Akron Buchtel pulls road upset with 24-21 win over Woodridge to open OHSAA playoffs

PENINSULA, Ohio- Akron Buchtel opened up the Ohio High School Athletic Association playoffs with a 24-21 road win over Woodridge in Division IV, Region 13.

The Griffins held on with a defensive stop in the final minutes after Woodridge had pulled within three points on a 1-yard touchdown run by Robert Dixie with 3:30 left in the game.

After recovering the onside kick, Buchtel (6-4) was forced to punt on their next possession.

After short completions on first and second down and an incomplete pass on third down, the Bulldogs faced a 4th-and-6 with the game on the line. The pass by quarterback Johnny Howard was completed, but the Buchtel defense was there to push the receiver out of bounds three yards short of the first down to seal the win.

“(I told them) relax, just relax,” Buchtel head coach Bryan Williams said. “Once we get it back, because we are going to get it back because our defense is playing with their hair on fire, let’s seal the deal and that’s what we did.”

The Griffins trailed 7-0 in the first quarter after a 35-yard touchdown run by Woodridge’s Taysear Clay-Williams following a Buchtel fumble on its first possession.

But Buchtel (6-4), the No. 13 seed in the region, answered right back as sophomore quarterback Stevie Diamond let one fly for Marcel Boyce, Jr. The senior wide receiver ran under it and hauled in the pass in stride for a 51-yard touchdown to tie the game.

“When somebody strikes are we going to strike back or are we going to back down,” Williams said. “We decided that we are always going to strike back. Once we did that, you could tell that the steam was coming off the guys’ backs, they were ready to go.”

Buchtel then took its first lead with 2:22 left in the second quarter when Demetrion Duvall connected on a 27-yard field goal.

The Griffins kept turning it on in the third quarter.

After Buchtel turned it over, the Griffins defense got it right back as Marques Turner recovered a fumble and returned it inside the Woodridge 5-yard-line.

“Jermaine James and (Davian) Greenlee ripped the ball out and I was there to catch it,” Turner said.

Wylie Cheairs paid off the turnover with a 4-yard touchdown run to make it 17-7.

On Buchtel’s next possession, Cheairs scored from 31 yards out on a run that was ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 worthy.

He took the handoff and bounced out to his left where he stiff-armed a defender, cut back right to make a defender miss before breaking an ankle tackle at the 10. At the 6-yard-line, he bounced off a defender with a. spin move and then was into the endzone.

“I don’t even know what to say,” Cheairs said. "There was so much adrenaline going.”

Woodridge, the region’s No. 4 seed, scored on a 52-yard touchdown pass from Howard to Jack Novak with 2:28 left in the third quarter to cut it to 24-14.

Offensively, Buchtel was led by Cheairs with 88 yards rushing on 22 carries and two scores, while Diamond finished the game with 170 yards passing, one touchdown and one interception for the Griffins.

Howard was 15-of-26 passing for 160 yards for Woodridge.

Buchtel has now won six games in a row after starting the season 0-4. The Griffins picked up their first win in Week 5 with a 24-19 win over Benedictine, a week after losing 34-13 to St. Vincent-St. Mary. While most might think the Benedictine game is where the season turned around, Williams thinks it was actually the week prior.

“It was really the St. V game, just holding those guys accountable,” Williams said. “I’m not going to lie, I ripped them after that game.”

What did Williams say to his team to get them to focus and get the season righted?

“(I told them) ‘All we can do is make sure that we are pouring into you guys what we need to pour into you guys,” Williams told his players. “’We game plan the right way, we set up preparation the right way for you guys, now you have to go out there, hold each other accountable and execute.’

The coach saw the impact his word had almost immediately.

“It set well with them,” Williams said. “From that day on, they led.”

The win was the first playoff win for the Griffins since 2010, when Buchtel made it all the way to the Division III state championship game before falling to Bishop Watterson.

“Buchtel hasn’t won a playoff game in the last 10 years, so this feels amazing,” Williams said. “This is what playoff football is all about.”

Winning this game also gave Williams and the Griffins a chance to show people that football in the Akron City Series can be legit, despite what some people will say.

“I am a show and tell guy,” Williams said. “We put the product out there and you see what our guys can do.”

At the end of the day, all Williams wants is that chance to show what the Akron Public Schools teams – especially his – can do on the field. And he thinks his Griffins have shown they are worthy of some attention.

“Just start recognizing us a little bit more,” Williams said. “You can see what APS can do when you give us an opportunity. I am proud to be with this program, I am proud to be with APS and I am proud for this football team.

Buchtel will be back on the road next week, as the Griffins travel to Canal Fulton to take on No. 5 Northwest in the second round.