BUCYRUS — Bucyrus coach Tim Plumley stood alone for a moment on the field at the Bucyrus Athletic Complex — as his players ran to the south end zone to ring the victory bell — to reflect on his return to his alma mater.

Plumley’s first year as head coach had not gone as planned. His Redmen lost their first six games, each with a running clock in the second half.

But Bucyrus rebounded to win two of its last four games, including Friday night’s season finale 31-6 victory over Ridgedale.

The coach’s first comments were about his nine departing seniors.

“This is my first year back as head coach and that first class is always special, through the ups and downs,” Plumley said. “These guys were young when I was here last. We had to get to know each other. They’re a great group of kids.

“We’ve had a great deal of adversity this year and not once have I ever really felt the kids quit fighting and that goes a lot to these seniors,” he added.

The Redmen offense, which found traction in the last four games, struck first against the Rockets.

After the teams traded punts on the first two possessions, Bucyrus (2-8) needed only two plays to traverse 70 yards for the first score. Freshman quarterback Malachi Bayless connected with senior Lane Carter for 50 yards — the start of a big night for Carter.

Bayless then hooked up with another senior, Spencer Huff, from 20 yards out for a 7-0 Redmen lead.

“Lane finished strong this year. I’m so proud of that kid, his determination, just the inner strength he’s had this year,” Plumley said. “The last two weeks, his knee’s been swollen. Our trainer, Ben Jennings, has done a great job getting him ready.”

Bayless and Carter hooked up on a 20-yard strike for another touchdown in the first period, to make it 14-0 after one.

The defenses took control in the second period. Bucyrus’ only points came on a 25-yard Ethan Huff field goal with 2:11 left in the half, pushing the lead to 17-0.

Ridgedale (0-9) made the most of the time left, driving 52 yards in less than two minutes. The drive was capped by a 21-yard pass from Kaden Lester to Michael Burns, to get the Rockets back within 17-6 at halftime.

“Burns is a really good player and Lester throws a nice ball,” Plumley said. “They battled us and made us throw the ball. Fortunately, that’s kind of been what we’ve been good at, but we tried to run the ball and they stuffed us.”

And while the Rockets continued to have success in the air throughout the second half, they could not find the end zone again. Lester was nine of 15 in the second half for 121 yards. But two interceptions and several key penalties thwarted drives.

Bucyrus added two scores in the third period. Carter caught his second touchdown on a 17-yard pass from Bayless and 315-pound senior defensive lineman, Isaiah McDaniel, rumbled to paydirt from three yards on his first carry of the year — to the delight of his teammates — to set the final score.

“They brought a lot of guys in the box which created a lot of one-on-one matchups,” Plumley said. “We have some guys — Lane and Nicky (Middleton) — who can beat people. Hats off to Ridgedale. Their kids played really hard.”

Lester finished completing 21 of 37 passes with two interceptions for 278 yards and a touchdown to lead the Rockets. His favorite target, Burns, grabbed 15 balls for 206 yards.

Bayless was 13 of 27 for 248 yards with one interception. Carter caught nine passes for 179 yards and two scores. Middleton had two receptions for 34 yards. Eddie Dagher rushed for 122 yards on 26 carries.

“Nick is a tough matchup,” Plumley said. “Really, if we get the protection, he’s open every time.”

While he will miss the seniors, Plumley is looking forward to next year.

“Joe Rager had two picks tonight on defense,” Plumley said. “He’ll probably have a larger share on offense next year. Skill-wise, I think we’ll be alright. We’ve got to develop some guys up front, some big guys.”

Box score

Score by quarters

Ridgedale      0          6          0         0   —  6

Bucyrus        14          3         14         0   — 31

Scoring summary

First quarter

B — Spencer Huff 20 pass from Malachi Bayless (Ethan Huff kick), 8:04.

B — Lane Carter 20 pass from Bayless (E. Huff kick), 3:01.

Second quarter

B — Huff 25 field goal, 2:11.

R — Michael Burns 21 pass from Kaden Lester (run failed), :35.

Third quarter

B — Carter 17 pass from Bayless (E. Huff kick), 9:34.

B — Isaiah McDaniel 3 run (E. Huff kick), :56.

Individual statistics

Passing

Ridgedale: Kaden Lester 21-37-2 278. Bucyrus: Malachi Bayless 13-27-1 248.

Rushing

Ridgedale: Lester 18-12, Alec Gordon 1-3, Adam Beard 9-(-1), Xander Ruth 1-(-1). Bucyrus: Eddie Dagher 26-122, Dillon Downing 1-10, Isaiah McDaniel 1-3, Blayne Stewart-Barto 3-(-5), Bayless 5-(-16).

Receiving

Ridgedale: Michael Burns 15-206, Beard 4-42, Collin Stephens 1-21, Ruth 1-9. Bucyrus: Lane Carter 9-179, Nick Middleton 2-34, Spencer Huff 1-20, Dagher 1-15.

Team statistics

R               B

First downs             11               20

Rushing                29-13        36-114

Passes                  21-37-2      13-27-1

Yards passing        278             248

Total yards             291              362

Fumbles-lost          3-1              3-1

Punts-Avg              5-29.2       4-30.0

Penalties                  6-65           4-15