Bucktail falls to Northwest in playoffs, 36-30

PublisherNovember 3, 2023Last Updated: November 3, 2023

3 minutes read

By Bees O’Brien

FARWELL, PA- It was the first District 4 playoff to ever be hosted by Bucktail and their wild home crowd was treated to an exciting battle. It would be visiting Northwest that would stun the hometown Bucks with a 36-30 victory.

Northwest quarterback Jace McCoy was the difference Friday night. The Rangers’ junior signal caller would complete 17 of 21 passes for 155 yards and four touchdowns, but his night would start off rocky.

McCoy’s first passing attempt of the game would be intercepted by Bucktail’s Braylon Fantaski. McCoy wouldn’t make many more mistakes after that errant throw.

Northwest brought a solid tough frontline with them on defense. The Rangers forced Bucktail to punt on the first drive, which resulted in McCoy executing a drive that eventually would lead to a 16-yard scoring strike to Nick Stevens. McCoy would hit Adam Chonko on the try for two and the underdog fifth-seeded Rangers would lead 8-0 with 6:14 remaining in the first quarter.

Bucktail would respond behind star junior quarterback Brody Pentz and the running of Fantaski. A 15-yard run from Pentz and a 16-yard run from Fantaski would lead to a 5-yard Tanner Pettingill score with 57 seconds remaining in the quarter.

The Bucks trailed 8-6 when McCoy would find Stevens from five yards out for the Rangers’ second score. The conversion attempt failed and Bucktail now trailed 14-6.

Bucktail would tie the game up at 14 when Pentz would find Fantaski on a 57-yard catch and run. Pentz would find Gavin Yachymiak open on the conversion.

McCoy’s 47-yard bomb to Trevor Dietz with 5:11 left in the half and a 5-yard scoring strike to Chonko would have the Rangers up 28-14 at the break, but Bucktail would battle back.

Bucktail would account for the only score in the third quarter. That would come by way of a 1-yard sneak from Pentz. He would then follow that up with the conversion to narrow Northwest’s lead to 28-22.

The heartbreaker for the Bucks would come with 7:54 remaining in the game when Northwest running back Nick Stevens would burst through the Bucktail defense on a 57-yard run to pay dirt. McCoy would find Dietz for the conversion and build a 36-22 lead.

The Bucks would fight back when Pentz would connect with Fantaski for his second score of the night from 33 yards out. Pentz successfully converted a two-point try to bring the score to 36-30.

The Bucks’ defense needed a big stop in order to get the ball back and they did just that. Northwest’s big defensive front would penetrate and stop Pentz on two straight attempts and the clock would run out on an incredible season for the Bucks.

Pentz would finish his 1,000 yard rushing season with 102 more yards on 19 attempts and a score. He also would throw for 102 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

Fantaski, who was nursing an injury, had an incredible night. He rushed for 82 yards on just six attempts and caught 3 passes for 88 yards and a pair of scores to go along with his first quarter interception.

Bucktail finished their 2023 season at 5-5, a three-win improvement from a season ago.

Northwest (3-7) will now travel to top seeded Muncy (9-1) on Friday night in the D4 1A semifinals, their second straight trip to the semifinals.

Northwest 8 20 0 8 = 36

Bucktail 6 8 8 8 = 30

N- Stevens 16 pass from McCoy (McCoy to Chonko)

B- Pettingill 5 run (run failed)

N- Stevens 5 pass from McCoy (pass failed)

B- Fantaski 57 pass from Pentz (Pentz to Yachymiak)

N-Dietz 47 pass from McCoy (McCoy to Biller)

N-Chonko 5 pass from McCoy (run failed)

B- Pentz 1 run (Pentz run)

N- Stevens 54 run (McCoy to Dietz)