Following this evening’s 38-7 hammering of Buckhannon-Upshur by Bridgeport at Wayne Jamison Field, junior Indians’ running back Dante Bonamico said there was no way he or anyone else could fill the shoes of his brother Anthony Bonamico and A.C. Caldera, 1,000-yard plus rushing all staters who graduated after last year’s state championship season. What he did say is that you “just try to follow in their footsteps.”

 

And that’s exactly what Bonamico did. He followed the footsteps into the end zone five times as he became the feature back in year two of the pistol offense. For good measure, he led the way with 166 yards rushing in less than three quarters of play as the Indians amassed 414 yards of offense.

 

“When he’s the feature back that’s the kind of numbers we need him to put up,” said Bridgeport Coach Josh Nicewarner.

 

Despite all of that, Bonamico’s thoughts after the game were on fellow running back and fellow defensive back Dylan Tonkery. Tonkery, also a junior, left the game in the first quarter with what appeared to be an ankle injury and did not return.

 

“He got his foot caught and he said he bent it. It’s a high ankle sprain,” Bonamico said. “ … I don’t think it’s too serious. We’ll see how the swelling goes. It’s really swelled up. If the swelling goes down he should be good to go next week (against Wheeling Park).”

If so, adding him to the backfield should be more than just a luxury the rest of the year. Along with Bonamico, Zach Spurlock got more comfortable as the game progressed at the quarterback spot and finished with 116 yards rushing on 14 carries.

 

The Indians had plenty of gaudy numbers and only Tonkery’s injury to worry about as the Tribe walked away pretty much unscathed with multiple players seeing their first varsity action with the first string unit.

 

“Dylan wanted to go back in, but it definitely is way too early in the season to be taking chances,” said Nicewarner.

 

Buckhannon had no choice but to keep its first string players in throughout. In the end, however, it didn’t make a difference. Although the Buccaneers ended the game with 204 yards of offense, most of that came late and with the game’s outcome already decided. Much like last year, the Indians’ defense not only didn’t break, it barely bent.

 

“That’s definitely encouraging this early in the season to see where we’re at (defensively). I thought we tackled well and other than that one breakdown (on the halfback pass), I thought we read well,” Nicewarner said.

 

Bridgeport wasted little time in taking control of the contest. In fact, on the game’s second play Bonamico busted free for a 46-yard run and three plays later he was rambling in from five yards out for the game’s – and season’s – first points. Nick Strogen, doing double duty as a BHS soccer player, got comfortable quick by nailing the first of three first-half point-after attempts for a 7-0 lead with 9:29 to play in the first.

 

Although B-U did make some noise thanks to a halfback option pass good for 38 yards, the Indians would force a fumble two plays later and Elijah Drummond was more than happy to pounce on it.

 

With Bridgeport once again on offense, it would need a sustained drive that featured more than a few botched plays before finding the end zone. The Tribe used 13 plays and needed a fourth down run by Bonamico from two yards out to go up 14-0 with 55.2 seconds showing on the first period clock.

 

The Indians scored for the third time in the opening half after trading fumbles with the Buccaneers. After coughing the ball up, Bridgeport got the ball back on the very next play when Mitchell Winkie jumped on the loose ball at the B-U 38-yard line.

 

This time, Bonamico would complete a first half TD hat trick with a 22-yard run where he cut outside to the right and cut back inside for the touchdown with 7:16 on the first half clock. The Indians wouldn’t be done as they turned near disaster after getting the ball back with the clock winding down into a Strogen 18-yard field goal. A Spurlock pass appeared to be intercepted near the goal line that could have been returned a long way. However, the ball squirted loose and Drummond got the tip for a six-yard pass reception to the B-U one-yard line.

 

With just seconds left, Nicewarner opted for the field goal and the 24-0 lead that would stand at the half. While the offense seemed to be doing good things to the tune of 270 yards – including 261 rushing on 30 carries – it was the defense that had control of the game.

 

Outside of the halfback option pass, Buckhannon had little to show in the first half for its efforts. In fact, B-U had 41 yards of offense on 14 plays – and 38 of that came on that one play.

 

Three players had more offense than B-U did in the first half. Bonamico had 100 yards on 12 carries and Spurlock finished with 95 in the first two periods on 10 runs. For good measure, Drummond filled in admirably and had four carries for 50 yards.

 

“Our defense was stout as always. Last year was as good as I think it’s ever been and this year we’re looking to fill the shoes again,” Bonamico said.

 

Bridgeport would add a pair of scores in the third period to erase any doubt that may have remained. Bonamico scored on a five-yard run with 5:37 and then added what would prove to be the Indians’ final points on a one-yard run with 3:10 to play in third. Strogen was good on both point-after kicks for Bridgeport.

 

B-U added a fourth quarter touchdown on a Brandon Mallett eight-yard touchdown run against the BHS reserves. Mallett finished with 50 yards rushing to lead his team offensively.

 

“You could tell it was our first game, but we definitely did good things,” said Nicewarner. “We even had some things go different than we expected, but not in a bad way. It’s hard to complain with a win, but I probably won’t be as happy tomorrow morning as I am now.”

 

Spurlock was able to turn a few busted plays into positive yardage. And by the time he departed the game, he was making the correct reads in the pistol attack from his quarterback slot.

 

“I was actually pretty pleased (with Zach). We got a little excited getting in the red zone on our second score,” said Nicewarner on the team’s tricky second touchdown.

 

BHS will have the task of traveling to face Wheeling Park next week. The Patriots were a 30-13 winner over Taylor Alderdice out of Pennsylvania this evening.

 

Game time next week is 7 p.m. 

 

Editor's Note: Top photo shows Dante Bonamico taking a handoff from Zach Spurlock, while Dylan Tonkery spent most of the game on crutches due to an ankle/foot injury. Defensively, Michael Gray came through with this stop, while in the fourth photo Elijah Drummond is shown running for some of his 59 yards. In the bottom photo, plenty of young fans take in the game. All photos by Tyler Maxwell of www.benqueenphotography.com.