UPPER SANDUSKY — Bucyrus coach Tim Plumley has been looking for bright spots in a season of growth and frustration.

He has found one in freshman quarterback Malachi Bayless.

Bayless threw for a Bucyrus single-game record 423 yards and four touchdowns, but it was not enough, as the Redmen fell to Upper Sandusky, 62-34.

Bayless eclipsed the previous record of 412 yards set by Cole Murtiff in 2013.

The aerial assault was necessitated by the Rams’ relentless running game and early three-touchdown lead.

“We didn’t stop the run. We didn’t stick our nose in there a little bit,” Plumley said. “We didn’t play up to our potential on the defensive side of the ball.”

Upper Sandusky (2-6) matched the Redmen’s passing game with the rush. The Rams totaled 483 yards on the ground, led by Gage Frey, who had 303 yards on 20 carries.

The Rams jumped out to the three-score lead with two touchdowns in the first period — on a 1-yard run by Keagan Iles and a 2-yard run by Aiden Gallant — then added a 14-yard scoring pass from freshman quarterback Kaden Holman early in the second quarter for a 21-0 lead.

“You’ve got to give Upper credit. They had a good game plan up front and they ran it,” Plumley said. “At first they really hurt us outside and we adjusted to that. And then it was just inside.”

Bucyrus (1-7) finally broke through on an 11-yard Bayless to Nick Middleton strike at 8:51 of the second period. The teams combined for five more scores from there until halftime.

Middleton grabbed his second touchdown of the night on a 71-yard pass from Bayless and Braxton Lewis caught a 44-yard scoring pass from the frosh phenom.

Upper Sandusky countered with a 10-yard Holman-to-Frey pass, a second 1-uard run by Iles and a 27-yard pass from Holman to Tim Vukovich with just 22 seconds left in the half.

The Rams held a 42-20 advantage at the break.

“We didn’t have a whole lot of success running it and then we’re throwing it every down,” Plumley said. “We had some success throwing it. We had some big plays and that was good.”

Bayless had seven completions of over 20 yards, three of which were over 40.

Each team scored once in the third frame. Lane Carter caught a 13-yard pass from Bayless for the Redmen and Frey had a 33-yard run.

Jordan Wright grabbed a 4-yard pass from Holman for a score in the fourth quarter and Holman ran in from six yards for Upper Sandusky and Eddie Dagher had a 1-yard run for Bucyrus.

Bayless finished the night hitting 23 of 38 passes for the 423 yards and four scores and no interceptions. Middleton caught three balls for 128 yards and two scores. Carter had eight receptions for 125 yards and a score, Lewis had three receptions for 56 yards and TD and Spencer Huff had two catches for 54 yards.

Defensively, Joe Rager and Brady Rankins each had an interception.

“Malachi can throw it. He does a good job,” Plumley said. “He’s gradually learning more about the game, anticipating where to throw it instead of playing backyard football — seeing a guy open and throwing it to him.”

Frey’s 303 yards rushing, and two touchdowns, led the Rams. Iles added 66 yards on eight carries and two scores and Gallant finished with 63 yards on seven tries, good for one score. Holman was 13 of 23 for 134 yards and four touchdowns.

The game was marred by penalties. The teams combined for 32 infractions for 305 yards.

Plumley ended on an ominous note for future opponents.

“(Malachi) has some throws that he throws very well,” Plumley said. “The seam routes, he throws most of them pretty well. But there is still a lot of room for improvement.”

Box score

Score by quarters

Bucyrus                       0        20         6         8   — 34

Upper Sandusky      14       28         7        13   — 62

Scoring summary

First quarter

US — Keagan Iles 1 run (Fernando Navichoque kick), 7:50.

US — Aiden Gallant 2 run (Navichoque kick), 3:20.

Second quarter

US — Evan Hill 14 pass from Kaden Holman (Navichoque kick), 10:33.

B — Nick Middleton 11 pass from Malachi Bayless (kick blocked), 8:51.

US — Gage Frey 10 pass from Holman (Navichoque kick), 6:40.

B — Middleton 71 pass from Bayless (pass failed), 5:49.

US — Iles 1 run (Navichoque kick), 3:29.

B — Braxton Lewis 44 pass from Bayless (Middleton pass from Bayless), 2:25.

US — Tim Vukovich 27 pass from Holman (Navichoque kick), :22.

Third quarter

B — Lane Carter 13 pass from Bayless (pass failed), 5:54.

US — Frey 33 run (Navichoque kick), 4:38.

Fourth quarter

US— Jordan Wright 4 pass from Holman (Navichoque kick), 3:13.

B — Eddie Dagher 1 run (Carter pass from Bayless), 7:50.

US — Holman 6 run (kick failed), 3:13.

Individual statistics

Passing

Bucyrus: Malachi Bayless 23-38-0 423. Upper Sandusky: Kaden Holman 13-23-2 134.

Rushing

Bucyrus: Eddie Dagher 17-54, Nick Middleton 4-11, Bryant Pfeifer 1-5, Bayless 3-(-17). Upper Sandusky: Gage Frey 20-303, Keagan Iles 8-66, Aiden Gallant 7-63, Holman 6-23, Carson Barrows 2-15, Gavin Frey 2-9, Karson Stombaugh 1-4.

Receiving

Bucyrus: Nick Middleton 3-128, Lane Carter 8-125, Braxton Lewis 3-56, Spencer Huff 2-54, Dagher 5-35, Isaack Banks 1-8, Javon Gallardo 1-6. Upper Sandusky: .

Team statistics

B               US

First downs               17               31

Rushing                  25-53         46-483

Passes                    23-38-0       13-22-2

Yards passing          423              134

Total yards               476             617

Fumbles-lost            4-1              1-1

Punts-Avg               6-30.0         1-54.0

Penalties                  19-170         13-135