Panthers come up just short in nail-biter
Barnesville earns 17-14 triumph over Buckeye Local before huge crowd
Trending
BARNESVILLE -- Barnesville is celebrating 100 years of high school football. There might not have been a more exciting season opener in the 99 previous campaigns.
Spencer Bliss returned a kickoff to give the Shamrocks the lead in the fourth quarter and then sealed the deal with an interception in the final minute of a 17-14 triumph over Buckeye Local before a huge crowd in western Belmont County.
"That was one heck of a football game," Barnesville's Blake Allen said. "I don't know if it was the prettiest game in the world, but man, both teams refused to quit. Unfortunately, someone had to lose. I thought both teams left it all out there (on the field). It was what we kind of expected.
"I commend our guys for finding a way somehow to come out on top."
The Panthers, who haven't won a season-opener since defeating Utica 33-16 in 2001, took a 12-11 lead with just under eight minutes to play when Trey Hoover went into the end zone standing up from four yards out. The two-point run failed.
Before the fans could get adjusted in their seats (11 seconds to be exact), the speedy Bliss picked up the bouncing kickoff at his own 25 and headed to his right. Seeing a lane he sprinted through it and outran everyone to paydirt as the Shamrocks regained the lead at 17-12 after their two-point attempt failed.
"I saw green and just ran to it," Bliss explained of his game-changing return. "That's all it was."
Buckeye Local's defense was up to the task as it forced a fumble deep in Barnesville territory that rolled out of the end zone for a safety, making it 17-14 with 3:43 remaining and the Panthers receiving the free kick.
Dylan Palmer, who had given Buckeye Local a 6-3 lead with a 50-yard pick-six in the second quarter, returned the free kick 20 yards to the Barnesville 40.
A 15-yard facemask call against the hosts on a running play advanced the ball to the 28. On 4th-and-22 from the 41, quarterback Skyler Ebright found Trevor Herbert for 26 yards and a first down at the 15 with 1:48 showing on the clock.
Two runs by Hoover netted a yard and Ebright went back to the slant again on third-and-9. However, Bliss was there snatch it.
"Spencer is a playmaker for us. He's a senior and he stepped up when we needed him too," Allen said of the 5-9, 155-pounder. "He's worked his tail off and it's good to see that hard work pay off."
"I saw the slant coming. I read it really well," Bliss said of his game-saving pick that came with a mere 43.4 seconds left to play.
Barnesville took a 11-6 lead at halftime thanks to a 29-yard field goal by senior Gavin Carpenter that capped the gameás first drive. The senior then blocked a Buckeye Local punt that rolled out of the end zone for a safety before Chase Conner caught a 9-yard scoring strike from C.J. Hannahs.
"I told the guys at halftime that were dominating the game on the field, but not on the scoreboard," Allen said. "We threw the pick-six and that was my fault. We had a bad play called and the kid, to his credit, jumped it and put us in a bad position, but that happens. We've got a young team and I think we can continue to grow throughout the year. It feels a lot better to be able to grow from a win than a loss, so I commend them for finding a way somehow.
"We had a great drive to start the game and the field goal was huge," Allen said of Carpenter's boot. "We blocked a punt for a safety and we returned a kickoff for a touchdown. With all the new faces we've got, we have to take advantage of our special teams. Tonight we did just that."
The Panthers, who managed just 101 stripes in total offense, couldn't get untracked in the first half as they only ran 13 offensive plays compared to 39 for the Shamrocks.
"In the first half we struggled to move the ball. I thought coming into the season that our offensive line was going to be one of our strengths, but we'll rebound," first-year Buckeye Local head coach Jim Hoover said. "Our defense played really well. I was pleased with that, but we've got to be able to move the ball on offense. We've got a lot of weapons, but we've got to block for them."
Hannahs finished 11 of 20 for 154 yards and the aforementioned touchdown. Barnesville had five ballcarriers combined for 80 yards on 34 totes. Conner landed four passes for 56 yards. Bliss had three receptions for 62 stripes.
Hoover lugged the leather 16 times for 23 yards and the touchdown. Ebright led the way with 37 yards on seven carries. He also completed just 2 of 9 for 33 yards and two interceptions.
Barnesville 17, Buckeye Local 14
Buckeye Local 0 6 0 8 -- 14
Barnesville 3 8 0 6 -- 17
B: Carpenter 29 FG
BL: Palmer 50 INT return (kick blocked)
B: Safety. Carpenter blocked punt out of end zone
B: Conner 9 pass from Hannahs (pass failed)
BL: Safety. Barnesville fumbled out of end zone
BL: Hoover 4 run (run failed)
B: Bliss 75 kickoff return (pass failed)
RUSHING: Buckeye Local 33-68-td (Ebright 7-37, Hoover 16-23-td, Kourim 9-16, team 1-(-8). Barnesville 34-80 (Jones 11-28, Bliss 4-17, O. Wise 7-16, Conner 3-10, Hannahs 9-9)
PASSING: Buckeye Local 2-9-33-2ints (all by Ebright). Barnesville 11-21-154-td-int (Hannahs 11-20-154-td-int, Bliss 0-1)
RECEIVING: Buckeye Local 2-33 (Herbert 1-27, Leput 1-7). Barnesville 11-154-td (Conner 4-56-td, Bliss 3-62, O. Wise 3-30, L. Detling 1-6)
FIRST DOWNS: Buckeye Local 6. Barnesville 10.
PENALTIES: Buckeye Local 4-30. Barnesville 7-69
FUMBLES: Buckeye Local 2-1. Barnesville 1-1