Much like the conditions at Citizens Field, Buchholz’s season opener on Thursday was, simply put, ugly. And just like Citizens Field, the Bobcats came out of it alive.
Amidst a two-hour lightning delay, a rainstorm and muddy field conditions, Buchholz, behind stout defense and clutch special teams, edged Vanguard (Ocala), 15-13, to give the Bobcats their fourth-straight win in the series.
“We’ve embraced The Pit,” head coach Mark Whittemore said, referring to the sloppy on-field conditions that have become a staple of Gainesville’s Citizens Field. “You can print that.”
Vanguard, which nearly erased a 12-0 Buchholz halftime lead, scored a touchdown with 1:47 left but was stuffed on the ensuing two-point conversion. The ending capped off a masterful performance from the Bobcats’ defense, which recorded a safety, an interception and a fourth-down stop earlier in the game.
“Our kids battled super-duper hard,” Whittemore said. “They were fantastic tonight, just doing all the little things.”
Special teams were even more special.
Senior kicker Jay Giunta drilled a pair of field goals and an extra point to lead the Bobcats in scoring while recording a touchback on every kickoff.
Meanwhile, sophomore defensive back Camron Burse scored the team’s lone touchdown with a long punt return after a botched five-yard punt from Vanguard on the game’s first possession.
“All my coaches say, ‘Ball’s on the floor, scoop it up and score,’” Burse said. “I did what I had to do for our team, and glad we came out with the W.”
Vanguard, which had multiple touchdowns called back due to penalties, finally found the endzone with 7:58 left in the third quarter on a 42-yard touchdown run from quarterback Terrance Lewis. After a nearly 20-minute scoring drought, Giunta drilled his second field goal, a 27-yarder, with less than two minutes left in the fourth quarter to give Buchholz a 15-7 lead.
“We will kick on every possession and feel really good about it,” Whittemore said. “In a game like this, you better believe that’s a weapon.”
Needing both a touchdown and a two-point conversion just to send the game into overtime, Vanguard found success through the air with Lewis accounting for 50 passing yards in two plays before his two-yard score cut the deficit to two points.
Once again, though, it was the Bobcats’ defense that came out on top, stopping the two-point conversion run.
“One thing that we really consider to be our heartbeat is that we give great effort,” Whittemore said. “We’re a team that gives great effort, and that’s not actually common. That’s engendered in our kids, and they expect each other to give great effort.”
Buchholz (1-0), which has now won five-straight season openers, hosts Vero Beach next Friday at 7:30 p.m.
