by By: Tyler Danburg
BAY VILLAGE, OH — With a somber haze settling in just before kickoff, the timing could not be any more eerie for Ron Rutt’s Bay Rockets. They had already entered a murky situation after their first 0-2 start since 2016, and were coming off of a last minute, 34-28 loss to Valley Forge. Contrarily, Fairview reigned victorious after an exceptional showing vs the Parma Redmen. But for Bay, they quickly emerged from the evening fog against Fairview, and did not look back.
A hot Warriors offense was quickly cooled down on the first drive, and led to a Bay possession that moved upfield swiftly. The Rockets, from the start, heavily relied on the legs of running back Nick Buttari, who delivered out of the gate with a touchdown to cap off a drive of multiple chunk plays.
But the biggest run of Bay’s night followed off of a Fairview three-and-out; an 83-yard score from the latter of the running back tandem, Pawie Ault. Despite not seeing the same type of volume as Buttari’s, Ault delivered a significant blow to a strong Fairview secondary, only to be taken apart of after a successful two-point try that was developed after a muffed hold for the PAT.
It was Fairview’s turn to respond. Even though they had not answered to the first touchdown from Bay, Fairview quarterback Sean McNamara undermined the Bay defense with a stunning 30 yard pass to Ethan Leube on 4th and 14. Leube’s first career touchdown and a successful two-point conversion cut the lead to seven heading to the second quarter.
With Fairview starting to successfully challenge the run game temporarily, Bay quarterback Tony Buttari was called upon to start passing in the second quarter’s opening drive. He delivered his first of three passing touchdowns with a 22-yard strike to Finn Fitzgerald, and the Rockets’ extravagant second quarter was just getting started.
Fairview fumbled on their own ten yard-line as a result of a snap miscue from center Alex Barnhart, which transitioned to a four-yard scamper for Nick Buttari soon after, his second touchdown of the game. The younger Buttari quickly followed suit with a touchdown pass to Cullen Gergye to make it 36-8 game with four minutes still to go in the first half.
After two quick changes of possession, Bay stopped Fairview in their tracks, and marched upfield for a promising drive. With the first half clock winding down, the Rockets stayed true to their offense and ended up finding the end zone one last time in the half, a 25-yard touchdown strike from Tony Buttari to Cullen Gergye for the pair’s second end zone connection of the night. That final score sent both teams to the locker room with a 43-8 Rockets lead to set up a running clock.
With the clock draining rapidly, the Warriors were not able to capitalize their promising drives, thus leading to a rather quiet second half. After the third quarter — the only quarter to have no score from either teams — ended, Bay crossed the goal line one last time, with a five yard run from the backup quarterback Jay Rinehart. Fairview would play to the final whistle, and even ended up scoring their second and final touchdown of the game, a 30-yard score from McNamara to his favorite target Declan Jewitt.
Despite a relentless and prideful effort from Fairview, the Bay Rockets manhandled the Warriors 50-15 by the time the game clock hit triple zeros. The visiting Warriors, now 1-2 take on the powerful Buckeye Bucks next Friday at 7pm, while the Bay Rockets, 1-2 now as well, take on a tough opponent in Holy Name one the same day and at the same time.
Player of the Game: Nick Buttari – Bay RB
With a high-powered, yet run-heavy offense, Nick Buttari was at his finest out of the Bay High backfield. Against a high-octane Fairview defensive line, Buttari breezed through for two touchdowns, and delivered countless big gains that proved too overwhelming to bring him down. He now sits at four rushing touchdowns on the season, with back-to-back multi-touchdown performances in weeks two and three.
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Buttari Bros