SHELBY (Crawford County Now) — The venue was different — but the rivalry no less fierce — as Buckeye Central and Crestline met on a neutral field to open the high school football season here Friday night.

The problem for both teams was the yellow flags as the Bucks and Bulldogs combined for 300 yards in penalties, due to a combination of early season mistakes and an over-officious crew.

But BC adjusted a bit better and came out with a 22-7 victory over its county rival.

“Game one is always ups and downs, penalties, conditioning and just getting ready. Especially in Division VII when you’re playing both ways, 170-200 plays,” Bucks head coach Jordan Phillips said.

“I was so proud of the way we finished the game. We ran the ball well. In the fourth quarter I think it was a 10-minute drive. We didn’t score on it, but a beautiful job by our offensive line and our backs.”

The Buckeye running contingent was led by sophomore Austin Bogner with 112 yards on 22 carries. Quarterback Jack Phillips added 99 rushing to go along with his 6 pass completions for 72 yards.

Phillips was quick to praise his offensive line.

“To win a game like this, in a different way, I gotta give a lot of credit to Lane (Caudill), to Lance (Cole), to Hayden (Hafner), to Chance (Hawley), to Dylan (Heydinger), to Josh (Dorsey) to Ryland (Bloomfield) and to Austin Bogner running the ball. What a great fourth-quarter finish,” Phillips said.

Phillips had a 10-yard run to open the scoring and hit brother Alec Phillips on a 28-yard scoring strike as the Bucks built a 22-0 lead late in the first half.

Jack Phillips added a 27-yard scamper before Crestline’s Landyn Prosser caught a 9-yard TD pass from Kody Lawhorn for their only score.

The teams held each other scoreless in the second half, mostly trading field position due to a plethora of penalties.

Bulldogs head coach Hastings Robinette said his team didn’t play well overall.

“Our second-half defense was great. We shut them out and they shut us out. Kudos to them with a great game plan.

“We had way too many penalties, two fumbles and two or three picks, just too many turnovers.”

In his second season Robinette is looking for something that he saw in last season’s squad.

“Obviously that senior class last year put the program back on the map and did great things and we had a core of leaders. I think we’re missing that right now,” he said.

Last year the Bulldogs won 44-27 over the Bucks and went to a 5-6 record and an OHSAA playoff berth.

“We have 12 juniors and 10 seniors. Only 3 or 4 seniors played last year. We just need them to step up,” Robinette said.

“We want to establish the run early and often, and we weren’t able to do that tonight. Fumbles, ball security. You can’t be first and 30 like we were and run the ball. Like I said, self-inflicted wounds.”

The victory helps Buckeye Central (1-0) as it prepares for a difficult Northern 10 Athletic Conference schedule.

“It was a huge amount of stress and pressure to win these first couple of games because we know what’s coming after,” Phillips said.

“We take these opening games very seriously and feel like we need to be playing end of the year type ball at the beginning to compete in those significant games.”

The Bucks host South Central next Friday night before taking on Fairport Harding in its final non-league contest.

Crestline travels to Vanlue next Friday in the first of three straight road games.

“We need to watch film and come up with a new game plan,” Robinette said.

Bogner and Dorsey had fumble recoveries for Buckeye Central. Collin Perry had an interception to end the third quarter and Alec Phillips got a pick late in the game.

Box score

Score by quarters

Buckeye Central     15         7          0         0   — 22

Crestline                    0         7          0         0   —  7

Scoring summary

First quarter

BC — Jack Phillips 10 run (Hunter Caudill pass from Phillips), 8:59.

BC — Alec Phillips 28 pass from Jack Phillips (Jack Phillips kick), 1:15.

Second quarter

BC — Jack Phillips 27 run (Jack Phillips kick), 3:01.

C — Landy Prosser 9 pass from Kody Lawhorn (Colten Keller kick), :48.

Individual statistics

Passing

Buckeye Central: Jack Phillips 6-13-0 72; Crestline: Kody Lawhorn 13-19-2 173.

Rushing

Buckeye Central: Austin Bogner 22-112, Jack Phillips 15-99, Caydin Jarvis 3-56, Alec Phillips 1-12; Crestline: Quentin Kapp 9-45, Kody Lawhorn 7-14, Landyn Prosser 1-(-2).

Receiving

Buckeye Central: Alec Phillips 4-43, Caydin Jarvis 1-19, Hunter Caudill 1-10; : Crestline: Landyn Prosser 3-78, Jayden Lozier 4-55, Kieran Barnett 3-32, Weston Clark 1-7, Kolton Keller 2-1

Team statistics

                                       BC              C

First downs                   14                15

Rushing                      41-279         27-57

Passes                         6-13-0       13-29-2

Yards passing                72              173

Total yards                   351              230

Fumbles-lost               2-0               3-2

Penalties                     19-175         11-125