Boyd-Buchanan coach Grant Reynolds might not have been very happy with the way his team played early, but he had plenty of reason to be happy at the end.
The Buccaneers improved to 2-0 on the young season with a methodical 35-7 victory over visiting Meigs County Friday night.
Quarterback Nic Hughes, who has one of the strongest arms in the area, had an off-night passing as he only completed four of 11 passes for 46 yards.
He also threw two interceptions, including one in the second quarter that was returned for the Tigers only touchdown of the game.
Hughes really didn’t need to throw the ball as the Buccaneers compiled 361 yards on the ground.
He personally only picked up 14 yards on his seven carries, but three of them ended in the end zone as the victorious Bucs put the game out of reach with two touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
“I thought we were flat early, but we executed better as the game went on,” said Reynolds at midfield following the game.
“We didn’t have a very good week of practice and that carried over to tonight, but we finished the game on a good note.
"It’s been several years since we won our first two games of the season, but that gives us a lot of confidence as we head into region play.
“We were in slow motion early as we just didn’t look crisp, but we ran it well and we did a great job defensively," he praised his team.
"We’ve got to throw and catch the football better, but we’ll come back out here on Monday afternoon and work to keep getting better,” Reynolds added.
Taylor Gilley was the main man for the Buccaneer offense as he led the ground game with 163 yards on 21 carries.
Ben Beasley wasn’t far behind as he netted 93 yards on 11 trips while freshman Chase Reed had the longest run of the game as he scooted 87 yards for a touchdown late in the game on his only attempt.
Hughes scored on a 1-yard keeper at the 6:43 mark of the first quarter following two runs by Gilley that netted 17 and 40 yards.
Gilley then booted the first of five extra points.
Meigs scored its only touchdown with 7:26 showing in the second stanza when Dylan Neely intercepted a pass from Hughes and returned it 34 yards to knot the score at 7-7.
Boyd-Buchanan came right back and took a 14-7 lead two minutes later when Hughes went up the middle from the 3.
Gilley had big runs of 27 and 10 yards on the drive that covered 68 yards in six plays.
Perhaps the straw that broke the Tigers' back came late in the half as they were just trying to run out the clock so they could regroup in the dressing room.
Devon Caldwell had other ideas as he stripped the ball from quarterback Dillon McKinney and returned it 22 yards in the final minute of the half to give Boyd-Buchanan a 21-7 advantage.
The Tigers never recovered.
“We just got whipped,” explained Meigs County coach Stan Eller afterward.
“I guess we’ll see what we’re made of this week, but we were limited to what we could do on offense.
"Gary Shoot ran hard, but it seemed like everytime we did anything good, we’d shoot ourselves in the leg,” he added.
The Bucs finished the game with 407 total yards while limiting the Tigers to just 148.
Gary Shoot gained 92 yards on 17 carries to lead the Meigs County offense.
The Tigers gained 108 yards on the ground and 40 through the air.
Tyler Reed was the leading receiver as he gained 16 yards on two grabs.
The Buccaneers finished with 19 first downs while limiting Meigs to just nine.
Boyd-Buchanan takes its 2-0 record on the road for a key game at Marion County next Friday while Meigs will try to earn its first win with a tough road game at McMinn Central.
Meigs County 0 7 0 0 -- 7
Boyd-Buchanan 7 14 0 14 -- 35
BB – Nic Hughes 1 run (Taylor Gilley kick), 6:43 left in first;
MC – Dylan Neely 34 interception return (Ben Bohannan kick); 7:26 left in second;
BB – Hughes 3 run (Gilley kick), 5:21 left in second;
BB – Devon Caldwell 22 fumble return (Gilley kick), 0:29.6 left in second;
BB – Hughes 6 run (Gilley kick), 7:10 left in fourth;
BB – Chase Reed 87 run (Gilley kick), 1:56 left in fourth.
(Email John Hunt at tnmoose2002@aol.com)