By PAULA PASCHE
Of The Oakland Press
MINNEAPOLIS — Lions cornerback Phillip Buchanon’s football days go back to when he was 8 or 9 years old playing for the Riverdale Wildcats in Fort Myers, Fla.
   He’s been working on his game ever since.
  Buchanon had one of the Lions’ best defensive plays — saving a sure Adrian Peterson rushing touchdown — in Sunday’s 27-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
  With Peterson in full gear running toward the end zone with no one in his way, Buchanon ran up from behind and punched the football out of his arms.
 Peterson who had 18 carries for 133 yards gave kudos to Buchanon.
 “He made a great play. I was open and swinging the ball and he came up and punched it out,’’ Peterson said. “You got to give him credit, he made a great play.
 For Buchanon it was a natural reaction.
“I learned it at a young age, I’ve been doing it for a long time. In that situation, once he got in front of me that was the first thing that flashed in front of me was (to knock out) the ball,’’ Buchanon said.
  Lions’ linebacker Jordon Dizon was able to recover it in the end zone for a touch back. The Lions were down 10-0 at the time. It was a play that kept them in the game.
  “The one play that Phillip Buchanon made, that’s a great hustle play, a great effort play to punch that ball out or that’s another big gain,’’ Schwartz said.
  It was a solid day for Buchanon who had seven tackles. He has bounced back from injury and from being benched. The 29-year-old veteran cornerback had fought back and started the last four games.
 Buchanon injured his knee and it was being taped on the first play of the second half when Jack Williams, who was filling in, was injured. Buchanon couldn’t finish the game because of the injury.