Photo/KRISTIN MAZGAJ BUCKEYE LOCAL running back Trey Hoover turns the corner for a big game during Friday’s game against Monroe Central at World War II Memorial Stadium im Yorkville

YORKVILLE – While the festivities may be different this year, homecoming is still a time to celebrate for high school students.

Buckeye Local did just that this week, crowning its homecoming royalty at Wednesday’s Powderpuff Game, Queen Abbey Kinyo and King Caleb Bonar, then played host to Monroe Central Friday evening at World War II Memorial Stadium.

The Panthers continued the festivities, riding a 33-rush, 202-yard performance from sophomore Trey Hoover, who was making his first start at tailback, to a 32-14 victory over the Seminoles.

Buckeye Local coach Roger Herbert was unavailable for comment after the game due to a family emergency, however, Defensive Coordinator Jim Hoover was able to speak on the Panthers’ first victory of the season.

“The offensive line is starting to come together They are young, they are juniors, but they are inexperienced. Them coming together tonight is huge, and they are all back next year, which we are very happy for.”

Trey Hoover had lined up at quarterback for the Panthers in their previous four contests, but on this particular evening, he was shifted to tailback while senior Hayden Taylor went under center.

“Hayden did a good job managing the game. We changed it up and moved Trey to tailback and put another fullback in and played some smash-mouth, old school football.”

The Panthers also effectively shut down the Seminoles’ offense, limiting the Monroe County squad to a scant 61-yards rushing and just 105-yards passing. Concerning his defense’s effort, Hoover added “Being the defensive coordinator, we’ve been so close all year. Against UL we played pretty well and Toronto, we had them down, but we just didn’t play four quarters of football. Tonight we played four quarters of football, and our offense helped us out tremendously. The past few weeks our offense was sputtering with three-and-outs, and we are back on the field defensively, and we got tired even though it’s the same kids, you just get tired and lose momentum. Tonight they didn’t do that.”

Monroe Central coach Josh Ischy echoed Hoover’s sentiments about the Panthers’ defense. “I think they (Buckeye) watched the last few games of film where we were out physicaled, so they came into a tighter package, and instead of playing us out in space, they put us in a phone booth and just made it a street fight, physicality-wise. They were able to take it to us that way and we just weren’t able to match them blow-for-blow. They’ve got some big kids, physical kids, as well as some tough athletes. Over the long haul, we just had a hard time matching that up. They wore us down in the first half and even early into the second. I felt like we were playing a competitive game, and as they wore us out they took advantage and were able to pull away.”

After receiving the opening kickoff, the Panthers (1-4) imposed that physicality on the Seminoles (2-3), mounting an 11-play drive that covered 54-yards with Hoover taking all but one carry including a five-yard jaunt to cap the drive in the end zone. Taylor ran up the gut on the two-pointer, putting the hosts up 8-0 at the 6:15 mark of the first.

The teams traded possessions over the remainder of the first and into the second, with Monroe netting negative four yards on their first two drives, while Buckeye stalled out on their next pair of drives, the second giving the visitors the ball on their own 22. It was at this point where the Seminoles offense found some life as junior quarterback Malachi Rose-Burton connected on three-straight passes, the third being a beautiful 60-yard strike that found senior Auston Hogue in stride on the sideline for a touchdown. The two-point attempt fell short, leaving the ‘Noles trailing 8-6 with 8:12 remaining in the first half.

The hosts took the momentum right back, starting on their own 35 after a failed attempt at an onside kick by Monroe. The Panthers chewed up 65-yards over 10-plays with Hoover getting the ball on third and 17 from the 18 and junior Brian “Bub” Palmer Jr. in the back of the end zone for the score. This also placed Palmer in the Buckeye Local record books, as his 64th career reception put him in first-place all-time on the school list. Hoover bowled through the line for the two-point conversion, putting BL up 16-6, which is what the score stood at the half.

Monroe Central opened the second half by mixing the run and the pass and successfully finished an eight-play drive that covered 60-yards with Rose-Burton juking and dodging no less than five would-be Panther tacklers on his way to a 30-yard touchdown run. Rose-Burton then connected with Hogue in the back of the end zone for a deuce, closing the gap to 16-14 in favor of the hosts.

Both teams traded their next possessions before Buckeye Local struck again. This drive took a mere three plays, as Hoover took a third-down handoff through the Seminoles’ defensive line and past a number of second-level attempts to bring him to the ground, finally shaking the final defender at the four as he rumbled to pay dirt. Dylan Palmer jetted in for the two-point conversion, putting the Blue and Silver up by a 24-14 margin.

After forcing another Monroe Central punt, the Panthers put the game out of reach. The hosts took over at the 11:41 mark of the fourth quarter and mounted an eight-play drive the culminated at 7:13 remaining in the game when Dylan Palmer took it to the house from 12-yards out. The shifty sophomore also went in for the conversion, making the score 32-14 in favor of Buckeye Local.

The Panthers’ defense came up big on the final subsequent drives of the Seminoles, as senior Tyler Donahue picked off Rose-Burton to end one drive, and Bub Palmer intercepted Rose-Burton to put an end to the visitors’ final drive. After taking a pair of knees in the victory formation, Buckeye Local secured the 32-14 victory.

Hoover’s aforementioned 202-yard, two-touchdown performance led all offensively, while Dylan Palmer tacked on 41-yards and a score on a nifty six rushes. Rose-Burton finished the evening with 105-yards passing with a score through the air, and 60 infantry stripes with a touchdown on the ground.

Buckeye Local returns to action next week at home, as they host the Shenandoah Zeps. Monroe Central will welcome Magnolia to Woodsfield.