Boyd-Buchanan (3-0) went blow for blow with Knoxville Webb (1-2) on Friday night and gutted out a 28-21 victory to open up region play.
Knoxville Webb’s opening drive looked promising until senior Preston Edmondson forced a fumble that was recovered by sophomore Aaron Sumrall. The Buccaneers capitalized on their turnover, marched down the field and scored on a 1-yard run by freshman back Matthew Stone. On the ensuing kickoff Boyd-Buchanan kicked a squib kick that was returned by senior Grissim Anderson for 65-yard touchdown.
The Buccaneers responded later in the first quarter when junior quarterback Eli Morris threw a 63-yard dime to fellow junior receiver JaMichael McGoy who scurried away from the Spartan coverage. McGoy finished with three catches for 79 yards and a touchdown.
Anderson found the back of the end zone again on an 8-yard rush to tie the game back up at 14-14. The Spartans pulled a trick play out of the playbook, which again involved Anderson. This time Anderson threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to take the lead for the first time. Anderson had 20 rushes for 57 yards, one pass for 50 yards and three total touchdowns.
Morris finished off a solid drive and scored on a quarterback-keeper for 12 yards to tie the game up for a third time before the half.
The Buccaneers would score the eventual game winner midway through the 3rd quarter when Edmondson caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Morris. Edmondson finished with three catches for 96 yards and a score. Morris was 14/27 and threw for 273 yards with a touchdown and an interception.
“He (Morris) is a leader. He’s selfless, he’ll do anything we ask him to do; he’ll punt, I mean he was willing to go in at defense at the end,” said Boyd-Buchanan Head Coach Jeremy Bosken.
The fourth quarter was cagey as both teams had one eye on the clock. Boyd-Buchanan’s defense ended up making a big stop with two minutes left to ice the game. The score could have been drastically different as both teams had touchdowns and big plays called back for penalties. In the end, Boyd-Buchanan improved to 3-0 and Knoxville Webb dropped to 1-2.
“You cannot say enough about these kids and the effort they put it, how coachable they are on the sidelines, I mean I love every single one of those kids,” Coach Bosken said. “The effort was awesome but the execution we clean up and do better.”
Honorable mention: The Boyd-Buchanan defense, they forced two turnovers, had two sacks and only allowed 160 total yards (only 71 passing yards)
Boyd-Buchanan has a bye next week before traveling to Chattanooga Christian on Sept. 20.
Knoxville Webb will host David Crockett next Friday at 7 p.m.