YORKVILLE – Records are not always an accurate barometer of a football team’s quality.

Case-in-point: Buckeye Local.

Jim Hoover’s physical Panthers entered Friday night’s game at World War II Memorial Stadium against Monroe Central with a deceptive 1-3 mark. Those three blemishes all came at the hands of unbeaten squads.

Buckeye performed extremely better than its record would indicate against the Seminoles, rolling to an OHSAA mercy-rule 68-12 triumph.

The Panthers rode the coattails of a record-setting performance from senior Trey Hoover. The All-Ohioan carried 31 times for 319 yards and a school record seven touchdowns. The rugged 220-pounder had 230 yards and five six-pointers in the first half alone.

“I have to thank my teammates and especially my offensive line. They gave me a lot of room to run,” the young Hoover said. “But the most important thing is that we won. We are starting to put things together.”

Hoover’s exploits helped the Panthers amass 455 yards on the ground. The winners attempted just five passes.

Keying the ground game was the offensive line of seniors Isaac Chandler, Michael Kuzmicki, Wyatt Kalman, sophomore Kaleb Stang and freshman Brody Keyowski.

“Our offensive line did a tremendous job. They are getting better and better,” Coach Hoover said. “Trey ran especially hard tonight. He was a beast. I challenged him today and he responded.”

Monroe Central, meanwhile, remains winless. But much like Buckeye, the Seminoles have fallen victim to strong squads such as River, Edison and Caldwell.

Buckeye scored on six of its seven first-half possessions.

The Panthers received the opening kickoff and embarked on a 57-yard, nine-play drive. Hoover carried seven times on the march, the final one covering 10 yards while finding paydirt. The PAT kick failed.

Monroe was forced to punt on the ensuing possession, with Buckeye taking over at its own 30. Eight plays later, all rushes, saw Hoover rolling in from the 15. Jacob Berry ran in the conversion, making it a 14-0 lighting.

The hosts put the game into mercy-rule mode via 30 second-quarter points, taking a 44-12 lead into intermission.

Hoover tallied three more touchdowns in the quarter on runs of 11, 9 and 7 stripes. The Panthers added a fourth six-pointer on a 27-yard pass from quarterback Skyler Ebright to Denvar Nelson.

Monroe’s two touchdowns came courtesy of a 28-yard pass from talented sophomore quarterback Tucker Howell to senior Terry Price and a scintillating 69-yard run by Howell.

Hoover tacked on two more TD runs in the second half, covering 33 and 9 yards. Sophomore Koltn Roush delivered the other Buckeye six-pointer on a 34-yard burst.

“We needed this win. There are some things we still need to clean up but we are improving,” Coach Hoover noted. “Tackling is still an issue but we are still a young team. We are close to getting where we want to be.”

Buckeye plays host to Shenandoah Friday.

Ebright completed 3-of-5 passes for 80 yards.

Monroe, meanwhile, rushed for 126 yards. Howell led the Seminoles with 76 stripes. He also completed 5-of-15 tosses for 50 yards. He was the victim of several drops.

“We are not big and physical and Buckeye Local took advantage of that. They did a great job of running the ball,” Monroe head coach Josh Ischy said. “We had our opportunities but made way too many mistakes.

“We got a young team and I think we are making strides. Buckeye was a tough matchup for us,” he added. “But I believe we have several winnable games left on our schedule. Hopefully, we can end the season on a strong note.”

The Seminoles host Magnolia Friday.

Buckeye Local 68,

Monroe Central 12

Monroe 0 12 0 0 – 12

Buckeye 14 30 24 0 — 68

BL-Hoover 10 run. (kick failed)

BL-Hoover 15 run. (Berry run)

BL-Hoover 11 run. (Berry run)

BL-Hoover 9 run. (Berry run)

MC-Howell 28 pass to Price. (pass failed)

BL-Ebright 27 pass to Nelson. (Roush run)

MC-Howell 69 run. (pass failed)

BL-Hoover 7 run. (run failed)

BL-Hoover 33 run. (Ebright run)

BL-Ebright 34 run. (Ebright run)

BL-Hoover 9 run. (Berry run)

RUSHING: Monroe Central 20-126-td (Rutter 4-6, Howell 4-76-td, Stiver 8-14, Buzzard 4-30). Buckeye Local 50-455-8tds (Hoover 31-319-7tds, Ebright 6-42, Boyce 1-4, Berry 7-45, Roush 2-43-td, Palmer 1-10.)

PASSING: Monroe Central 5-15-td-50 yards (All by Howell); Buckeye Local 3-5-td-int-80 yards (All by Ebright).

RECEIVING: Monroe Central 5-50-td (Price 3-37-td, Kinney 1-5, Rutter 1-8) Buckeye Local 3-80-yards-td (Palmer 2-53, Nelson 1-27-td.)

FIRST DOWNS: Monroe Central 5, Buckeye Local 19.

FUMBLES/LOST: Monroe Central 4/3; Buckeye Local 1/0

PENALTIES: Monroe Central 1-5, Buckeye Local 5-35.