In the first-ever Great Lakes Conference championship game, East Division champion Buckeye (7-3, 4-1 GLC) faced off against West division champion Rocky River (7-3, 5-0 GLC). The Pirates took the lead in the second quarter and held off the Bucks for a 23-12 victory.
The Pirates only hit on one of five passes for 10 yards, but relied on 1,000-yard rushing running back Tommy Bebie, who carried 20 times and gained 174 of Rocky River’s 284 ground yards. Bebie was a wrecking crew on both sides of the ball as he was in on 13 tackles (6 solos and seven assists) and administered a sack.
In a scoreless first quarter, defenses prevailed, holding the two offenses to 64 yards. In the second quarter, Buckeye senior running back Ben Barnes ran for 59 yards of his team’s 11-play 70-yard drive. Barnes finished the drive with a 36-yard field goal to give the Bucks a 3-0 lead. Rocky River countered with a short run with less than a minute to go in the half for a 7-3 halftime lead.
The third quarter was much like the second, with the Bucks scoring first on a 37-yard field goal by Barnes, and just before the end of the quarter, the Pirates answered with a short TD run to go up 14-6.
The Bucks finally got inside the Pirate red zone in the fourth quarter and scored on a 9-yard pass to close the gap to 14-12 with 10 minutes left, but the Pirates put the game away on a rushing TD, then a field goal in the final minute, to win 23-12.
Barnes finished with 116 yards rushing on 29 carries, picked up 25 yards on a couple of catches and threw for another 47 yards. He also kicked two field goals.
Buckeye 4th in D-III, R10 moves on to play River Valley Friday.
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