BUCYRUS — Jon Butchko got his first Gatorade bath as head coach at Bucyrus.
Despite the soaking in chilly below average temperatures, Butchko did not want to leave the field.
“I could stay here all night,” Butchko said.
And why not? His Redmen had just ended their 22-game losing streak with a 42-21 win over visiting Triad. Nothing could dampen the coach’s enthusiasm.
“It feels great, a lot better than it did last week (a 36-28 loss at North Baltimore),” Butchko said. “We lost a huge part of the puzzle last week and our guys rallied.”
All-Ohio running back Demaris Munn-Page was lost for the season with a knee injury on the second play of the game at North Baltimore.
After a scoreless first quarter, the reconfigured Bucyrus (1-1) offense got going. On the first play of the second quarter, freshman quarterback Isaac Makeever connected with Dylan Coppler on a 15-yard scoring strike. Cooper Kalb’s kick gave the Redmen a 7-0 lead.
It didn’t take the Cardinals long — three plays, in fact — to respond. De’Von Minor was on the receiving end of a 49-yard pass from quarterback Wyatt Smith. Landon Tomlin finished the abbreviated drive with a 10-yard reception for the score for a 7-7 tie.
Smith, a running back by trade, is filling in at quarterback due to injury.
“We’re beaten up right now. We have four knee injuries,” Triad coach Mike Braun said. “My starting quarterback had reconstructive knee surgery the other day. The guy who started today (Smith) was slated to be one of our wing backs.”
Smith did a serviceable job as a fill-in, connecting on 11 of 21 pass attempts for 127 yards and three touchdowns. He did, however, have three interceptions.
The teams traded punches through much of the early-to-mid-second quarter. Makeever found Christian Neal on a 10-yard TD pass before Brody Hess knotted the score again for Triad (0-2) with a 52-yard run.
Hess finished with 88 yards on 19 carries.
“Brody Hess is a heck of a running back. We’ve got some receivers,” Braun said. “We’ve just got to get it taken care of up front. We need to be more consistent. We’re not consistent right now.”
Bucyrus took the lead for good when Makeever completed a 63-yard scoring drive with a one-yard run to make it 21-14.
The Redmen tacked on another score before halftime on a four-yard run by Makeever to give Bucyrus a 29-14 advantage at intermission
The last score before half was set up by a Da’Shawn Cosey interception, one of his two for the game. Cosey also accumulated 128 yards on four kickoff returns.
“Oh, boy. He’s electric,” Butchko said of his sophomore receiver/defensive back. “And I think he’s starting to realize his potential or what he is capable of as we go forward. He’s just a sophomore, but it feels like he’s been in school forever.”
Following a scoreless third quarter, the Cardinals made it a game when Smith hit Caleb Jordan from 21 yards out to cut the deficit to 29-21 on the first play of the fourth quarter.
It took just three plays, however, for Bucyrus to essentially put the game away. Wyatt Makeever broke free for a 22-yard run to pad the Redmen lead at 35-21. A Coppler interception set up the final Bucyrus touchdown, also a Wyatt Makeever 1-yard run to set the final score.
“I told the boys, ‘They’ve got a losing streak. We play at (their) home, it’s senior night. They have all the motivation to come out and win,’” Braun said of the Redmen. “This is their Super Bowl, and they played well.”
Isaac Makeever finished by completing 11 of 19 passes for 98 yards and two scores. He also rushed for 110 yards on 27 tries. Wyatt Makeever added 106 yards on the ground on 15 carries, with two touchdowns.
Coppler caught four passes for 39 yards and a TD. Wyatt Makeever grabbed four balls for 31 yards and Neal added three catches for 28 yards and a score.
“We’re very similar programs,” Braun said. “Coach (Butchko) and I talked last year and this year. We’re very similar programs — numbers, injuries, cultures. We’re just trying to right the ship.”
Butchko agreed.
“The two years we played them, it was like looking in a mirror, playing ourselves. It’s like what we see in practice.”
The win was as if a weight had been lifted off the team’s collective shoulders.
“The monkey is off our back,” Butchko said. “It’s been 1055 days since we won a game — since Week 9 of the 2022 season. It was the sixth longest losing streak in the state, ninth longest home losing streak. Those are all dead. We can finally take a deep breath and just focus on the next game.”
Butchko reflected on his team’s performance, which he noted still needs some work.
“We do some dynamic things at times,” Butchko said. “Sometimes we’re feast or famine. We’ll fix all the other stuff. This feels great. This feels like six or seven wins at one.
“We still have some growing pains, but it’s a lot easier to correct them after you win.”
Box score
Score by quarters
Triad 0 14 0 7 — 21
Bucyrus 0 29 0 13 — 42
Scoring summary
Second quarter
B — Dylan Coppler 15 pass from Isaac Makeever (Cooper Kalb kick).
T — Landon Tomlin 10 pass from Wyatt Smith (Waylin Holtsberry kick).
B — Christian Neal 10 pass from Isaac Makeever (Kalb kick).
T — Brody Hess 52 run (Holtsberry kick).
B — Isaac Makeever 1 run (Kalb kick).
B — Isaac Makeever 4 run (Makeever run).
Fourth quarter
T — Caleb Jordan 21 pass from Smith (Holtsberry kick).
B — Wyatt Makeever 22 run (kick failed).
B — Wyatt Makeever 1 run (Kalb kick).
Individual statistics
Passing
Triad: Wyatt Smith 11-21-3 127; Bucyrus: Isaac Makeever 11-19-0 98.
Rushing
Triad: Brody Hess 28-103, Wyatt Smtih 9-15. Bucyrus: Wyatt Makeever 15-126, Isaac Makeever 27-110, Christian Neal 1-2.
Receiving
Triad: De’Von Minor 2-63, Caleb Jordan 4-41, Landon Tomlin 2-17, Colton Thomas 3-6; Bucyrus: Dylan Coppler 4-39, Wyatt Makeever 4-31, Christian Neal 3-28.
Team statistics
T B
First downs 9 20
Rushing 28-103 43-238
Passes 11-21-3 11-19-0
Yards passing 127 98
Total yards 230 336
Fumbles-lost 2-0 2-2
Punts-Avg 3-41.0 2-31.0
Penalties 13-84 4-35