FAIRHAVEN – Head coach Derek Almeida was looking for some competition in non-league play for his defending Div. 6 Super Bowl championship squad.

BC High answered the call.

The Eagles brought the same type of physicality and toughness that the Blue Devils are usually dishing out and ran away with a 32-14 road victory to improve to 2-0 on the season.

BC High senior Brenden Ryan one-upped Fairhaven star running back Justin Marques on the ground with two rushing touchdowns including the game-capping 24-yard scamper to the end zone with 2:13 left in regulation.

“Our offensive line opens everything up and you saw on that last touchdown it was wide open and I barely got touched. Once I get to the second level, it’s up to me to make the plays but it was all because of them, said Ryan, who only needed 10 carries to reach the century mark. “We are a run-first team, and we are looking to punch people in the mouth, it’s a very effective way to play football, and it showed.”

BC High opened the game with an 11-play drive but were forced to punt after a series of untimely penalties. Fairhaven (1-1) took advantage and the momentum with Marques going 38 yards through the heart of the Eagles’ defense for the 7-0 lead.

But the Eagles answered right back as junior Jake Isa returned the kickoff 36 yards to the 43-yard line to set up the Eagles for their first of Ryan’s two rushing scores from 20 yards out.

The extra point was blocked by Ian Alexion, so the Eagles still trailed 7-6.

The difference in the first half was the next two series for Fairhaven as the Blue Eagles drove the length of the field into Eagles territory for a fourth-and-four at the 11-yard line. Senior Conrad Babka shed a tackle off the edge and stopped Aaron Lague from scoring an easy touchdown on a sweep to the right for the turnover on downs.

The Eagles chewed up 8:11 of the second quarter with a 14-play drive which ended on a fourth-and-one quarterback dive for Carter Carroll to take the 12-7 lead with 1:40 left in the first half.

But on the next series, the Blue Devils went into the hurry-up as Evan LaMontagne found Marques in the flat and Fairhaven got down to the two-yard line, but time expired in the half after a lengthy discussion with the officials if time was remaining.

“They are tough to block and tough to tackle and they make it difficult to get off blocks and there is no way to simulate that except for playing in a game like this. I feel like a couple of plays either way – if we make one – it’s a little different,” said Almeida, who was proud of his squad’s efforts. “Their quarterback sneak – they get it, but that could have been a stop, but he got in. We get the ball back late, get down to the two and don’t get in. So, we go into the half a little bit deflated.”

It showed as the Blue Devils were a quick three-and-out on the first series of the second half and Almeida took full blame for that exchange.

“We put a bad drive together and that was the key to the game – our first drive,” said Almeida. “It was a bad series of downs and I have to do a better job of calling plays out of the gates like that. They wore us down and milked the clock.”

BC High would score on all three possessions of the second half as Jackson Richard (16 carries, 87 yards), who is headed to UMass-Amherst on a baseball scholarship, scored on the ground from seven-yards out.

Carroll, who was efficient under center on 10-of-15 passing with 163 yards and the two scores, found Gavin Barth wide open in the secondary after a fake double-reverse opened up the play-action pass for a 53-yard touchdown pass and BC High was in control 26-14 with 6:26 left to play.

Fairhaven’s Marques finished with a game-high 144 yards on 23 carries and both rushing touchdowns for the Blue Devils, but the Eagles were just too much down the stretch.

“Brenden is a super tough player and he’s a really fun guy to coach because he has so much energy, he’s tough, he makes plays, he is our punter and also plays defense. Those are my type of guys,” said BC High head coach Paul Zukauskas. “BC High football is where we want to be really physical and control the ball and that’s what we want to do as a football program. We made strides and getting everything in against a great team with a great system gave me a lot of anxiety, but we did just enough to keep them off the field.”