Bo MacCormack (430 yards rushing, 8 TD’s) puts on show for BB&N
MARION — Saturday’s NEPSAC postseason bowl between BB&N and Tabor was named after former Knights coach John Papas.
Maybe next year they will name it after Bo MacCormack.
The junior running back was sensational in a 63-43 BB&N win over an explosive Tabor team.
MacCormack, of Westford, rushed for 430 yards and eight touchdowns on 45 carries. He threw a 46-yard halfback option for a touchdown to Vince Snoonian in the first half. He also made an interception on defense, also in the first half, to set up one of his touchdowns.
“There’s really nothing that you can’t say about Bo,” BB&N coach Mike Willey said. “He’s an unbelievable player, an unbelievable competitor, one of the toughest guys I’ve ever met. A great leader. He’s everything you want a football player to be. He had a great day on the biggest stage, and we needed it, and he did a great job offensively, defensively, and on special teams.”
“I think this game, just like any other game, but especially this game, the o-line came out fantastic,” MacCormack said. “Coach Willey called some great plays. It was just open holes.”
Those offensive linemen were Jimmy Marini, Nic Matosic. Nate Bodden, Tim Church and Liam Cunningham. Tight end Brett Elliott and fullback Sam Kelley also blocked well.
BB&N (7-2) held a 36-29 lead at the half, but Tabor tied it when quarterback Tim Bengston (272 yards passing, 132 yards rushing) hit Hugo Djeumeni (148 yards rushing) for an 11-yard touchdown pass.
The Knights answered with an eight-play drive — all MacCormack runs — for 53 yards, the last three coming on a 3-yard touchdown rush, as BB&N took a 43-36 lead.
Bengston struck on the second play of the fourth quarter with a 16-yard touchdown run, as the Seawolves tied it at 43.
But it was all BB&N from there. MacCormack had a sensational, 40-yard touchdown run where he broke several tackles and navigated through the secondary for the score. Kevin Winschel then recovered a Tabor fumble, and MacCormack scored a 10-yard touchdown with 7:51 to play.
After another Tabor fumble, MacCormack dusted off a 52-yard touchdown run to push BB&N’s lead to 63-43.
“I think a lot of it is just being with those guys, knowing that I have these guys that I love playing around me,” MacCormack said. “I know we’re going 100 percent flying around the whole game. When you’ve got a group like that that no one is willing to let down or take the foot off the gas all for each other, it’s something special. I think that’s what we have on offense, defense and special teams this year:”
“You should see what he looks like on Mondays when he comes in to the training room and we have to tape him back together, because that’s what happens,” Willey said. “When you carry the ball 40 times a game, that’s a hard deal on your body. He just answers the bell every single week. We said, there’s no tomorrow, so we let him run forever today. So it was really good.”
MacCormack opened the game with a 23-yard touchdown. He added a 13-yarder later in the first quarter as BB&N built a 14-0 lead.
But Tabor rallied with a 60-yard Philly Special reverse pass to Bengston from Liam Hubacz. The Seawolves took a 15-14 lead when Bengston hit Dameer Phifer for a 39-yard touchdown.
MacCormack exploded for a 55-yard touchdown, but Bengston hit Kaiden Drinkwater for a 76-yard touchdown to tie it back up. MacCormack added a 2-yard touchdown, but Djeumeni burst up the middle for a 12-yard touchdown to tie it again, at 29-all.
MacCormack’s halfback option to Snoonian gave BB&N the 36-29 lead at the break.