Early deficit hurts Bucks

HIGH SCHOOL: FOOTBALL
By JACK WALKDEN
Tribune Staff Writer

BRONSON _ Bronson gave Buchanan plenty of opportunities Thursday night.

But the Bucks weren't able to cash in on enough of them.

The Vikings stung the Bucks with three long second-quarter touchdown passes and hung on in the second half for a 26-14 non-league football victory.

The victory was the second straight for Bronson, while Buchanan fell to 0-2. Buck coach Joe Austin can only hope that the recent formula for the Buchanan-Bronson series doesn't hold true. Since the two started the current series seven years ago, the Bucks were successful enough to earn state playoff berths in the four seasons in which it defeated Bronson. But in the two previous campaigns that Austin's teams fell to the Vikings, Buchanan had losing seasons.

Bronson roared to a 26-7 halftime lead on the strength of a 17-play, 85-yard opening touchdown drive and three long TD passes. Quarterback Josh Czajkowski hit Tony Myers with a 68-yard scoring strike and Mickey Allaman with a 20-yard touchdown pass. Allaman then fired a 69-yard TD strike to Myers off a reverse with 24 seconds left in the half.

Buchanan came back to score on the opening drive of the second half. And the Bucks had two other golden opportunities, recovering fumbles at the Bronson 30 and 46 yard lines. But Buchanan to cash in on either.

Austin's team had one other late chance when Cordel Johnson broke loose on what looked to be a 58-yard scoring run. But Bronson's Anthony Mitchell tackled Johnson at the Viking 5 and partially due to a pair of penalties, Buchanan failed to score on that one, too.

"We had our chances," Austin said. "We gave them too many cheap scores early, but we played much better in the second half. We had some kids step it up.

"But Bronson had some fast kids. And that first drive was amazing. There aren't too many high school teams that could go on a 17-play drive with no errors."

Bronson has combined some of the formulas of both the single wing and wing-T offenses to utilize the speed of backs Myers and Mario Hernandez. Both offenses rely on deception for success.

"We've run the single wing for seven years," Bronson coach Jeff Gallup said. "And we've tweaked it each year. We call it a hybrid. But it's a fun offense to coach and the kids enjoy playing it."

Both Myers and Hernandez had big nights. Myers, who scored five touchdowns in Bronson's season-opening 41-6 win over Quincy, rushed for 66 yards on 12 carries and caught three passes for an additional 153 yards, including the two touchdowns. Hernandez added 117 yards on 25 carries with a 4-yard scoring run.

"Myers is a special kid with breakaway speed," Gallup said. "And Hernandez had great speed, too. Tonight we went with the hot hand."

Quarterback Bryan Kuntz and Johnson gave Buchanan some hope for the rest of the season with their performances Thursday. Kuntz completed eight-of-19 passes for 90 yards, including a 10-yard scoring pass to Marquis Tyler. Johnson finished with 113 yards on 18 carries. Spencer Anglero scored the other Buchanan touchdown.

"We improved from game one to game two," said Austin of his team, which had dropped its opener 36-6 to Wyoming Kelloggsville. "We just have to pin our ears back and play some football the rest of the way."

BRONSON 26, BUCHANAN 14

Buchanan 0 7 7 0 — 14
Bronson 7 19 0 0 — 26


BR — Mario Hernandez 4 run (Mickey Allaman kick)

BU — Spencer Anglero 7 run (Ryan Catalano kick)

BR — Tony Myers 68 pass from Josh Czajkowski (kick failed)

BR — Allaman 20 pass from Czajkowski (run failed)

BR — Myers 69 pass from Allaman (Allaman kick)

BU — Marquis Tyler 10 pass from Bryan Kuntz (Catalano kick)

Buch Bron
First Downs 10 18
Rushing Yardage 29-127 54-197
Passing Yardage 90 178
Passes-att-com-int 8-19-0 5-5-0
Punts-yardage 3-37 1-37
Fumbles lost 0 2
Penalty Yardage 60 30

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