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BUZZACCO TRIGGERS SOUTH RANGE OFFENSE
South Range: Buzzacco
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Dual-threat QB runs South Range offense
By Brian Dzenis
Aniello Buzzacco is the football player South Range has never had before trying to help take his team to a place it has never been before.
The Raiders quarterback had taken a part-time role under center for most of his high school career, but with the job all to himself in his senior season, he’s put up unprecedented numbers.
“I really worked hard and it was nice knowing that I had a secured position,” Buzzacco said. “I could do what I’ve always done all my life and just play.”
Buzzacco is the first South Range player to exceed 1,000 yards in both passing and rushing with 1,848 and 1,303 yards in those respective categories and he has 41 touchdowns on offense.
Photo Gallery: South Range: Buzzacco
When pairing him with fellow 1,000-plus yard rusher Peyton Remish, the damage they do to opposing defenses brings nothing but joy to coach Dan Yeagley.
“Having [Buzzacco and Remish] back there is like a dream come true. Those two feed off each other and you can’t take both of them away. When you take away one, the other has to perform and they have all year.”
South Range (13-0) faces Pemberville Eastwood (13-0) on Friday in a Division V state semifinal. It’s the first time the Raiders have been to that level since 2005. If they win, they have a chance to deliver the school its first state title in any sport.
“We’ve given it some thought. We knew growing up that we were a really good class at football and we could make a run,” Buzzacco said. “Seeing that we’ve made it this far, we’re going to do absolutely everything to finish it and make a name for ourselves and our grade.
“We think we can make state and we think we can win.”
In past years, Buzzacco sat behind Seth Morrow, spelling him at times when he was injured. He always had the legs, but it was working on his arm through the offseason that let him have a breakout season in 2017.
“I needed to work on my accuracy, throwing the ball with some zip on it and just making the right reads to put the ball where it needs to be,” Buzzacco said.
Making the right decisions is the key to running the Raiders’ option offense. Yeagley said Buzzacco gets to pick and chose how he wants to attack a defense.
“I have a lot of freedom to make my decisions. I basically have three decisions to make — if I’m going to run it, pull it or throw it,” Buzzacco said. “I just basically make my reads based off of what I was taught. I have so many options to make plays.”
In addition to his prowess as a quarterback, Yeagley also considers Buzzacco a leader on his unbeaten defense.
“He’s been a starting safety for us for about three years now. He’s a very good defensive back and he’s more or less the quarterback of the defense because he makes all the secondary calls and adjustments,” Yeagley said. “He also makes the offensive calls and adjustments.”
Buzzacco said his most firm college offer to date is from Davidson to play safety. Yeagley said he hasn’t seen to much of the area’s other quarterbacks, but is willing to peg his as the best in the Mahoning Valley.
“I know there’s a quarterback that’s thrown more than him and some have rushed more, but in our system, he does a great job,” Yeagley said. “He does what he’s supposed to do and he understands his role for our team and he understands what he needs to do for us to succeed and he does it to perfection.”