High school football: Buckeye brings the heat in non-league win over Cloverleaf

YORK TWP. — Outside of sophomore end Ben Midea, the Buckeye football team's 3-4 defense has exactly one player weighing in at more than 200 pounds. And that player, inside linebacker Nick Bostic, checks in at 201. Cam Stout, Bostic, Midea, Ben Barnes and Co. don't care about the measurables. They're going to bring the heat, swarm the ball and leave everything on the field, and the proof was in the pudding Friday during a 10-0 non-league, season-opening win over neighboring Cloverleaf. Stout flipped momentum with a fourth-down stop in Colts territory, and the Bucks used the gigantic play as fuel to hold Cloverleaf to 5 of its meager 86 yards in the second half. "That's a great way to come out and start the season," Stout said. "That's a statement from us. "We may not be the biggest defense — we may not be the biggest team — but we're going to give it to them every week. We are the hardest-working, hardest-hitting team there is. We pushed on the gas pedal all game. Nobody will move the ball on us. We're just more aggressive." Neither team mustered much offensively, but Buckeye controlled field position all night. The Bucks took a 3-0 lead on a Barnes 27-yard field goal with 7:57 left in the first half, then appeared to be on the verge of forcing another punt. Looking to kick-start his offense, Colts coach Justin Vorhies rolled the dice on fourth-and-2 from his own 39-yard line. The play call was an inside run for Cade Cass, but Stout had already decoded the Cloverleaf calls, knew what was coming and shot the gap for a 6-yard loss. The Bucks then needed only six plays to go up 10-0, with Kaymen Marshall busting through a rare big hole off-tackle and shaking two defenders for a 19-yard touchdown. Emotionally deflated at that point, the Colts' offense never threatened again. "I picked up on that real quick that they had the same four to five calls, just different numbers," Stout said. "I forget what they called, but they had done it before up the middle. I knew their guard would slant, and I hit the gap right away. I knew where (Cass) was going to be. "That was a great feeling, you know? Just putting us in great position, I took care of everybody just doing my job." Buckeye was sloppy offensively against a veteran Cloverleaf defense led by All-Gazette inside linebacker Kevin Bittaker, racking up a grueling 181 yards rushing on 50 carries and losing one of its five fumbles on the Colts 1-yard line. Barnes was the workhorse with 34 carries for 130 yards, while Marshall added 40 on 11 along with receptions of 59 and 23 yards. The Bucks clearly missed two-time All-Gazette tackle Todd Allen (shoulder) and tight end Shane Bambrick (knee), but veteran coach Greg Dennison was thrilled his defense picked up the slack. "We were put in a couple tough situations defensively and we came up with the big play every time," Dennison said. "They put our offense in good field position." Cloverleaf clearly lacked a big-play threat and sustained an early blow when two-way lineman Tommy Price left with a leg injury. The Colts were 0-for-9 passing with an interception — the nose of the ball hit the ground, but officials gave Marshall the pick — and quarterbacks Blake Benko and Oakley Kemp had minus-12 yards on the ground. Cass finished with 51 yards on 12 carries, while bruiser Emilio Rivera had 34 on seven, with his lone second-half rush coming on an 8-yard scramble after leaping to snare a high punt snap. The Colts also were 0-for-8 on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth down. "Defensively, we played with a lot of heart and a lot of execution," Vorhies said. "We thought we had a play on that fourth down that we didn't get. Offensively, it's all about execution. A few things here and there on shock plays, we got exactly what we wanted, but up front it was as simple as not seeing a linebacker blitz." Buckeye has now outscored Cloverleaf 176-37 during a seven-game winning streak in the series. The Bucks will trek to Conneaut, which beat Ashtabula Edgewood 41-6, next week in search of their first 2-0 start since 2017. If the offense can catch up to the defense, Buckeye believes it can have a special season after a weird 2020 in which the Bucks started late, got off to a 4-1 start and then stumbled down the stretch. "I know last year was a little rough, and people came into this year doubting us," Stout said. "I think that we proved ourselves, especially defensively." Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Buckeye 10, Cloverleaf 0 BUCKEYE&emsp;&emsp;0 10 0 0 — 10 CLOVERLEAF&emsp;&emsp;0 0 0 0 — 0 Second B — Ben Barnes 27 field goal, 7:57. B — Kaymen Marshall 19 run (Barnes kick), 2:13.