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Shenandoah tops BL in a thriller

Joe Lovell HITTING THE HOLE — Buckeye Local’s Skyler Ebright rushes to the hole behind a block from Trey Hoover during Friday’s game against Shenandoah at World War II Memorial Stadium.

YORKVILLE — Shenandoah made the hour-plus journey to southern Jefferson County worth it Friday evening, bouncing back from their first loss of the season to rally from an early two-touchdown deficit to claim a 42-36 victory over the host Buckeye Local Panthers, improving to 5-1.

Buckeye Local, on the other hand, falls to 2-4 despite strong play thus far this season.

The Panthers opened the game with a 10-play drive that covered 60-yards and ate up 5:49 of the clock, capped off when junior quarterback Skyler Ebright went up the middle from 9 yards out. Wyatt Kalman’s PAT was good for a 7-0 Panthers lead.

The Zeps couldn’t get their vaunted passing game going on their first drive, which was snuffed out when Trey Hoover picked off frosh QB Braxton Barnett and took it back 37-yards to the visitors’ 16.

After a penalty started the hosts at the 26, Ebright hit Dylan Palmer in the back of the endzone from 18-yards out for a touchdown. Kalman was true again, raising the Panthers’ lead to 14-0.

Shenandoah, however, was not out of it yet. Barnett started the ensuing drive with a 40-yard dash, then found pay dirt three plays later, finding Hunter Yates in the front of the end zone for a 38-yard score. The conversion pass failed, leaving the Big Green trailing 14-6.

The Zeps’ defense forced a punt, then using eight straight passes, many of which were short screens to the right sideline, marched 80-yards, with Barnett finding Yates for the third time on the drive from seven yards out for a score. The conversion pass was off, leaving the Zeps trailing 14-12 at the 5:33 mark of the second.

Buckeye went deep into their playbook, running a single-wing between Hoover and Ebright switching back and forth at quarterback, with Ebright slipping through the line and going 44-yards for the score. Palmer ran the conversion in for a 22-12 lead with 3:09 left in the first.

The Noble Countians effectively went between the pass and the run, driving to the hosts one with less than a minute to play. The Panthers made a fourth-down stop but were flagged for a facemask. On the next play, Barnett ran the option to perfection, flipping the ball to Feldner to score from a yard out. Barnett then hit Wade Miley for the conversion pass, putting the score at a 22-20 mark in favor of the hosts just before halftime.

Shenandoah started the second half by driving 82-yards on 11 plays, covering nearly four minutes. Barnett was able to find receivers repeatedly on the sideline, running screens and dump passes to take small chunks out of the field. The frosh closed the scoring stanza by diving in from a yard out to give the visitors their first lead of the evening. The conversion pass was batted away, however, Shenandoah held a 26-20 lead at the 8:08 mark of the third.

Buckeye wasn’t down long, riding the legs of Hoover who had five carries for 56-yards of the 80 they had to cover before Ebright found pay dirt again from the five. Jacob Berry swept in for the conversion, putting the Blue-and-Silver back up 30-26.

Shenandoah seemed to be piecing together a good following drive, but the Panthers extinguished that, as David Edwards and Issac Chandler combined to sack Barnett on third down, and Chandler pulled him down on fourth to give the hosts the ball back.

The teams proceeded to swap punts before the Panthers were back in business, covering 57-yards on five plays with Ebright nabbing his fourth touchdown of the night to put Buckeye up by 10, which the lead remained when the conversion run failed.

From that point on, Shenandoah proceeded to display the big-play ability of their passing game that they have shown many times this season. On their first play from scrimmage on their ensuing drive, Barnett lofted a pass towards Yates that appeared far above the six-foot junior’s head. The receiver climbed the ladder to snatch the ball from the air, slipped the grip of a pair of would-be tacklers, and took off down the right sideline, eluding and outrunning the Panthers’ secondary on the way to a 65-yard score. Barrett then hit Ratiaczak for the conversion to close the Panthers’ lead to 36-34.

Buckeye Local couldn’t get things moving on their next drive and went three-and-out, using just over 2:20 of the clock and giving the visitors the ball back with 6:21 remaining. The Zeps, however, only needed 11 seconds of that time, as Barnett dropped back to pass on first down and saw Brenden Portman wide open in the middle of the field. The freshman arced a pass to the junior and seconds later he was across the goal line, putting Shenandoah back up. Feldner dashed in for two, putting the visitors back ahead, 42-36.

Buckeye had one more chance and was putting together a strong drive, but Yates picked off Ebright with 1:21 to seal the victory.

Shenandoah 42, Buckeye Local 36

Shenandoah 0 20 6 16 42

Buckeye Local 14 8 8 6 36

B — Ebright 9 run (Kalman kick)

B — Palmer 18 pass from Ebright (Kalman)

S – Yates 38 pass from Barnett (pass failed)

S – Yates 7 pass from Barnett (pass failed)

B -Ebright 44 run (Palmer run)

S – Feldner 1 run (Miley pass from Barnett)

S -Barnett 1 run (pass failed)

B -Ebright 3 run (Berry run)

B -Ebright 1 run (run failed)

S -Yates 65 pass from Barnett (Rataiczak pass from Barnett

S – Portman 74 pass from Barnett (Feldner run)

Rushing: Shenandoah 24-111-2TD (Barnett 14-72-1TD; Feldner 9-37-1TD; Portman 1-2 ); Buckeye Local 42-243-4TD (Hoover 21-149; Ebright 16-72-4TD; McDiffitt 1-(-1); Rousch 2-14; Berry 1-3; Palmer 1-6).

Passing: Shenandoah 22-32-272-3TD-1X (all by Barnett); Buckeye Local 9-13-84-TD-1X (Ebright 8-12-76- 1-1X; Hoover 1-1-8).

Receiving: Shenandoah 22-272-3TD (Portman 11-93; Yates 7-141-3TD; Miley 3-75): Buckeye Local 9-84-TD (Palmer 4-55-TD; McDiffitt 4-21; Ebright 1-8).

First Downs: Shenandoah 18; Buckeye Local 19

Penalties: Shenandoah 8-55; Buckeye Local 9-67

Fumbles: Shenandoah 0-0; Buckeye Local 5-0

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