By Mark Blentlinger
Win number 1… Check!
The Bucks of Buchanan had a goal of coming to Roy Davis field and handing the Eagles of Schoolcraft and their new head Coach, Nathan Ferency, their first loss of the 2018-19 football season. The Eagles, however, had plans of their own to protect their home field and the debut of their new coach, and never backed down.
Opening kickoff from the Bucks, resulted in a 15-yard run for Schoolcraft’s Jett Gott. Sophomore quarterback, Alex Thole, took the shotgun snap and threw his first varsity pass of the season. Missing his intended target, the ball wound up in the hands of the Buck’s, Aiden Kiel. However, Buchanan was unable to capitalize on the interception, going four and out, and had to punt to the Eagles.
It was then that the Eagles shook off their first game jitters and started to put things together. The Eagles reached a first down with a pass to Sophomore, Jimmy Downs. Junior, Kobe Clark, took the next two handoffs, with the second leading to a 23-yard Eagle touchdown! The extra point was good at the foot of senior kicker, Chandler Guiter. The Eagles defense really stood their ground, not allowing Buchanan to move the ball much at all. Facing a 4th and 1, the Bucks went for it with their senior quarterback, Brandon Rogers, but was sacked for a loss and the ball went back to the Eagles on downs, at the Bucks own 29-yard line. The Eagles really started to fire on all cylinders, with Clark taking the next three handoffs, ending up in the end zone again after an eight-yard sprint. The extra point was good, putting the Eagles up 14-0 with 3:38 left in the first quarter.
Schoolcraft’s Parker Lawrence stepped in front of a pass by Buchanan’s Rogers, for an interception. Again, Clark, did what he does best and shook off tacklers to find pay-dirt, for the third time in the first half of the game. Eagles went up 21-0. Just when the Bucks were starting to put something together, in stepped the sting of Schoolcraft’s defense, forcing a fumble that was picked up and run into the end zone by senior Eagle, Chris Cooper, resulting in a score of 28-0, with 10:19 still left in the first half of the game.
The scoring continued for the Eagles with a 47 yard TD pass from Thole to Lawrence, taking the Eagles up 35-0. The Eagles continued to dominate the Bucks on both sides of the ball. Thole then threw to an open, Jimmy Downs, with a 23-yard pass that put the Eagles up 42-0 at the half.
Buchanan never really managed any type of momentum in the game. The defense of the Eagles was just too strong for anything the Bucks tried to do.
The second half of the game started with a running clock. Schoolcraft was not done dominating the Bucks and scored again with a 17-yard touchdown pass to Downs, that put the Eagles up 49-0, with 1:05 left in the 3rd quarter. The final score came with, Guiter, booting a bomb of a field goal kick, from 48 yards out, to put the Eagles at a final score of 52-0!
New head coach, Ferency, said how good it felt and what a pleasure it was to be coaching at Schoolcraft, knowing he is following some great Hall of Fame coaches in Coaches Ledlow and Haas. He said this was a big win for the players…”The kids have been working hard and deserve this win to start their season.”