MILTON – Buckingham Browne & Nichols got plenty of everything from Bo MacCormack in an early season Independent School League battle.

The Syracuse-bound running back tallied 253 yards on the ground with four touchdowns as the Knights defeated Milton Academy (1-1) in a 35-14 ISL-7 matchup.

MacCormack was electric with touchdown runs of 1, 26, 51, and 23 including the first drive of the game which went eight plays and gave the Knights the lead for good only 4:40 into the contest.

“When you have linemen like we have, obviously those holes are going to spring and they did spring and that is what counted. Those guys just being competitors, and coming out in the second half, winning, and doing what they do,” said MacCormack, who finished with 30 carries. “The offensive line and the play calling were really good in the second half.”

After MacCormack quickly put the Knights on the board, A.J. Azuakolam hauled in the first of his three interceptions on the first Mustangs series and returned the ball to the Milton Academy 26-yard line. MacCormack did the rest on the first play from scrimmage for his second touchdown to give the Knights a 14-0 lead with 6:26 left in the first quarter.

The rout seemed inevitable, but the Mustangs defense forced punts on the next two possessions for the Knights and on the next series for the Knights, kicker Chase Judge pulled a 30-yard field goal try wide right and Milton Academy was hanging in there for the first half.

“I couldn’t come up with anything on defense, we just couldn’t stop him. MacCormack is just a tough runner, and we were wrapping up,” said Milton Academy head coach Michael Mason. “He’s been doing it against us for four years, so I’m used to seeing it.”

The Mustangs cut the deficit in half in the third quarter as quarterback Qur’an McNeill called his own number on the first play from scrimmage on a 59-yard run into the red zone. McNeill finished off the drive finding Kash Kelley for a 10-yard touchdown reception with 7:38 left in the third and trailed 14-7 after the successful extra point.

But Buckingham Browne & Nichols wore down the Mustangs defense in the second half with three straight scores as MacCormack posted his final two along with a crossing pattern catch from Andrew Knapp on a perfectly executed play-action pass from Damon Taylor to put things away from 33 yards out.

“We shot ourselves in the foot a little bit, but Milton Academy is a very good football team, and they will win a lot of games. Teams like (Milton) you can’t make a lot of mistakes, the offensive line stepped up particularly in the second half, but Damon Taylor was very efficient,” said Knights’ head coach Mike Willey. “Overall, a good team win, and our defense played their tails off.”