YORK TWP. — Quarterback Nathan Polidori passionately leading the postgame B-U-C-K-E-Y-E chant and the celebratory banging of helmets against lockers probably were heard 30 miles away in northwestern Lorain County.
Buckeye’s Nathan Scott runs away from Fireland’s Aaron Miller during the second quarter. (RON SCHWANE / GAZETTE)
Those messages were proudly brought to you by the Buckeye football team, which is 96 minutes from a 10-0 regular season.
Getting near-perfect play from offensive linemen Hunter Gray, Jalin Brock, Brad Calta, Dominick Kriz and Bruce Barnby while running the jet sweep down the defense’s throat Friday, the Bucks obliterated previously red-hot Firelands 42-7 to take sole possession of first place in the Patriot Athletic Conference Stars Division.
The juicy statistic: Buckeye (8-0, 3-0) gained 300 yards on 17 plays in the first half.
“I’m ecstatic right now. I really don’t know what to say,” said Barnby, who celebrated his 18th birthday and won $9 on a scratch-off lottery ticket earlier in the day. “I really love how we all stuck together.”
Lining up in a tight, double-slot formation almost exclusively over the first two quarters, Buckeye kept dialing up its signature jet sweep with fullback Kyle Svagerko lead blocking for All-Gazette studs Nathan Scott (7 carries, 111 yards, TD) and Trevor Thome (10, 111, 2), daring the touted defense of the Falcons (6-2, 2-1) to stop it.
Despite a solid showing from All-Ohio end Aaron Miller, Firelands never did.
Coach Mark Pinzone’s Bucks scored touchdowns on two of their first five plays, and their first nine snaps covered 13, 11, 11, 28, 84, 13, 2, 27 and 11 yards — an eye-popping 21 average — as Polidori (7 carries, 121 yards; 4-for-5, 72 yards) joined Scott and Thome in the 100-yard club.
Of the 300 first-half yards, 298 featured pre-snap jet motion. The lone play that didn’t was a 2-yard TD by Thome on a counter trey that made the score 28-7 one second before halftime.
All of this came against a Firelands defense that allowed a paltry average of 148.2 yards during its now-history six-game winning streak.
“It’s the way we executed,” Calta said. “We work very hard on the jet. It just all fell together tonight.”
Buckeye started lightning-fast, needing only four plays — all jet sweeps — and 1:30 to score, as Scott went in from 28 yards. A fourth-down stop by the defense then led to Polidori faking a jet and rumbling 84 yards, giving the Bucks 147 yards and 14 points on their first five plays.
Aided by a questionable pass interference penalty on third down, Firelands answered down 21-0 when All-Ohio quarterback Brad Thrasher (21 carries, 98 yards; 6-for-14, 56 yards) went in from a yard out with 25 seconds remaining in the half.
The Falcons were slated to receive the opening kickoff of the third quarter, too, and appeared to have salvaged much-needed momentum.
But Buckeye wasn’t done.
Seeing Firelands was in a prevent defense, the Bucks called another jet and Scott zipped down the sideline for 33 yards before tweaking his left hamstring. Polidori then nailed Justin Lowry (2 catches, 53 yards) for a 26-yard gain to the 2, where Thome easily reached the end zone off left tackle.
That’s 24 seconds to run three plays, cover 61 yards and power punch Firelands square in the jaw.
“We took hard steps and we didn’t let anything get to us,” Barnby said. “All we thought about was winning the game, and we made it happen.”
The underrated Buckeye defense was stereotypical bend-but-don’t-break. Facing a unique Pistol offense featuring jet sweeps, counters, read options and a line that averaged 6-foot-3, 278 pounds, the Bucks endured 11-, 14- and 11-play drives in the first half but yielded only once.
A big reason for that was clutch play near the red zone, as Scott tackled receiver Colin Myers (5 receptions, 35 yards) at the 16-yard line and just shy of the marker on fourth down. Scott later broke up a fourth-down pass intended for Myers with the ball on the 27.
Buckeye, which didn’t face third down or punt until midway through the third quarter, turned both stops into touchdowns and, using that momentum, held the Falcons to 92 yards while forcing two turnovers in the second half.
Calta was a load with two tackles for loss (sack) and a forced fumble, linebackers Svagerko (sack), Dustin McCullough (fumble recovery) and Jaret Yohman hounded Trasher and slotbacks Mike Whitacre (12 carries, 51 yards) and Nick Denney (3, 3), and cornerback Lowry was a big reason why Myers only had one reception in the second half.
“On the season, (Firelands) pretty much had a lot of success,” Scott said. “We watched film all week. We prepared to see what they did, and we just lined up and played.”
Next up: Another game with first-place implications, this time at Keystone (3-5, 2-1).
“I don’t know if I can put this into words,” Calta said. “It’s just a great victory, that’s all.”
Contact Albert Grindle (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.
Buckeye 42, Firelands 7
FIRELANDS 0 7 0 0 — 7
BUCKEYE 14 14 7 7 — 42
First
B — Nathan Scott 28 run (Richard Gatt kick), 10:30.
B — Nathan Polidori 84 run (Gatt kick), 5:08.
Second
B — Trevor Thome 17 run (Gatt kick), 5:31.
F — Brad Thrasher 1 run (Ethan Hayes kick), 0:25.
B — Thome 2 run (Gatt kick), 0:01.
Third
B — Polidori 3 run (Gatt kick), 0:58.
B — Polidori 13 run (Gatt kick), 7:46.
