Boyd Buchanan Rolls Past Notre Dame, 48-13

Bucs Score Five Unanswered TDs After Score Was Tied 13-13 After First Quarter

Friday, October 15, 2021
John Hunt

Boyd Buchanan's Brohns Donaldson out runs everyone on this 85-yards kickoff return to open the second half.
photo by Greg Davick

It’s been a tough season so far for the Boyd Buchanan Buccaneer football team, but they took a step in the right direction Friday night with a convincing 48-13 victory over the visiting Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

It was a crazy start where both teams scored a pair of touchdowns in the opening quarter and the score was tied at 13-13 following the first 12 minutes, but the Bucs added five more unanswered TDs to win going away.

“We sort of got off to a slow start, but a lot of guys contributed, we got to use a bunch of players and we played together for a change. It may have been one of our best games of the season to this point,” said Boyd Buchanan coach Jeremy Bosken following the region contest where the Bucs improved to 1-3 in league play and 3-4 overall.

“Our effort was off the chart, but this win keeps us in the playoff hunt and it was all we were looking for. Notre Dame has some outstanding athletes, so this is a really good win for us. Now we can celebrate a little as we get ready for Knox Webb in homecoming next week,” he added.

Notre Dame coach Charles Fant was still upbeat, despite a running clock in the fourth quarter when the Buccaneer lead stretched to 35 points.

“We have a lot of young kids and we’re building, but I thought we played a great first half. We went into the intermission with a chance, but little things are so important. Critical mistakes killed us, but we never quit and that’s what I like about this team,” Fant began following the game.

“It’s not about getting knocked down, but all about what we do when we get back up. But we can’t make the kind of mistakes we made in this league and expect to win,” he added.

Notre Dame got the opening kickoff, but the Bucs got the ball back in a hurry when Reid Pettway recovered a fumble on the first play.

The Irish then got an interception from Rickey Maples on Boyd’s third play and he raced 80 yards untouched to give Notre Dame a 7-0 lead following Sam Patton’s kick with only 34 seconds off the first-quarter clock.

Jaylen Sanderfer put the Bucs on the board with an eight-yard TD run, but the kick was blocked and Notre Dame still led 7-6 with 8:44 left in the opening stanza.

David Dixon put the hosts ahead with a 10-yard run five minutes later, but Notre Dame knotted the score at 13 when Alex Osborne tossed a 21-yard pass to Dylan Jordan with 1:19 showing on the scoreboard.

Sanderfer scored his second touchdown on a four-yard run with 3:59 left in the first half and Alex Lane’s second of six PATs gave the home team a 20-13 lead and that was the score at intermission.

The Bucs then pulled away with four second-half touchdowns, including an 85-yard kickoff return to start the second half by Brohns Donaldson.

Colbe Haddox made it 34-13 with a TD from the 3 while a 69-yard scamper by Donaldson made with 41-13 in the final minute of the third quarter.

Malachi Powell’s keeper from the 1 wrapped up the scoring for the Bucs with 8:58 left in the game.

Boyd Buchanan finished the game with 439 total yards, including 280 on the ground and another 159 through the air.

Notre Dame countered with 165 total yards, including 115 on the ground and 50 through the air.

Sanderfer was Boyd’s leading rusher with 121 yards on 15 attempts while Donaldson had 78 yards on two trips.

Carter Wamack was the leading receiver for the Bucs with six grabs for 55 yards. Donaldson had two catches for 43 yards while Jayden Madison and Brady Bosken both had one catch for 21 and 17 yards, respectively.

Osborne was the leading ground gainer for Notre Dame with 64 yards on 20 carries. Jordan and Maples were the leading receivers for the Fighting Irish with one catch each for 21 and 20 yards, respectively.

Both of these teams will be at home next Friday with Notre Dame hosting CAK and Boyd Buchanan facing Knoxville Webb.

NOTRE DAME 13 0 0 0 -- 13

BOYD BUCHANAN 13 7 21 7 -- 48

ND – Rickey Maples 80 interception return (Sam Patton kick), 11:26 left in first;

BB – Jaylon Sanderfer 8 run (kick blocked), 8:44 left in first;

BB – David Dixon 10 run (Ethan Lane kick), 3:36 left in first;

ND – Dylan Jordan 21 pass from Alex Osborne (kick failed), 1:19 left in first;

BB – Sanderfer 4 run (Lane kick), 3:59 left in second;

BB – Brohns Donaldson 85 kickoff return (Lane kick), 11:52 left in third;

BB – Colbe Haddox 3 run (Lane kick), 5:35 left in third;

BB – Donaldson 69 run (Lane kick), :25.2 left in third;

BB – Malachi Powell 1 run (Lane kick), 8:58 left in fourth.