Miamisburg Was Too Much Of A Challenge For The Buccaneers

            The night of Friday, October 11, 2013, was my “Birthday!!!” No offense meant, but I did not intend on spending my evening at a Xenia High School (XHS) Football Game. I had other plans. Those plans did not fall through. Instead, I personally canceled them myself. After much thought and deliberation, I decided to attend the football game. Allow me to be completely honest. I do not have the most exciting personal & social life in the world. Other than working multiple jobs, closely watching professional wrestling, reading, writing, surfing the internet, etc., my two main passions consist of watching sports and writing about them. “Football” is my main focal point of interest. I am such a huge “Football Fan.” I basically eat, live, and breathe the sport of football. Whether the level of football is high school, college, professional, etc., it does not matter. My pure enjoyment and excitement of football can be derived from any level. Even watching Pee Wee Football peaks my interest levels. With all of which I just stated, you can now understand why tonight’s decision was easy to make. Also, you know why I made it. What could be better than spending my birthday watching my beloved alma mater The XHS Buccaneers play a football game? Nothing Is Better!!!!! Therefore, I received the greatest gift which anyone could ever receive.

            Tonight’s game was deemed “Wee Bucs Night.” It is an annual tradition presented by Xenia Community Schools (XCS). During every football season, at one XHS Football Game, XCS’ Wee Bucs Football Teams and Cheerleaders are led onto the football field. Then, they are introduced to the entire crowd in attendance. This night always has to be so special for these young football players and cheerleaders. For the most part, all of these young boys & girls are future XHS Football Players & Cheerleaders. They are the next generation of excellence. Getting to take the field at a high school game has to be very exciting for these children. No, they are not playing an actual game or cheerleading at one. However, for one special moment, the pre-game spotlight is shined upon them. For just a few short minutes, they receive the applause and respect which their much older XHS counterparts receive. Without personally asking any of them, I am quite confident with one aspect. For these young boys & girls, Wee Bucs Night is a night which they will all remember for the rest of their lives. That is how much this night has to mean to them. As an added bonus at this year’s Wee Bucs Night, members of the Warner Middle School Band took the field and performed with the XHS Marching Band. You can only imagine the levels of excitement & nervousness which the middle school students must have felt as well.  After all was said and done, the middle school band members performed quite well.

            The Miamisburg High School (MHS) Vikings were tonight’s opponent for the XHS Buccaneers. Miamisburg was the first team to start on offense. On their very first play from scrimmage, Vikings’ Running Back Chris Young scampered for a 7-Yard gain. Please keep Chris Young’s name in mind. As you proceed to read this entire column, you will understand why. After a penalty and having a running back tackled for a loss, Miamisburg was faced with a 3^RD Down and 13 on their own 30-Yard Line. A Lance Brockman pass was incomplete. On 4^TH Down, the Vikings were forced to punt. On the play, the Vikings avoided what very well could have been a major disaster. As the ball was snapped to the punter, it rolled onto the ground. Before the punter could get his hands on the ball, the roll occurred. Fortunately, for Miamisburg, the punter was able to pick up the ball. Then, he was able to successfully complete the punt. For Xenia’s Defense, this was a good opening drive. The Buccaneers’ Defensive Back Bobo Jones was able to find his way into the Vikings’ backfield, and he made a key tackle for a loss. On the 3^RD Down and 13 play, the Buccaneers prevented a pass from being completed for a 1^ST Down. This opening drive was a great way for the Buccaneers’ Defense to build up some much needed confidence & momentum.

            On Xenia’s first offensive drive, they came out exactly how Miamisburg’s Offense opened up. The Buccaneers went straight to the running game. For two plays, it managed to eat up 5-Yards. On 3^RD Down, XHS’ Quarterback Danny Naylor completed a short pass to Buccaneers’ Running Back Avondre Jackson. However, instantly, the Vikings’ Defense was on Jackson. As a result, he managed to gain only 1-Yard on the play. The Buccaneers had to punt. On Miamisburg’s next offensive drive, they began to take their play to a higher level. Their rushing game started to take over the game. On the drive’s first play from scrimmage, a Vikings’ Running Back completed a long rush downfield for a 23-Yard gain. The Vikings kept on rushing the ball, and their offense was eating up chunks of yardage. Just when you thought the Vikings were going to solely rely on running the ball only, they switched their play selection up. Brockman completed two passes. Each completion resulted in a first down. At 3:41 of the 1^ST Quarter, the Vikings had a 1^ST and Goal on the Buccaneers 6-Yard Line. Young took the ball into the end zone for a touchdown. Young’s score capped off an 80-Yard Drive. After the completion of the extra point, Miamisburg led the game 7-0.

            When the Xenia got the ball back, it was interesting to see how they would respond to Miamisburg’s opening score. The Buccaneers responded by turning toward the passing game. After a rush on the drive’s first play, Naylor went to work through the air. He completed four passes on the drive. However, the combination of a False Start Penalty and a Holding Penalty prevented the Buccaneers’ Offense from obtaining any type of end success. As a result, Xenia had to end up punting the ball. Kole Patterson’s punt was short. Miamisburg’s Special Teams Unit completed a good punt return into Xenia’s territory. After a couple of rushing plays by the Vikings’ Offense, the 1^ST Quarter came to a close. At 11:31 of the 2^ND Quarter, Miamisburg avoided another costly mistake. The Vikings’ Camyrn Snow fumbled a hand-off from the quarterback. However, the Vikings managed to recover the fumble. The Buccaneers almost recovered the fumble. However, once again, the Buccaneers failed to capitalize on a Vikings’ mistake. Miamisburg did not allow the play to interfere with their mental discipline. With much success, they continued to rush the ball downfield. The Vikings’ Offense even managed to get a pass completed for a first down on the drive. At 8:25, the Vikings’ had a 1^ST and Goal on the Buccaneers’ 1-Yard Line. Young took the ball into the end zone for his second touchdown of the night. The Extra Point Attempt was good. Miamisburg now led 14-0.

            For the rest of the 2^ND Quarter, neither team was able to get much going.  At certain points, sacks on each team’s quarterback hampered drives. Penalties committed by the Buccaneers’ Defense got in the way. Those penalties allowed offensive drives by the Vikings to continue. If it were not for those penalties, those drives might have ended in punts, because they did not seem to be going anywhere. At 2:32, Xenia’s Defensive Back Korey Stills performed some great pass coverage on a play. On a long pass play downfield, Stills blanketed an opposing Vikings’ receiver. He knocked the ball down. Therefore, he prevented a gain of significant yardage. At 1:03, all of the Buccaneers’ supporters were left withholding their collective breaths. On an incomplete pass play, Naylor took a hard hit. Luckily, he was not hurt. Naylor was able to get back up on his feet and walk off of the field. The very next play resulted in a punt by the Buccaneers. With 43.3 Seconds remaining in the first half, Xenia’s Defensive Back Khalil Capers made a huge play. Finally, the Buccaneers were able to capitalize on a mistake made by Miamisburg. Capers intercepted one of Brockman’s passes deep in the Buccaneers’ territory. Had Capers not come up with the interception, the Vikings may have been well on their way to scoring again.

            After halftime, Xenia was the first team to start on offense. The Buccaneers immediately went to the rushing game. However, they did not have much success. On the drive, Naylor even completed a pass. However, the receiver was tackled for a 4-Yard Loss. The Buccaneers ended up punting the ball. When Miamisburg got the ball back, they effectively utilized its rushing attack to move the ball downfield. However, Brockman was eventually sacked by Buccaneers’ Defensive Lineman Allex Sanders. That sacked forced the Vikings to punt. After three quick offensive plays, the Buccaneers were forced to punt again. Things got worse for Xenia. Miamisburg’s Offense had a 2^ND Down and 3 on their very own 32-Yard Line. At 4:58, a Vikings’ Running Back fumbled the ball. However, the Vikings’ Offense recovered the fumble. The end result was a 47-Yard return deep into Xenia’s territory. The Vikings now had a 1^ST Down and 10 on the Buccaneers’ 21-Yard Line. On this drive, the Vikings were not going to be denied. Not even an Illegal Shift Penalty was going to stop their offense from reaching the end zone. At 2:34, Young took the ball into the end zone for a 6-Yard Score. The score was Young’s third touchdown of the game. The completed extra point attempt put Miamisburg up 21-0.

            Toward the end of the 3^RD Quarter, Naylor completed a 29-Yard pass to Stills. The Buccaneers ended up with a 1^ST and Goal on the Vikings’ 8-Yard Line. After the 4^TH Quarter started, the Buccaneers were unable to come away with any points on this drive. On 4^TH and Goal from the Vikings’ 6-Yard Line, Naylor threw a pass into the end zone. The pass was incomplete. Also, on the play, the Buccaneers committed a Holding Penalty. The Vikings declined the penalty. At 9:06, the Buccaneers once again had possession of the ball. On the very first play of the drive at 8:57, Naylor made a huge mistake. He threw an interception to Vikings’ Defensive Back Adam Giles. The Vikings capitalized off of Naylor’s costly mistake. They proceeded to drive the ball 76-Yards down the field to the end zone. Along the way, an Unsportsmanlike Conduct Penalty was called against the Buccaneers. At one point, Brockman threw a pass into the end zone for a touchdown. However, an Illegal Block Penalty against the Vikings negated that touchdown. At 5:04, Young took the ball into the end zone for a 13-Yard Score. His rushing touchdown would be the game’s final touchdown scored. After the completion of the extra point, the Vikings took a commanding 28-0 lead. No one would score again. With the final score of Miamisburg 28 and Xenia 0, the game would end.

            While my birthday night ended with a loss by the XHS Buccaneers, I am not mad. Instead, I still feel like I made the correct choice. Going to the game was the only correct move to make. Had the Buccaneers been able to capitalize on the various mistakes committed by the Vikings, the game might have turned out differently. After Miamisburg made a mistake, Xenia just could not make anything positive happen. The Buccaneers were never able to turn the Vikings’ mistakes into points. In fact, the Buccaneers were never able to score at all. The inability to stop the Vikings’ Rushing Game, their very own mistakes, and penalties committed by themselves, etc., are all issues which prevented Xenia from doing anything positive. Believe me, when I say the following. Other factors prevented the Buccaneers from doing anything positive. However, I just listed what I believe were the top three factors. As the end of the season is fast approaching, there are some issues that the Buccaneers continue to struggle with. If those issues can be fixed, then the Buccaneers can still achieve a .500 Season (at 5-5). If not, then the Buccaneers and their fan base will have to suffer through yet another losing season. No one wants that to happen.