The Wolverines’ 38-6 victory over Bucktail at Wolverine Mountain also gave their head coach, Mike Barr, his first win since helping resurrect a program forced to consolidate with Warren in 2020 due to low numbers. Winless the past three seasons, Sheffield not only broke the program’s 27-game losing streak dating back to 2019, but the Wolverines’ 32-point margin of victory was the most since 2016.

“The win was great — the feeling is not like any other,” said Coach Barr, who played for Sheffield from 1991-94. “To see the cheerleaders and the fans come out on the field; that win was for all of them — the fans that have stuck by this program and with me. It was for my assistant coaches that work so hard. And the boys; they finally can say, we won a football game.”

The game didn’t start off perfectly for Sheffield with senior quarterback Colby Barr intercepted at the goal line on the opening drive. Barr threw for 427 yards and six touchdowns last season in a 74-42 loss to Bucktail. On Saturday, the four-year quarterback only completed three passes, but the second completion was a 69-yard bomb to Cire Brown-House for a 6-0 lead.

Bucktail’s biggest weapon, quarterback Brody Pentz answered with an 8-yard touchdown pass early in the second quarter. For much of the game, Sheffield’s defense was all over Pentz. The Wolverines took the lead midway through the second quarter when Lydell Gibson picked up a Pentz fumble and raced 54 yards for a touchdown.

Submitted Photo Sheffield’s Tayvion Herring (11) picks off a pass before returning it 39 yards for a touchdown.

On the Bucks’ next possession, with Sheffield linebacker Darrell Barno in Pentz’s face, Tayvion Herring returned an interception 39 yards for an 18-6 halftime lead.

Barno also had two first-half sacks and teammate Alex Marfink had the first of his two fumble recoveries in the game. Sheffield’s fourth fumble recovery came in the second half when Pentz was stripped after a 42-yard run. The ball bounced into the end zone and Hayden Holden pounced on it for the turnover. Michael Knapp added an acrobatic second-half interception of Pentz, who was pressured by constant blitzing.

“My feelings during the game were all over the place,” said Coach Barr. “Sheffield, we are not noted for playing with the lead. In my head was stay the course, don’t call something that will set you back like I did on the first drive.”

Pentz finished with 78 yards rushing and 88 yards passing, but Sheffield forced three turnovers in each half. The Wolverines played the ground-and-pound game in the second half, running 32 times out of 36 offensive plays to work the clock. More than that, they finished drives; Barr ran in two scores and Herring scored from a yard out after breaking away for 67 yards deep into Bucktail territory.

“For me, with this win, to see Colby reach a goal that he has had,” said coach Barr, Colby’s father. “To see my mom sitting where my mom and dad sat right before he passed away three years ago this October after our last game, this win has a special feeling for me.” Colby Barr finished with 116 yards passing on three completions, including the long touchdown to Brown-House, and 40 yards rushing and the two second-half scores.

“It was very special to feel the win for the first time,” said Colby. “To have my dad as coach makes it even better, and to see our guys come in every practice, give it their 100 percent and to put that into the game, it truly was something special. Having a win on Wolverine Mountain makes it more special for me, and having the fans right behind us and hearing them from the field was truly amazing.”

Offensively, Herring finished with 125 yards (all in the second half) on 10 carries, and Holden was Sheffield’s workhorse back with 20 rushes — 15 in the second half.

“The week of practice was different, but this is a different group of kids,” said Coach Barr. “We challenged them to do something different. And boy, did they. Last year, we played (Bucktail) well and thought, if we could minimize our mistakes, the games may have been different.”

This time, Sheffield outgained Bucktail 357 yards to 199 for the game, and the defensive pressure on Pentz and turnovers were a major factor.

“I think the defense played really well today,” said Coach Barr. “They came up huge for us on more than one occasion. Offensively, we moved the ball — run and pass. I think we still have room to grow on offense and we will work this week to tighten it up. Where we go from here is we focus on next week. (Otto-Eldred/Oswayo Valley) is tough and played well Friday night. I have respect for them out there and they have a good program.”

Friday’s game in Duke Center is the first of three conference road games for Sheffield, but Wolverine Mountain was buzzing into the evening with the echo of home announcer Chuck Demko’s call of victory at the final whistle.

“To be honest, of all the memories I’ve had between playing on that field and PA announcing for the past 16 years, that stands above them all as the best,” Demko said.

Sheffield senior Andrew Kyler added, “There’s nothing better than a Saturday afternoon on the mountain, and to add a win to that is just amazing.

“The reason it was this team is because everyone was hungry and wanted to get that weight off our shoulders,” said Kyler.

SHEFFIELD 38, BUCKTAIL 6

Bucktail 0 6 0 0 — 6

Sheffield 6 12 8 12 — 38

First Quarter

S–Cire Brown-House 69 pass from Colby Barr, 4:08 (pass fails)

Second Quarter

B–Teagan Stone 8 pass from Brody Pentz, 11:20(run fails)

S–Lydell Gibson 54 fumble return, 6:32 (pass fails)

S–Tayvion Herring 39 interception return, 6:01(pass fails)

Third Quarter

S–Barr 3 run, 1:37 (Brown-House pass from Barr)

Fourth Quarter

S–Barr 7 run, 5:33 (pass fails)

S–Herring 1 run, 0:32 (kick fails)

Individual Stats

Rushing: B–Pentz 13-78, Jaden Intallura 7-15, Gavin Yachymiak 4-1, Colton Flesher 3-13, Stephen Heiser 1-4. S–Hayden Holden 20-63, Barr 13-40, 2 TD, Herring 10-125, TD, Brown-House 1-13.

Passing: B–Pentz 7 of 13 for 88 yards, TD, 2 INT. S–Barr 3 of 10 for 116 yards, TD, INT. Receiving: B–Stone 2-35, TD, Intallura 2-13, Aiden Ditty 1-31, Yachymiak 1-7, Heiser 1-2. S–Brown-House 1-69, TD, Gibson 1-38, Darrell Barno 1-9.