LEWISBURG – There will be better days ahead for head coach Zach Davis and his Buckhannon-Upshur football Buccaneers, but Friday night was just of those nights — and sometimes you have to suffer from the bad to get to the good stuff.
The Bucs had few answers in stopping the No. 13 Greenbrier East Spartans in a 56-14 setback.
The Spartans scored on their first eight possessions of the game and racked up 489 yards of offense.
“We have a lot of areas to improve on,” noted Davis after the loss. “We will take full advantage of this upcoming week to get better.”
The Bucs were down 21-0 before one of the few bright spots of the game occurred for the Bucs.
Junior Savion Farmer hauled in a Spartan kick-off at the B-U nine-yard line and took it back to the house for a Buccaneer score with 11:16 left in the second quarter.
Cameron Zuliani was good on her extra point kick making it a 21-7 contest; however, Greenbrier East went on to score the next 35 points of the game for a 56-7 lead.
The Bucs gained a little momentum to build on late in the contest when Liam Garcia burst through a hole and scampered 28 yards for a touchdown with 4:45 left in the game.
Zuliani’s kick was again good making it a 56-14 final score.
The Bucs managed just 84 yards in the game getting 62 on the ground and 22 through the air.
Garcia was the leading ground gainer for the Bucs with 31 yards on two carries.
Quarterback Ian Donnen completed two of his nine passes for 22 yards.
Sterlin Thropp and Carter Zuliani each hauled in a pass for 11 yards for the Bucs.
At press time, the Bucs (1-2) were scheduled to head into their bye week this coming week but possibly could add a home game on Friday with Brooke.
*The boxscore:
Buckhannon-Upshur 0 7 0 7 – 14
Greenbrier East 14 28 14 0 – 56
Greenbrier East – Monquelle Davis, 37-yard run (kick failed).
Greenbrier East – Lucas McCalister, 5-yard run (Noah Dotson kick).
Greenbrier East – Garrett Bennett, 26-yard run (Dotson kick).
Buckhannon-Upshur – Savion Farmer, 91-yard kick-off return (Cameron Zuliani kick).
Greenbrier East – Bryson Ormsbee, 11-yard pass from Davis (Dotson kick).
Greenbrier East – Ormsbee, 6-yard pass from Davis (Dotson kick).
Greenbrier East – Ian Cline, 15-yard run (Dotson kick).
Greenbrier East – J. T. Spencer – 8-yard run (Dotson kick).
Greenbrier East – Cline, 13-yard run (Dotson kick).
Buckhannon-Upshur – Liam Garcia, 28-yard run (Zuliani kick).
TEAM STATISTICS
First downs – Buckhannon-Upshur: 6 (4 rushing, 2 passing, 0 penalty); Greenbrier East: 25 (18 rushing, 5 passing, 2 penalty).
Rushing yards – Buckhannon-Upshur: 32-62; Greenbrier East: 39-356.
Passing yards – Buckhannon-Upshur: 22; Greenbrier East: 133.
Total yards – Buckhannon-Upshur: 84; Greenbrier East: 489.
Passes – Buckhannon-Upshur: 2-9-0; Greenbrier East: 12-13-0.
Penalties – Buckhannon-Upshur: 4-30; Greenbrier East: 7-63.
Punts – Buckhannon-Upshur: 6-33.7; Greenbrier East: 1-20.0.
Fumbles – Buckhannon-Upshur: 3; Greenbrier East: 0.
Fumbles lost – Buckhannon-Upshur: 2; Greenbrier East: 0.
All-Return yards – Buckhannon-Upshur: 199; Greenbrier East: 10.
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Buckhannon-Upshur – Liam Garcia 2-31 (1 touchdown); Savion Farmer 12-18; Zach Mayle 5-12; Luke Yardley 5-12; Elijah Bryant 5-11; Ian Donnen 5-(-22). Totals 32-62 (1 touchdown).
Greenbrier East – Ian Cline 18-171 (2 touchdowns); Monquelle Davis 4-75 (1 touchdown); Garrett Bennett 2-44 (1 touchdown); Donavin Penn 5-43; J.T. Spencer 2-17 (1 touchdown); Lucas McCallister 1-5 (1 touchdown); Carter Hamilton 5-3; team 2-(-2). Totals 39-356 (6 touchdowns).
Passing
Buckhannon-Upshur – Donnen 2-for-9 for 22 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions.
Greenbrier East – Davis 10-for-10 for 101 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions; Gavin Bennett 1-for-2 for 28 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions. Penn 1-for-1 for 4 yards, 0 touchdowns, 0 interceptions. Totals 12-for-13 for 133 yards, 2 touchdowns, 0 interceptions.
Receiving
Buckhannon-Upshur – Sterlin Thropp 1-11; Carter Zuliani 1-11. Totals 2-22.
Greenbrier East – Bryson Ormsbee 5-37 (2 touchdowns); McCallister 3-41; Cline 2-23; Braden Bragg 1-28; Elias White 1-4. Totals 11-133 (2 touchdowns).
*Editor’s note: The boxscore and statistics in this story were uniquely compiled by sports editor Duane Carpenter.
