WATERTOWN – It took until the final play but Buckingham, Browne and Nichols came away with a final stop at home to halt a potent Tabor Academy offense.
Senior captain Bo MacCormack deflected a pass as time expired with the Seawolves driving deep into BB&N territory as BB&N defeated Tabor Academy 28-22 at Berylson Field on Friday night to secure a top spot in the ISL-7.
“(Tabor Academy) is a good offense and they did a good job of stopping us (to get the ball back),” said Knights coach Mike Willey. “We counted down as much as we could and our defense – they’re kind of a bend don’t break kind of group – made the last play.”
It was the MacCormack show from the get-go as he opened the game on a 59-yard scamper to make it 7-0 for BB&N less than 30 seconds into the contest.
He added 24 more carries in the first half with three scores and 195 yards on the ground. His second came from three yards out to make it 13-3 late in the first and a 15-yard TD run to push it out to 19-9 in the second.
“MacCormack is in a league of his own,” Willey said about his star running back. “Obviously, he is a great player, but watch him be a teammate. Watch him in the weight room. Watch him in the classroom. That kid is an unbelievable kid that happens to be unbelievable at football.”
He added a fourth 3-yard score to make it 28-15 to cap a seven-play drive after BB&N recovered an onside kick to start the third.
From there, the defense took over for the Knights as junior Vince Snoonian recovered a fumble in the third and sophomore Colin Hoffman ripped an interception in the fourth. These plays sandwiched a turnover on downs that was aided by the second tackle for loss for junior Sam Kelley.
“That’s what won us that game,” MacCormack said about the defense in the second half. “What a play by (Hoffman and Snoonian) to be able to get us in the game. That won us the game. It was huge.”
For Tabor Academy, senior captain Hugo Djeumeni Kemeni started off strong as he had two rushing scores to keep the Seawolves in the first half as he had a 64-yard scamper in the first and a 7-yard score in the second to make it a 19-15 contest. Snoonian knocked a 45-yard field goal with 14 seconds left in the first half to make it 22-15 at the break.
The lone points in the second half for Tabor Academy came on an 18-yard keeper for Peter Bourque after some deep completions to cut the deficit to 28-22
The Knights will stay at home to play Rivers next Saturday at noon. Tabor Academy will host Lawrence Academy next Saturday at 4 p.m.