By Dan Messerschmidt
CCN Sports Director
BUCYRUS — It was a homecoming for Cardington coach Tim Plumley, but Bucyrus didn’t make him feel welcome.
Plumley, a BHS graduate and long-time assistant coach, took over the Pirates’ program this year, his first as a head coach.
Bucyrus’ big plays offset Cardington’s grind-it-out offense, leading the Redmen to a 38-17 victory, in a non-league game.
“That’s the best we’ve looked offensively,” Bucyrus coach Aaron Eckert said. “Credit the guys on the edges. They make it happen. We got some tremendous blocking out there.”
While everyone in the area knew of the Redmen’s Harley Robinson, few were aware of Keaton Naufzinger’s game-breaking potential. The junior wide receiver touched the ball four times, all resulting in touchdowns.
Naufzinger had scoring runs of 85, 32 and 40 yards and caught a 75-yard strike from Ben Seibert to account for 24 of the 38 Bucyrus points and 232 of its 355 yards from scrimmage.
“We gave up too many big plays,” Plumley said. “They did a nice job of blocking us on the edges and Keaton just took it to the house.”
“Keaton is a guy we’ve known about for a while,” Eckert said. “He’s got great speed. He’s probably the fastest kid in our school. He’s been starting for us since he was a freshman.”
Zane Seybert got the Redmen on the board first, however, with a 28-yard scoring run on just the fourth play of the game.
Cardington (0-2) countered with a 27-yard field goal from Branden Steckel early in the second quarter.
Naufzinger’s 85-yard run took the score to 13-3 but the Pirates got a 2-yard run from Mason Goers to draw within 13-10. Goers had a monster night of his own, rushing for 223 yards on 39 carries and two touchdowns.
“Mason had a lot of carries,” Plumley said. “The line blocked well at times. Other times, we struggled. But the guys up front did a decent job.”
The 75-yard scoring pass to Naufzinger gave Bucyrus (1-1) a 20-10 halftime lead, but the turning point came in the third quarter.
On the opening drive of the second half, Cardington drove from its own 26 to the Bucyrus one, using 15 plays to do so. But the Redmen held the Pirates out of the end zone.
“I think we’re tougher and that’s just grit,” Eckert said of the goal-line stand. “That’s just a will to not give in when your back is against the wall.”
Then, after being stopped at their own six, the Redmen punted. The ball was muffed, however, and Bucyrus recovered at the Cardington 48. On the first play, the Redmen ran a reverse flea flicker that resulted in a 48-yard touchdown from Seibert to Robinson.
The 13-point swing was too much for the Pirates to overcome. Naufzinger’s runs of 32 and 40 yards more than negated Goers’ five-yard scoring run.
Ironically, Cardington gained 21 first downs to just four for Bucyrus and the Pirates had nearly as many total yards, 355-317, but could not punch it into the end zone.
“It was up and down,” Plumley said of his return to Bucyrus. “It was a big game I thought we could win. I got to see everybody I loved over there (on the other sideline). I was mixed emotions. I feel bad, we made too many mistakes.”
“Tim’s been a big part of what we’re trying to do here,” Eckert said. “He does a great job. He’s a great person, first of all. He’s a great coach. We wish him nothing but the best.”