Category Archives: Sports

Conquering Cardinals

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Redshirt freshman tight end Hunter Long scores BC’s first touchdown. John Quackenbos photo

Despite a lapse of about 10 minutes, in which the Eagles gave Louisville easy access to 13 points, BC was otherwise pretty dominant over the Cardinals, defeating them 38-20 yesterday in chilly, rainy Chestnut Hill. At game time, temperature was 46.

Cold and rainy at the start.

The Eagles opened the game showing dominance as they twice forced Louisville into consecutive three-and-outs and answered each with touchdown drives to go up 14-0 in the first six minutes. Another Louisville punt, however, was fumbled by Ben Glines on the BC six-yard line and the Cardinals scored the touchdown. In what seems to be increasingly common for the Eagles, though, BC blocked the point-after attempt.

The ensuing kickoff by Louisville was then fumbled by BC’s Michael Walker and, 40 yards and five plays later, the Cardinals closed the score to 14-13.

On the second play of the second quarter, BC intercepted a Louisville pass on the Cardinals’ 33. But the Eagles gained only five yards before being stopped on a fourth-down play at the 27. Louisville then had its only sustained offensive possession, going 73 yards in nine plays to go ahead, 20-14. Those would be the Cardinals’ last points.

Junior DB Nolan Borgersen gives Louisville punter NO chance to kick.

After an exchange of possessions, Louisville’s punt from its 20-yard line was blocked by BC and, for the second game in a row, recovered by sophomore running back Travis Levy in the end zone for a touchdown and 21-20 lead. With four seconds remaining in the half, Colton Lichtenberg kicked a 38-yard field goal to put the Eagles ahead, 24-21.

The sun came out for the second half and so did the BC ground attack. Running backs junior Ben Glines and freshman David Bailey, running in place of injured AJ Dillon, had run 16 times for a total of 58 yards in the first half. They added another 161 yards in the second half, each ending up with over 100 yards rushing. Bailey, listed as 6-1, 245, carried most of the load, ending the game with 112 yards on 28 carries.

Freshman running back David Bailey. John Quackenbos photo

A dude in duds.

A BC drive at the beginning of the fourth quarter featured Bailey carrying the ball on eight of the 13 plays, including the final one-yard plunge for a touchdown to move the Eagles to 31-20. BC’s final score came on eight consecutive running plays for 67 yards, with Jeff Smith running the final five yards.

The Eagles’ defense held the Cardinals to 71 yards total offense in the second half and zero points. BC gained 237 yards in the second half to bring its total offense for the game to 430 yards.

On a day when running was the name of the game, BC QB Anthony Brown was 10 of 15 for 120 yards and a touchdown.

Video highlights

It’s a week off for the Eagles and their fans. Next game is on Friday, October 26, at home against Miami.

Whipped by Wolfpack

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Michael Walker was productive both as a kick returner and wide receiver.

With star running back AJ Dillon watching from Chestnut Hill, due to injury, the Eagles needed to keep the score close in their game yesterday against #23 North Carolina State in Raleigh, N.C. They didn’t.

At the end of the first half, BC had deficits in points, 3-21; first downs, 4-19, and total offense, 105-303. The Wolfpack added another touchdown late in the third quarter to make it 28-3.

Then the dormant Eagle offense heard the alarm clock. Spurred by a 33-yard kickoff return by Michael Walker, BC constructed a 5-play, 62-yard drive in 1:18, culminated by runs by QB Anthony Brown (28 yards) and RB Ben Glines (21 yards), to score its first touchdown.

BC’s first drive of the fourth quarter was another quick affair, as the Eagles took only five plays and 1:36 to go 64 yards for the touchdown. Walker again led the way with a 46-yard pass reception to the NC State 18-yard line. A two-point conversion failed.

Down 28-16, the Eagles forced the Wolfpack into a three-and-out series and began a 78-yard drive that ended with a critical BC fumble at the NC State two-yard line. (More about the “fumble” below.) With 3:33 left in the game, Eagles DB Mike Palmer blocked the subsequent Wolfpack punt and RB Travis Levy recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown.

NC State recovered BC’s onside kick attempt and held possession to the end for a 28-23 victory.

In addition to the blocked punt for their final touchdown, the Eagles blocked a field goal attempt and forced two fumbles by NC State. Those turnovers resulted in nine points for BC. The turnover advantage, however, paled in comparison to the Eagles’s low offensive production. BC added 8 first downs and 213 yards offense in the second half to reach game totals of 12 first downs and 318 yards total offense. The Wolfpack finished with 533 yards total offense. They also ran 87 plays to BC’s 50, and had possession for 41 minutes, 30 seconds, leaving the Eagles with only 18:30 in possession of the ball.

The “fumble.” BC had driven 75 yards to the NC State 5-yard line. It was 2nd-and-2. Glines ran up the middle and was halted by a mash of players, all standing. The mash was static for a couple of seconds and then an NC State player emerged with the ball. The referees had not blown the whistle and ruled it was a fumble recovered by the Wolfpack, a ruling that was not overturned after review. It could be argued the whistle should have been blown as there was no evidence of forward progress. In similar plays, other teams have “pushed the pile” into the end zone and the referees may have given the Eagles a little bit of time to do just that. The Eagles did not move the pile, however, to their disadvantage. The photos show the pileup and the fumble “recovery.”

BC’s Ben Glines, center, is stood up.

 

NC State exits the pileup with the ball.

Here are video highlights.

It’s ACC opponents from now on. Saturday, Louisville.

 

Overcoming Owls

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Running back Ben Glines (19) celebrates touchdown. John Quackenbos photo

Down 21-13 in the second quarter against Temple yesterday, BC scored 25 straight points to lead 38-21 and then hung on to defeat the stubborn Owls 45-35. Two pass interceptions by Eagles on back-to-back Temple possessions in the second quarter spurred the scoring. AJ Dillon ran for two touchdowns in the game and QB Anthony Brown threw for two more.

Dillon rushed for 146 yards in the first half, including a 52-yard touchdown run. He left the game early in the second half with an ankle injury, having gained a total of 161 yards on 28 carries. Backup running back Ben Glines rushed for 120 on 23 carries and a touchdown.

Brown also had a touchdown reception, as the Eagles pulled off a “Philly Special” facsimile (cf Super Bowl LII) in the third quarter. Brown took the snap, pitched the ball to a tailback, who handed off to WR (and former QB) Jeff Smith who threw to a wide open Brown for a 9-yard score.

Temple’s running back Ryquell Armstead ran for 171 yards and 4 touchdowns, including a 75-yarder for a score. With less than 6 minutes in the game, Temple had brought the score to 38-25 and had possession. A sack by BC’s Zach Allen pushed the Owls back and they punted. BC then scored the clinching touchdown on a 1-yard plunge by Glines, with a little over 3 minutes remaining.

Temple actually outgained BC, 452 yards to 423, in total offense. BC outran the Owls 275 yards to 191, and Temple threw for 261 yards, compared to 148 for the Eagles. BC had an unusually high 100 offensive plays.

BC goes to 4-1 for the first time since 2009. The Eagles have scored 216 points thus far, the most in team history for the first 5 games.

Here are video highlights:

BC travels to Raleigh, N.C., next week to take on the undefeated (4-0) Wolfpack of NC State.