By Jake Hamilton
NEFJ Correspondent
WATERTOWN – What was shaping up to be a routine game in the NEPSAC was anything but on Saturday.
In a wild, high-scoring affair, Williston took down BB&N 64-49.
The game began with some trickery, as Williston’s first play from scrimmage was a hook-and-lateral down the sideline for a massive chunk play. Only two plays later, a 13-yard Davian McDonald touchdown pass would put the Wildcats up 7-0 and open the floodgates offensively.
In the blink of an eye, the game was tied after a 51-yard scamper into the end zone by BB&N running back Bo MacCormack. It was the first of many blow-for-blow drives between the two teams. While defensive stops were in short supply all night, fans were treated to a boatload of highlight-reel caliber offensive plays.
The winning Wildcats offense was propelled by Bucknell University commit Tariq Thomas, the bruising tailback who led in scoring and rush yards for Williston. From goal-line punch-ins to touchdown receptions in the flat, Thomas proved to be the X-Factor for the Wildcats’ offense all night long. Following the game, Thomas praised his offensive line and their work opening holes for him on the ground.
“It’s really the O-Line. It’s really what it was. I was just doing my job reading the holes,” Thomas started. “It was a big win. BB&N is a good team and got a good defense. It was a big win.”
At the half, BB&N led Williston 35-31, a score many would have predicted to be the final score. But, the scoring didn’t stop.
Knights quarterback Henry Machnik took it into the endzone himself to start the third quarter, lifting BB&N to an eleven-point lead over the Wildcats. Behind a four touchdowns from MacCormack and the offense showing no signs of slowing down, the lead looked almost insurmountable for Williston. But that couldn’t have been further from the truth.
Williston quarterback Davian McDonald found seemingly every receiver on the field in the second half as the Wildcats continued to scratch and claw their way back into the game. In addition to crafty play-calling on offense, the Wildcats’ defense came away with three big turnovers to shift the momentum and give Williston a chance to take back the lead. Wildcats’ head coach Tom Beaton commended his team’s effort after the game to fight through adversity.
“The guys did a heck of a job. Lucky to come away with this one, but as I said to the guys, ‘I don’t care if we win 2-0 or 64-49,’ I’ll take it any way we can,” Beaton said. “We have a great O-Line, a great quarterback, great offensive skill guys. We take what the defense gives us… Kudos to our guys. It didn’t matter if we tried to run the ball or throw the ball. Team-first mentality. Can’t be more proud of this group.”
Despite Beaton’s confidence in his team, the result came as a shock to many. BB&N, one of the top college athlete-producing football programs in New England, came up short against a gutsy opponent.
Late in the fourth quarter, when trying to recapture the lead, a costly false start, followed by a Machnik interception returned the ball to the Wildcats, who scored on a Tariq Thomas touchdown catch and run. After the game, Knights Head Coach Mike Willey praised his opponent while recognizing some of his team’s mistakes.
“It was two good football teams going at it. Hats off to Williston and Coach Beaton,” Willey started. “They made more plays than we did. We have to watch the tape and see what we have to do better. There are plenty of things we can do better. We’ll try to figure out what those things are and then try to work on them in practice.”
A shakeup in the NEPSAC is not often seen this early, but with both teams having a lot to hang their hats on after this game, it certainly will not be the last we hear from these teams by the end of the season. The question is if these two teams will face one another later down the road in December or not.