Tabor, Peter Bourque win John Papas Bowl over Buckingham Browne and Nichols

MARION There was a sense of uncomfortable familiarity in the air Eight days after facing off in the final encounter of the regular season Tabor Academy lined up against Buckingham Browne Nichols for another football event This time it was for the NEPSAC John Papas Bowl and the hosting Seawolves rode an electric rushing performance from quarterback Peter Bourque to claim a - preeminence It s an unbelievable group Tabor head coach Jeff Moore explained It s pretty special when you have a group of kids who love each other and do the right things They just really love football and want to be coached hard The Seawolves received the opening kickoff and marched down the field to figure a touchdown just seconds into the event Bourque scored it with his feet the first of five rushing touchdowns from the Michigan commit BB N responded with a lengthy drive that ended with a turnover on downs but a three-and-out from Tabor handed the ball back to the Knights at their own Damon Taylor led the drive methodically down the field before Vince Snoonian took a jet sweep yards to even the count at seven Tabor then pushed the ball down the field but was faced with a fourth-and-goal early in the second quarter After a great blocking effort by the Seawolves offensive line Bourque charged in for his second touchdown We have one of the best lines in the country I d say Bourque announced It s just so easy to run when they are there The ensuing drive for BB N stalled out due to dominant play from UCLA commits Carter Gooden and Marcus Almada who consistently got after Taylor and the Knights dynamic backfield We ve just spent a lot of time working pass-rush before practice and after practice Gooden commented We move as one unit Tabor would extend the lead to when Bourque finished off the next drive with a -yard designed run However the Knights responded with a touchdown drive that saw Taylor connect with Ellis Barnes on a -yard touchdown pass to make it - at halftime The tight advantage at halftime could have been uncomfortable for a Tabor crew that had largely blown out opponents throughout the season However Moore declared that the band focused on limiting the Knights ability to control the clock and to make them beat the Seawolves with a high-octane offensive approach They play time-possession offense and have great ball control in the run tournament Moore reported We knew the more possessions that were in this match the better off we would be BB N started with possession in the second half but the Seawolves fleetly forced a fumble to take over in the red zone Lucas Fickeisen took the first rush to the one-yard line and Bourque finished it off with a one-yard run The Knights responded with a Taylor touchdown after a lengthy drive and once again trailed by just seven points On the next drive Bourque connected with Fickeisen on a -yard third down pass and then fired off his fifth and final touchdown run one play later BB N looked to get back into contention but an interception from Jayden Walters and a rushing touchdown from Anthony Giantommaso closed the door on the season It feels awesome to get an undefeated season Bourque commented That s what we have been talking about in practice all year We worked for this Gooden stated the conquest felt extra sweet as the Knights were the Seawolves one blemish in the season Last year we lost one competition and it was to BB N Gooden declared It was great to come back this year beat them twice and finish undefeated