Special teams fuels BB&N rout of Nobles
DEDHAM — The BB&N offense was a little slow out of the gates Saturday afternoon during its Independent School League game against Nobles.
That’s fine, though, because the Knights were operating at a premium clip on special teams from start to finish.
BB&N scored three special teams touchdowns in the first half, and eventually dominated the other phases, as well, in a 35-6 win.
“Special teams were tremendous,” BB&N coach
Mike Willey said. “We work on it hard. Our coaches do a great job of coaching up special teams. Obviously, they kind of exploded today. Scoring three times on special teams is a big deal for us. We take it real serious, and I’m happy for the guys that made those plays.”
The first two possessions by BB&N (5-0) resulted in an interception and a threeand-out, but the Knights did not wait long to strike as senior Tom Porell blocked a Nobles punt with his helmet, and the ball rolled into the Nobles end zone. There, sophomore Jack Kelley pounced on it for the BB&N touchdown as the Knights took a 7-0 lead with 4:46 to play in the first quarter.
“Special teams win games,” Porell said. “When you’re scoring on special teams, that’s just demoralizing to whoever you’re playing. It just really takes the air out of them. To score on three punt returns, no one’s beating that.”
BB&N then had its best drive of the game, which Bo MacCormack finished off with a 4-yard TD run.
On the next Nobles possession, BB&N forced a punt, and Isaiah Kacyvenski returned it 68 yards for another touchdown.
Jake Berglund had another of his three sacks on the next Nobles possession, and helped force another punt. This time, Ronan Hanafin took it 65 yards the other way for the score, and BB&N’s lead was up to 28-0.
Shane Hanafin (5 of 10 passing for 91 yards) then found his brother, Ronan, for a 41-yard touchdown in the third quarter, and that was more than enough scoring for BB&N.
The Knights on defense allowed just three first downs in the first half. Nobles (3-2) was led by Joey Duggan, who rushed for 80 yards.
BB&N is perfect and looking impressive.
“The expectation’s high. We’re trying to live up to it every day,” Porell said. “The standard just keeps rising. We just keep showing up ready to work every damn day, and we’re hungry. We want to eat every damn day.”