Buchtel shatters Pirates' nine-game win streak

Southeast's Joe Knopick ran and passed for 319 of his team's 330 yards.
By GREG GULAS
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
AKRON -- Ernest Pitts rushed for 112 yards and two touchdowns, and the Buchtel High defense scored two touchdowns, one on a 97-yard interception return, as the Griffins defeated Southeast, 38-14, in Division III regional quarterfinal game Friday night at the Rubber Bowl.
"This game was a lot closer than the score showed, and my hat goes off to Southeast. They played a tough game, especially their quarterback Joe Knopick. He's a heck of a player," Griffin coach Claude Brown said.
"Our entire game plan defensively was to stop No. 6," Brown said about Knopick. "We just needed to do a better job of tackling."
Knopick, who had game highs with 186 yards rushing and 133 yards through the air, accounted for 319 of his team's 330 total offensive yards.
Interceptions lead to scores
His four interceptions, however, led to two Buchtel scores, including the 97-yard return by Ron Peake late in the fourth period.
"When we were down 18-14, I think we got into a little panic mode and tried to do too much," Pirate coach Beau Balderson said.
"I thought our kids played to the end. They didn't quit. We just didn't get things to go our way in the third quarter. But our kids played with a lot of class."
Pitts' 1-yard scamper into the end zone at the 8:22 mark of the opening period gave the Griffins an early 6-0 advantage.
Knopick's 4-yard run and placement just 44 seconds into the second stanza capped a nine-play, 85-yard drive, giving Southeast a 7-6 lead.
A little over a minute and a half later, Arthur Thomas scored from a yard out and after the second straight failed conversion try, Buchtel had a 12-7 advantage.
Pirates borrow lead
Knopick then found Micah Herndon from 34-yards out with 34 seconds remaining before the intermission, and after he added the conversion try, the Pirates had a 14-12 lead.
At halftime, Southeast held a 217-89 total offense margin.
Buchtel's Norman Wolfe then picked off Knopick's first pass of the second half, and when Pitts found the end zone from 7 yards out at the 10:31 mark of the third quarter, the Griffins had an 18-14 lead and would never look back.
The Pirates still trailed by just four points with a little more than three minutes to play, but the opportunistic Griffins scored three times; the first on Kameron Alexander's 3-yard run, then on the 97-yard interception return by Peake and finally, with five seconds remaining, on an 11-yard fumble return by Curtis Eaton.
Aurora is next
Southeast finished 9-2 and had their nine-game winning streak snapped, while the Griffins (9-2) won for the eighth straight time and will play Aurora (10-1) next Friday.
Southeast held a 330-250 total offense advantage and out-gained the Griffins, 197-166, on the ground.
Buchtel quarterback Rayshon Dent was 7-of-16 for 128 yards and an interception. The Pirates held a 16-13 first down advantage.