Brunswick School junior place kicker Oliver Reynolds warmed up on the sideline in the final two minutes of the Bruins’ football team’s game against Williston Northampton School, knowing his opportunity to win the matchup in the final seconds would soon come.

The opportunity did, in fact, come for Reynolds, with two seconds remaining in the game and the Bruins trailing their regular season finale against Williston Northampton by one point.

With all eyes at crowded Cosby Field on him, Reynolds calmly and cooly kicked a 29-yard field goal as time expired, giving Brunswick a 24-22 comeback win over visiting Williston Northampton on Saturday night.

As soon Reynolds’ kick made its way through the uprights, the Bruins team and fans stormed the field in celebration of the dramatic, come-from-behind victory. Williston Northampton called a timeout just before Reynolds attempted the game-winning field goal attempt, giving him time to think about the kick.

“They iced me, but I was confident with all my practice, I would be ready for this,” said Reynolds, who produced a stellar season for the Bruins. “We’ve worked so hard on it in practice, it’s great that it translated into the game.”

Brunswick gave Reynolds a chance to win the game with his strong leg by driving down the field during the final two minutes of action, while facing a one-point deficit.

“It is cold out a little windy,” Reynolds said. “I know the team set us up in a great position. They set me up on the left hash and coach was amazing – he asked me where I wanted to be. I was ready, it is what we practice for and great to see it translate in a real game.”

With the win, Brunswick ended its 2023 season with a record of 5-4. It was a challenging season for the Bruins, who lost their season-opener against Cheshire Academy on the road and was 1-3 at one point, before rallying to win three of their final four games. Brunswick finished the season with two straight victories, as it also beat Trinity-Pawling School at home, 24-0, on Nov. 4.

“Our message over the whole week was to be a villain and what I mean by that is Williston, if they won, they were going to a bowl game and if they lost, they weren’t going to a bowl game, so we wanted to play spoiler,” Brunswick coach Wayne McGillicuddy said. “I’m glad that the boys were able to battle in the face of adversity. Us being put in this situation a couple of times allowed us to come out on the right side.”

Williston Northampton School from Massachusetts needed to defeat the Bruins to finish its season at 6-3 and qualify for a NEPSAC Bowl game. Instead, Williston concluded its 2023 campaign with a 5-4 mark.

Willison Northampton took a 22-21 lead on the Bruins with only 2:32 remaining in the fourth quarter. Running the Wildcat, they scored on a 2-yard touchdown run, cutting the Bruins’ lead to 21-20. The visitors then opted to go for a 2-point conversion and succeeded on a pass play to go ahead, 22-21.

There was no panic in Brunswick, however. The Bruins swiftly drove into Reynolds’ field goal range, moving the ball down the field in 10 plays.

Senior quarterback Elijah Cromartie completed key passes for first downs to sophomore wide receiver Matt Colella and senior running back Bryce Davis during the pivotal drive.

“We knew we could spread them out, we knew their corners were playing off,” Cromartie said of Williston’s defense. “We just wanted to spread them out and see what they were doing. With two minutes left, we had to go to the two-minute drill.”

The hosts took a 7-0 lead on its first drive of the game, marching 75 yards in nine plays. Cromartie’s 36-yard scramble gave the Bruins the ball at the Williston 2-yard line and Davis finished off the drive with a 2-yard run. Reynolds kicked the extra point, making it 7-0 in the opening quarter.

Picking up key first downs, Brunswick increased its lead to 14-0 in the second quarter. Colella and Davis had receptions for first downs during a time-consuming, 16-play drive that saw junior wideout Tyler Lloyd catch a pass down to the 1-yard line. Davis’ 1-yard run through the right side gave the Bruins’ a two-score lead late in the second quarter.

“I’m so happy for this team,” Davis said. “We knew we had to score and we knew we had to go up. I got closed off, but it opened up another way to the end zone.”

Williston Northampton got back into the game, closing to within one score of the Bruins, courtesy of a perfectly executed hook and ladder play off a reception by a wide receiver and a pitch to a second wide receiver, who sprinted down the left sideline. The hook-and-ladder play covered 61 yards on the final play of the second quarter and brought Williston to within 14-7.

Still, Brunswick’s defense did an impressive job of slowing down Williston’s potent offensive unit and limiting their big plays throughout the game.

“Williston is a phenomenally well coached team,” McGillicuddy noted. “They throw everything at you. We knew they were going to throw a lot of stuff at us. They threw three defensive fronts at our offense. They threw the playbook at us defensively.”

Junior linebacker EJ Perez was one of a number of defensive standouts for the Bruins. The 6-foot-2, 270-pound Perez registered a team-high 10 tackles for the game, three of which resulted in lost yardage. He also had a sack in the winning effort.

“We had it going on all phases of the game,” Perez said. “The D-line played great, the D-line went out there with ferocity. The DBs held up their bargain, the linebackers were balling out – they were chasing every ball. This was a game that we played as a unit.”

“We had some good counters to the things they were going to throw at us, knew they were going to come out with all kinds of different stuff – stuff that we hadn’t seen this season,” Perez continued. “So, we came in prepared and I’m really proud of how we did today.”

Senior defensive lineman George Fugelsang also recorded a sack for the Bruins. Williston Northampton knotted the score at 14-14 by reaching the end zone on a touchdown pass of approximately 30 yards with 3:01 left in the third quarter.

Brunswick regained the lead when Cromartie connected with senior tight end Luke Hublitz for a 7-yard scoring strike, capping a nine-play, 64-yard drive midway through the fourth quarter. The touchdown made it 21-14 in the Bruins’ favor.

Indeed, Cromartie will cherish his Brunswick football career, which included a NEPSAC Class A Bowl championship in 2022.

“It’s been an amazing journey, meeting new people, meeting new coaches, my amazing coaches – the new friendships, the new connections I’ve made at the school,” Cromartie said. “This is a great way to go out. I’m proud of every experience I had here. Everybody had a part of this game and I’m proud of everybody.”

For the juniors, as well as the underclassmen on the team, this season served as a valuable learning experience.

“This is a great springboard for us in the future,” Perez noted. “This is what Brunswick football is all about. We’re about winning some tough, gritty games and showing that we can withstand adversity.”

“We went through a lot of adversity this season, but we have a lot to springboard us forward,” Perez added. “We’ve been through a lot and hopefully, we could withstand that a little better next season.”

Brunswick will graduate a large list of seniors from the 2023 squad.

“We are losing a good group of seniors – 20 seniors,” McGillicuddy said. “They are in key positions and key people. I am hoping this momentum pushes us through the offseason and we can build off this and we remember the feeling when we were 1-3.”