2011 ITCL Playoff Preview

Division 6 - State Semi-Final (Saturday November 26th - 7:00pm kickoff)

Central Buckeye Bucks (11-2) VS Western Reserve Blue Devils (13-0) @Massillion Paul Brown Stadium

The stage is set for what could be an absolutely great game in Massillion on Saturday night.  Both the Bucks and Devils possess a great offensive line, skill players, tenacious defenses, and quality coaches, it may be the old cliche of who makes a mistake in a critical moment that will determine the outcome of this State Semi-Final contest.      For the Bucks this is the second time they have reached the State Finals while it is the first for the Blue Devils.  However for many of the Central Buckeye players they were either not born or were just mere babes (or is that foals) when they were there last time in 1995.  The Bucks have made 7 playoff appearances in their history and have a 10-6 record in those appearances.

The Bucks are lead by their Head Coach Jason Ratliff, who has been at Central Buckeye the past four seasons, with a combined record of 26-15 during his tenure.  He has led the Bucks to back-to-back playoff appearance with an appearance last year in Region 21 when they lost to Mogadore in a 1st round contest 37-21.  The Bucks have also made it to the State Finals once when they lost to St. Henry 10-7 in the 1995 State Championship game.  This year the Bucks have defeated South Gallia 46-0, Bishop Rosecrans 37-7, and Beallsville 40-0 to capture the Region 23 championship and move on to the final four in Division 6.      Like the Devils, the Bucks have a strong offensive line led by five seniors in (#51) center Chase Finney, (#55) right tackle Bryce Collins, (#61) right guard Jordan Wright, (#68) left guard Jacob Zeiter, and (#77) left tackle Justin Miller.  The players who benefit from this line are senior quarterback (#7) Tyler Erwin who is strong at 6'4, 200lbs.  Erwin has completed 59% of his passes (127 of 215) for 2,440 yards and 35 touchdowns.  Also benefiting from those blockers are the Ohio male representative in the Wendy's Heisman Player program in (#30) senior receiver Adam Paynter who has 155 rushing yards with 3 TD's, 705 receiving yards with 11 TD's, and he is the kicker with 1 field goal and 36 extra point conversion.      The bulk of the Bucks rushing attack is anchored by (#44) junior Michael Adkins who has amassed 1,611 yards with 20 touchdowns.  Also rushing the ball are (#22) junior Chadd Trapp and (#33) sophomore Alec Baldosser.      Erwin is a proven quarterback with a good arm as evident by his numbers.  His favorite targets include (#82) senior receiver Justin Herrnstein who has 46 receptions for 1,085 yards and 19 touchdowns, Paynter as mentioned, and (#42) senior tight end Thomas Kaple who has 20 receptions for 473 yards and 3 TD's.      On the defensive side the Bucks are led by safety Herrnstein who has recorded 122 tackles and 6 interceptions.  Other standout on the defensive side are tackle Bryce Collins with 120 tackles, including 9 sacks, and linebacker Adam Paynter with 95 tackles and 1 sack and 1 interception.

Photo Coutesy:  Mansfield News Journal

The Bucks are one of the few teams the Devils have seen all year that can match-up fairly well physically with the Devils, and they have good speed too, which will certainly be a concern for Coach Hake and his staff.  As Beallsville found out last week, when they took away the Bucks passing game they were able to turn Adkins loose for a big night en route to the Region 23 Championship.  How well either team can take away those big weapons of their opponent will go a long way in determining the winner.  Massillion's Paul Brown Stadium should be electric for this great game.

CalPreps Prediction: Western Reserve  vs. Buckeye Central  at Washington (Massillon, OH), 7:00pm   projection: Western Reserve  28-24

Tale of the Tape