BUCYRUS — Wins have been hard to come by for Bucyrus in recent years.
The Redmen have not tasted victory on the gridiron since Oct. 24, 2022, at Buckeye Central.
The streak continued Friday night with a narrow 13-6 loss to visiting Riverdale. But, while disappointed with another loss, coach Jon Butchko couldn’t fault the effort.
“You never want to be happy with a loss,” Butchko said. “When you start getting happy with losses, that’s a slippery slope. But I’m pleased with the effort. I’m pleased with the way everybody around here kind of acted all day.”
The loss was more painful in that the young defense played well enough to win on most nights, as evidenced by the fact that the ‘D’ pitched a shutout in the first half.
Of course, the Falcons’ defense matched the Bucyrus defense, and the teams were locked in a scoreless tie at intermission.
“Early on, I think both teams had first-game jitters,” first-year Riverdale coach Jon Wells said. “We couldn’t get anything going. They couldn’t get anything going. We had a little bit of a drive going and kind of stalled. Same way with them.”
Riverdale drove to the Bucyrus 28 on their its first possession, only to turn the ball over on downs. On the Falcons’ second try, they got to the 14 but missed a 32-yard field goal.
The final two possessions of the half ended in punts.
The Redmen crossed the 50 twice in the first two quarters but did not seriously threaten to score.
“We played a lot of young bodies out there,” Butchko said. “There were a lot of ninth and tenth graders upfront. That’s just who we are going to be. How would I not be proud of that effort?”
The Falcons broke the deadlock in the third quarter. Bucyrus had first possession of the second half and after crossing midfield, threw an interception.
Riverdale took advantage, driving 62 yards in five plays. A 40-yard run by Loukas Carter set up the 3-yard touchdown run by Kydin Reed to give the visitors a 7-0 lead.
Bucyrus caught a break when the Falcons tried a pooch kick on the ensuing kickoff. They were flagged for interference with the receiving team and the 15-yard penalty set the Redmen up at the Riverdale 37.
It took nine plays, but Bucyrus crossed the goal line on a 4-yard pass from Dylan Coppler to Christian Neal. The conversion pass was incomplete, and the Falcons clung to a 7-6 lead.
Turnovers would heavily contribute to the outcome from there.
“We talk about it all the time — turnovers and time of possession,” Wells said. “That’s what we want to do — control the game, control the clock, and win the turnover battle and we will win a lot of games that way.”
The Redmen recovered an onside kick following their score, but at the Riverdale 38 they lost a fumble.
The Falcons made the most of it, driving 60 yards in 15 plays. Carter capped it with a one-yard run. Bucyrus blocked the extra point, but Riverdale led 13-6 with just under four minutes left in the game.
The Redmen had enough time to possibly tie the game or take the lead, driving from their own 25 to the Falcons’ 48 before turning it over on downs.
“We turned it over and we were really close a couple of other times, just careless with the football,” Butchko said. “We’ve got to shore that up. The opponent next week and the opponents down the road, they’ll make those turnover turn into points.”
Neal led the Bucyrus offense with seven catches for 62 yards and a score. Coppler was nine of 17 passing for 77 yards. Demaris Munn-Page rushed for 42 yards.
Reed totaled 78 yards on 15 carries and a score, while Carter added 69 yards on 14 tries with a touchdown to lead the Falcons. Riverdale threw just five passes on the night.
“The way we play, we’ll have a lot of 13-6 games,” Wells said. “I’m perfectly OK with 3-0. I’ll be happy to win the game. That’s all that counts.”
“We came up a little short tonight, but that was a winning effort,” Butchko said. “I can go to bed tonight proud of my players and proud of their effort, You’d love a win, but I’m proud of the effort.”
Riverdale lineman Parker Driskill was taken off the field in the third quarter by ambulance and taken to Bucyrus Community Hospital as a precaution.
Driskill is at home recovering with no serious injuries.
Bucyrus goes on the road to Triad next Friday.
Box score
Score by quarters
Riverdale 0 0 7 6 — 13
Bucyrus 0 0 6 0 — 0
Scoring summary
Third quarter
R — Kydin Reed 3 run (Cameron Snook kick), 6:44.
B — Christian Neal 4 pass from Dylan Coppler (pass failed), 3:09.
Fourth quarter
R — Loukas Carter 1 run (kick blocked), 3:58.
Individual statistics
Passing
Riverdale: Grant Inbody 3-5-0 23; Bucyrus: Dylan Coppler 9-17-1 77.
Rushing
Riverdale: Kydin Reed 15-78, Loukas Carter 14-69, Grant Inbody 8-38, Landen Bailey 9-24; Bucyrus: Demaris Munn-Page 13-42, Jake Green 5-26, Dylan Coppler 9-(-3).
Receiving
Riverdale: Tristan Wilson 3-23; Bucyrus: Christian Neal 7-62, Demaris Munn-Page 1-10, 1-5.
Team statistics
R B
First downs 13 11
Rushing 46-213 29-65
Passes 3-5-0 9-17-1
Yards passing 23 77
Total yards 236 142
Fumbles-lost 2-1 2-1
Punts-Avg 2-28.5 3-33.3
Penalties 6-43 3-20