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Similar squads to face off in Western Reserve-Buckeye Central match
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Western Reserve’s Tim Cooper stops Malvern’s Travis Tucci (14) during their playoff game Nov. 12 in Louisville.
By MATTHEW pEASLEE
BERLIN CENTER
When the Western Reserve High football team looks on the other side in Saturday’s Division VI state semifinal game, the line of scrimmage will be like a mirror.
New Washington Buckeye Central enters Saturday’s matchup against the Blue Devils with an 11-2 record and has out-scored postseason opponents, 140-7.
Flipping it around, Western Reserve has a 13-0 record and has out-scored playoff foes, 111-33.
“We’re playing real similar kids,” Western Reserve coach Andy Hake said. “It’s just going to be up to us to be tougher.”
The Blue Devils have quarterback Jeff Clegg who has passed for 1,779 yards and is gritty enough to be the team’s second-leading rusher. Clegg was named the Associated Press’ Player of the Year for Region 21.
The Bucks have Tyler Erwin. He’s racked up 2,256 passing yards and 32 passing touchdowns. Erwin is a 6-foot-5, 200-pound leader who’s not afraid to tuck it and run with nearly 400 yards on the ground.
Oh, and he’s the player of the year for his region, too.
“They’ve got a great quarterback like we do,” running back Donnie Bolton said. “He and Jeff are two talented guys and great leaders for their team.”
Each of the quarterbacks have inviting targets.
Tim Cooper, Thomas Benyo and Parker Warren are coming off a game where they combined for more than 200 yards receiving, each with a touchdown.
Erwin dishes the ball to a pair of talented wide outs.
Justin Harrison poses the biggest threat with a stat sheet that includes 1,047 yards and 18 TDs.
Adam Payntor, a Wendy’s high school Heisman state champion, was an integral part of Buckeye Central’s big win in the regional final. Six catches for 127 yards and three touchdowns helped the Bucks rout a different set of Blue Devils in Beallsville, 40-0.
Payntor, like Benyo, assisted on a trick play that had each respective wide receiver take a pitch from the QB and launch a pass down field. Both plays went for 30-plus yards and set up scoring drives.
“Skill wise and across the board, they are exactly the same,” Benyo said. “So, it gives us some competition. You don’t want to play someone inferior to you.”
The similarities are almost freaky now, huh?
Just wait.
Bolton makes the Western Reserve offense click. Likewise, Michael Adkins does for the Bucks. Bolton has 2,492 yards this season — a school record. Adkins’s 1,610 yards on the year is also a school record.
“They’re offensive line is just as strong as we have,” offensive lineman Aaron Halls said. “They’re big like us and they have a play-maker in the backfield. We just have to go out and beat them.”
The Bucks are making their first trip to the semifinals since 1995 when they were state runners-up.
The Blue Devils have yet to make it this far. In all sports, they are the first squad to make it to the semis since the girls basketball team did it in 1989.
From the history each program is creating to the teams they field, Western Reserve and Buckeye Central are indeed torn from the same cloth.
Hake does offer what stands his Blue Devils apart, though.
“The thing that separates us from a lot of teams we play is that the kids hit and play four quarters,” he said. “It’s hard to hit and stay up like that for four quarters and our kids have the ability to do it.”