The Battle Ground Academy Wildcats have had an explosive offense all season as they scored 689 points in the 14 games they played, but they saved their best for last on Thursday afternoon in the first game of the 2025 BlueCross Championship at Finley Stadium.
Thursday’s 61-27 romp over Franklin Road Academy in the Division II-Class AA game was their ninth straight win and more than made up for a 21-14 setback to these same Panthers on Sept. 26.
You might be wondering if that 61 points was a season high and it was not as they scored 69 in the second game against Columbia Academy and 62 against Greenwich Country Day School in their fourth game.
Boyd Buchanan coach Gary Rankin made a comment after BGA’s 49-3 win over his Buccaneers in the semifinal round 13 days ago, saying “I think we just saw this year’s state champion in our classification,” that turned out to be a very correct assessment.
But on a day when the stakes were highest, the Wildcats were again at their best.
BGA coach Bobby Bentley was nothing but smiles after being presented with the plaque for the championship coach.
“Nothing has changed as these guys have done all we asked and more since the very first day,” he said while parents and other BGA fans snapped photos of the memorable moment.
“We’ve had an explosive offense all season and only punted seven times all year, but I thought we came out ready to play. We didn’t play very well the first time we lost to them, but they responded in a positive way today. I think that first game just made us a little bit more hungry today, but we didn’t lose our composure and played really well for the most part,” Bentley added.
Franklin Road Academy coach Justin Geisinger knew that the challenge for his team was huge, but he was also quick to point out that the second time was much different than the first.
“I’m confident that we’ll be back, but we’ll let this one hurt a little while as we just didn’t play well enough,” he said after a talk with his kids following the awards presentation.
“BGA is an extremely talented team and we knew how hard it would be to beat them a second time, but they were just the better football team today. We just didn’t play clean enough on offense and we struggled to get stops on defense,” he said after his team’s record finished at 11-2.
Both teams traded punts in their opening possessions, but the Wildcats then scored four straight touchdowns that eventually turned into a 35-13 advantage at the half.
And much like the win at Boyd Buchanan, BGA got a pick six for a touchdown on the first play of the second half when Will Johnson intercepted a pass from Jackson Nimitz and returned it 29 yards for a TD and a 41-13 lead. The Wildcats attempted a two-point conversion, which would have marked a running clock, but quarterback Kaedyn Marable was stopped short on the conversion run.
FRA scored a touchdown on a 25-yard pass from Nimitz to Kwadir Fletcher with 10:31 left in the third quarter, but BGA responded quickly when Marable capped a nine-play, 67-yard drive with a keeper from the 19, his third rushing TD of the day.
Evan Kellum then put the mercy rule in effect when he returned a fumble 40 yards for a score with 5:17 left in the third as the BGA lead stretched to 54-20.
Both teams added touchdowns in the fourth quarter, but the BGA lead was simply too much for the Panthers to overcome.
Marable concluded his prep career on a high note as he earned MVP honors after rushing 10 times for a net 61 yards and three TDs. He also completed 24 of 31 passes for 384 yards and four TDs, including three to sophomore Max Curry, who was the leading receiver for the Wildcats with nine catches for 176 yards.
BGA finished the game with 506 total yards, including 384 on the ground while FRA finished the day with 352 that included 300 through the air. FRA’s Nimitz completed 19 of 37 passes for 291 yards and was on the receiving end of that other pass for a nine-yard gain.
Thursday’s victory was the first for BGA since 2003.
Game Summary
|
BATTLE GROUND ACAD.
|
21
|
14
|
19
|
7
|
--61
|
|
FRANKLIN ROAD ACAD.
|
7
|
6
|
7
|
7
|
-- 27
|
SCORING SUMMARY:
First Quarter
BGA 08:56 Max Curry 27 pass from Kaedyn Marable (Syrus Harr kick) 0-7
BGA 07:00 Max Curry 5 pass from Kaedyn Marable (Syrus Harr kick) 0-14
BGA 05:12 Kaelyn Marable 18 run (Syrus Harr kick) 0-21
FRA 02:00 Jackson Nimitz 10 run (Jesse Duncan kick) 7-21
Second Quarter
BGA 11:31 Kaedyn Marable 9 run (Syrus Harr kick) 7-28
FRA 06:38 Jayden Rush 12 pass from Jackson Nimitz (run failed) 13-28
BGA 06:12 Max Curry 56 pass from Kaedyn Marable (Syrus Harr kick) 13-4
Third Quarter
BGA 11:40 Will Johnson 29 pass from Kaedyn Marable (run failed) 13-41
FRA 10:31 K. Fletcher 25 pass from Jackson Nimitz (Jesse Duncan kick) 20-41
BGA 05:33 Kaedyn Marable 19 rn (Syus Harr kick) 20-48
BGA 05:17 Evan Kellum 40 fumble return (kick failed) 20-54
Fourth Quarter
FRA 06:06 M. Russell 18 pass from Jackson Nimitz (Jesse Duncan kick) 27-54
BGA 03:08 Maddox Porter 9 pass from aedyn Marable (Syrus Harr kick) 27-61
|
TEAM STATS
|
BGA
|
FRA
|
|
First Downs
|
21
|
17
|
|
Rushes-Yards
|
28-122
|
17-52
|
|
Passing Yards
|
384
|
300
|
|
Total yards
|
506
|
352
|
|
Passing (Comp-Att-Int)
|
24-31-0
|
20-38-1
|
|
Penalties-Yards
|
7-34
|
6-45
|
|
Punts-Average
|
3-50.3
|
5-31.0
|
|
Fumbles-Lost
|
2-1
|
2-1
|
|
3rd Down Conversions
|
4-8
|
4-11
|
|
4th Down Conversion
|
0-1
|
0-4
|
|
Time of Possession
|
22:58
|
24:52
|
Individual Stats
Rushing: Kaeyn Marable 10-61; F. Fields 7-54; Ethan Kellum 3-3 (BGA); Jackson Nimitz 9-34; M. Hassell 3-19; K. Fletcher 3-9; TEAM 1-(-4); Moarii Sanders 1-(-6) (FRA).
Passing: Kaedyn Marable 24 of 31 for 384 yards, 4 TDs (BGA); Jackson Nimitz 19 of 37 for 291 yards, 3 Tds, 1 INT; M. Hassell 1 of 1 for 9 yards (FRA).
Receiving Max Curry 9-176; Maddox Porter 9-152; F. Fields 4-37; Cates Kennedy 2-19 (BGA); Jayden Rush 5-94; M. Russell 5-79; Omarii Sanders 5-74; W. crabtree 1-20; K. Fletcher 1-25; Jackson Nimitz 1-9; Adam Crocker 1-(-1) (FRA).
Most Valuable Player: Kaedyn Marable (BGA)
Notable: TSSA Records set: Most Combined Passing Yards, Most Passing Attempts Combined, Most Passing Completions Combined
Records: BGA13-1; FRA 11-2.
(Contact John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)