The 10-1 Jets will have a sideline full of mustaches heading into their Division VI, Region 24 semifinal game against Anna at 7 p.m. Friday night at Conover Stadium.
“All of our seniors have mustaches,” Buchholtz said. “After we played Triad and won, I had a couple seniors come up and say, ‘Let’s do a playoff ‘stache,’ and I said, ‘My wife (Jamie) will leave me if I if I have this ‘stache.’”
Jets senior Luke Mefford, however, continued pestering. During the team’s first round bye week, he told his coach:
“I’m going to be very disappointed if you can’t commit to a mustache for the playoffs.”
The Jets beat Rock Hill 59-0 to advance to the third round for the first time in program history.
“So we get through last week and we win,” Buchholtz said, “and he says ‘It better stay.’”
The mustache remains in tact this week despite the ribbing he has taken at school from co-workers, he said.
“It’s just for the kids. It’s just motivation,” he said. “I told Jamie just don’t look at me for a couple weeks.”
Mefford is one of 12 Jets seniors who have been a part of four straight playoff appearances, two Ohio Heritage Conference titles and now the school’s first-ever trip to the third round of the playoffs.
“They are as tight as they come,” Buchholtz said. “They’re a great group of kids. They’re super competitive. They’re competitive with one another, they’re competitive with the other team. It’s a really cool bunch to kind of manage at times for sure.”
The senior class won multiple pee wee and middle school championships growing up and entered high school in 2022 with a virtually unbeaten record. Several of the seniors, including linebacker Cody Houseman, played a key role on that squad. They didn’t lose a regular season game until Week 2 of their sophomore season.
“They’ve always been good,” Buchholtz said. “They’ve been accustomed to winning. I think when you get to this point, there’s some games that can go either way, but if you kind of have that winning attitude, it’s just a confidence level for these guys.”
With so many talented players, Buchholtz wasn’t sure how his team would gel this fall. Through 11 games, the Jets are averaging 43 points per game and allowing 14 points per game. They’ve won eight games by 26 or more points. Their lone loss came at West Jefferson - who also advanced to the D-VI Round of 16 - in overtime, 42-36.
“The unselfishness that they’ve displayed this year is really what’s put us kind of over the top,” Buchholtz said. “I’m definitely not surprised of their success, but managing that many really good players can be tough at times. I was anxious to see how they would handle it, and they’ve just excelled.”
In their last matchup, Anna eliminated the Jets in the playoffs in 2021 at Conover Stadium.
Offensively, the Rockets are led by sophomore quarterback Logan Ziegenbusch and wide receiver Zeb Pleiman, as well as a strong defensive unit that plays a unique 3-3-5 defense.
“We’re one of 16 teams left, so just keep doing what we do,” Buchholtz said. “We know Anna is going to be completely loaded and a different animal, but that’s what I think makes this group really good is they know it’s 11 on 11. No matter how many guys they have on the sideline, I think they’re gonna show up ready to compete.”
As the season continues to wind down, the seniors hope to keep playing together - and the ‘stache on their coaches’ face - as long as possible.
“It’s gonna be tough when you replace this many kids for the future, but we kind of knew that coming in, and I think they’re kind of getting to a point now where they’re excited to see what Friday brings,” Buchholtz said. “I think last week, we kind of preached ‘Guys, you’ve been playing football together your whole life, and tonight could be the last night. Let’s not do it tonight. Let’s just get to next Friday.’ They enjoyed it this week; we had our Monday and Tuesday practices out in the snow. We had the awards banquet last night that football didn’t come to, so I think they’re kind of seeing this is really starting to get into big boy football.”
About the Author
