TENNERTON – The Buckhannon-Upshur Middle School Little Bucs scored a touchdown in every quarter in a 29-0 romp over the Elkins Green Hornets Thursday night at Freal “Red” Crites Memorial Stadium.
The Little Bucs racked up 295 yards of offense while limiting Elkins to just 96 yards in the shutout win.
The win improved the Little Bucs of head coach Dave Chipps to 3-3 on the year.
“We had a much better defensive effort this week,” noted Chipps. “Plus we eliminated some mistakes that cost us last week against Taylor County.”
The Little Bucs wasted little time in getting on the scoreboard with a touchdown on the first drive of the game. Staring at their own 27-yard line, the Little Bucs found the end zone in seven plays when quarterback Dawson Tenney threw a pop pass to Levi Posey who scampered 45 yards for the score with 4:50 on the first-quarter clock.
Tenney ran the two-point conversion around the right end giving the Little Bucs an 8-0 lead.
Following an interception by Little Buc Eli Watkins on Elkins’s first possession, the Buckhannon-Upshur offense went back to work starting at their own 27-yard line.
Twelve plays later, the Little Bucs were back in the end zone as Cooper Antolini capped off the drive with a one-yard run over right tackle with 3:57 remaining in the half.
The conversion kick came up short, but the Little Bucs owned a 14-0 lead, which was the score at the intermission.
B-UMS’s Garrett Cutright recovered an Elkins fumble on their first drive of the second half giving the ball to the Little Bucs at their own 45-yard line.
It took the team eight plays to score again as Antolini ran in his second touchdown of the game, this one a short three-yard run over the left side with 1:41 left in the third quarter.
Tenney found Posey in the end zone for the two-point conversion as B-UMS took a 22-0 lead.
Tenney pounced on an Elkins fumble on their next possession setting up the Little Bucs’ final score.
Starting at their own 45-yard line, the Little Bucs marched down the field in just four plays as Tenney ran it in from 23 yards out going right and cutting it back over the middle for the score with 1:33 ticked off the fourth-quarter clock.
Antolini’s kick was good as the Little Bucs took their 29-0 lead. With reserves in, Elkins chewed up the final 6:27 of the clock moving the ball down to the B-UMS 14-yard line before time expired.
Antolini led the ground game for the Little Bucs as he ran for 92 yards on 14 carries while Tenney piled up 65 yards on seven totes.
Tenney completed two of his four passes for 69 yards as both passes went to Posey.
The Little Bucs will close out their season next Thursday. Oct. 21, hosting Washington Irving for a 6:30 p.m. kickoff.
The boxscore:
Elkins 0 0 0 0 – 0
Buckhannon-Upshur 8 6 8 7 – 29
Scoring
Buckhannon-Upshur – Levi Posey, 45-yard pass from Dawson Tenney (Tenney run).
Buckhannon-Upshur – Cooper Antolini, 1-yard run (kick failed).
Buckhannon-Upshur – Antolini, 3-yard run (Posey pass from Tenney).
Buckhannon-Upshur – Tenney, 23-yard run (Antolini kick).
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs – Elkins: 7 (5 rushing, 1 passing, 1 penalty); Buckhannon-Upshur: 15 (12 rushing, 1 passing, 2 penalty).
Rushing yards – Elkins: 23-70; Buckhannon-Upshur: 35-226.
Passing yards – Elkins: 26; Buckhannon-Upshur: 69.
Total yards – Elkins: 96; Buckhannon-Upshur: 295.
Passes – Elkins: 2-6-2; Buckhannon-Upshur: 2-4-0.
Penalties – Elkins: 4-35; Buckhannon-Upshur: 5-45.
Punts – Elkins: 0-0.0; Buckhannon-Upshur: 0-0.0.
Fumbles – Elkins 3; Buckhannon-Upshur: 0.
Fumbles lost – Elkins: 2; Buckhannon-Upshur: 0.
All-return yards – Elkins: 33; Buckhannon-Upshur: 9.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Elkins – Mathew McDonald 2-24; Jayden Harding 5-22; Noah Kimbleton 3-17; Blayne Thompson 5-10; Jeff Ross 2-6; Michael Harding 4-5; team 1-(-10). Totals 23-70.
Buckhannon-Upshur – Cooper Antolini 14-92 (2 touchdowns); Dawson Tenney 7-65 (1 touchdown); Aiden Phillips 9-53; Forest Catlin 5-16. Totals 35-226 (3 touchdowns).
Passing
Elkins – Kimbleton 2-for-5 for 26 yards, 0 touchdowns, 2 interceptions; J. Harding 0-for-1 for 0 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions. Totals 2-for-6 for 26 yards, 0 touchdowns, 2 interceptions.
Buckhannon-Upshur – Tenney 2-for-4 for 69 yards, 1 touchdown, 0 interceptions.
Receiving
Elkins – Ben Tenney 1-26; J. Harding 1-0. Totals 2-26.
Buckhannon-Upshur – Levi Posey 2-69 (1 touchdown).
