H.S. Football: Buckeye stays unbeaten after flattening Lakewood

Albert Grindle The Gazette LAKEWOOD — The Lakewood football team was on Cloud 9 after dual-threat quarterback Avery Holt connected with Jaylen Chappell for a bomb of a touchdown on third-and-long during its opening possession. All that did was make Buckeye madder than a buck during the rut. The Bucks needed just four plays to respond and never let off the throttle, winning 52-7 to remain alone atop the Great Lakes Conference East Division. They're now 7-0 for the first time since 2017, coach Greg Dennison's first season at the helm. Buckeye racked up 420 rushing yards and 118 passing yards for 538 total, the fourth highest in school history. The Bucks averaged 10.8 yards per play, while the lone punt by Trey Widenmeyer was a 32-yarder that was downed at the Rangers 1. Gage Nagy scored four touchdowns on six carries, giving him a team-leading 13 on the season and 24 in his career. Casey Murray, Troy McCann and Ryan Wilhelm added scores from 52, 22 and 3 yards, while Brayden Bonnett extended his commanding Medina County lead with his sixth field goal of the season, a 35-yarder that represented the lone points of the second half. Lakewood (2-5, 0-2) got a tremendous effort from Holt, a 6-foot-2, 215-pound right-hander. The senior rushed 10 times for 66 yards, completed 9-of-24 passes for 125 yards — he would have easily surpassed 200 if not for drops — punted six times for a 41.5 average and accounted for 191 of the Rangers' 199 yards total offense. Holt opened play from scrimmage with a 30-yard scamper, then lifted a dime to Chappell for a 53-yard touchdown on third-and-13. He even kicked the extra point, but the rest of the game was completely dominated by Buckeye. The Bucks responded immediately when Murray (4-for-4, 118 yards) found tight end Widenmeyer for a 54-yard connection on their first play from scrimmage. Nagy scored from 12 yards to cap the drive three plays later, Bonnett boomed the extra points and Buckeye never trailed again. Murray's 52-yarder was a thing of beauty, as he stiff-armed a defender to the turf at the 10 before finding the end zone. McCann (10 carries, 101 yards) added his TD to make the score 21-7, Nagy pushed the ante to 28-7 on a 3-yarder and the Bucks recovered the ensuing kickoff when it spun backward like a pitching wedge onto a golf green and into the arms of sophomore linebacker Derek Snyderburn. Nagy quickly capitalized from 26 yards, giving Buckeye a 35-7 lead that led to Dennison sprinkling in some backups late in the second quarter. Wilhelm completed the first-half scoring with a 3-yarder and ended up as the team's second-leading rusher with 92 yards on 10 attempts. Shane Metter also got in on the fun during the second half, gaining 76 yards on eight carries. The freshman nearly scored his first career touchdown but was tackled at the 1 on the final play of the game. The news wasn't all good for the Bucks, however, as standout wide receiver Zach Onorati exited with what appeared to be a knee injury on a 36-yard screen reception in the second quarter. Contact Albert Grindle at (330) 721-4043 or agrindle@medina-gazette.com. Buckeye 52, Lakewood 7 BUCKEYE &emsp;&emsp;21 28 3 0 — 52 LAKEWOOD &emsp;&emsp;7 0 0 0 — 7 First L — Jaylen Chappell 53 pass from Avery Holt (Holt kick). B — Gage Nagy 12 run (Brayden Bonnett kick), 8:21. B — Casey Murray 52 run (Bonnett kick), 4:40. B — Troy McCann 22 run (Bonnett kick), 1:40. Second B — Nagy 3 run (Bonnett kick). B — Nagy 11 run (Bonnett kick). B — Nagy 26 run (Bonnett kick). B — Ryan Wilhelm 3 run (Bonnett kick). Third B — Bonnett 35 field goal. &emsp;&emsp;B &emsp;&emsp;L First downs &emsp;&emsp;22 &emsp;&emsp;6 Rushing &emsp;&emsp;46/420&emsp;&emsp;14/74 Rushing average &emsp;&emsp;9.1 &emsp;&emsp;5.3 Passing &emsp;&emsp;4/4 &emsp;&emsp;9/24 Passing yards &emsp;&emsp;118 &emsp;&emsp;125 Total offense &emsp;&emsp;50/538 38/199 Punting &emsp;&emsp;1/32.0 6/41.5 Penalties &emsp;&emsp;5/40 &emsp;&emsp;5/40 Fumbles &emsp;&emsp;1/0 &emsp;&emsp;1/0 RUSHING: Buckeye — McCann 10-101, Wilhelm 10-92, Shane Metter 8-76, Nagy 6-70, Murray 3-44, Roman Krettler 3-26, Jamason Bricker 4-15, No. 83 1-(-1), Turner Dolata 1-(-3). Lakewood — Holt 10-66, No. 31 2-11, Don Mikuluk 2-(-3). PASSING: Buckeye — Murray 4-4-118-0. Lakewood — Holt 9-24-125-0. RECEIVING: Buckeye — Trey Widenmeyer 2-68, Zach Onorati 1-36, Austin Hyre 1-14. Lakewood — Chappell 2-72, Alex Symons 4-37, Mikuluk 2-9, No. 85 1-7.