Close at halftime, Brunswick School’s varsity football team’s Homecoming game against Cheshire Academy quickly opened up once the second half began, much to the delight of head coach Wayne McGillicuddy’s squad and the large crowd, many of whom were alumni, at sunny Cosby Field.

Long touchdown passes, powerful scoring runs, interceptions, fumble recoveries and all-around physical play resulted in a Happy Homecoming Day for Brunswick, which continued its quest for an undefeated season.

Quarterback Ben Rolapp produced an outstanding performance, completing 15 of 17 passes for 302 yards with three touchdown passes and two rushing scores in Brunswick’s impressive 41-14 Homecoming Day victory over Cheshire Academy. The win ran the Bruins’ record to 5-0 heading into Saturday’s Senior Day game against Northeast Prep League rival Phillips Andover Academy. The Bruins amassed 432 yards of offense, while limiting Cheshire Academy to 166 yards of total offense. Brunswick led the visiting Cats, 20-14, at halftime, but dominated the second half, outscoring the visitors, 21-0.

Rolapp spoke of the balance the Bruins displayed on offense, mixing the pass and run pretty evenly throughout the game while keeping Cheshire Academy’s defense on its heels.

“I thought this was much more of a 50/50 game,” said Rolapp, who is having another standout season as the Bruins’ starting QB. “The games before this we’ve been reliant on one or another. I think we were very good at balancing it better and it just makes for a better offense as a whole.”

Running back Sawyer Bligh, the Bruins’ leading rusher, gained 105 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries to pace the victors’ ground game against Cheshire Academy.

“First it started with the offensive line and the coaches,” Bligh said of the Bruins’ success on offense on their Homecoming. “The coaches had a great game plan and the O-Line has been working their tail off, so it was a great win.”

Wide receiver Alex McCormack was one of Rolapp’s favorite targets to throw to on this Happy Homecoming Day for Brunswick. McCormack caught three passes, two of which were for long touchdowns, for 122 yards.

“I give props to our running back Sawyer Bligh and our O-line for driving us down the field and then setting up a big play,” McCormack said. “We were trying to pound the ball, make them fill the box and throw it over the top.”

Dynamic wide receiver Noah Park had a team-high six receptions, gaining 80 yards in the process for Brunswick, which was coming off a resounding 55-7 triumph on the road against Belmont Hill School. The high-scoring Bruins are averaging 36 points per game through five weeks, while their stingy defense is allowing just 12 points a contest. McGillicuddy knew his team would have to remain focused and make several in-game adjustments against Cheshire Academy’s defense.

“We knew they were going to come out with a different type of defense,” McGillicuddy said. “Every game they’ve kind of done something different to stop the offense. It’s actually what they did to us two seasons ago. We knew we were going to get that three high safety look, so we had plans for it. Our guys have to deal with adversity to overcome it, but we were executing on some drives.”

The Bruins had the advantage in this matchup from the opening kickoff. Cheshire Academy fumbled the kickoff to start the game, Brunswick recovered the fumble and took over at the Cats’ 20-yard line. Four plays later, Bligh bulled his way into the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown run. Placekicker Julian Dyson split the uprights with his point-after attempt, giving the Bruins a 7-0 lead with 9:59 remaining in the first quarter.

The Cats moved the ball a bit on their first drive, behind the tough running out of the backfield by Jacob Macarz. However, Cheshire’s drive was halted courtesy of an interception by defensive back Madsen Erhart, one of the Bruins’ captains. Erhart has been a standout in the secondary, picking off several passes this season.

The Bruins seized a two-score lead five seconds into the second quarter. That’s when Rolapp dropped back to pass and threw a 21-yard scoring strike to Park, who got open in the left corner of the end zone, on the first play of the second quarter. Dyson kicked the extra point, capping ‘Wick’s effective drive, putting the hosts on top, 14-0.

“It was a great play call and Ben placed it perfectly,” said Park, one of the Bruins’ captains, of his touchdown reception. “This was our most complete game as an offense. All of our receivers were firing.”

“We didn’t know what they were going to give us, so we had to adjust on the fly,” Park said of adjusting to Cheshire Academy’s defensive schemes. “We had great play calling, great routes, great running, great blocking and we executed as a team.”

The visiting Cats closed to within 14-7 with a touchdown pass at the 3:57 mark of the second quarter, but the Bruins quickly responded. In shotgun formation, Rolapp took the snap and darted up the middle for a 5-yard touchdown run, putting Brunswick ahead by two scores again, 20-7, with only 23 seconds to go in the second quarter.

Rolapp completed key passes to Park and Chase Hummel and Bligh had effective carries during ‘Wick’s third scoring drive. Cheshire Academy brought momentum into halftime, as it again made it a one-score game on the ensuing kickoff.

A speedy Cats athlete ran the ensuing kickoff 60 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown, making it a 20-14 game in the closing seconds of the second quarter. That’s the closest the Cats got, however, as the Bruins proceeded to impose their will in the second half.

Rolapp lofted a 37-yard touchdown pass to McCormack with 2:23 remaining in the third quarter, giving the home team a 27-14 advantage and the momentum.

“I give props to our running back Sawyer Bligh and our O-line for driving us down the field and then setting up a big play,” McCormack said of his TD reception. “We were trying to pound the ball, make them fill the box and throw it over the top.”

Brunswick’s offensive linemen – Ian Sims, Oliver Sims, Cal Tompkins, Manny Jjuuko and Kovanni McKiernan – provided excellent blocking the whole game, protected Rolapp well and gave the running backs room to move down the field.

“Being able to get the O-line going and being able to run the ball when they went to their light box and then when they started putting more in the box, you throw it over their head,” McGillicuddy said of how the offense operated versus Cheshire.

Brunswick’s defense didn’t yield many yards to Cheshire Academy, especially in the second half. Linebacker Oliver Caspi registered a team-leading 11 tackles, two of which resulted in lost yardage, for the Bruins (5-0).

Defensive back/captain Ryder Swenson recorded 10 tackles, Erhart intercepted a pass and Matt Keating recovered a fumble for ‘Wick, which saw Nick Warden, MJ Maraglino, Harrison Hantman and a host of others make key tackles.

“We knew it was going to be a challenge,” Caspi said of facing Cheshire Academy’s offense. “We came out flying and we worked as one unit, as one heartbeat and we got the job done. They’ve got some hard-hitting guys. The name of the game is just being physical and being able to show up and doing the hard stuff and I think we all did that today and we got a good team win.”

As for Bruins sporting a spectacular record of 5-0?

“It’s a good feeling, obviously it hasn’t happened in a while,” Caspi noted. “But it’s important that you don’t get distracted and you just stay focused from week to week. We’re looking to improve to 6-0 next week.”

Rolapp reached the end zone on a 5-yard run, then threw an 85-yard touchdown pass to McCormack in the fourth quarter, sealing the Bruins’ Homecoming scoring.

“They did a lot of different things leading up to this game, we didn’t really know what they were going to come out in, because they’ve shown so many different things,” Rolapp said of Cheshire’s defense. “Once we figured out what they were going to do in the first quarter, I feel we hit our stride and got going.”

Said McCormack: “It’s great to take what they give us and we took it and we executed. I think it was great, we equaled it perfectly. We ran the ball, got them to fill the box, then threw it over their head. Or we’d keep throwing it, made them spread out in the box and keep running it – we really balanced it perfectly and I think it was great execution from our offense.”

Rolapp appreciated how well the offense executed throughout this midseason matchup.

“I’m just trying to get those guys as much stats as I can, I’m trying to get the ball in the end zone,” the Bruins’ signal caller said. “The O-line protected me so I could get it down there.”

Said Bligh: “We have, I think, the best quarterback in the entire country, Ben Rolapp. He’s the hardest worker and a great leader. We’re very excited, we just have to keep our head down and go 1-0 every single week, so it’s very exciting.”

Park mentioned how each unit has picked each other up throughout the first five games of the fall.

“Our defense and our offense is going at it every day, we’re always going at it trying to make each other better and make each other the best players that we can be,” Park noted. “So, that dynamic is there and it shows in the game. When our offense isn’t playing as good, our defense shows up, like in the Avon game and vice versa. I feel like today was the first complete game where all three facets of the game we showed very strong.”

Indeed, the Bruins are successfully putting all three facets of the game together, which has resulted in five consecutive wins.

“The defense played lights out, they’re phenomenal,” McGillicuddy said. “They are playing at a really high level and they need to just keep showing up and keep getting better every single week, because it is a dogfight.”

Here are more scenes from Brunswick’s 41-14 Homecoming win over Cheshire Academy.