Buhler makes most of turnovers in win over Maize South

Turnovers will often decide a football game, and turnovers when facing a sturdy defense almost always will.

Both Maize South and Buhler put stout defenses on the field Friday night, and both had their problems holding on to the ball, but one more turnover and one more touchdown made the difference as Buhler sealed a 21-14 victory.

Turnovers loomed large in a wild second quarter after the teams combined for a pair of touchdowns each in the first 20 minutes. Five giveaways in less than five minutes to end the first half only led to one score, but that was all Buhler needed as neither team allowed a point after halftime.

“Both defenses were great, especially in the second half,” Maize South coach Brent Pfeifer said. “I think both of us offensively just took advantage of turnovers and mistakes.

“When we made those mistakes, they got their 21, and when they made theirs, we got our 14. We just made more mistakes tonight.”

With both teams looking for the score that could put them up heading into the break, neither could seem to hold on to the ball. Buhler started the giveaways, when a big hit jarred the ball loose from its runner, and Maize South jumped on it with 4:13 to go until the half.

A quick first down had the Mavericks thinking they’d be moving the ball, but Buhler’s Hunter Wiehl came down with an interception when Maize South’s Ethan Richardson was hit throwing the ball.

That one did result in the score that made the difference after two quarters, and it didn’t take long, as Ethan White launched a perfect ball, finding Dalton Smyres on a fade route down the right side. Smyres slipped his defender and flew 75 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 2:27 left in the quarter.

With the Mavericks trying to answer, they fumbled the ball away for the first time, but turned right around and got the ball back when Tyler White made a big play to intercept it as the Crusaders tried to recreate the fade ball to Smyres.

After trading long drives to start the game, each team scored quickly. A big punt return by Maize South set the Mavericks up with a short field, and Richardson found big target Preston Seiler for a 17-yard strike for the first points of the game.

Buhler picked up back-to-back scores on plunges by Dalton Brown, who finished the night with a tough 116 yards on 27 carries, but Maize South managed to tie it when Richardson completed three big passes and the Crusaders committed pass interference, allowing the senior signal caller to convert the one-yard score.

“Our turnovers were probably a little bit more costly in terms of the field position we put them in,” Pfeifer said. “They’d have 30 yards to go and we had 80, but in the end, we made more mistakes.”

This story was originally published September 23, 2016 at 10:12 PM with the headline "Buhler makes most of turnovers in win over Maize South."