Buckeyes rely on option attack in sizzling start

No matter where the players go to school, the Buckeyes are a team.

Playing at home on Sept. 17 at Beverly Park in a Southside Catholic Conference matchup, the Buckeyes defeated St. Michael 36-16 to improve to 2-1 this season.

“Day one, as soon as we got together in practice, these guys were a team,” Muldoon said. “There was never any Christ the King this or St. Barnabas that. The kids have been together and played as a team. They jelled as a unit pretty much right away.”

The Buckeyes will play at St. Gabriel on Sept. 24 at Taylor-Lauridsen Park.

In the St. Michael victory, Muldoon’s squad received key contributions from all three facets: offense, defense and special teams.

Trailing 8-6 midway through the second quarter, the Buckeyes capped a 63-yard drive on a Luke Cutrara 1-yard TD run and regained the lead at 14-8 following Jeremy Nash’s point-after kick.

Then, Quinn Muldoon recovered the ensuing kickoff, a bit of a pooch kick to the left sideline, before the Wildcats could fall on the ball.

The Buckeyes took advantage of the prime field position when Aiden Henderson broke free for a 37-yard TD run up the left side. Closing the first half in style, Muldoon again recovered the following kickoff to prevent St. Michael from answering before halftime.

“We’re trying to trust in our defense. Even if we don’t make a play, hopefully we can turn it around,” said Coach Muldoon. “We were hoping not to give up any big plays on special teams. You get lucky every once in a while and the ball bounces your way.”

The Buckeyes led 20-8 at halftime.

The big plays weren’t done, including a highlight-reel touchdown near the end of the third quarter on a fourth-and-15 play.

On the fourth-down play, Nash slipped behind the defense, and Cutrara found him wide-open with a pass with Nash out-sprinting the St. Mike’s defenders for the score and a 28-8 advantage.

“We’ve got some good players,” Coach Muldoon said. “They’ve had some good coaching in the past. It’s a good start [for the team], but we’ve got to keep working every day.”

The Buckeyes utilize a single-wing option offense that relies on the run game.

Henderson (4 carries, 117 yards, 2 TD), Gavin Looney (7 carries, 64 yards, TD), Cutrara (10 carries, 53 yards, TD) and Nash (4 carries, 21 yards) powered a balanced rushing attack.

Henderson opened the scoring with an impressive 73-yard touchdown run with 58 seconds left in the first quarter.

“We run that single wing, like a 1940s old-school offense,” Coach Muldoon said. “It’s our first year running it at the varsity in probably seven years or so. We want them to know their assignments so they can go 100 percent on every single play, all out. They love that. They want to go out and hit.”

Nash also converted 3 of his point-after kicks.

Cutrara and Nash also had an interception apiece on defense. Cutrara’s pick in the end zone on St. Michael’s opening drive helped turn the momentum around early.

Looney, Ryan McDonald-Chessare, David Reardon, William Doody, Liam Condon and Collin Cooper also made some big tackles on defense to slow the St. Michael offense down.

Improving to 2-1, Coach Muldoon said his team has plenty to improve on, but the building blocks for a big season are in place.

“Our win last weekend against St. Daniel was a big win,” Muldoon said. “It was a dogfight. Hopefully, now that we’ve broken through that barrier, we can keep going forward in the right direction.”

The Buckeyes roster also includes Owen Morgan, Brendan Daigler, Darius Jones, Donovan Moore, Seamus Segroves, Carter Harris, Marty Lakawitch, Cooper Muldoon-Stetson, Case Cosme, Nolan Riley, Liam Morgan, Quinn McChesney, David Williams, Henry Konrath, Aiden Bradley and Marius Adenso.

Muldoon is assisted by David Williams, Paul Wendt, Jay Muldoon-Stetson, Brandon Bradley and Jeremy Nash.