Bucks have extra motivation
NEW WASHINGTON – The Buckeye Central Bucks have plenty of motivation for 2016.
But it never hurts to have some more.
After losing 16 seniors and returning just eight letter winners, adding a new coach with a very different system and being picked second to last in the preseason media voting, the Bucks are set on overcoming all of those obstacles and proving everyone wrong.
“The Northern 10 Conference is a strong football league,” first-year head coach Rob Detterman said. “Wynford, Seneca East and Colonel Crawford would be the early favorites. I think most people have us in the lower half of the conference, and we really look forward to surprising those people.”
But proving doubters wrong is not the only thing the Bucks are interested in; they want to honor a fallen teammate, Tyler Niese. After the tragic death of the teen in the spring, the Buckeye Central football team decided to honor their teammate and dedicate the season to him.
“He is always at the front of our thoughts, and his memory is very important to his teammates,” Detterman said. “We have a memorial locker set up for him and we will wear a sticker on our helmets to honor him. He is still, and will forever be, a part of this team.”
The Bucks will focus on replacing a stacked offense from 2015. Senior Tyler Trapp takes over at quarterback after attempting just one pass last season – a 10-yard touchdown toss. He spent much of his time last season at wide receiver, but, most importantly, as an animal on defense. He recorded 60 tackles, three for a loss, and grabbed an interception and a fumble recovery.
One thing that will make Trapp’s transition to quarterback a little smoother is the return of Athen Moyer at running back. The work horse replaced an injured Cody Roberts in 2015 and ran for 432 yards and six touchdowns.
The Bucks will go with a four-wide receiver set with Owen Ackerman, Wade Ackerman, Jeff Hall and Trenton Langjahr. Owen is the top returning receiver with 145 yards and 12 receptions.
“We have some talented skilled kids that will put some pressure on defenses to cover them all,” Detterman said. “We do lack experience and we will be young up front.”
Very young. The Bucks will have three sophomores starting on the offensive line in Bryce Lutz, Grant Shoot and Grant Bishop. They are joined by junior Derek Reed and senior Trent Craft on the offensive line. Junior Kyle Sanderson will add depth at guard.
Junior Max Loy is expected to be an impact player at quarterback or wide receiver as well as Payton Phenicie and Kidron Wechter at wide receiver and tight end.
Defensively, Trapp is the leading tackler returning with 60 and Craft barely behind with 59. Trapp will start at free safety while Craft mans defensive end. Craft finished last season with 9.5 tackles for loss and has the team’s only sack returning. Sanderson, Daniel Reinhart and Lutz join Trapp in the tranches.
Owen Ackerman, Moyer, Wecther and Joe Cole make up the linebackers with Wade Ackerman and Hall as the corner backs.
“Speed will be our biggest strength on defense, and a lack of experience will again be our biggest challenge,” Detterman said. “We want to be the best team that we can be. We don’t want to ever say that we could have given a better effort.”
Detterman has high expectations for his ball club and admits there are two X-factors to meeting those expectations on Friday nights.
“The biggest X-factors for us is how fast can we mature as a team?” Detterman said. “How well will we transition into a new offense? If we can do those two things well before Game 1, we will surprise some people.”
The Bucks open their season with a nonconference game against Plymouth and travel to rival Mohawk in Week 2.
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2016 Schedule
8/26 PLYMOUTH, 7 p.m.
9/2 Mohawk 7 p.m.
9/9 SENECA EAST, 7 p.m.
9/16 Crestline, 7 p.m.
9/23 UPPER SANDUSKY, 7 p.m.
9/30 Ridgedale, 7 p.m.
10/7 CAREY, 7 p.m.
10/14 Bucyrus, 7 p.m.
10/21 COLONEL CRAWFORD, 7 p.m.
10/28 Wynford, 7 p.m.
2015 Results (5-5, 3-5)
30 Plymouth 6
34 Seneca East 40
54 RIDGEMONT 6
31 Upper Sandusky 14
55 RIDGEDALE 0
26 Carey 32
48 BUCYRUS 19
26 Colonel Crawford 48
6 WYNFORD 46
18 MOHAWK 49