Though they were just a little more than a mile away from their home field, Regan Pettway and his Boyd-Buchanan teammates were trying to find a comfort zone Friday night against host and neighbor Brainerd in a Region 3-2A football game.
During the offseason, the Buccaneers had gone through a coaching change and had shifted from a spread offense to primarily a running attack. Against the swarming Panthers, the offense and the Bucs’ resilience as a team were put to the test until junior tailback Pettway and the Boyd-Buchanan front line gained control.
With the Bucs’ lead reduced to one score with three minutes elapsed in the third quarter, Pettway scored two back-breaking touchdowns in the Bucs’ 35-14 victory.
Pettway finished with 137 yards on 17 carries. His scoring runs of 13 and 11 yards provided some much-needed breathing space after the Panthers sliced the 21-0 deficit with a scoring drive to end the first half and another one to open the third quarter.
“I was able to get comfortable out there, and our plays worked out well,” said Pettway, in his first year as a starter. “Sometimes it takes a while to get comfortable, but once you do, good things happen. Every yard I gained was because my boys were blocking for me. They allowed me to succeed.”