High school football: Buckeye looks good in initial scrimmage

YORK TWP. — The way running back/outside linebacker Roman Krettler saw it, 6-foot-5, 221-pound Buckeye quarterback Turner Dolata looked like he was back playing football against fifth-graders. "Turner looked strong," Krettler said after his senior classmate engineered four touchdown drives in a Saturday morning scrimmage against Midview. "It was like he was back in middle school and elementary school. He was making big plays in the passing game and big plays in the running game. He was phenomenal." Dolata, who quarterbacked the Bucks to a 10-2 record and Cleveland West Conference title as a junior, went 6-for-12 for 146 yards and a TD against the Middles while having two passes dropped. Looking much quicker and faster than he did a year ago, Dolata added a 20-yard TD run while rushing three times for 47 yards. "We have a lot of weapons out there," Dolata said. "We have a lot of people who can run the ball and a lot of people who can catch the ball. We can test the defense a little more than we have in the past. "When we spread the field and throw it, it opens up the field and I can take off. I feel more confident this year. I'm seeing the field better and reading the field better." Buckeye gave up just one TD to the Middies, who were 5-6 overall and 2-5 in the Southwestern Conference in 2024, but had a few issues defending the pass, with Midview's score coming on a 53-yard bomb where a receiver came back to the ball and outleaped a Bucks defender before running the final 15 yars to paydirt. Though receivers were open on a number of occasions and Midview had a few running plays than went for decent chunks of yardage, the Bucks played fairly well otherwise while getting tackles for loss from Krettler, fellow outside linebacker Derek Snyderburn and inside linebacker Preston Ware. Linebacker Cam Landes added a sack and defensive end Mark Shevchenko applied pressure on a number of occasions. The story of the day, though, was the Buckeye offense, which got great offensive line play as it attempts to make up for the graduation of running back Troy McCann (1,892 yards rushing, 32 TDs) and tight end Trey Windenmeyer (24 catches, 567 yards, 12 TDs). "On a scale of one to 10, it was a nine," said Krettler, who had six carries for 34 yards, including TDs of 1 and 9 yards. "There's a lot we can improve on, but this was a good first step for what we can accomplish this year." Buckeye also got a 33-yard run from 6-0, 198-pound sophomore Denis Shevchenko and three carries for 37 yards from fullback Ryan Wilhelm, whose fumble deep in Midview territory was recovered by a teammate. Dolata's favorite receiver was 6-2, 211-pound tight end Jacob Snyderburn, who showed no fear of going over the middle while catching three passes for 55 yards, including a perfectly thrown 10-yard slant for a TD. Sophomore Nick Prouza went 33 yards with a screen pass and wide receiver/defensive back/kicker Brayden Bonnett, who is Buckeye's fastest player, made a leaping catch of a 49-yard bomb that was slightly underthrown. Bonnett, who missed the first half of last season with an injury and didn't catch a pass as a junior, also nearly hauled in a heave down the sideline but couldn't quite catch up to the ball. "I thought we played pretty well," Dolata said. "There are still some timing things to work on, but it was a really good step in the right direction. "This is the year I've been looking forward to. Our senior class has been together a long time and we were 34-2 at the youth level. It's our time to step up and make a really big impact." All-Gazette pick Krettler, who had 62 carries for 450 yards (7.3 average) and three TDs as a junior, feels the same way and is looking forward to playing a bigger role on offense, where he will be Buckeye's primary running back. "It's going to be great," he said. "I've been looking forward to it since my sophomore year. I'm very confident in what is going on this year. We'll be able to be very versatile. Our diversity is way better this year." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X.