BUCYRUS — The way Bucyrus and Upper Sandusky played the game observers might have thought they were playing for a league title.
Fittingly, in the last home game of the year, the Bucyrus seniors ended their career with a victory.
The Redmen built a 17-7 third-quarter lead, then weathered a furious Rams’ fourth quarter to hold on for a 24-21 Northern 10 Athletic Conference win.
Senior Grady Jackson had a monster night, catching seven passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns. Quarterback Malachi Bayless was an efficient 13 of 19 passing for 271 yards.
“I was able to take advantage of what they were giving me,” Jackson said. “Huge credit to Upper. They did a great job. I’d like to give a shout out to Malachi because he did a great job tonight. He was throwing the ball great. Also, Coach (Tim) Plumley was calling great plays.”
Bucyrus linebacker and offensive lineman Bryan Pfeifer reflected the emotion of the night, as he and most of his Redmen teammates milled around on the field long after the final whistle and the ringing of the victory bell.
“It feels amazing,” Pfeifer said, fighting back tears. “It’s the best way to go out. It takes a little of the pain away. Hopefully, I can come back sometime and see the football field from a different perspective and enjoy the game again.”
“It was a great game,” Upper Sandusky coach Russell Hall said. “It was a fun game. It would have been funner if we’d have won. The fans definitely got their money’s worth.”
“Fortunately for us, it ended this way,” Plumley said. “The Upper team fought hard, and they had every opportunity as much as we did to win it at the end.”
Upper Sandusky (3-7, 2-5 N10) got on the board first on a 24-yard scoring pass from quarterback Kaden Holman — who came into the game leading the N10 in passing yards — to tight end Brayden Chester.
Bucyrus (3-7, 2-5) cut the deficit to 7-3 when Ethan Huff drilled a 23-yard field goal at 8:03 in the second. The Redmen got the lead later in the frame when Bayless connected with Jackson from 50 yards out to go into half with a 10-7 advantage.
The Bucyrus defense held a potent Rams’ defense to 139 yards and seven points in the first half. The second half, however, was a different game.
After forcing a three-and-out, to start the third quarter, the Redmen went to the ground. Bucyrus mounted a 16-play, 90-yard drive which ended on a five-yard pass from Bayless to Jackson to make it 17-7.
But 13 of the plays were runs — 12 by Eddie Dagher — accounting for 54 yards and eating all but 2:02 of the third quarter clock.
“We talked before the game about essentially just being physical and run the ball,” Plumley said. “We ended up with more big plays throwing it. At halftime, we made a couple of adjustments. I challenged the guys. I don’t care what plays I call. We need to get off the ball and run the ball. I believed with the way the kids looked at me, we were going to be able to do it.”
“They have a very nice run and pass game,” Hill said of the Redmen. “We did our best to take both away. A few of their big plays got away from us.”
The Rams were not finished, however. A 16-yard pass from Holman to Evan Hill get Upper Sandusky back to within 17-13 after three.
Bucyrus answered with a 28-yard strike from Bayless to Jackson to seemingly put the Redmen in a position to put the game away with 3:33 remaining. However, the Rams had other ideas.
Upper Sandusky wasted no time going 59 yards in five plays capped by a two-yard run from Aiden Gallant to make it 24-21 with 2:17 to go. The defense then got a 3-and-out on Bucyrus and gave the ball to the offense just over a minute left.
The Rams promptly drove from their own 11 to the Bucyrus 13 in nine plays. On third down, Holman looked for his top receiver, Zach Sheaffer, in the right end zone. But Bucyrus corner Randy Banks stepped in front of Sheaffer for the interception at the goal line, returning it to the Rams’ 36, icing the game.
“Randy doesn’t normally play over there,” Plumley said. “Sheaffer is a great receiver and Randy is one of our best athletes. Randy just stepped in front of it and got the interception.”
The statistics bear out how close the game was. Holman was 20 of 36 for 262 yards and two touchdowns for Upper Sandusky. The Rams rushed for 101 yards on 20 carries. Hill caught nine passes for 136 yards.
Bayless threw for 271 yards and three scores; Jackson had his 185 yards on seven catches and Dagher had 91 of the Redmen’s 129 yards rushing.
“I wish we could have had the seniors’ last game be a ‘W’,” Hill said. “Not a lot of teams get that chance. We fought. We did our best. Unfortunately, it didn’t go our way.”
The Rams say good-bye to nine seniors.
Bucyrus will lose 12 seniors — Pfeifer, Dagher, Jackson, Mike Wise, Brady Rankins, Braxton Lewis, Gavin O’Connell, Isaack Banks, Dylan Bannister, Dillon Downing, Emery Metz, and Gabe Higginbotham.
“It’s a good class,” Plumley said of his seniors. “It’s going to be a challenge (to replace them). We have some good juniors and sophomores. Our freshmen class is small, but we have some good players. We’ve got to develop some young guys and get ready for next year.”
Box score
Score by quarters
Upper Sandusky 7 0 0 14 — 21
Bucyrus 0 10 7 7 — 24
Scoring summary
First quarter
US — Brayden Chester 24 pass from Kaden Holman (Chester kick), 5:22.
Second quarter
B — Ethan Huff 23 field goal, 8:03.
B — Grady Jackson 50 pass from Malachi Bayless (Huff kick), 3:57.
Third quarter
B — Jackson 5 pass from Bayless (Huff kick), 2:02.
Fourth quarter
US — Evan Hill 16 pass from Holman (kick failed), 9:04.
B — Jackson 28 pass from Bayless (Huff kick), 3:33.
US — Aiden Gallant 2 run (Holman pass from Gavin Frey), 2:17.
Individual statistics
Passing
Upper Sandusky: Kaden Holman 20-36-2 262. Bucyrus: Malachi Bayless 13-19-0 271.
Rushing
Upper Sandusky: Levi Lamb 7-37, Aiden Gallant 6-34, Kaden Holman 7-30. Bucyrus: Eddie Dagher 32-91, Malachi Bayless 7-22, Randy Banks 4-19, Brady Rankins 1-(-3).
Receiving
Upper Sandusky: Evan Hill 9-136, Zach Sheaffer 5-76, Brayden Chester 3-30, Gavin Frey 2-15, Levi Lamb 1-5. Bucyrus: Grady Jackson 7-185, Braxton Lewis 1-40, Mike Wise 2-15, Javon Gallard0 1-14, Mason Gebhardt 1-11, Brady Rankins 1-6.
Team statistics
US B
First downs 17 15
Rushing 20-101 44-129
Passes 20-36-2 13-19-0
Yards passing 262 271
Total yards 363 400
Fumbles-lost 3-0 1-0
Punts-Avg 4-30.8 4-39.6
Penalties 7-52 12-108