YORKVILLE – It has been an emotional week for Buckeye Local’s football team and coming together for a game on Friday night was going to be a major task for its players and coaches to complete.

Rallying around the concerns and hopes for the recovery of three of their Panther teammates badly injured in an automobile accident earlier in the week, Buckeye Local was looking for an upset and its first win of the season Friday night at Memorial Stadium.

Despite being held to minus-25 yards rushing in the first quarter, Indian Creek was able to hold off the Panthers upset bid to notch its fourth straight win in a 19-12 nail biter.

Coach Andrew Connor’s Redskins will take a 4-0 record into next week’s key game with St. Clairsville Friday at Kettlewell Stadium.

Buckeye Local’s emotionally drained Panthers will be looking to add one to the win column on Saturday when they take their 0-4 mark to Bellaire.

“We missed some opportunities and injuries always impact a game,” an emotional Panther coach Phil Pest said. “Our backups are just so young, but those kids played so hard for their teammates.

“Jared Moore threw the ball very well and I think that is the best game Logan Dehnart has played. We’re getting better, we just haven’t won yet. “

“I’m so proud of these kids for the way that they have handled things. They were trying so hard to win right to the very end,” Pest said. “With all that has happened, they could have down, but they played through this for those kids.”

Just as expected, Buckeye Local came out full of emotion and that emotion carried into the opening series. Starting on their own 27 following a nine-yard kick return by Dylan Dokes, the Panthers started with a two-yard pick up by Shawn Tustin. On just the second pay of the series, QB Justin Moore rifled a long pass to Logan Dehnart and the speedy receiver raced 71 yards to the score with 10:58 on the clock. The PAT try was unsuccessful.

Neither team could muster much offense through the remainder of the frame, but it was the Panther defense that continued to bottle up a very good Indian Creek offense.

In the second frame, the Redskins stayed on the ground with Jabari Taylor. Running from the wildcat, Taylor carried on eight straight plays with a big gainer of 26 yards and a total of 57 yards in the drive. Taylor’s running pushed the ball to the Panther 22. Michael Puorro carried once for 12 yards and again for two. On the next play, Isaiah Pavlic went on left tackle and covered the remaining eight yards for the score with 5:10 on the clock. Jordan Herald booted the PAT.

In the third frame, the Creek extended the lead on its first possession. Staying on the ground, Connor put the ball in the hands of Puorro on four straight plays and he picked up 18, 5, 10 and 19 on those carries. Zach Connor added 11 more to the 5 and two plays later Connor went in from the three with 9:11 on the board.

Buckeye would bounce right back with the help of three big passes by Moore. He connected on a 10-yarder to Panepucci and a 39-yarder to Bobby Myers. On a fourth down play from the 10, Moore tossed to Dehnart for another score. The two-point attempt failed with the Redskins still leading by 13-12.

With 8:49 left in the fourth, Indian Creek added to its lead. Taking advantage of a Greg Wade-to-Chris Plotts 26-yard pass and a 30-yard run by Taylor, the Redskins pushed their lead to 19-12 on Taylor’s three-yard plunge. The PAT kick was blocked by Dehnart.

“We had to regroup at halftime,” Connor said. “I give Buckeye Local a lot of credit for their effort. They had so much intensity and they played with a lot of emotion.

“We told our kids that we had to gain control of the line of scrimmage. We got that big interception late in the game and that was something we really needed to do. “

Connor will face a grueling week in practice in preparation for their Friday matchup with St. C. Late in the fourth quarter, starting quarterback Greg Wade was taken by ambulance with a serious leg injury. Also in the fourth, he had a starter ejected that will result in sitting out two games. Add to that the injuries the Redskins have endured, Connor has his work cut out for him this week.