GROTON – The Buckingham Browne & Nichols football team opened its season with as explosive of a start as any, dominating on all fronts in a 41-6 rout of ISL-7 foe Lawrence Academy on Saturday.

Senior star running back Bo MacCormack rushed for 108 yards and three touchdowns, largely aided by five drives the offense started in Spartans (0-1) territory because of the physicality and execution from the defense and special teams – which frequently pinned Lawrence Academy into third-and-long situations and returned short punts.

The Knights’ (1-0) pass rush rarely seemed to let quarterback Jayden Campbell get comfortable for more than a couple plays in a row. And whenever it did, BB&N still forced two interceptions and two turnovers on downs on its side of the field en route to a major win.

“This is huge, this is always a big game for us,” said Knights senior linebacker Carter Shaw. “Coming out flying like that, it’s a huge starter for the season, and it’s just the start. … This team’s constantly been fighting, and fighting, and fighting.”

“Lawrence Academy, they’re a big, good football team,” added BB&N head coach Mike Willey. “The guys were ready to go, which is good. We try to get our guys ready in the preseason, and we talk about the first game a lot. I thought the guys kind of did what they needed to do.”

MacCormack ran well behind a strong offensive line in the first half, gaining 97 yards and a touchdown. MacCormack’s performance aided quarterback Damon Taylor (103 passing yards, two total touchdowns) in his, setting up a 1-yard keeper and a wide-open 26-yard touchdown pass to Sam Kelley on play-action.

Factor in a 79-yard rushing touchdown from Owen DeSalvo on the last score of the fourth quarter, and it was a quality day for the Knights offense.

Credit doesn’t only belong to it, though, with many of the fireworks in the game coming elsewhere.

In the 20-0 lead BB&N built in the first half, the three touchdowns came on drives started at the Spartans 37, 27 and 48 yard-lines. Each of those drives came after Lawrence Academy was pinned back by a large tackle for loss or sack, as Shaw, Andrew Knapp and Vince Snoonian led a front seven that frequently forced Campbell (174 passing yards, TD, 110 rushing yards, two interceptions) out of the pocket.

Campbell and Jordan Johnson (92 rushing yards) helped Lawrence Academy get on the board to start the third quarter, but Ethan Ortega immediately responded with a 78-yard kick return to get to the Lawrence Academy 6. And after MacCormack ran in the 6-yard TD, the ensuing Spartans drive ended when Ellis Barnes returned an interception 82 yards to the Lawrence Academy 2.

MacCormack followed again with a touchdown run, increasing the lead to 34-6 on just eight yards of offense to that point in the second half.

“We preach (defense and special teams) a lot,” Willey said. “We talk about special teams being really important and our guys live it. … And the defense was pinning them back, so that helped too. I think the combination of those two really made it easier sledding for the offense.”

Lawrence Academy had plenty of explosive plays of its own, with Campbell scrambling or passing for double-digit yardage 12 times. Three of those plays went for over 20 yards.

But every step forward the Spartans took was met with a strong response from BB&N to keep points off the board.

“Everyone’s just ready to go, it’s always the next-play mentality,” Shaw said. “Being able to stop people on our own end and keeping them to (six) points the whole game is huge.”

Shaw, Ortega and Ellis earned the game balls after the win.