For much of the second half, Nic Hughes felt the pain of deja vu. As his Boyd-Buchanan teammates struggled in the second half of their season opener against Christian Academy of Knoxville, the senior quarterback lay helplessly on a trainer’s table.

But unlike last year’s season-ending knee injury, Hughes was able to return in time to lead a 14-play drive that ate up 5:20 of the fourth-quarter clock and helped the Buccaneers to a 21-14 nonregion win over the Warriors.

The 6-foot-3, 220-pound Hughes was helped off the field twice in the third quarter with leg cramps. The second time he had to be carried to the locker room, where he was given two IVs.

In his absence, CAK rallied to within 21-14 as its own quarterback, Michael Fromke connected on 9 of 19 passes for 144 of his 260 yards, running for one touchdown and throwing for another.

“I was going insane in the locker room,” Hughes said. “I was getting updates on how the game was going, and I couldn’t stand sitting in there waiting for the IVs to work.”

When he returned, Hughes looked at each of his anxious teammates in the huddle and reminded them of one simple fact.

“I told them, ‘I can’t run the ball, so if you guys want this bad enough, it’s up to you,’” Hughes said. “That last drive showed a lot of heart by everybody on this team.”

His 9-yard pass to Taylor Shull converted a third-and-6 and allowed the Bucs to continue draining the clock. Although the drive ended with a missed field goal, CAK had just 1:24 remaining to work with. The Warriors drove to midfield, but as Fromke attempted to spike the ball to stop the clock after a completion, he fumbled the snap and Boyd-Buchanan’s Alex Unger recovered with 40 seconds left to seal the program’s first season-opening win in three years.

“That game took 10 years off my life,” Bucs coach Grant Reynolds said. “Getting Nic back in there really seemed to give our offense a huge lift. We just kept running that same zone read and handing it off to try and kill the clock. Our linemen really stepped up on that drive and got it done.”

Boyd-Buchanan built a quick lead by taking the opening drive 80 yards in seven plays, capped by Taylor Gilley’s 8-yard scoring run. After Clint Babb recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff, the Bucs punched in another touchdown on Wes Crompton’s 1-yard dive.

Trey McCalla returned an interception 30 yards for a TD midway through the second quarter, and it appeared the Bucs would cruise. However, seven Bucs players left the game in the second half with cramps and the Warriors’ defense held Boyd-Buchanan to 6 total yards during Hughes’ absence.

Boyd-Buchanan intercepted Fromke three times, including two picks while the Warriors were inside the Bucs’ 30-yard line.

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