Saturday, August 24, 2002 – COVINGTON
It's been a long wait for the season to start and when it finally gets here, there is a delay, then another delay. Mother nature hasn't been too good to folks in this area over the past few months and wouldn't you know it, she pulled a fast one on us again.
The Buccs and Vikings kicked off the season after a 30-minute delay and was able to get in 39 seconds short of one-half of play before lightening sent the teams into the locker room. After over an hour of waiting for the storm to pass over, the game was called and reschedule for Saturday morning at 11:00. Fortunately, the Buccs had built a 19-6 lead.
The Buccs began the game in strong fashion as Boomer Schmidt took the hand-off on the second offensive play of the game and raced down the sideline for a 71-yard touchdown. The extra point just missed which made the score 6-0 right out of the shoot.
After Miami East failed to get anything going on offense, the Buccs used the legs of Boomer Schmidt and Jesse Hitt for an impressive drive to go up 12-0. Hitt pounded his way in from 3-yards out.
As the sky darkened, the Buccs struck again midway through the second. Boomer Schmidt went up the middle and weaved his way for another touchdown to put the Buccs up 18-0. Matt Fulks nailed his first varsity point of his high school career to put the Buccs up 19-0.
With the Buccs appearing to have the game well in hand, Miami East showed they were not just going to lay down. Max Current's group rallied together and marked 60-yards for their first score of the season. Sophomore back, Adam Schlater snuck his way into the endzone but the extra point was no good to cut the Buccs' lead to 19-6 with 39 seconds left.
As the teams went to the sidelines, lightening cracked across the sky which prompted the delay. Ultimately, the game was called and both teams picked up where they left off on Saturday morning.
After playing out the final 39 seconds of the first half, the Buccs kicked off to the Vikings. Adam Schlater returned the ball to the Buccs' 28-yard line to set the Vikings up to possibly cut into the Buccs' lead again. Unfortunately for the Vikings, a few plays later Schlater coughed up the ball and Boomer Schmidt recovered for the Buccs.
The Buccs used the Viking gift as a springboard to break the game open. Behind the accurate passing of Brady Reck and the solid running of Schmidt and Hitt, the Buccs drove the length of the field to set up a third touchdown by Boomer Schmidt. Fulk's extra point went through and the Buccs held a commanding 26-6 lead at the end of the third.
With the wind taken out of their sails, the Vikings fell victim to two more Buccaneer touchdowns in the fourth. Ross Mohler hauled in a perfect 40-yard strike from Brady Reck to put the Buccs up 33-6. Then, Brady took matters into his own hands with a quarterback keeper with under 3 minutes to go. Fulks hit his fourth straight extra point to close out the scoring at 40-6.
It took two days to finish but it was worth the wait. The Buccs looked impressive at times and made some mistakes as well. They have work to do but a 40-6 win over a young but very talented Miami East team is a step in the right direction.
Next the Buccs travel to Twin Valley South on August 30 at 7:30 pm.
By BuccsFootball.com
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