Buchholz crushes Mosley to begin playoff journey

The Buchholz Bobcats had an ideal start to their football playoff season Thursday, demolishing the Lynn Haven Mosley Dolphins, 59-0, at Citizens Field.

The shutout means a fourth consecutive trip to the regional semifinals for Buchholz (11-0), which is the No. 1 seed of Region 1 in this year’s FHSAA 4S playoffs.

The Bobcats will try to keep their momentum going against No. 4 seed Ponte Vedra in Friday’s next round at Citizens Field. The Sharks eliminated No. 5 Creekside, 49-36, in the other first-round matchup.

Buchholz would host the winner from the other region semifinal between No. 3 seed Bartram Trail (7-4) at No. 2 seed Niceville (9-2) in the region final Nov. 24.

Shaky Start for Buchholz

Mosley (6-5) came into the game fresh off of a loss in their final regular-season game, leaving high expectations for Buchholz to make easy work of their opponent.

However, mistakes cost the Bobcats early, as Buchholz quarterback Trace Johnson had his first pass intercepted.

Mosley quarterback Sammy Freitas drove the Dolphins down the field. 

After a timeout to reset their defense, the Bobcats settled into the game and forced three straight incompletions from Freitas to get the ball back and take control from that point.

Buchholz finds its rhythm 

After his early mistake, Johnson used a variety of targets to drive Buchholz down the field, going on a march that took more than eight minutes. 

Finding sophomore receiver Justin Williams, Johnson put the Bobcats in the red zone, giving the Buchholz running attack its first chance to shine.

The unorthodox use of linebacker and UF football commit Myles Graham paid off once again when Graham drove the ball in at the goal line to give the Bobcats a 7-0 lead. 

The Gator is in the endzone

Myles Graham (@MylesGraham2_) puts Buchholz on the board as he scores from a yard out and does the #Gators chomp to celebrate

Ends an 11 play, 62 yard drive for @BuchholzFB

7-0, Bobcats, with 2:34 left in the first@JonSantucci @KevinBrockwayG1 pic.twitter.com/INbEECFXNb

— Noah Ram (@Noah_ram1) November 10, 2023

On Mosley’s next play, a tipped pass was corralled by Buchholz for an interception that put the Bobcats right back on the goal line. 

Buchholz doubled its lead with a touchdown catch by sophomore receiver DJ Hicks, giving it a 14-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.

After another defensive stop, Buchholz scored its third touchdown in three minutes with a 34-yard run by running back Quinton Cutler, his first of two on the night.

“I’m just trusting my O-line and trusting my coaching staff, they know what’s best for us and we just gotta go out there and execute the game plan,” Cutler said.

Bobcats stay perfect

Much of the same would follow, as Mosley’s only two first downs for the rest of the half would come from penalties.

The Bobcat’s defense kept the Dolphins in a chokehold, while the offense continued to create big plays with Johnson adding two more touchdowns to grow the lead to 35-0. 

By the end of the first half, Buchholz had taken a 49-point lead and still refused to let Mosley get anywhere near the end zone.

“Our defense been playing like that the whole year,” Graham said. “That’s Buchholz football … that’s probably the best our defense has ever played.”

Onto the next round

Even with every starter pulled out of the game, Buchholz still added to the lead and maintained the shutout.

“We’re not gonna change our game plan for anybody,” Graham said. “We don’t see anybody who could make us do that, so we’ll just keep doing what we do.”