Paul Vozzella
NEFJ Staff

CHESTNUT HILL – It was a fight, tooth and nail, at Alumni Stadium for the John Papas Bowl Saturday afternoon.

Both the Saint Paul’s School Big Red and the Buckingham Browne & Nichols School Knights took a run-heavy approach on offense, ultimately with St. Paul’s prevailing for a wild 23-20 win.

The game took a major turn late in the fourth quarter. After not having the lead for the whole game, BB&N running back Bo Maccormack – who will be playing his home games at Alumni next season – gave BB&N a 20-16 lead with 4:44 left in the game.

Despite not used to playing from behind, St. Paul’s was prepared for a quick drive on offense.

“We do some on the ball stuff [in practice and] we also huddle a lot,” said St. Paul’s head coach Craig Vandersea. “But we’re constantly doing no huddle during the week – going on air and calling out plays. We just tried to take what the defense gave us.”

The Big Red executed the hurry up offense to a tee. Quarterback Webber Marx completed five total passes to wide receivers Teigan Pelletier and Lee Brady and another to running back Michael Seward – who also mixed in four rushes for 17 yards on the drive – and he eventually punched in a score to retake the lead with 1:01 remaining.

Seward took a more simplistic approach when describing how his team was able to get the job done.

“I feel like we stuck to the basics,” he said. “We didn’t rush anything and we took every play as its own separate entity.”

Leading up to the clutch drive, St. Paul’s was in control for most of the game.

The Big Red put points up first due to a drive in which Sewald rushed five times for 57 yards and ended with a 16-yard touchdown.

BB&N was quick to answer as Mccormack rushed for 70 yards over four plays to tie the game. Within the first minute of the second quarter, Seward had his second touchdown on the day but the extra point was blocked by BB&N’s Carter Shaw.

Big Red free safety Landon Clark picked off a pass across the middle of the field halting BB&N’s next drive. On the move again, St. Paul’s pieced together a 13-play drive that ended with Seward drilling a field goal to bring the lead to 16-7.

Linebacker Harlem Taylor brought the game to halftime with a sack for the Big Red.

After a scoreless third quarter, Maccormack carried BB&N’s offense, getting a carry on 10 out of 12 plays that led to a Taylor QB sneak for a touchdown.

Following Mccormack’s second touchdown and St. Paul’s go-ahead drive, Big Red’s Brady picked off a deep throw from Taylor on the Knights’ final chance to come away with a win.

Ultimately, Seward finished with 30 carries for 183 yards and three touchdowns and was responsible for every point for St. Paul’s.

“He gets to the second level and he’s very deceiving,” said Vandersea. “He kind of feels it out, but then when he goes, he’s 215 pounds and an All-New England wrestler so, for a defensive back, it’s a tough guy to get down.”

“That was the best our [offensive line] blocked all year,” Seward praised. “I could tell that they wanted it and they came here and showed up.”

St. Paul’s now has a title two out of the last three years.

“It feels great,” said Seward. “I knew coming into this year with our strong senior class that it was more than likely that we would end up where we are right now.”