By By TOM NYHUIS / Niles Daily Star
BRONSON – After taking an 18-0 lead into the fourth quarter Buchanan's varsity football team held off a determined Bronson Viking team for a 25-22 non-conference win Thursday evening on the Vikings home turf.
Bronson scored all 22 of its points in the fourth quarter. But it was Bronson's offense that was their own worst enemy Thursday night as it turned the ball over to the Bucks eight times on five interception and three fumbles.
Buchanan senior Tim Mosier celebrated his 17th birthday Thursday night picking off three Barry Martin passes and recovering a Viking fumble. Mosier also had two pass receptions for 36 yards to help get the Bucks off to a 2-0 start of their '07 season.
"We made a lot of big stops tonight," Buchanan coach Joe Austin said following the win. "We didn't move the ball particularly well tonight on offense. We went to our spread in the second half and had a little success but we have to block and tackle better than what we did. That was a pretty good football team and were happy to take the win and I'm proud of my kids."
Buchanan's Clinton Orr got the Bucks on the scoreboard late in the first quarter on Buchanan second possession of the night with a 13-yard carry. Buchanan held on to the slim 6-0 lead to start the second as the Bucks defense forced four Viking turnovers in the first half.
Buchanan pushed the lead to 12-0 on a 13-yard pass play that had Buck quarterback Taylor Oake hooking up with Jon Mondschein. Orr dashed in from 30-yard out to make the score 18-0 with 2:59 remaining in the third quarter.
Bronson's quarterback Barry Martin hit Derek Pyler in the end zone for a 6-yard scoring toss and a pass completion for the Vikings on the point after made it a 18-8 contest with 9:49 to play in the game.
Aaron White hauled in a defected pass and raced 35-yards into the end zone to give the Bucks a 25-8 lead after a Josh Borr point after kick which proved to be a very important point at games end.
Bronson scored with 2:30 to play in the game on a 2-yard run by Martin and their final score came with no time remaining after a defensive pass interference call against the Bucks came as the final second ticked off the clock. Since the game cannot finish on a defensive penalty, Bronson had one more shot at putting the ball across the goal line. Martin scrambled for 10 yards into the end zone, which left the Vikings down by three, and no attempt was made for the point after giving the Bucks the three point win.
Buchanan finished the night with 131 yards rushing. Drew Medlin finished with 50 of those yards and Orr picked up 44. Marquis Hall who racked up over 200 yards last week was held to 35 yards rushing. Oake was 3-of-12 passing with one interception for 49 yards. Martin finished the night 9-of-18 with five picks and 79 yards through the air and the Viking offense rushed for 108 yards.
Buchanan 6 0 12 7 – 25
Bronson 0 0 0 22 – 22
BU – Clinton Orr 13-yd run (kick failed)
BU – Taylor Oake 13-yd pass to Jon Mondschein (pass failed)
BU – Orr 30-yd run (pass failed)
BR – Barry Martin 6-yd pass to Derek Pyler (pass complete)
BU – Aaron White 35-yd return interception (Josh Borr kick)
BR – Martin 2-yd run (Martin run)
BR – Martin 10-yd run (no attempt)