BUCYRUS — For Bucyrus, it was a case of missed opportunities.
Seneca East was more than happy to capitalize — to the dismay of Bucyrus homecoming queen Lexi Payne, King Mason Gebhardt, and a nice homecoming crowd.
Two penalties on the Redmen enabled the Tigers to score two touchdowns and forge an 18-0 lead. It was enough to propel Seneca East to a 38-17 Northern 10 Athletic Conference win.
“They’re a deep, really good team,” Bucyrus coach Tim Plumley said of the Tigers. “They play a lot of guys — a lot of formations. We’ve got to adjust to it. We made probably less mistakes than we did last week (against Wynford), but we still made them at critical times.”
Seneca East (5-2, 3-1 N10) had already scored on the opening drive of the game, going 65 yards, capped by a 21-yard pass from Blake Foos to Austin Perry.
After a Bucyrus (1-6, 0-4) punt, the Tigers got their first break. On third-and-24, Seneca East gained nine yards and would have had to punt. But a face mask penalty on the Redmen resulted in a first down and kept the drive alive.
Foos eventually scored on a 22-yard run, giving Seneca East a 12-0 lead. A later offside penalty kept a Tigers’ drive alive, allowing a 45-yard scoring pass from Foos to Cody Heibertshausen, making it 18-0.
“The most complete game we’ve played all year,” Seneca East coach Ed Phillips said. “Special teams played good, defense, offense — we didn’t have many mistakes that shot ourselves in the foot.”
The Bucyrus defense did rise up twice to prevent further damage in the first half. Kavan Combs intercepted a Tigers’ pass in the end zone to stop a scoring drive and Joe Rager recovered a fumble at the 10 to foil another.
“Kavan Combs made a nice interception in the end zone,” Plumley said. “And Joe Rager stripped that ball (for the fumble). That stopped two potential scores.”
The Redmen got on the board just before halftime, moving 62 yards in just over a minute. The drive was capped by a 24-yard strike from Malachi Bayless to Randy Banks, making it 18-7 at halftime.
“When they scored, I told (the kids) at halftime we need to have a good series on defense and get them off the field,” Phillips said. “If we didn’t, they have all the momentum. That’s the key to high school football.”
The Seneca East defense was equal to the challenge — bending but not breaking. Bucyrus moved the ball to the Tigers’ 35 yard line but ultimately turning the ball over on downs at the 40.
The offense took its cue from there, traveling 60 yards in 12 plays. Blake Martin ran in from three yards out, pushing the Seneca East lead to 26-7, essentially icing the game.
“I do feel like we’re improving,” Plumley said. “We’ve got to finish some drives and get off the field (defensively) when we get our opportunities. We’re not making the plays at the right time.”
The Redmen were able to get deep enough into Tigers territory to get an Ethan Huff 27-yard field goal. But Seneca East answered with a pair of touchdowns in less than a minute span — on an 11-yard Perry run and a 69-yard jaunt by Bryler Beamer — to blow the game open at 38-10.
Bucyrus managed to punch in a score on a 48-yard Bayless-to-Banks connection to set the final score at 38-17.
“Bucyrus is explosive, with their quarterback, their receivers, and running back — they got some dudes,” Phillips said. “For the most part, I was pleased with the way we contained them. We watched them on film. They make plays and put up points on everybody.”
Bayless completed 20 of 40 passes for 278 yards and two touchdowns. Banks had eight receptions for 148 yards and both touchdowns. Blayne Barto had 14 carries for 70 yards and caught three passes for 25 more. Rager had seven catches for 92 yards.
“We came out (after halftime) and moved the ball that first drive,” Plumley said. “We didn’t stick it in that time. If we stick it in there, there’s momentum.”
Foos led a strong Seneca East running game, rushing 25 times for 116 yards and a touchdown. Foos also threw for two scores, accumulating 145 yards through the air.
The Tigers used eight different runners to pile up 356 yards on the ground. Beamer had 81 yards and a score on three carries, Perry added 69 on six tries and a touchdown and Martin had 12 carries for 41 yards and a score.
Phillips credited his team’s size advantage on the offensive line for the ability to run the ball effectively.
“We pounded on them,” Phillips said. “And once we got up on them, we wanted to run the ball and shorten the game a little bit and keep their offense off the field.”
“I think they’re playing really hard,” Plumley said of his team. “But we’ve got to keep trusting in what we’re doing and stick to it.
“We’ve still got a ways to go,” Plumley added. “We’re not going to give up or quit. We’re going to fight.”
According to the coach, Seneca East is not just positioning for the playoffs, they’re still playing for at least a share of the N10 title.
“Upper showed tonight that anything is possible (with its upset of Colonel Crawford),” Phillips said. “I think you have a lot of teams that are tightly packed in this league this year. I know tonight was dangerous and a really important win for us.”
Box score
Seneca East 12 6 8 12 — 38
Bucyrus 0 7 3 7 — 17
Scoring summary
First quarter
SE — Austin Perry 21 pass from Blake Foos (kick blocked), 8:09.
SE — Foos 22 run (pass intercepted), :16.
Second quarter
SE — Cody Heibertshausen 45 pass from Foos (pass failed), 1:21.
B — Randy Banks 24 pass from Malachi Bayless (Ethan Huff kick), :13.
Third quarter
SE — Blake Martin 3 run (Martin run). 3:42.
B — Huff 27 field goal, :20.
Fourth quarter
SE — Perry 11 run (run failed), 3:18.
SE — Bryler Beamer 69 run (pass failed), 2:35.
B — Banks 48 pass from Bayless (Huff kick), 1:49.
Individual statistics
Passing
Seneca East: Blake Foos 11-16-1 145, Cody Heibertshausen 1-1-0 35; Bucyrus: Malachi Bayless 20-40-2 278, Dylan Coppler 1-1-0 6.
Rushing
Seneca East: Blake Foos 25-116, Bryler Beamer 3-81, Austin Perry 6-69, Blake Martin 12-41, Laine Dixon 4-22, Cody Heibertshausen 1-12, Caden Fritz 1-12, Logan Martin 1-3; Bucyrus: Blayne Barto 14-70, Malachi Bayless 11-3, Randy Banks 1-12.
Receiving
Seneca East: Austin Perry 5-60, Cody Heibertshausen 1-45, Caden Fritz 1-35, Korbin Beamer 3-30, Laine Dixon 1-6, Bryler Beamer 1-4; Bucyrus: Randy Banks 8-148, Joe Rager 7-92, Blayne Barto 3-25, Kam Lewis 2-15, Mason Gebhardt 1-4.
Team statistics
SE B
First downs 24 17
Rushing 53-356 26-85
Passes 12-17-1 21-42-2
Yards passing 180 284
Total yards 536 369
Fumbles-lost 3-2 1-1
Punts-Avg 0-00.0 3-41.7
Penalties 6-67 8-73