Boyd-Buchanan opened its season at home with a 28-24 win against The King's Academy in a game of firsts for the Buccaneers.
The Bucs had two new quarterbacks leading their new offense under a first-year head coach while playing on a new David L. Boyd Field.
"We didn't play our best ballgame, and we won," head coach Carter Cardwell told his team after his first career victory.
Along with replacing head coach Grant Reynolds, the Buccaneers had to replace 11 starters from last year's team that went undefeated in the regular season.
Cardwell, formerly the offensive coordinator, began his reign by overhauling the offense and moving to a more run-heavy option style.
"We lost a lot of size [from last season]," Cardwell said after the game. "We had already decided that we were going to change one side of the ball before Coach Reynolds left. When he left – with him being the defensive guy and me being the offensive guy – I felt like it was easier to switch the offense."
And the decision seemed to pay off for the young team. Boyd-Buchanan made up for a lack of size with a plethora of speed.
The team had seven players record at least two carries on its way to 332 rushing yards on 32 carries.
The Buccaneers jumped out to an early 21-0 lead behind three first-half touchdowns from senior running back Jeremy Borders.
All three of Borders' touchdowns came on third downs, and none were more impressive than his 65-yard run with 10:42 remaining in the second quarter.
Borders took the ball to the outside on 3rd-and-3 for what looked to be a 10 or 12 yard gain after a big block from senior wide receiver Evan Morris. Borders sprinted around the edge and pulled a spin move to get through a crowd of Lion defenders before sprinting to the end zone.
"Really, it was just God-given talent," Borders said of the play after the game. "He gave me the speed, and He gave me the ability to play."
Borders' game would end early. He suffered a knee injury on his second carry of the second half with 2:53 remaining in the 3rd quarter. He would not return.
Cardwell said after the game it was a precautionary decision to pull Borders. He is going to see a doctor in the morning, Borders told the Times Free Press after the game.
With Borders sitting on the sideline, the Lions made a second half surge and pulled ahead 24-21 late in the fourth quarter.
The Bucs started their final drive down three on their own 30-yard-line with 3:48 remaining.
Running back Michael Mincey took the first play 37 yards as Boyd-Buchanan looked to claim a win to open the season. Mincey would continue to lead the Bucs down the field for the rest of the drive on his way to 70 yards on 8 carries.
"If you noticed, we played 3 a-backs and two tailbacks [in addition to two quarterbacks]," Cardwell said. "Option offenses use backs."
However, the final call would be a quarterback keeper on a read option by quarterback Ross Wortman.
After several Mincey runs, Wortman finished a 3rd-and-goal play from the 1-yard-line for the game-winning touchdown.
Eli Terrell made the extra-point, and the Buccaneers held on to win 28-24 after a Tyler Walker game-clinching interception.
"We knew that we had to play smashmouth football," Wortman said. "They're a great team. They gave us a tough game. They made us work really hard on that last drive, but our guys up front blocked amazingly. Our running backs ran awesomely, and we were able to finish it off for six. It was a really great feeling."
The win pushed Boyd-Buchanan to 2-0 after a forfeit win against a now nonexistent football program at Tennessee Christian Preparatory School.
Boyd-Buchanan travels to Brainerd next week for a 7:30 p.m. regional matchup.
Contact staff writer Mark Pace at mpace@timesfrepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @THEMarkPace and Facebook www.facebook.com/THEMarkPace/