WILLARD (Crawford County Now) — Wins have come at a premium for Bucyrus in recent years.
Back-to-back wins? It hadn’t been done recently. Nor had the Redmen begun a season 2-0 for a while.
Both streaks ended Friday night with a 19-14 victory over Willard in the Northern 10 Athletic Conference opener for both.
“It’s our first time being 2-1 since 2014, first time with consecutive victories since 2019,” Bucyrus coach Jon Butchko said. “We’re as excited as can be about that.”
After a scoreless first quarter, Bucyrus (2-1, 1-0) was able to mount an 11-play, 64-yard drive capped by a 9-yard run from Wyatt Makeever. Cooper Kalb’s conversion kick made it 7-0.
It took the Flashes just four plays to answer. They took a short kick at their own 48 and covered the 52 yards to pay dirt on three runs by quarterback Jacob Rothhaar and a 20-yard pass from Rothhaar to Grant Poston. Rothhaar scored on 3-yard run. The conversion pass failed, leaving it 7-6 Bucyrus, which held up until halftime.
The Redmen dominated the first half in time of possession, running 37 plays to just 16 for Willard (2-1, 0-1).
“I think our defense has been improved all year,” Butchko said. “We’re playing with better effort defensively, we have greater fundamentals defensively, we’re forcing more turnovers.”
Butchko once again praised defensive coordinator Landry Amstutz for preparing the defense, indicating he has a future as a head coach,
“We got a couple more (turnovers) at great times,” Butchko said. It’s guys stepping up all over the place to make plays. We were plus three tonight. That puts us at plus five for the season.”
Bucyrus expanded its lead to 13-6 on the first possession of the second half. The Redmen drove 74 yards on eight plays, capped by a one-yard run by Wyatt Makeever for a 13-6 advantage.
Makeever was instrumental in the win, scoring two rushing touchdowns and catching nine passes for 90 yards from younger brother Isaac.
“That’s probably the hardest football game that most of us on this team have played,” Wyatt Makeever said. “We learned a lot about ourselves and we’re going to keep building on that.”
Willard took it’s only lead of the night with just 14 seconds left in the third quarter. Rothhaar ran in from 12 yards and also ran for the two-point conversion to put the Flashes up, 14-13, after three.
“They’ve got some good pieces and parts,” Butchko said of the Flashes. “That quarterback (Rothhaar) is a heck of a player. No. 4 (Gage Stover) is a heck of a player. I know they were down a couple of guys that probably would have helped their attack offensively.”
The Redmen stared adversity in the face twice. First, they had to score again to take back the lead and then hold off Willard to secure the win. They checked both boxes.
After the offense turned the ball over on downs at the Flashes’ one, the defense got it back on an interception by Kalb, which he returned to the Willard 27. A personal foul advanced the ball to the 13. Four plays later, Isaac Makeever took it in from the one for a 19-14 lead with 3:57 left.
The defense then made one last stop. Willard moved the ball from its 20 to the Bucyrus 11, but less than a minute remained and the Flashes had no timeouts left. Under pressure, Rothhaar rolled left looking for J.J. Bedingfield but Bucyrus linebacker Hayden Butcher grabbed the ball along with the victory.
Butchko credited Flashes head coach Eli Fisher with a solid game plan.
“He’s going to become a force,” Butchko said. “I imagine, as long as he’s here, he’ll turn this program into something formidable.”
Butchko also recognized the renewal of the old rivalry from the Northern Ohio League days, noting that Willard is a welcome addition to the already tough N10.
“They were everywhere we didn’t want them to be,” Butchko said. “Eli’s a great young coach. He’s going to have a great long career.”
Rothhaar was the backbone of the Flashes offense, rushing 21 times for 129 yards and hitting 10 of 19 passes for 134 yards. Poston was his primary target, catching seven balls for 91 yards.
Isaac Makeever led Bucyrus, rushing for 109 yards on 23 carries and going 13 of 22 through the air for 152 yards. Da’Shawn Cosey caught three balls for 44 yards to supplement Wyatt Makeever’s nine for 90 yards.
“We thought we could be physical, we thought we could be very basic and fundamental,” Butchko said. “We have to get back and get to work tomorrow to start to prepare for what might be one of the best teams in the league if not in the stat with Mohawk. I think we’re excited to see where we are.”
Box score
Score by quarters
Bucyrus 0 7 6 6 — 19
Willard 0 6 8 0 — 14
Scoring summary
Second quarter
B — Wyatt Makeever 9 run (Cooper Kalb kick), 7:17.
W — Jacob Rothhaar 3 run (pass failed), 5:51.
Third quarter
B — Wyatt Makeever 1 run (run failed), 8:31.
W — Rothhaar 12 run (Rothhaar run), :14.
Fourth quarter
B —Isaac Makeever 1 run (pass failed), 3:57.
Individual statistics
Passing
Bucyrus: Isaac Makeever 13-22-0 152; Willard: Jacob Rothhaar 10-19-2 134.
Rushing
Bucyrus: Isaac Makeever 23-109, Wyatt Makeever 11-26, Ben Atwood 1-(-2), Hayden Butcher 4-14; Willard: Jacob Rothhaar 21-129, Marshall Robinson 3-15.
Receiving
Bucyrus: Wyatt Makeever 9-90, Da’Shawn Cosey 3-44, Ben Atwood 1-18; Willard: Grant Poston 7-91, Brayden Jordan 1-20, Gage Stover 1-18, Xavier Curtis 1-5.
Team statistics
B W
First downs 16 12
Rushing 39-147 24-144
Passes 13-22-0 10-19-2
Yards passing 152 134
Total yards 299 278
Fumbles-lost 1-0 1-1
Punts-Avg 2-29.5 2-50.5
Penalties 8-79 9-76