YORK TWP. — Guard Jalin Brock flipped off his helmet and buried his head into the cold, damp grass at Edwin Steingass Field. Quarterback Nathan Polidori did the same just feet away with helmet still attached.
Buckeyes Trevor Thome embraces teammate Nathan Polidori after the Bucks lost to West Geauga in the third overtime Photo by Aaron Josefczyk
The Buckeye players, along with their teammates, had nothing left to give. They were battered, bruised and exhausted after playing for their football lives for 48 minutes and three overtimes against physical West Geauga in the first round of the Division III, Region 7 playoffs.
Ultimately, the Bucks’ playoff curse claimed its seventh victim, as the sixth-seeded Wolverines escaped with a 35-28 triple-OT classic that, even in defeat, will live on in Buckeye lore for decades to come.
West Geauga (10-1) advanced to play No. 2 St. Vincent-St. Mary (10-1) next week, while the third-seeded Bucks finished 10-1 for the second time in school history after the see-saw affair ended when Wolverines linebacker Dominic Pavich intercepted Polidori.
“It was a great season and we fought hard,” Buckeye star slotback/safety Trevor Thome said. “We just came out on the short end.”
With Thome (hip) and Polidori (ankle) playing hurt in the second half and Nathan Scott (hamstring) leaving for good in the first quarter, Buckeye trudged on despite their gutsy stars struggling to keep themselves on the field.
The Wolverines began the third overtime with the ball and pounded undersized yet tough-as-nails halfback Joe Daddario (36 carries, 190 yards, 2 TDs) until Bucks linebacker Dustin McCullough (3 tackles for loss) stuffed Daddario 2 yards behind the line. That set up third-and-goal on the 4-yard line, but Daddario sliced into the end zone untouched to make it 35-28.
Buckeye remained confident because its long-dormat offense had come back to life. Bucks coach Mark Pinzone didn’t have a decision etched in stone, but said a go-for-the-win two-point conversion was being discussed among his staff.
Unfortunately for a lively, jam-packed home crowd, Polidori underthrew Thome (15 carries, 58 yards, TD; 6 catches, 87 yards) on an out route and Pavich was there for a bread-basket interception. It was only Polidori’s second pick of the year and first that didn’t go through a receiver’s hands.
Game over. The celebrating Wolverines didn’t catch a sprinting Pavich until he reached the opposite 30-yard line.
“We knew that we had to stop them and we had to score to win,” Thome said. “They scored one more time than they did.”
The first two overtimes went quickly and evenly, as Buckeye matched 1-yard TD sneak by Cam Searight (13-for-25, 218 yards, 2 TDs, int.; 12 carries, 15 yards) when Polidori nailed Justin Lowry on a post pattern for a 21-yard score. Richard Gatt’s extra point was true and the game headed to double overtime.
There, the Bucks landed the initial punch when Thome took a counter trey left and went in from 6 yards. West Geauga then answered when Searight lofted a pass between two defenders and hit Carmen Engoglia in the corner of the end zone.
That set up the third OT and Buckeye’s heartbreak.
“Congrats to West Geauga,” Pinzone said. “They’re a great team, they played hard. They made plays, we made plays and, at the end, they made one more play. I think that about sums it up, doesn’t it?”
The Bucks would have never been in position for OT had it not been for Polidori’s flawless two-minute drill trailing 14-7. Limping badly throughout after he rolled his ankle during halftime warm-ups, the senior returned a kickoff to his own 30-yard line and went to work.
Working primarily out of an empty backfield, Polidori nailed Thome for 9 yards, Jonathon Neel for 6 on fourth-and-2, Justin Canedy (3 receptions, 40 yards, 2 TDs) for a twisting 29-yard fade and finally Canedy again for the 10-yard TD capper. Polidori alertly realized Canedy was completely uncovered in the slot with 1:12 to go.
Buckeye’s rugged defense then held strong. The Wolverines got to their own 49 and pulled off a successful hook-and-lateral in the waning seconds, but Zach Suba was tackled at the 15 as time expired after receiving the pitch from Engoglia.
“Even when they went up 14-7, we were confident. Everyone was upbeat,” Thome said. “We played hard until the end, and I couldn’t be more proud of this team.”
Wearing down the Bucks’ defensive line that hadn’t played a full four quarters in eight weeks, West Geauga scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth to take a seven-point lead with 3:38 left. Searight, who like Polidori missed open receivers, finally connected via an 82-yard bomb to Suba on third-and-10.
For the prior 44 minutes, Buckeye did a tremendous job of hanging on by a thread. The Bucks scored on their opening drive when Polidori found Canedy uncovered for a 1-yard TD pass — a play set up by a 36-yard screen reception in which Thome broke multiple tackles on third-and10.
The next 35-plus minutes belonged to the defense led by McCullough, Kyle Svagerko, Hunter Gray and Jaret Yohman and key showings from backup DBs Neel and Josh England, who played big second-half minutes with Scott out and Thome limping.
Daddario finished with big final statistics, but 20 of his 36 carries were 5 yards or less. The scrambling ability of Searight, meanwhile was limited and he was intercepted by Thome with 1:21 left in the first half.
Along with Thome’s interception, Buckeye survived a scare when Searight overthrew an open receiver on fourth-and-5 from the 8 midway through the second quarter. The Bucks also batted down third-down pass attempts twice.
That took the pressure off the reeling offense and gave Buckeye field position for most of the second half, as Brenden McBride pinned fourth-quarter punts at the 13- and 18-yard lines.
The only problem was the exhausted Bucks couldn’t finish in regulation, as Daddario carried nine times for 57 yards and capped his team’s initial scoring drive with 9:55 left in the fourth.
“Everyone did their job,” Thome said of the defense. “No one tried to do too much.”
Pinzone struggled to keep his emotions bottled inside during the postgame speech. He knew his players had given it their all, and win or lose still played in an epic game.
He couldn’t have been more proud.
“We feel for our kids because they played their hearts out until the very end,” Pinzone said. “They have no reason to hang their heads.”
Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com.
West Geauga 35, Buckeye 28 (3OT)
WEST GEAUGA0 0 0 14 7 7 7 — 35
BUCKEYE 7 0 0 7 7 7 0 — 28
First
B — Justin Canedy 1 pass from Nathan Polidori (Richard Gatt kick), 7:22.
Fourth
W — Joe Daddario 16 run (Christiano Dibra kick), 9:55.
W — Zach Suba 82 pass from Cam Searight (Dibra kick), 3:38.
B — Canedy 10 pass from Polidori (Gatt kick), 1:12.
First overtime
W — Seabright 1 run (Dibra kick)
B — Justin Lowry 21 pass from Polidori (Gatt kick)
Second overtime
B — Trevor Thome 6 run (Gatt kick)
W — Carmen Engoglia 19 pass from Searight (Dibra kick)
Third overtime
W — Daddario 4 run (Dibra kick)
