Brandywine coach Mike Nate will have a lengthy halftime speech as the Bobcats were trailing Buchanan 22-0 at intermission when three separate lightening delays postponed the second half to 1 p.m. today.

“It is frustrating that we can’t finish this game on schedule,” stated Nate. “The defense was playing great.”

The Bobcats fumbled on the opening kick-off and Buchanan recovered at the 37-yard line, but the defenders from Brandywine stopped it from scoring even though a pass interference call in the end zone on a fourth down and 16 pass play gave the visitors a second chance.

Another similar down and yardage play four tries later resulted in Brandywine’s favor as a holding call was whistled on the Bucks.

An interception by senior James Kidd of Buchanan on the third play again put the Bobcats defense in a short field position.

Star sophomore running back Doug Freeman was not to be denied this time as the Buck runner ran untouched on an off tackle play from 14 yards outs.

Brandywine was not able to gain a first down on their next possession and with 3:21 left in the first quarter a snap to senior punter Austin Searles sailed over his head for a safety to move the scoreboard to 9-0 in favor of Buchanan.

“Our offense and special teams let us down, but hopefully we can come back tomorrow to play better,” noted Nate.

Freeman was the workhorse as he gained 67 yards on 11 carries in the opening stanza for the Bucks.

A 72-yard punt return by junior Mac Elliott provided the next touchdown as he spun through four Bobcat defenders and ran down to the 3-yard line before being hauled down from behind.

Back-up sophomore quarterback Alex Leiter came in and scored on a 6-yard option, but the point after was blocked to give Buchanan a 15-0 advantage.

The star of the game offensively for Brandywine was Searles, who ran 18 yards for a first down when it was time to punt and averaged 47.3 yards on his three boots.

Leiter was responsible for the final score as he snuck through the middle of the Brandywine defense for 54 yards and then threw a 14-yard lob pass to a wide-open Jerome Henderson to widen the lead to 22-0 after a successful Brent Brown extra point.

Statistics were completely in Buchanan’s favor as they rushed for 131 yards (Freeman 90) and passed for 53 more with Elliott receiving two 10-yard strikes on the same play call from junior quarterback Lyman Thomas.  The Bucks reached double figures in first downs with 10 to just two for Brandywine.

The run by Searles out gained the rest of the rushing yardage as the Bobcats only gained 34 yards total and had two receptions with one each going to seniors Austin Bertschy and Joey Jena for 12 and nine yards respectively.

Nate was also not pleased as Brandywine easily won the penalty yardage by a 55-20 margin with a total of six infractions being called.

Buchanan 9 13 – 22

Brandywine 0 0 – 0

BU – Doug Freeman 14 yard run (Brent Brown kick)

BU – safety on bad punt snap

BU – Alex Leiter six yard run (kick blocked)

Buchanan — Leiter 14 yard pass Justin Henderson (Brown kick)