Special night for Jeff Bayuk as Trumbull All-Stars win

The former Hubbard coach likely coached his
final game from the home side of the Eagles’
field in the Jack Arvin Football Classic.

By PETE MOLLICA

VINDICATOR SPORTS STAFF

HUBBARD — It was a special night for head coach Jeff Bayuk.

His Trumbull County All-Stars had just defeated Mahoning-Columbiana County, 17-7, in the 23rd annual Jack Arvin Football Classic, but for Bayuk the night meant much more.

Bayuk resigned as head coach of the Hubbard Eagles following the 2006 campaign, his 17th at the school, and has since accepted the head coaching position at Campbell Memorial High.

“This was probably the last game that I will coach from the home side of this stadium, and it was also the final game that my son will play here and I got to be part of that,” Bayuk said.

“Just being part of this great classic is a thrill and we [the coaches] had so much fun this past week working with all these great all-stars,” he added.

“And they are all-stars and they are such a great tribute to the all the coaches in all three counties, because these kids came to camp ready and picked up everything we threw at them,” Bayuk added.

Trumbull dominated the first half, pulling to a 14-0 lead and led 17-0 before Mahoning scored in the third quarter.

Ryan has big night

LaBrae High quarterback Mike Ryan had a big night for the winners as he connected on 16 of 23 passes for 257 yards and two touchdowns. He was intercepted once.

But the Trumbull County most valuable player was Mineral Ridge wide receiver and kicker Nick Dominic.

Dominic, who is heading to Waynesburg College in the fall, caught four passes for 112 yards, including a big 88-yard scoring strike in the second quarter. He also kicked a 39-yard field goal and two extra points and handled all the Trumbull kickoff duties.

Most valuable player honors for the Mahoning-Columbiana team went to Austintown Fitch High’s Keane Boyd.

Boyd only carried three times for 28 yards, but they all came in his team’s lone touchdown drive in the third quarter. He also had a big pass interception in the first quarter, picking off Ryan at his own 25 and returning it all the way to the Trumbull 36- yard line.

“It was a fun night and a good night all around,” said Mahoning head coach Mark Assion of Jackson-Milton.

“It is a tribute to all the coaches in Mahoning and Columbiana Counties because these kids came ready to play,” he added.

Too little, too late

“Now if only the coaches would have woke up a little earlier and started running that Stacked-I, we might have been in the game,” he added. “Coach Bucci would have been proud tonight.”

Don Bucci, the former long-time coach at Cardinal Mooney, was the one who made the Stacked-I famous in this area.

“It’s a great offense, but it eats up so much of the clock we just couldn’t keep doing it at the end,” Assion said.

Trumbull scored first off the opening series when Ryan tossed a little flare pass to Warren Harding’s Trevis Owens and he scampered down the sidelines for 35 yards and the touchdown.

In the second quarter Ryan, starting from his own 12, lobbed a short pass to Dominic, who got past the defenders and raced untouched 88 yards for the score.

Dominic capped Trumbull’s first drive of the second half with a 39-yard field goal that had room to spare.

In the third quarter, using the Stacked-I, Mahoning came back and drove 76 yards in nine plays to get on the scoreboard, as Western Reserve’s Brandon Moherman tossed a 15-yard scoring pass to Rayen’s Tomaz Hilton.

Eric Hart of LaBrae also had two interceptions in the contest.