 1:15.
Second
Bu — Polidori 14 run (Polidori run), 11:08.
Bu — Trevor Thome 7 run (Richard Gatt kick), 7:19.
Bu — Justin Canedy 11 pass from Polidori (Gatt kick), 3:31.
Third
Bu — Thome 76 run (Gatt kick), 6:33.
Bu — Lowry 27 pass from Polidori (Gatt kick), 3:30.
Fourth
Bu — Aaron Fauver 37 run (pass failed), 3:49.