NEW WASHINGTON — There are several ways to score touchdowns in a high school football game. Buckeye Central used most of them Friday night.

The Bucks scored on a kickoff return, a punt return, an interception return, two rushing scores, and four passing scores in a 53-8 win over Crestline in the season opener for both teams.

“There are a lot of things that went well today,” Buckeye Central coach Chad Jensen said. “I thought our line played really well up front and we were able to run the ball well.

“Our defensive coaches came up with a great game plan and I was really proud of our defense. We scored in a lot of different ways.”

The Bucks opened the game with an 84-yard kickoff return by Manny Mullins before quarterback Derex Dean hit Tyler Sanderson on touchdown scores of 25 and 64 yards. BC held a 20-0 lead after one period.

Mullins scored on a 25-yard run in the second period and Sanderson added a 71-yard punt return.

The defense got involved when Max Aichholz picked off a pass and returned it 37 yards for a score before Dean hit Trevor Kirgis from 12 yards out. Buckeye Central held a 47-0 lead at the half.

Alex Phillips got the final score in the third period on a nine-yard pass from Dean.

Crestline got on the board in the fourth period on a 1-yard run from quarterback Trevor Shade.

First-year Crestline coach Michael Winland felt that his team played hard until the end.

“I learned that the guys don’t give up,” Winland said. “We made some improvements from last year. They fought until the end. We have a lot of young guys, and this is a new system offensively and defensively. You take care of your growing pains.”

Crestline halfback Carter Jones rushed for 115 yards in 13 carries.

Winland said that his team is picking up the new systems he has in place.

“Slowly, but that’s normal. It’s a new system,” Winland said. “Not having the numbers to practice 11 on 11, we’re at a disadvantage there. All-in-all, the kids are bought in, and they are locked in and they’re working as hard as they can.

“They did some good things tonight, some things that we need to work on. It’s like the old wolf at the door scratching and we have to keep him away and keep working hard.”

Mullins led the Bucks with 104 rushing yards on nine carries. Dean completed eight of nine passes for 167 yards and four scores.

“(BC) came off pretty physical,” Winland said. “I didn’t think that we were ready for the physicality of it. We saw their size and that’s a great, great team. They’re going to win some games.”

Jensen said that increased numbers for his team have helped in a number of ways.

“We have 35 kids, and we can put a legitimate scout team on the other side,” Jensen said. “We have nine jayvee games, and those kids are going to get to play tomorrow.

“And it helps in practice. It’s such an advantage. We’ve been on both sides of it Two years ago we had 35 and last year we had 25. It’s much easier when you have people to practice against.”

Box score

Score by quarters

Crestline                    0            0          0          8   — 8

Buckeye Central     20         27          6          0   — 53

Scoring summary

First quarter

BC — Manny Mullins 84 kickoff return (pass failed), 11:46.

BC — Tyler Sanderson 25 pass from Derex Dean (run failed), 8:37.

BC — Sanderson 64 pass from Dean (J.R. Martin pass from Dean), :54.

Second quarter

BC — Mullins 6 run (Mullins run), 9:27.

BC — Sanderson 71 punt return (kick failed), 7:22.

BC — Max Aichholz 37 interception return (kick failed), 7:05.

BC — Trevor Kirgis 12 pass from Dean (Dominic Dean kick), 1:25.

Third quarter

BC — Alex Phillips 9 pass from Dean (kick failed), 7:10.

Fourth quarter

C — Trevor Shade 1 run (Carter Jones run), 3:36.

Individual statistics

Passing

Crestline: Trevor Shade 2-8-2 9; Buckeye Central: Derex Dean 8-9-0 167, Tyler Saderson 1-1-0 7.

Rushing

Crestline: Carter Jones 13-115, Trevor Shade 10-24, Jake Bruce 7-11, Derrick McCunn 1-5, Parker Bowman 2-(-3); Buckeye Central: Manny Mullins 9-104, Isaac Hiler 7-14, Derex Dean 3-5, Jack Phillips 1-(-2), Caydin Jarvis 2-(-5).

Receiving

Crestline: Derrick McCunn 1-8, Jake Bruce 1-1; Buckeye Central: Tyler Sanderson 3-101, Manny Mullins 1-16, Heath Jensen 1-12, Trevor Kirgis 1-12, J.R. Martin 1-9. Gabe Bellamy 1-7.

Team statistics

C                BC

First downs                 N/A             N/A

Rushing                    33-152        23-116

Passes                        2-8-2         9-10-0

Yards passing               9                174

Total yards                 161              290

Fumbles-lost              4-0               2-2

Penalties                     4-30           5-45