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BC vs. Howard, this game was not.
It took a little while for BC to get comfortable in this game. When the Eagles fell behind on an early touchdown run by Wagner’s Alex Thompson, everyone felt like slamming their skull through bricks... or at least, that’s how I personally felt.
BC did start to find their mojo as the game wore on, and there was one point at which BC finally started to feel like the game would get a little easier.
BC ball, 3rd & 11 from the BC 24
Patrick Towles pass complete for 18 yards to Michael Walker
Early on Saturday, my wife asked who BC was playing that day, and I told her it was Wagner. She told me that he recognized the name — her alma mater, Stonehill College, a D-2 team, had beaten the Seahawks, D-1AA, her junior year. So, we concluded, surely there was no way BC could possibly screw this game up.
Flash forward to midway through the 2nd quarter, and BC was only up up by four. There was still the feeling that the Eagles might trip over themselves and keep the game embarrassingly close for a while. This play helped put BC over the hump.
The Seahawks send three on the rush, and the offensive line did well to give Towles a nice pocket for the play to develop. Michael Walker lines up wide, where he’s given really soft coverage, but motions inside.
Walker goes up and out and is surprisingly well marked, and has to make a big time play to extend the drive.
Towles puts it where only he can get it, and he makes a beauty of a catch, just barely tapping the toe in bounds.
While BC shouldn’t have even been in that situation, it was a big third down conversion at the time. Towles would air it out downfield to Jeff Smith for the next play for the touchdown, and BC would cruise from there.
But without Walker’s grab along the sideline, the Eagles would have punted and the game would have still been within reach for the Seahawks.