Bucktail gives division leading Keystone scare in loss

By Bees O’Brien

KNOX, PA – If anybody told you that Bucktail would give D9 League South Division leader Keystone a scare, you’d have said they were crazy. That’s exactly what Bucktail did throughout the first half of play and partially through the third quarter before falling 29-12..

Keystone entered the game undefeated against the winless Bucks and had command of the South Division, but Bucktail showed little fear early on. The two and a half hour road trip showed no wear on the visitors as they were on fire from the start.

The Panthers looked as though they were going to cruise to another victory on their opening possession. Keystone rode the hard running of Kyle Nellis deep into Bucktail territory. That’s when Nellis made his only mistake of the night when he coughed up the ball on a hard Bucktail hit.

Kyler Friese then scooped the ball up and raced 85 yards for the first score of the game. The Friese defensive score quickly silenced the rowdy Keystone homecoming crowd as Bucktail led 6-0.

The Bucks defense held Keystone star quarterback Bret Wingard in check all night, but it wasn’t Wingard that did the damage for the Panthers. Nellis would return with a vengeance following his early turnover.

He would carve through the interior of the Bucktail defense, which eventually set up a 1-yard score from Wingard to give the Panthers the 7-6 lead.

The score would remain locked at the one point advantage for Keystone until just before the half.

With one second remaining in the half, Bucktail senior quarterback Dylan Cross would cap off an unbelievable first half through the air with a 70 yard bomb to Brody Pentz for another Bucks touchdown.

Silence fell over the home crowd in Knox, as their team was down 12-7 to Bucktail at the half.

Keystone came out in the second half and relied more on the ground game of Nellis, along with plenty of Bucktail penalties.

Bucktail still held the lead with 2:48 remaining in the third quarter when Keystone put together their go-ahead drive. Nellis powered past the Bucktail defenders and took advantage of 3 encroachment penalties to pound in the end zone from four yards out to give his squad the 14-12 lead.

Nellis wasn’t done there. Following a Bucktail punt he would break loose on a 40-yard score to give the Panthers the 21-12 lead.

There was still plenty of fight left in Bucktail in the fourth quarter. Cross would connect with Braylon Fantaski on a 50-yard pass play that set Bucktail up inside Keystone territory.

It appeared as though Bucktail senior Conner Mason would score on a 5-yard touchdown run, but again penalties would come back to haunt the Bucks. A holding penalty would erase the Mason score and force the Bucks to turn the ball over on downs.

Keystone would add a late rushing touchdown to go up 27-12.

Bucktail sophomore Johnny Green was already having a solid outing on defense for the Bucks, but his best hustle play was on Bucktail’s next possession. Green would run down a fumble and recover it in the end zone and save a touchdown for the Bucks. Keystone received a safety, but not the touchdown, which set the final at 29-12 in favor of the Panthers.

Nellis set the pace for Keystone as he cut up Bucktail for 211 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 25 carries.

Bucktail’s Dylan Cross picked apart the Keystone secondary for 261 yards and one touchdown pass.

For the second straight week the Bucks were marred by penalties by committing 13 for 95 yards, three of which were personal fouls.

The Bucks fell to 0-4 on the year and 0-2 in the D9 South Division. They will now travel to Coudersport next Friday night.

Keystone improved to 4-0 and 3-0 in South Division play and are now a win away from locking up the league title. They travel to Sheffield on Saturday in a cross-divisional game.

Bucktail 6 6 0 0 12
Keystone 7 0 14 8 29

1st
B-Kyler Friese 85 fumble return (run failed) 6-0
K-Bret Wingard 1 run (Kick Good) 6-7
2nd
B Brody Pentz 70 pass from Dylan Cross (run failed) 12-7
3rd
K- Kyle Nellis 4 run (Kick Good) 12-14
K- Nellis 40 run (Kick Good) 12-21
4th
K- Shook 3 run (kick failed) 12-27
K-Keystone Safety 12-29

Rushing
BUCKTAIL- Conner Mason 6-14, Ashton Intallura 2-11, Zack Pick 2-0, Dylan Cross 12-minus 23
KEYSTONE- Kyle Nellis 25-211 2TD, Shook 6-30 TD, Zander McHenry 5-23, Bret Wingard 12-15 TD

Passing
BUCKTAIL- Cross 7-16 261 YDS TD
KEYSTONE- Wingard 2-6 13 YDS

Receiving
BUCKTAIL- Brody Pentz 2-99 TD, Braylon Fantaski 2-91, Tristan Probst 1-45, Zack Pick 1-13, Kyler Friese 1-13
KEYSTONE- McHenry 2-13

Bucktail Keystone
Rushing 22-minus 3 48-279
Passing 261 13
Total Offense 258 292
First Downs 10 22
Turnovers 0 1
Penalties 13-95 5-45