The Buchtel-Ellet high school football game Friday night at the University of Akron’s InfoCision Stadium featured a little bit of everything.
Eight turnovers and two safeties? Check.
Two teams competing hard for 48 minutes? Check.
And when the final whistle sounded, the Griffins celebrated a 21-20 victory.
“This is by far one of the craziest high school football games I’ve been a part of,” Buchtel senior quarterback Pyrce Taylor said.
Griffins coach Ricky Powers agreed: “This is one of the strangest games I’ve ever been a part of. We’re a young team and I think every mistake that you could possibly make in a game, we did. The one thing that I loved about our guys and our coaches is that we kept our composure and we kept fighting.”
Taylor completed 11-of-25 passes and tossed two touchdown passes and rushed for another score as Buchtel (4-4, 4-0) barely got by Ellet (6-2, 2-2) for a City Series win.
“We never gave up,” Taylor said. “Every time we were in the huddle, we were encouraging each other and pushing ourselves.”
Taylor praised the play of offensive linemen Winford Dowdy, Richard McLaughlin, Marquest Jacobs, William Blocker, James Newell and Khalen Carter, and tight ends Tariq Vinson and Xzavier Goldsby.
Buchtel took a 7-0 lead on its opening possession when Taylor rushed for a 1-yard touchdown and junior Devin West kicked an extra point with 9:22 to go in the first quarter. Freshman Darvon Hubbard gained the majority of the yards on the drive that covered 53 yards on eight plays. Hubbard finished with 50 yards on nine carries.
Ellet scored the first 11 points of the second quarter, starting with a safety at 9:46, a 22-yard field goal by senior Jaret Jones at 7:02 and a 6-yard touchdown pass by senior Garrett Haverstick to senior Matt Cody at 4:40. The Ellet defense was disruptive in the quarter as Jones and senior Anthony Mancuso each recovered a fumble.
Buchtel took a 14-11 lead into the break on a 32-yard touchdown pass by Taylor to Goldsby and a West extra point. Taylor completed three passes for 85 yards on the drive. Goldsby caught two passes and junior Zion Robinson caught one pass.
Haverstick rushed for a 2-yard touchdown with 9:36 left in the third quarter and Jones kicked an extra point. Another safety gave Ellet a 20-14 lead at 1:29 in the quarter.
Buchtel juniors Da’Juan Harvey and Christopher Robinson each recovered a fumble in the fourth quarter at 6:28 and at 3:57, respectively.
Robinson’s fumble recovery set up the final score of the game, a 13-yard touchdown pass from Taylor to sophomore Zyier Keen with 2:27 left and a West extra point.
Ellet senior Marquise Bridges rushed for 153 yards on 33 carries.
Junior Elijah Young and seniors Dillon Henderson and Jamie Rogers each snagged an interception for Buchtel. Ellet senior Cameron Brake also grabbed an interception.
“We were equally challenged and we made mistakes,” Ellet coach Joe Yost said. “It shouldn’t be an excuse, but our offensive center [Cade Brodie] might have broke his leg in the first quarter. That hurt us. … I thought both defenses played very hard tonight.”
Michael Beaven can be reached at 330-996-3829 or mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com. Read the #ABJVarsity high school blog at www.ohio.com/preps.