AUGUSTA

When looking at the 2017 Brunswick High School football season, there are a lot of things that went wrong. Special team struggles, the inability to convert in key offensive situations, a defense that allowed big plays far too often — just to name a few.

All that, for now, can be forgotten, especially after the Dragons, after a one-win season, found a way, rallying for 32 second-half points in upsetting third-seeded Cony, 38-27, Friday night in the Class B North quarterfinals.

No. 6 Brunswick (2-7) will visit second-seeded Lawrence this upcoming Friday at 7 p.m., while the Rams finished 5-4.

The end result didn’t appear likely after Cony stormed out to a 21-6 halftime lead, and things took a turn for the worse it seemed with Ram kick-return specialist Jordan Roddy answered a Brunswick touchdown to open the third quarter with a 76-yard kickoff return to the end zone moments later for a 27-14 Rams lead.

But, the Dragons refused to hang their heads, rallying behind several gutsy play calls by head coach Dan Cooper and his staff.

“The kids believed, and we have gotten better and we were playing our best at the end of the season. We felt that we had a chance to win and played our best second half of the season,” Cooper said.

The first half was about Cony turning big plays into points. After missing on his first three throws, Rams quarterback Anthony Sousa completed four quick swing passes to Roddy, who gained 43 yards, including a 15-yard touchdown and a 7-0 Cony lead.

Brunswick put together a solid drive in the second quarter, with running back Dalton Dickey (22 rushes, 123 yards) going 27 yards to the end zone. The 2-point conversion failed, keeping the Rams ahead, 7-6.

On the ensuing kickoff, Roddy broke right and rumbled 70 yards to the B-12. Five plays later, Sousa broke into the end zone on a 1-yard run for a 14-6 lead, and when Roddy scored on a 5-yard run with 27 seconds remaining in the first half, the Rams had a 21-6 lead at the intermission.

Second half

Brunswick needed something to turn the tide, and sophomore running back Owen Richardson provided a spark. Lining up as the up back on a fourth-down punt, he received the snap, sprinted quickly through the Cony defense and hustled his way to the end zone on a 46-yard run. Dickey ran in the conversion, drawing the Dragons to 21- 14.

“We saw the linebacker crashing, and I trusted my linemen to get it done,” said Richardson. “We used Dragons football, having our big guys do the work up front and I was able to run behind them.”

“Special teams have been bad all year, but the kid made a great run. Richardson is a great back and made the linebacker miss,” Cooper said.

Roddy came through again for Cony, this time taking the kickoff all the way to the end zone. The point-after kick missed, leaving the Rams ahead 27-14 with 10:04 left in the third quarter.

Brunswick was unfazed, putting together a near six-minute drive, capped off by a Nate Girardin to Richardson 6-yard TD pass to draw the Dragons to 27-22 heading to the fourth quarter.

It was Girardin who came through on Brunswick’s next drive. Helped along by a pair of 15- yard penalties on the Rams, Girardin hooked up with Richardson for a 22-yard passing play, moving the Dragons to the C-1. Girardin scored on the next play, then threw to Noah Cox for the conversion and a 30-27 Brunswick lead.

Girardin was 5-for-9 for 80 yards in the air, one of the few times this season that Cooper has opened the passing game up for his junior quarterback.

“It was unexpected with the way that it went, but coach had confidence in my decision-making,” Girardin said.

On Cony’s next play from scrimmage, Sousa went back to his favorite play, the short outside swing pass. However, this time Noah Goddard read it, jumped the rout and went 38 yards with the pick-six to put the Rams away.

“I knew it was coming after he turned and when Roddy went behind the line, and I just followed him,” said Goddard. “Once I scored, the crowd went crazy and I knew it was huge.”

“That was a huge play, up three at the time, and now we were up two scores and you could see it mentally,” said Cooper. “We believed all season that we were a team as good as any other in the league.”

Sousa tried to rally his Rams, but Cony’s final two drives were snuffed out by the Brunswick defense.

“This is a huge win. It is a big difference from going undefeated to one win. We just went out and played football,” Girardin said.

Cooper was excited about his defense, which never allowed a big Rams offensive play, holding Cony to just 213 total yards.

“We didn’t give up the big plays on defense, and they just kept playing hard and battling. We were able to get some big stops,” Cooper said.

Richardson ran for 140 yards on 22 carries, and added three receptions for 54 more to pace the Brunswick offense, which racked up 376 total yards and 16 first downs. The Dragons owned time of possession, holding the ball for more than 30 minutes.

Sousa was 19-of-43 in air for 143 yards. Roddy hauled in 10 of Sousa’s heaves for 103 yards.

Brunswick faced Lawrence Oct. 6 in Fairfield. Holding a lead throughout, the Dragons allowed the Bulldogs to score late for a 23-20 victory.

“We are just happy to be playing another week,” said Cooper.

No. 6 Brunswick 38,
No. 3 Cony 27

Class B North Football Quarterfinal
Friday at Augusta
Brunswick — 0 6 16 16 — 38
Cony— 71460—27
First quarter
C — Jordan Roddy 15 pass from
Anthony Sousa (Kyle Douin kick),
6:12.
Second quarter
B — Dalton Dickey 27 run (run
failed), 9:54.
C — Anthony Sousa 1 run (Kyle
Douin kick), 8:34.
C — Jordan Roddy 5 run (Kyle Douin
kick), :27.
Third quarter
B — Owen Richardson 46 run on
fake punt (Dalton Dickey run), 10:15.
C — Jordan Roddy 76 kickoff return
(kick failed), 10:04.
B — Owen Richardson 6 pass from
Nate Girardin (Hunter Backhaus pass
from Nate Girardin), 4:27.
Fourth quarter
B — Nate Girardin 1 run (Noah Cox
pass from Nate Girardin), 9:18.
B — Noah Goddard 38 interception
return (Dalton Dickey run), 9:03.
Records — Brunswick 2-7, Cony 5-4.
Up next for the Dragons — Friday at
Lawrence, 7 p.m.