After falling last week to Marion County, Boyd-Buchanan continued its malaise into the first half of Friday night's Region 3-2A contest with Bledsoe County.
Although the Buccaneers led 12-0 at intermission, they had failed to gain a single first down.
In fact, the two teams combined for more penalty yards (93) than total offense (61) in the first two periods.
But Boyd-Buchanan dominated the second half, controlling the ball for 30 of the first 33 plays from scrimmage in the final two frames of a 24-0 win over the Warriors at David L. Boyd Field.
"I've won a game 2-0 before, so leading a game without getting a first down doesn't surprise me. I guess everything's possible in football," Bucs coach Carter Caldwell said. "There was no hangover from last week - we just didn't do some things well early."
The Bucs' Kohl Henke forced a pair of Bledsoe County miscues in the kicking game to create both first-half touchdowns.
Henke tackled the Warriors punter while getting a hand on the kick on the opening drive, resulting in the Bucs taking possession at the enemy 8. Boyd-Buchanan capitalized on the gift by converting a fourth-down swing pass from Ross Wortman to Jeremy Borders to grab the lead from 7 yards out.
Henke took matters into his own hands again in the final minute of the half, blocking a punt and scampering in for the score from the 10.
"We thought coming in we'd have an advantage in the kicking game. To us that's a big deal, and the blocked punts changed things," Caldwell said. "We also had a punt-return score called back, so the kicking game made the difference in the first half."
Boyd-Buchanan (5-1, 3-1) came out with a different swagger after intermission
"We adjusted in second half, and I think the adjustments showed," Caldwell said. "That's a credit to our assistant coaches telling us changes we needed to make. Plus the guys in blue showed great determination and grew up some."
After holding the ball for a 16-play drive that ended with an interception, the Bucs held Bledsoe County to a three-and-out before marching 70 yards in 14 plays on their next possession.
Henke found tight end Kade Owens on a seam route from 23 yards to give the Bucs an 18-0 lead early in the fourth period. Tyler Walker closed the scoring on the following drive, scampering 43 yards for the final score.
After gaining a paltry 24 yards in the first half, Boyd-Buchanan finished the night with 250 total yards. Meanwhile, the Bucs defense was salty all game, holding Bledsoe County (2-4, 1-2) to 90 yards and only four first downs.
"Defensively I felt like we could do a good job tonight, but I thought we played good last week although the score didn't reflect it. It's always nice to be able to pitch a shutout," Caldwell said.
Contact Paul Payne at sports@timesfreepress.com.