High school football playoffs: Buckeye falls in barnburner to Rocky River

YORK TWP. — The Buckeye football team's record-setting season came to an end Friday night at Edwin M. Steingass Field, but the Bucks didn't go down without putting up a tremendous fight in a wildly entertaining game. Fifth-seeded Rocky River rode an incredible performance by quarterback Ryan Taylor to a 48-41 shootout victory in a Division III, Region 10 semifinal that featured 1,020 yards total offense, 47 first downs and touchdowns on the first six possessions of the game. The Pirates (11-2), who lost to Buckeye 35-27 in a Week 9 Cleveland West Conference game, advanced to play sixth-seeded Toledo Central Catholic (9-4), an impressive 41-7 winner over No. 2 Wapakoneta (11-1), in a regional final at a site to be determined. The Bucks (11-1), who last week became the first team in the program's 73-year history to win 11 games in a season, were bidding to also become the first Buckeye team to reach a regional final. "It was an awesome season," Buckeye coach Greg Dennison said. "The senior class came to work every day. They did things no other Buckeye team has done, and they deserved to do that." The Bucks also would have been a deserving regional finalist were it not for Taylor. The shifty quarterback accounted for 488 yards of offense, rushing 19 times for 181 yards and three touchdowns — many of his yards came on quick bursts through the middle, often after first looking to throw — and completing 20-of-27 passes for 307 yards and three more scores. All told, the up-tempo Pirates ran 56 plays for 558 yards, nearly a 10-yard average, and never punted. They had 22 plays go for at least 10 yards, with 12 going for 20-plus. "As soon as I found out we were playing them, I knew it was going to be a dogfight," Bucks fullback/inside linebacker Ryan Wilhelm said. "I knew we were going to have to give it our all. Every single one of my teammates left it all on the field. I love every single one of them. "(Taylor) is a great football player. They're all good football players. I respect all of them." Taylor, who directed the Pirates to 21 first downs, hit receiver Daniel Berg 10 times for 153 yards, including a 27-yard TD and 56-yard bomb, and Tristin Hughes six times for 126 yards. Running back Joey DiSalvo rushed six times for 71 yards out of Rocky River's one-back offense. "Defensively, we just did not play well," Dennison said. "(Taylor) is obviously a challenge. He makes people miss, but we just didn't play well." Buckeye was no slouch offensively. Quarterback Turner Dolata had a great game, completing 13-of-20 passes for 198 yards, including a 51-yard wide receiver screen to Nick Prouza (4 catches, 65 yards), who made one tackler miss along the sideline, headed toward the middle of the field, broke another tackle and then raced into the end zone. Dolata, who had a number of passes dropped and threw his lone interception when a ball deflected off a receiver's hands on Buckeye's last offensive play, also rushed four times for 40 yards, including a 15-yard scramble to open the scoring. Two-way starter Roman Krettler had 20 carries for 119 yards and a 4-yard TD but carried the ball just two times for 4 yards in the second half, while Brayden Sopko had a 4-yard score among his 11 carries for 59 yards, all coming after halftime. Wilhelm had eight totes for 38 yards and a 1-yard TD, Mason Dolata had four catches for 45 yards and Derek Snyderburn had two for 46. The Bucks racked up 26 first downs while finishing with 462 yards on 65 plays, including 45 rushes for 264 yards. Buckeye punted just once. "I feel like our offense is really high-powered," Turner Dolata said. "Our offensive line was amazing and our running backs and receivers are dangerous. Sometimes you have a game like this where both offenses are clicking." Buckeye went up 7-0 on the opening possession by going 66 yards in 10 plays, with Dolata scrambling left for a 15-yard score. Rocky River answered in just 2:21, with Taylor running left for 21 yards. It took Buckeye five plays and 1:53 to go up 14-7, with Krettler running for the last 4 yards of a 62-yard drive that featured a 31-pass to Snyderburn and a 16-yarder to Shane Metter. The Pirates then needed only 2:30 to tie the game at 14, with Hughes capping a 77-yard drive with a 1-yard run. The second quarter was more of the same, though Buckeye ate 9:08 off the clock on a 16-play, 77-yard drive that began on the last play of the first period. The march actually required the Bucks to gain 98 yards due to four penalties, with Wilhelm going the final yard to put his team up 21-14 with 3:43 to play in the first half. Rocky River answered in 1:11, with Taylor hitting Berg from 27 yards to tie. Buckeye then punted and the Pirates went 88 yards in 53 seconds, with Taylor successfully getting out of bounds on runs of 28, 16 and 5 yards — he also hit Hughes for 29 yards — prior to scoring from 5 yards to put Rocky River up 28-21 at halftime. The Pirates then took the second-half kickoff and went 65 yards in eight plays to go up 35-21 with 8:19 to play in the third quarter, but Buckeye answered immediately with Prouza's 51-yard catch-and-run TD. When Bucks safety Logan Letner intercepted a Taylor pass in the right flat — it was the QB's only mistake of the night — and went 35 yards to the house on Rocky River's first play from scrimmage, the game was suddenly tied 35-35 midway through the third. Taylor got right back on track, completing a 61-yard drive by hitting DiSalvo out of the backfield for a 5-yard TD and 42-35 Rocky River lead. Sopko carried six times for 26 yards, including the final 4, to make it 42-41 with 9:28 to go in the game. Brayden Bonnett's successful point-after was negated by a false start, and his next attempt went wide right. The Pirates went up 48-41 on Taylor's 15-yard toss to Rowan Kennedy with 5:15 to play, but elected to try to go up nine. A two-point conversion pass failed when Buckeye got good pressure on the quarterback for one of the few times in the game. The Bucks turned the ball over on downs at their own 48-yard line when Sopko was stopped 2 yards short on fourth-and-4, but Rocky River's Eric Gorius missed a 32-yard field goal attempt with 1:18 left, giving Buckeye hope. Turner Dolata had his first pass dropped, hit Bonnett for 22 yards and then brother Mason for 2 to the Bucks 44, but his next attempt deflected off a receiver's hands and was intercepted by Michael Worgull with 39 ticks on the clock. One kneel-down later, Buckeye's magical season was over. "It was the most fun I've ever had playing football in my life," Turner Dolata said. "I love all these guys. I wouldn't have wanted to do this with anyone else." "I couldn't have asked for a better season," Wilhelm added. "We had great coaches and great players. I love every one of my coaches and every one of these players." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Follow him @RickNoland on X. Rocky River 48, Buckeye 41 Division III, Region 10 Semifinal ROCKY RIVER 14 14 14 6 — 48 BUCKEYE 14 7 14 6 — 41 First B — Turner Dolata 15 run (Brayden Bonnett kick), 4:23. R — Ryan Taylor 21 run (Eric Gorius kick), 5:09. B — Roman Krettler 4 run (Bonnett kick), 3:16. R — Tristin Hughes 1 run (Gorius kick), 0:46. Second B — Ryan Wilhelm 1 run (Bonnett kick), 3:43. R — Daniel Berg 27 pass from Taylor (Gorius kick), 2:32. R — Taylor 5 run (Gorius kick), 0:13. Third R — Taylor 14 run (Gorius kick), 8:19. B — Nick Prouza 51 pass from Dolata (Bonnett kick), 6:14. B — Logan Letner 35 interception return (Bonnett kick), 5:51. R — Joey DiSalvo 5 pass from Taylor (Gorius kick), 3:07. Fourth B — Brayden Sopko 4 run (kick failed), 9:28. R — Rowan Kennedy 15 pass from Taylor (pass failed), 5:15. R B First downs &emsp;&emsp;21 26 Rushing &emsp;&emsp;29/251 45/263 Rushing average 8.7 5.8 Passing &emsp;&emsp;20/27 13/20 Passing yards &emsp;&emsp;307 198 Total offense 56/558 65/462 Punting &emsp;&emsp;0/0 1/49.0 Penalties &emsp;&emsp;3/26 6/36 Fumbles &emsp;&emsp;1/0 0/0 RUSHING: Rocky River — Taylor 19-181, DiSalvo 6-71, Hughes 3-6, Team 1-(-7). Buckeye — Krettler 20-119, Sopko 11-59, Dolata 4-40, Wilhelm 8-38, Bonnett 1-6, Prouza 1-2. PASSING: Rocky River — Taylor 20-27-307-1. Buckeye — Dolata 13-20-198-1. RECEIVING: Rocky River — Berg 10-153, Hughes 6-126, Kennedy 1-15, DiSalvo 3-13. Buckeye — Prouza 4-65, Derek Snyderburn 2-46, Mason Dolata 4-45, Bonnett 1-22, Shane Metter 1-16, Krettler 1-4. MISSED FIELD GOALS: Rocky River — Gorius 32 (WR).