GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Mother Nature was looking unpromising in the lead-up before kickoff between No. 18 Buchholz (Gainesville) and Eastside (Gainesville) at Citizens Field, dumping rain on a good majority of rain on the city and the playing field. However, the weather cleared up and the game was able to be played as normal despite other games around the state getting postponed or outright canceled due to the weather.
At the end of the night, Buchholz came away victorious with a 35-7 win over their city rival, but it did not come as easy as the scoreboard reflects.
Here are six takeways from the game:
1. Buchholz starts slow for the third straight game
The Bobcats have had very slow starts for each of their first three games with road trips to Vanguard and Vero Beach having been on the docket before playing in the comfort of Citizens Field. While Buchholz was the away team for the game, it might as well have felt like a home game with the visitors’ sideline packed and full.
However, the slow start of this game had Eastside very much in this game until early the fourth quarter. The Bobcats only led 7-0 at halftime and the only points of the half came on running back Jasiah Powell’s run from up the middle from 14-yards with 5:55 left in the first quarter. No points would be had again until 7:37 in the third quarter when quarterback Trace Johnson found wide receiver Justin Williams in the corner of the end zone from about seven yards out.
The slow start, however, is something that Buchholz head coach Mark Whittemore was used to and knew how to get the players to focus for the second half of the game.
“I told them we have been here before,” Whittemore said. Several of our final four teams have locked horns with city rivals and been in these situations seven-zip, three-zip at half. You are back at Citizens for the first time all year. There is a lot of emotion to a game like this, so sometimes it takes a half to get settled in.”
2. Both defenses played well for most of the game
Despite Buchholz starting slow, the defense kept the game mostly in check until the fourth quarter as Eastside showed promise in keeping the game manageable with its solid defensive effort. That defensive effort was a massive reason, Buchholz saw their second and third drives of the night end with a turnover on downs inside Eastside territory. The results of the turnover on downs frustrated the Bobcats after having Eastside stuffed out on the first two drives with a bad snap on the first one and penalties on the second one to keep the Rams from going nowhere.
3. Jay Guinta misses a field goal but is perfect on point after attempts
Speaking to the defensive effort, the Eastside defense kept the Bobcats from scoring a touchdown on their fourth drive of the game with just over two minutes left before halftime. That forced Buchholz into a field goal situation that on any given night would have been easy for four-star kicker Jay Guinta to make with a 23-yard chip shot field goal attempt.
Even with the missed field goal, Guinta was five-for-five on the point after attempts following each of Buchholz’s five touchdowns of the night.
However, after the game, Whittemore came to his defense after the ball had slipped off the tee, attributed to the still-soggy conditions.
“In his defense, the ball slipped off the tee so that is what happened. We put a towel over the tee and wiped it off before another one of his [point after] attempts,” Whittemore said.
4. First downs did not match scoring until late
The number of first downs that the Bobcats had didn’t match what was reflecting on the scoreboard, something that could be eluded back to the slow start of the Bobcats offense. Unofficially, Buchholz racked up 11 first downs in the first half, which one was earned by way of a penalty.
5. Hicks recovers from miscue on punt return
Daionte “DJ” Hicks had himself a night after having a massive slip-up with a muffed punt on a punt return after stopping Eastside once more. Hicks would score twice with a six-yard touchdown run and a four-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
As for that muffed punt that gave the Rams the ball back? That would eventually result in leading to the only Rams score of the night on a 40-yard touchdown pass from freshman quarterback Andrew Sutherland to Dajion “Honey Mustard” Wiliams for a 40-yard touchdown reception, part in thanks to a coverage breakdown on defense by the Bobcats that allowed Williams to go right down the Eastside sideline.
6. Tons of penalties are normal in a city rivalry game
One would see that the game saw a high number of penalties in the with over 20 penalties handed out by the officials throughout the game. Unofficially Buchholz came out of the game with 10 penalties with Eastside having just a slightly higher number at 12. Most of the penalties were of the unsportsmanlike or personal foul variety and the kind of penalties that would keep a game closer between two teams. However, that was not the case and eventually would be a non-factor for the Bobcats in securing the win.
Other Factoids
A fact that came out after the game was that Buchholz has blocked a least one punt against Eastside in each of the last seven meetings between the city rivals. Also the Bobcats victory over the Rams marks the 12th straight victory in the series. The last time Eastside defeated Buchholz was in 2012 when the Rams beat the Bobcats in a close 13-10 victory.
Up Next
Buchholz (3-0) will host Manatee (Bradenton) (2-1) next Friday night at Citizens Field. Manatee is coming off a 30-15 loss at Lowndes (GA) while Eastside will host Trinity Catholic (Ocala) (1-2) in a Thursday night tilt at Citizens Field. Trinity Catholic is coming off their first victory of the season over Forest (Ocala).
SCORING SUMMARY
1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT Total
No. 18 Buchholz 7 0 7 21 — 35
Eastside 0 0 7 0 — 7
FIRST QUARTER
Buchholz – Jasiah Powell 14 rush (Jay Guinta kick), 5:55
THIRD QUARTER
Buchholz – Justin Williams 7 pass from Trace Johnson (Guinta kick), 7:37
Eastside – Dajion Williams 40 pass from Andrew Sutherland (Zach Dressel kick), 3:30
FOURTH QUARTER
Buchholz – Daionte Hicks 6 run (Guinta kick), 10:09
Buchholz – Hicks 4 run (Guinta kick), 5:27
Buchholz – Willams 12 pass from Johnson (Guinta kick), 2:17
