The Boyd Buchanan Buccaneers had an amazing football season where they won 13 straight games, but that magical season came to a screeching halt shortly after noon on Thursday at Finley Stadium as they suffered their first loss and finished as state runner-up in Division II, Class AA to Christ Presbyterian Academy.
The final score was 35-13, but this game was decided a long time before the final horn sounded as the Lions pretty much dominated the first half before winning for the 12th straight game after losing their second game of the season to Pearl Cohn.
Coach Gary Rankin, who owns 17 state football titles with four at Riverdale and the last 13 at Alcoa, had felt since the start that success may have come too fast for these youthful Buccaneers and that youthfulness may have been exposed by a hungry group of Lions, who won for the fourth time in the past six seasons and finishing second two years in a row.
“Nobody really gave us a chance today as our youth got exposed early, but I couldn’t be any more proud of these kids and their willingness to battle all season, including today’s game,” he said shortly after receiving the runner-up award for coaches.
“I really liked how we kept battling in the second half, but it was obvious to the casual observer that we were outmanned. But I’m hopeful that we’ll be back again soon,” he added in his usual quiet tone.
CPA coach Ingle Martin was all smiles after his team’s final game ended on a positive note.
“I thought our defense was outstanding as Boyd Buchanan has a fine football team,” he said shortly after team photos were taken at midfield with the championship trophy.
“We made some big plays early and that last touchdown right before the half was nice as we just wanted to prove that we were the best team today. We normally don’t talk much about the past, but I’m guessing some of my guys remembered the last two years,” he added.
The Lions received the opening kickoff and were penalized twice before getting the first play off. Facing first and 24 from their own 4, they picked up 12 yards on two six-yard runs by Jack Vanorman before he caught an 11-yard pass from quarterback Braden Streeter.
Facing fourth-and-one from their own 27, the Lions got the first break when senior Crews Law took the pitch and raced untouched down the right sideline in front of the Boyd Buchanan bench for a 73-yard TD with 9:11 left in the first quarter. Parker Shanks made the first of four extra points and the guys from Nashville had the upper hand early.
The Bucs had a hard time generating any kind of offense and had to punt on their next two possessions before scoring on the third.
Boyd Buchanan then made it 7-3 when Ethan Lane booted a 32-yard field goal with 8:56 left in the half.
The game was still relatively close that this point, but that didn’t slow down the Lions as they scored on their next two possessions for a commanding 21-3 lead at the break.
Streeter had a couple of TD throws during that time, the first one covering 35 yards to Owen Cabell while the second of eight yards to Jackson Matthews some 19 seconds before the break was the back-breaker as the Lions went to the dressing room with all the momentum and the Bucs still wondering what happened.
That last drive covered 54 yards in seven plays as CPA got great field position following a Buccaneer punt with the biggest play of the drive a 30-yard pass from Streeter to Cabell on fourth and 13 from the 38.
Offensive numbers were quite lopsided at the break with CPA gaining 265 total yards to just 56 for Boyd Buchanan.
The second half wasn’t as bad as the Bucs had 121 yards rushing in the final two quarters after only gaining 43 in the first two.
Patterson Rawls had a 14-yard run with 8:19 left in the third to put the Lions up 28-3 before the Bucs made it a bit more respectable with a 12-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a keeper from the one by backup quarterback Brodie Lowe.
Lane added a second field goal of 33 yards late in the game for Boyd’s final points while CPA scored the final TD for the Lions with a 20-yard run with 3:14 left, long after outcome had been decided.
Law finished the game with 121 yards rushing on just nine carries while Patterson followed with 108 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns. Cabell was the leading receiver with 65 yards on two grabs, including the one touchdown.
David Green was the leading rusher for the Buccaneers as he finished with 63 yards on 17 carries.
Laws was named the game’s Most Valuable Player after gaining 121 yards rushing on offense and making nine tackles on defense.
CPA now has a 5-0 advantage in games played with Boyd Buchanan.
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CHRIST PRESBYTERIAN
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7
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14
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7
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7
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-- 35
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BOYD BUCHANAN
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0
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3
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7
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3
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-- 13
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SCORING SUMMARY
CPA Crews Law 73 run (Parker Shanks kick) (9:11, 1st) 7-0
BBS Ethan Lane 32 field goal ((8:56, 2nd) 7-3
CPA Owen Cabell 35 pass from Braden Streeter (Shanks kick) (3:24, 2nd) 14-3
CPA Jackson Mathews 8 pass from Streeter (Shanks kick) (00:19, 2nd) 21-3
CPA Rawls Patterson 14 run (Shanks kick) (8:19, 3rd) 28-3
BBS Brodie Lowe 1 run (Lane kick) (2:15, 3rd) 28-10
BBS Lane 33 field goal (8:20, 4th) 28-13
CPA Patterson 20 run (Gray Seibert kick) (3:14, 4th) 35-13
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STATS
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CPA
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BBS
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First Downs
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12
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13
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Rushes-Yards
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32-241
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44-164
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Passing Yards
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100
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23
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Total yards
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341
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187
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Passing (Comp-Att-Int)
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7-14-0
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4-12-1
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Penalties-Yards
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11-83
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3-15
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Fumbles-Lost
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0-0
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0-0
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Punts-Average
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3-38.3
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4-26.8
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Time of Possession
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19:44
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28:16
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INDIVIDUAL STATS
CPA Rushing: Crews Law 9-121, 1 TD; Rawls Patterson 16-108, 2 TDs; Joshua Mayernick 5-15; Braden Streeter 1-2, TEAM 1-(-5).
Boyd Buchanan Rushing: David Green 17-63; Sebastian Jones 6-51; Jaylon Sanderfer 9-36; Asher Keck 8-28; Brodie Lowe 2-2, 1 TD; Houston Hicks 2-(-16).
CPA Passing: Braden Streeter 7-14-0 for 100 yards and 2 TDs.
Boyd Buchanan Passing: Houston Hicks 4-13-1 for 23 yards.
CPA Receiving::Owen Cabell 2-65, 1 TD: Joshua Mayernick 1-12; Rawls Patterson 1-11; Jackson Mathews 1-8; William Carroll 1-5; Ondre Evans 1-(-1).
Boyd Buchanan Receiving: Jayden Moore 2-5; Hudson Wamack 1-9; Jaylon Sanderfer 1-9.
Records: CPA 13-1; Boyd Buchanan 13-1
Most Valuable Player: Crews Law, CPA
Notable: CPA coach Lengo Martin wins fourth championship with Lions.
(Contact John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)