CARDINGTON — Penalties and turnovers hurt Bucyrus as much as Cardington’s powerful rushing attack in a 46-8 loss marking the final non-conference game for both schools here Friday night.

The Pirates (2-1) struck early and often, putting up three touchdowns in the first 6 and 1/2 minutes. All told, the hosts rushed for 410 yards while holding the Redmen (0-3) to 179 total yards.

“I thought we weren’t playing with the same mental intensity we were in the first couple of weeks,” head coach Jon Butchko said. “I don’t know what to attribute that to. We had a close loss week one and we had a spirited effort in week two in another close loss. Then this week we took a step backward.”

The first two games were each decided by seven points.

Junior all-Ohioan Wyatt Denney scored the first of his three touchdowns on a 2-yard run. Bucyrus fumbled the ball on its first play from scrimmage and that set up a Kalin Briggs 45-yard score.

Two illegal procedure penalties on the Redmen’s next drive resulted in a punt. Cardington wasted no time as Warren Garrison ran 19 yards and the three two-point conversions made it 24-0 before the first quarter ended.

“Cardington played hard and executed what they came to do well. We’ve got to get better. Our roster looks the way it looks. We’ve got the number of guys we got and there’s no excuses around here,” Butchko said.

The lone Bucyrus score came on a Demaris Munn-Page 70-yard fumble return when he stripped a Cardington ball carrier and streaked down the left sideline. He added the conversion run to make it 24-8 with 8:55 left in the half.

Bucyrus cornerback Ethan Hubble recovered a Pirates fumble on the ensuing drive. But Bucyrus went three and out and punted.

Again, Cardington struck with a big play.

Briggs broke several tackles and went 62 yards for the touchdown, making it a three-score lead at halftime.

“We didn’t attempt a pass tonight. Our challenge this week to the kids was to take a step physically. Last week we didn’t answer the bell to Mohawk, and they thumped us (54-6),” head coach Ryan Goetzman said.

“You’ve got to take a step and get ready to go. Fredericktown’s a great team next week and if we don’t take that step, we’re going to be behind. The second quarter kind of loomed us a little bit. We got a little sloppy and didn’t stay sharp.”

The Pirates begin Knox Morrow Athletic Conference competition on the road against the Freddies.

Denney broke off a 16-yard TD run and another covering 53 yards as a running clock was in play most of the second half. He ran 17 times for 159 yards and Briggs added four carries for 139.

“He’s even better than last year. They’ve improved and we don’t quite have the passing game that we’d like to have,” Butchko said.

Despite the loss, he saw some learning opportunities.

“We ended up throwing it there at the end. That’s the best practice we can get. We’re calling time outs with a running clock. We can’t simulate a look of 11 guys — let alone what caliber they are — too often.

Dylan Coppler, in his first year as a quarterback, completed 9 of 27 passes for 116 yards with two interceptions.

“Dylan needs every snap he can get. He hasn’t had that many reps. Those are things you’re working through. Without the ability to play junior varsity football, for anybody, you miss those chances where you learn, where we all learned early in our careers.”

A couple of freshmen had strong offensive showings in DeShawn Cosey and Wyatt Makeever. Makeever ran seven times for 28 yards in the second half. Cosey caught one pass for 40 yards in the fourth quarter.

“Wyatt is as tough as they make ’em and DeShawn is as fast as anybody. We know what we’ve got in them. They’re going to be sturdy and dependable once they know our scheme a little bit better.”

With just one senior in Jake Green, Butchko knows the future is bright. Yet he stresses winning this season.

“We kind of all decided that we’re not going to take the bait of saying we’re playing for next year and I still don’t think that we are. We owe Jake the best we can give him. It’s certainly not his fault that he’s the only senior.”

Pirates quarterback Journey Willamson ran six times for 42 yards. Garrison added 39 yards on four rushing attempts.

Munn-Page rushed 14 times for 37 yards and Christian Neal grabbed three passes for 45 yards to lead the Redmen.

Goetzman said Bucyrus does present some problems and is improving.

“Coach Butchko is doing a great job over there. His system is tricky for you. It’s not what you see normally. It’s not a lot of power running like we see in the KMAC. It’s different schemes and he’s got the athletes. They’re really close.”

Northern 10 Athletic Conference play begins Friday night and Bucyrus visits Buckeye Central. The Bucks picked up their first win of the season, 21-14 over Fairport Harding.

“It’s our Super Bowl next week,” Butchko said. “I think anybody that knows anything knows that it’s two teams that are similar who can point to this game and say, ‘Hey, that’s one we can play in.’ We’re going to get their best shot.

“We just need to get better one game at a time, and tonight we didn’t do that.”

Box score

Score by quarters

Bucyrus            0          8          0         0 — 8

Cardington    24          8        14         0 — 46

Scoring summary

First quarter

C — Wyatt Denney 2 run (Journey Williamson run), 7:36.

C — Kalin Briggs 45 run (Denton Garrison run), 7:11.

C — Warren Garrison 19 run (Denney run), 5:27.

Second quarter

B — Demaris Munn-Page 70 fumble return (Munn-Page run), 8:55.

C — Briggs 62 run (Williamson run), 5:28.

Third quarter

C — Denney 16 run (Williamson run), 9:58.

C — Denney 53 run (run failed), 5:46.

Individual statistics

Passing

Bucyrus: Dylan Coppler 9-27-2 116; Cardington: 0-0-0 0.

Rushing

Bucyrus: Demaris Munn-Page 14-37, Wyatt Makeever 7-28, Jake Green 1-1, Dylan Coppler 5-(-3); Cardington: Wyatt Denney 17-159, Kalin Briggs 4-139, Journey Williamson 6-42, Warren garrison 4-39, Denton Garrison 2-16, Josh Goers 2-9, Christopher Kinsey 1-5.

Receiving

Bucyrus: Christian Neal 3-45, DeShawn Cosey 1-40, Wyatt Makeever 1-16, Jake Green 1-12. Demaris Munn-Page 2-3, Grady Weber 1-0; Cardington: 0-0.

Team statistics

B                 C

First downs                    8                10

Rushing                       27-63        36-410

Passes                          9-27-2        0-0-0

Yards passing               116                0

Total yards                   179             410

Fumbles-lost                1-1              2-2

Punts-Avg                  4-24.3         1-40.0

Penalties                      8-90           6-65