When Medina Buckeye and host Westlake meet Friday in a Cleveland West Conference matchup, it will be a game between two teams that entered the season on opposite paths.
On the one hand, Buckeye returned much of last year’s team that went 8-2 in the regular season and finished 10-3 after a solid run in the Division III playoffs. It was the 11th consecutive year the Bucks have reached the playoffs, and they appear to be headed to number 12, sitting at 5-1 overall, 3-0 in CWC action.
“We had quite a few starters back from last year,” said coach Greg Dennison. “We lost a couple key guys, but we knew we had a good foundation. We’re happy with how we’ve improved every week. Week 2 we stumbled a little bit against Amherst, but we’ve improved every week since then.”
On the other hand, Westlake, 2-4 overall and 0-3 in CWC play, returned only three starters from last year, and one of them was lost recently to a season-ending knee injury. The Demons went 7-3 during the regular season last year and lost in the first round of the Division II playoffs.
“We have a lot of guys who are learning and haven’t played Friday night football before,” said first-year coach Logan Yantek.
The Bucks are led by running back Troy McCann on offense. He rushed for about 1,800 yards last year and is already over 1,000 yards this year. Defensively, Buckeye is led by linebacker Travis Avallone, the team’s leading tackler in each of the past two years.
It appears Buckeye and Rocky River are headed to a showdown for the conference title in two weeks. Both are 5-1 and are ranked second (Rocky River) and third (Buckeye) in this week’s Division III Region 10 computer rankings. But Dennison said he isn’t really concerned about his team looking too far ahead to its matchup with the Pirates.
“Our big focus is just on improving every week and not taking a step back,” he said. “We have a good senior class, and they’ve done a good job of leading the way. When you have good seniors like that, it helps keeping you looking in the right direction and keeping you focused on the things you need to be focused on.”
The three returning starters for Westlake are quarterback Sam Brucchieri, tight end/linebacker Chris Campbell and slot receiver/cornerback Chace Kelly. However, Kelly was lost for the season after suffering an ACL injury in a 32-21 loss to Lakewood in Week 4.
“I think everyone’s a little frustrated right now with some of the results we’ve had,” Yantek said. “Losing a kid like Chace Kelly, obviously, you’re not prepared for something like that. But we’re getting better. It’s frustrating after a loss, but we feel like we’re still making improvements. That’s what we need to try to continue to do for the last four weeks. I’m proud of the kids. They’re picking up the pace and doing everything they can.”
Despite Westlake’s lack of experience, Dennison said the Demons are a dangerous team, one that can be explosive on offense.
“They have a good passing game,” he said. “They also have good size, and they have a lot of good skill kids. Their receiving corps stands out. It’s not just one guy, but all of the receivers. Their quarterback really throws it well and he has good presence about him. They present a lot of problems. We’re going to have to do things well.”
The main thing that Dennison said his team needs to do has to do with ball security.
“I think the big thing is taking care of the ball and not turning it over,” he said. “We need to keep them from making big plays, because they have some guys with that potential.”
Yantek said he is concerned about Buckeye’s power running game, one that has seen them outscore opponents by the average score of 39-10 in their five victories.
“They’re like a well-oiled machine,” he said. “Offensively, they run what they run, and they make teams defend it. I don’t think they ever beat themselves. They are really, really well coached. It’s hard to find a lot of mistakes by them, watching them on film. Defensively, they are very sound schematically and they have personnel who fit what they’re trying to do. They do a good job of putting their personnel in the best spots.”
Westlake has lost three consecutive games, including last week to Bay, 28-14. But while Yantek said he is seeing improvements each week, he also is looking for his team to play a consistent, solid game while minimizing the mistakes.
“I’m not taking anything away from Bay, because I think they did a great job,” he said. “But it’s like we’re beating ourselves. I would just like to see us put together one full game, four quarters, 48 minutes of doing what we’re coached to do and playing assignment-sound football. We haven’t done that. We’ve done it in spurts, but we haven’t put a complete game together. That’s my message to the kids this week. I want to see us play four quarters of our best football.”
Magill’s pick: Buckeye. This would be a great time for Westlake to put together its best game of the season, but against a team as talented and experienced as Buckeye, that seems to be too much to ask.
