“Our kids were dialed in to do whatever it took to win and (being 3-6 before tonight) they took out a lot frustration tonight.”
-- Boyd-Buchanan head coach Grant Reynolds
Boyd-Buchanan's Jim Cardwell and Austin Jackson will tell and re-tell their kids and grandkids about the pass and catch that shocked the 1A football world.
It's Montana to Clark ... Unitas to Berry ... Bradshaw to Swann ... Peyton Manning to Welker
With a district championship on the line and a roaring, standing room-only Homecoming crowd looking on, senior quarterback Cardwell called the bubble play, found sophomore running back Austin Jackson open in the left flat with the pass and then Jackson dove to the end zone for the winning 2-point conversion as the Bucs (4-6) rallied to defeat visiting Silverdale Baptist, 22-21, in overtime Friday night to win their fifth straight district title.
The Cardwell-to-Jackson play was set up when Cardwell found Jack Keebler with a 4th and 9 touchdown pass in the back of the Silverdale end zone to pull the Bucs within one, 21-20.
"Our young defense played great tonight, learned a lot of life lessons in four quarters and senior Jim Cardwell was the difference," said a happy Boyd-Buchanan coach Grant Reynolds.
Silverdale, who entered the game 9-0, had the ball first in overtime and took a 21-14 lead in overtime on a 5-yard run by Matt McCulley.
Cardwell had a hand in all three Boyd-Buc touchdowns as he ran for a 1-yard score in the second quarter for a 7-0 lead and ran for another 1-yard touchdown at 3:47 of the fourth quarter to tie the game at 14-14 before his game-winning heroics in the first overtime period.
Silverdale tied the game in the second quarter 7-7 on a Tristan Huggins to Colton Rogers 15 yard pass off a bustd field goal attempt and went ahead 14-7 in the fourth quarter on a 36 yard run by Josh Rogers.
One key to the Bucs win was the ability to slow down the Silverdale vaunted running game.
“Boyd-Buchanan played great on defense, our offensive line could not hold blocks, Boyd defenders were able to play off our blocks and make the big plays,” said Silverdale coach Al Rogers
“This is a tough loss, but we played hard.”
Big Plays: The game was determined on a few big plays
2nd Q: Silverdale goes for a 33-yard field goal down 7-0, but a bad snap forces holder Tristan Huggins to scramble around and then throw a Hail Mary to the end zone where Colton Rogers makes the catch. Connor Eischeid’s first of three made extra points made it 7-7
4th Q … Silverdale’s Matt McCulley recovered a Jim Cardwell fumble near midfield to set up the go ahead scoring drive.
4th Q … On 3rd and 8 at the Boyd-Buc 36, senior Josh Rogers ran for the lead score with 7 minutes remaining …
The Cookie Doesn’t Crumble: Boyd’s Jack Keebler made an important catch for 23 yards and a first down on the game-tying scoring drive in the fourth quarter
OT – Silverdale’s Matt McCulley ran 5 yards for the go ahead score in overtime
On 55 Bubble Lion and the game on the line in overtime down 21-14, Keebler made a 4th and 9 catch in the back of the end zone to put Boyd down one …
The Catch: Austin Jackson caught the swing pass from Cardwell and found the end zone for the game-winning 2-point conversion.
History Repeats Itself: " In 2010, we were 5-4 and beat an 8-0 Copper Basin team, 22-7, (which had five shutouts and gave up only 3 points a game) to win the district title at Finley Stadium," said BBS coach Grant Reynolds .... "Tonight, we were 3-6 and beat a 9-0 Silverdale team which had allowed an average of seven points a game."
100 Games: Tonight was Grant Reynolds’ 100th game as head coach … 67-33
Win Streak Continues: Boyd Buchanan has never lost a middle school or varsity football game to Silverdale
Honoring the Past and Present: In September, Boyd-Buchanan paid tribute to players and coaches from the 2003 state championship team ... tonight, the same Bucs fans saluted the current players and their own title.
Interceptions: BBS - Chris Lyon ... SBA - Hunter Arnold
Fumble Recovery: SBA - Matt McCulley
Boyd-Buchanan 22, Silverdale 21 OT
Silverdale 0 - 7 - 0 - 7 - 7 -- 21
Boyd-Buc 0 - 7 - 0 - 7 - 8 -- 22
Silverdale (9-1, 2-1), Boyd Buchanan (4-6, 3-0)
Scoring Summary
BBS – Jim Cardwell 5 run (Cameron Pope kick), 7-0, 47 yards, 5 plays, 1:08 … 2nd Q
SBA – Colton Rogers 15 pass from Tristan Huggins (Conner Eischeid kick), 7-7, 75 yards, 12 plays, 7:20 … 2 nd Q
SBA – Josh Rogers 36 run (Eischeid kick), 14-7, 42 yards, 6 plays, 2:35 … 4 th Q
BBS – Cardwell 1 run (Pope kick), 14-14, 48 yards, 8 plays, 3:28 …4 th Q
SBA – Matt McCulley 5 run (Eischeid kick), 21-14, 10 yards, 3 plays … 1st OT
BBS – Jack Keebler 9 pass from Cardwell (Austin Jackson 3 pass from Cardwell), 22-21, 4 plays, 10 yards … 1st OT
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net