Oh, what a difference a half makes.
Coach Gary Rankin was quick to say that his Boyd Buchanan Buccaneers didn’t play their best football in the first half when the Grace Christian Academy Rams bolted to a 14-9 lead, but the final two quarters were something to behold as the Bucs came out firing on all cylinders and completed a second-straight undefeated regular season with a stirring come-from-behind 51-21 victory before a near-capacity Homecoming crowd at David L. Boyd Field.
The victory wraps up a perfect regular season for the Bucs and gives them their second straight D-II-A East Region title.
Rankin wouldn’t reveal his exact words during the halftime break, but whatever it was got a complete response as the Bucs scored four touchdowns in the third quarter before finishing things off with two more in the final stanza.
“We got after them a little bit at the half and I can’t tell you what was said, but the message was that we weren’t going to win this football games on the strength of field goals alone,” the national Hall of Fame coach began following the game.
“We had a great second half as they all responded, but they knew what was at stake. There were a lot of distractions in the first half with all the homecoming stuff and we just didn’t play up to our standard, but David Green was simply outstanding in the second half and I’m really proud of his performance,” Rankin added.
Grace coach Justin Price liked what he saw from his team in the first half, but the second was another thought completely.
“We sort of let things slip away in the second half and that long kickoff return to start the third quarter really hurt,” he began after a brief talk with his kids afterward.
“I thought we had a great first half, but you have to play two great halves to beat a team like Boyd Buchanan. We just have learn from this and we’ll have to be at our best next week, but I’m sure that we will continue to get better,” he said after his team’s record had dropped to 8-2 overall and 5-2 in region play following their second loss in a row after eight straight wins to start the season.
The Rams took the opening kickoff and moved past midfield before Boyd’s Xavier Embry recovered a fumble following a short pass completion.
Quarterback Houston Hicks completed a beautiful 41-yard pass to Jayden Moore on the first play to move the ball to the 10, but the Bucs couldn’t punch it into the end zone and had to settle for a 23-yard field goal from Ethan Lane.
The Rams bounced right back and scored on a 13-yard run by Terrion Thomas to wrap up a 10-play, 80-yard drive that consumed almost five minutes, the run putting Grace up 7-3 when the first quarter ended.
Another field goal by Lane from 37 yards trimmed the difference to 7-6 early in the second quarter before Thomas scored again, this time from the 23 for a 14-6 lead with 5:30 left in the half.
Grace recorded an onside kick and were in business at the Boyd 29, but were unable to score and turned the ball over on downs when Weston Edmondson threw three straight incomplete passes. The Bucs got the ball back with 2:38 left in the half and made it 14-9 when Lane booted a 42-yard field goal with less than a second showing on the clock for a five-point deficit at the break.
Grace had played really well up to that point while the Bucs were yet to get untracked, but that all changed in the third quarter.
Green got things started with a 64-yard kickoff return to the 10 before the ball was moved half the distance to the goal following a facemask penalty against the Rams. Sabastian Jones then scored on the next play to give the Bucs their second lead of the game at 16-14 with just 19 seconds elapsed in the second half.
Embry then had an interception to put the Bucs back in business at the 20. Green had a 27-yard dash on the first play before adding a 35-yarder three plays later for a 23-14 lead and the rout was on for the Bucs.
Darin Shannon made it 30-14 with a 16-yard run at the 2:37 mark of the third stanza before K’Leb Crowder returned a Grace interception 60 yards for another TD in the final minute of the third quarter.
The Rams finally scored again with 9:44 to play when Edmondson hooked up with Thomas for a 14-yard TD strike, but that momentum didn’t last long as the Bucs recovered an onside kick before Green raced 28 yards to make it 44-21. Then with the Buccaneer subs finishing out the game, sophomore Keion Brooks earned his money with a 33-yard scamper with 2:09 to play to wrap up the scoring.
Lane had a great night kicking the ball. In addition to three field goals and six straight extra points, all but one of his kickoffs went into the end zone for touchbacks.
The Bucs finished the game with 435 total yards to 403 for Grace. Lane finished with 163 yards on just 10 carries and two TDs as the Bucs had 287 yards rushing in the second half alone and finished with 372 for the game. Moore was the leading receiver with his one catch for 41 yards. The Bucs didn’t attempt a pass in the second half.
Thomas was the leader for the Rams as he finished with 157 yards on 28 carries, but just 43 yards in the second half. Pierce Stiltner was the leading receiver for Grace with eight grabs for 83 yards while Thomas had six for 77.
SCORING SUMMARY
|
GRACE CHRISTIAN
|
7
|
7
|
0
|
7
|
--21
|
|
BOYD BUCHANAN
|
3
|
6
|
28
|
14
|
-- 51
|
BOYD – Ethan Lane 23 field goal, 4:53 left in first;
GRACE – Terrion Thomas 13 run (Luis Damus kick), 0:05.2 left in first;
BOYD – Lane 37 field goal, 8:55 left in second;
GRACE – Thomas 23 run (Damus kick), 5:30 left in second;
BOYD – Lane 42 field goal, 0:0.8 left in second;
BOYD – Sabastian Jones 5 run (Lane kick), 11:41 left in third;
BOYD – David Green 35 run (Lane kick), 8:15 left in third;
BOYD – Darin Shannon 16 run (Lane kick), 2:37 left in third;
BOYD – K’Leb Crowder 60 interception return (Lane kick), :53.5 left in third;
GRACE – Thomas 14 pass from Weston Edmondson (Damus kick), 9:44 left in fourth;
BOYD – Green 28 run (Lane kick), 8:50 left in fourth;
BOYD—Keion Brooks 33 run (Lane kick), 2:09 left in fourth.
|
TEAM STATS
|
Grace
|
Boyd
|
|
First Downs
|
25
|
21
|
|
Rushes-Yards
|
33-193
|
33-372
|
|
Passing Yards
|
210
|
63
|
|
Total yards
|
403
|
435
|
|
Passing (Comp-Att-Int)
|
20-34-2
|
7-11-0
|
|
Fumbles-Lost
|
1-1
|
0-0
|
|
Penalties-Yards
|
5-55
|
3-40
|
|
Punts-Avg,.
|
2-51.0
|
0-0.0
|
INDIVIDUAL STATS:
GRACE RUSHING: Terrion Thomas 28 for 157 yards and two TDs; Javen Stinson 3 for 25; Weston Edmondson 2 for 11;
GRACE RECEIVING: Pierce Stiltner 8 for 83 yards; Terrion Thomas 6 for 77 with one TD;
GRACE PASSING: Weston Edmondson 20 of 34 for 210 yards, one TD and two interceptions.
BOYD RUSHING: David Green 10 for 163 yards and two TDs; Keion Brooks 6 for 55 and one TD; Sabastian Jones 7 for 40 and one TD; Houston Hicks 2 for 42;
BOYD RECEIVING: Jayden Moore 1 for 41 yards; Hudson Wamack 2 for 12;
BOYD PASSING: Houston Hicks 7 of 11 for 63 yards.