High school football playoffs: Buckeye beats St. Marys for historic win

YORK TWP. — The Buckeye football did something Friday night that hadn't been done in the program's previous 72 seasons, and the Bucks did it with one of the most dominating and impressive playoff performances in their history. Undefeated and top-seeded Buckeye absolutely overwhelmed eighth-seeded St. Marys Memorial 26-0 in a Division III, Region 10 quarterfinal at Edwin Steingass Field to become the first team in school history to record 11 victories in a season. "It's just us (with 11 wins)," said sophomore inside linebacker Denis Shevchenko, who made plays all over the field. "It's amazing. I've never felt anything like this. I'm so proud to be part of this Buckeye team." Next up for the Bucks (11-0) is a regional semifinal against fifth-seeded Rocky River (10-2) — the Pirates downed No. 4 seed Revere (8-3) 23-14 — next Friday at home. Buckeye, which beat Rocky River 35-27 in a Week 8 Cleveland West Conference shootout, made the regional semifinals in 2018 and 2023 but lost each time, meaning the current Bucks can become the first team to reach a regional final. Memorial finished 8-4. "It's the best feeling ever, but we're still not done," said senior outside linebacker Roman Krettler, who joined Shevchenko and a number of other defensive players in being all over the field. "We're out to make more history every week. It's a great feeling tonight, but tomorrow we'll be right back at it." Facing a massive offensive line and playing against Memorial's wing-T and T-formation offense, which had rushed for nearly 3,000 yards on the season, Buckeye's defense was stellar. The Roughriders finished with just 168 yards on 46 rushing attempts (3.7-yard average) — sacks were responsible for 41 yards in losses — and 58 yards passing while being intercepted three times. The stars were numerous, but it started up front with the revamped defensive line of Jacob Snyderburn, Justin Augustine and Colton Homchik, which ate up blockers — Snyderburn also had two tackles for loss and two stops at the line of scrimmage — and allowed linebackers Krettler, Ryan Wilhelm, Shevchenko and Derek Snyderburn to make big plays. Krettler had two sacks for 26 yards in losses and an interception, inside linebacker Wilhelm was in on numerous stops at or near the line of scrimmage, Shevchenko had two sacks for 15 yards in losses and outside linebacker Derek Snyderburn had a TFL and interception, while safety Logan Letner added a TFL and pick. "We worked all week," the 6-foot, 198-pound Shevchenko said. "We were so prepared. We knew we had a great run defense. We just played our hearts out." Offensively, the Bucks were led by tailback Liam Phillips, who was limited late in the regular season due to a bruised thigh. Phillips finished with 177 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries as the Bucks racked up 234 yards on 35 attempts for a 6.7 yard average. Fullback Wilhelm added 10 carries for 30 yards and a 1-yard TD and opened the scoring with a 63-yard catch-and-run from quarterback Turner Dolata, who was an extremely efficient 3-for-4 for 82 yards. Roughriders quarterback Aiden Meinerding was 6-for-10 for 58 yards on a night when he had just one pass hit the ground due to the interceptions, meaning there were just 14 passes thrown and only two weren't caught by someone in a game that took just 1 hour, 47 minutes. The quickness of the game was due to the fact the Buckeye offensive line of Ryan Lino, Preston Ware, Kyle Landes, Cam Landes and Ben Lazar was just as good as the defensive line. "They worked so hard," Phillips said. "When we come into a game and play that way, that's when their work is really obvious." Buckeye opened the scoring on its first possession when Dolata executed a great play-fake and threw over the middle to a wide-open Wilhelm, who rumbled the final 45 yards to complete the 63-yard scoring play. Brayden Bonnett, who had two touchbacks and booming punts of 45 and 68 yards, had a rare miss on the point-after. After a 33-yard punt return by Shane Metter, the Bucks went 52 yards in 12 plays to make it 12-0 on Wilhelm's 1-yard run. A two-point conversion pass was dropped in the end zone. Next came the key sequence of the game. Behind fullback Caleb Schmidt (19 carries, 99 yards) and running back Dylann Fink (17, 71), the Roughriders went on a 14-play drive but came away with no points. Memorial had first-and-goal at the Buckeye 7-yard line but was whistled for a false start. After Meinerding underthrew a wide-open receiver in the end zone, Krettler raced through the line for a 17-yard sack to the 29. Shevchenko got a 6-yard sack to the 35 and Bradey Triplett's 52-yard field goal attempt barely got to the goal line with 30 seconds left in the first half. "Those were huge," Krettler said of the sacks. "It's all a team effort. That's what we need." On Buckeye's first play from scrimmage after the missed field goal, Phillips took a handoff up the middle, cut left off a block from receiver Mason Dolata and went 80 yards to put the Bucks up 19-0 with 13 ticks on the clock. "Coming through the line I was going to go up the middle, but Mason Dolata was blocking in so I went wide," Phillips said. "it was a footrace from there." The defensive stop and Phillips' run turned what could have been a 12-7 game into 19-0 at intermission. Just to make sure the game was in hand, Phillips added a 5-yard TD run in the third quarter. Not long after, the Bucks, who were fully aware no team in school history had won 11 games in a season, were celebrating a thoroughly impressive victory. "It's amazing," Phillips said. "There's been so many great teams, so many great athletes and so many great coaches. To be a part of history is huge." Not yet satisfied, the Bucks hope to make more history next week by beating Rocky River to become the program's first regional finalist. "It's going to be a great week of practice," Phillips said. "All of our guys are going to step up." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X. Buckeye 26, Memorial 0 Division III, Region 10 Quarterfinal MEMORIAL 0 0 0 0 — 0 BUCKEYE 6 13 7 0 — 26 First B — Ryan Wilhelm 63 pass from Turner Dolata (kick failed), 6:42. Second B — Wilhelm 1 run (pass failed), 7:57. B — Liam Phillips 80 run (Brayden Bonnett kick), 0:13. Third B — Phillips 5 run (Bonnett kick), 2:29. &emsp;&emsp;M B First downs &emsp;&emsp;16 10 Rushing &emsp;&emsp;46/168 35/234 Rushing average 3.7 6.7 Passing &emsp;&emsp;6/10 3/4 Passing yards &emsp;&emsp;58 82 Total offense 56/226 39/316 Punting &emsp;&emsp;2/44.0 2/56.5 Penalties &emsp;&emsp;2/15 3/33 Fumbles &emsp;&emsp;0/0 0/0 Individual statistics RUSHING: Memorial — Caleb Schmidt 19-99, Dyllan Fink 17-71, Luke Rammel 3-20, Aiden Meinerding 7-(-22). Buckeye — Phillips 18-177, Wilhelm 10-30, Roman Krettler 5-24, Nick Prouza 1-5, Team 1-(-2). PASSING: Memorial — Meinderding 6-10-58-3. Buckeye — Dolata 3-4-82-0. RECEIVING: Memorial — Grady Hughes 2-42, Tre Moore 3-21, Rammel 1-(-5). Buckeye — Wilhelm 1-63, Prouza 2-19. MISSED FIELD GOAL: Memorial — Bradey Triplett 52 (SH).