BB&N 20, Lawrence Academy 13
Lawrence Academy squared off with Buckingham, Browne and Nichols tonight at Russell Field in a battle of unbeatens. BB&N prevailed, 20-13, in a fashion that is familiar for followers of the Knights.
After a Lawrence punt set up a BB&N first and 10 at the Spartans’ 37, the Knights (9-0) needed just one play to score the game-winning touchdown. With fullback Derek Papagianopoulos coming out of the backfield, James McCaffrey and Austin Capaviella split wide on opposite ends, and tight end Blake Barker lined up tight, head coach John Papas called for all four receivers to run vertical routes.
Papas had called this play a few times earlier, to no avail. This time, McCaffrey beat his man down the right; with the safety cheated over to double-up Barker in the middle, that gave McCaffrey a wide-open shot that he didn’t drop.
“I’ve played well the whole season, but nothing this big,” McCaffrey said. “I can’t even describe how happy I am. (This is the) best day of my life.”
Just how elated?
“It’s not comparable to anything,” he smiled.
Said Barker, “It was unbelievable…I was kind of in shock. I thought nobody was going to be open, because I had two guys on me, and that play is primarily (geared) to me. But that opened things up.”
A few more observations from the game:
-McCaffrey’s catch will be what everyone talks about, but another big key late was the running of fullback Derek Papagianopoulos. He carried five straight times for 31 total yards to keep the chains moving, and ate enough time on the clock to put Lawrence in a tough situation, starting the potential game-winning drive at their own 20 with 75 seconds to go. Kudos, too, has to go to Steven Grassa (14 carries, 124 yards), who scored the first touchdown for the initial lead.
-When I last checked in with Barker, a 6-foot-5 tight end from Wellesley, he had just received his first official offer, from Boston College. Minutes after I spoke with McCaffrey over the phone last week, he was on the phone with UConn.
And with the ISL season coming to a close, it’s road trip time for the Knights’ most highly-profile juniors.
McCaffrey, a 5-foot-10 receiver from Winchester, has no offers yet; but he will visit Northwestern University on an unofficial visit next weekend. Barker will be taking an unofficial over Thanksgiving to Duke, and will be in attendance for the Duke-UNC game.
-Not often will I dedicate this much space to a kicker, but BB&N’s Phillippe Panico impressed the heck out of me tonight. Panico, if you can recall, booted a state-record 58-yard field goal in a 57-6 win over Middlesex on Oct. 25; tonight, he had field goals of 29 and 35, and with plenty of distance to spare.
Four of his kickoffs went for touchbacks, the other two being ran out of the end zone. His extra point kick in the north end zone went clear into Jerry’s Pond. The two extra point kicks in the south end zone went over the roof of the second-story weight room overlooking the field.
A kid with NFL distance, pin-point accuracy, and for the next level he will be taking his kicking exploits to…Yale.
-Happened to overhear loud chants of “Overrated!” from the BB&N fans at several points, directed mostly at Lawrence’s highly-touted, Division 1-caliber quarterback, Charlie Loeb.
Unfortunately for those fans, Loeb impressed a handful of SEC coaches at camps this summer, most significantly Ole Miss’. The guy proved he has a little mobility, too, with several nice scrambles out of the pocket; his 46-yard scoring heave to Denzel Brito showed off his impressive arm strength, too.
In other words, he’s rated for a reason.
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Look for updates from:
- Bob Holmes: A Reading resident (Go Rockets!) and Boston College graduate, Holmes is the Boston Globe High School Sports Editor. We remind you now that his weekly picks are often made in jest so everyone just calm down when he picks against Everett for 11 straight weeks.
- Mike Carraggi: An Everett native (Go Tide!), Mike attends Eastern Nazarene college and is entering his second year with the Globe. He'll focus on Division 1 this fall, which means he'll spend a lot of time in his hometown, which Forsberg thinks is cool because the Tide have that Fried Dough cart.
- Emily Wright: A Hyannis native (Go Barnstable Red Raiders!), Emily is a senior at Emerson College and has been with the Globe since the end of July. She'll cover Division 1A and will be the first intern we've trusted to navigate her way to Dennis-Yarmouth or any other school on the Cape.
- Mike Grossi: A Lexington native (Go Minutemen!), Mike attends Northeastern and has been with the Globe for two months. He'll cover Division 2 and 2A and unsuccessfully lobbied to include Lexington in the preseason Top 20.
- Jonathan Raymond: A native of Benicia, Calif. (a suburb of San Francisco), Jonathan attends Northeastern and has been working at the Globe since the end of June. He will be focusing on Division 3 and is likely woefully underprepared for covering a game in a foot of snow.
- David Carty: A native of West Bridgewater (Go Wildcats!), David is a senior at Emerson College and has been working at the Globe for a year. He'll cover Divisions 3A and 4 because, "small school ball is in my blood."
- The bench: You'll also catch updates from our regional contributors, including Globe North's Julian Benbow and South's Monique Walker. Correspondent Brendan Hall will have updates from the Globe West coverage area and will often try to sneak in Central Mass. news.
As a parent of a BB&N player, I have never been so proud to be associated with any organization. Coach Pappas has created an atmosphere of pride, hard work, and brotherhood that both teaches and brings out the best in these young men. These boys worked very hard every week to be ready for Friday night. For the night they would meet another exceptional team and have to dig down deep to prevail. Well done Knights. God Bless Zach.