By By TOM NYHUIS / Niles Daily Star
NILES - After a quiet first half and neither team could get points on the board Brandywine came back from a 13-0 hole to score 14 unanswered points in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter to take a thrilling 14-13 Lakeland Conference victory at Selge Field over Buchanan in Friday night football action.
Buchanan struck first after taking the second half kick off. Brandywine had stopped the Bucks at their own 48 yard line and Buchanan punted the ball away.
Brandywine's punt returner couldn't get a clean handle of the ball and Buchanan's Matt Dykema and Arron Sater covered the ball at the 21.
Shane Collins scampered 22-yards to bring the ball down to the two yard line and Dykema finished off the drive with a two-yard scoring run with 6:59 to play in the third quarter. Jase Andrews' point-after kick gave the Bucks a 7-0 lead.
Brandywine's next drive saw the Bobcat's take the ball down to their own 1- yard line before turning the ball over on a fumble which Buchanan's Jon Dickey recovered.
That turnover resulted in another Buchanan score as the Bucks drove 78-yards in 10 plays with Collins finishing off the drive and hitting paydirt with a five-yard run with 11:04 to play in the game. Andrew PAT kick failed and the Bucks were up 13-0.
Brandywine came back with a 60 yard drive to get on the board taking 12 plays to get into the end zone.
On a fourth and six at the eight yard line sophomore quarterback Joel Perry dropped back to pass but was unable to find a receiver and broke loose for an eight-yard run and score. A Matt Duckett kick closed the gap to 13-7 with 5:02 to play.
Brandywine succeeded with its onside kick attempt and took over at midfield. After a six-yard gain by freshman running back Brett Gilpin, who came in for an injured Caleb Frazier, Duckett busted free for a 42-yard score and the game was tied at 13.
"Duckett sprung the fullback trap for us at the right time and we just kept plugging away," Brandywine coach Terry Borr said.
Duckett's PAT kick bounced off the back of his offensive line and skipped through the uprights for the extra point and the Bobcats climbed on top 14-13 with 4:07 to play giving the Bucks plenty of time to retake the lead.
"We had five receivers on the front line and it was a semi-hands team," Buchanan coach Joe Austin said. "We had one or at least two shots at it. We didn't come up with it. The big play came when we had a big fourth down play. We had a stop and the kid (Perry) scrambled and scored, we have been victimized by that all year long. You live and die by it and I'm still proud of our team and hats off to Brandywine, they made the plays when they had to."
Dykema returned the kickoff 60 yards to the Buchanan 40 and the Bucks moved the ball down to the 13. With 29 ticks left on the clock and Buchanan facing fourth down and five the Bucks elected try for the field goal.
Andrews 23 yard attempt was just inches wide left and the Bobcats preserved their second win of the season.
Brandywine out rushed Buchanan 247 to 220 as Duckett finished the night with 78 yards rushing on 10 carries, Perry added 69 yards and Frazier ran for 67 while Gilpin added 33 important yards for the Bobcat's in the final quarter.
Perry was 2-for4 passing for 26 yards. "Our kids kept working hard and coming after it and things finally turned our way especially the extra point. The kids really needed this," Borr said.
For the Bucks, Collins finished with 105 yards on the ground on 15 carries while Dykema took the ball 23 times for 94 yards. Sophomore Taylor Oake took over at quarterback spot for the Bucks as regular starting quarterback Eric Cole was out due to an illness according to coach Austin, was 1-for-2 for 46 yards passing.
The Bobcats return to action next Friday when it hosts Cassopolis at 7 p.m.
The Bucks will travel to Coloma, with kick off time also set for 7:30 p.m.