In a meeting of two of the leading HS teams in the Massachusetts IAA league, Boston College High defeated Belmont HS 54-19 Wednesday night.

This was a very good showing for BC High, given that the Eagles had only beaten Xaverian Brothers by a point, and that was a team Belmont had tied. In the first half the expected close game seemed to be panning out. BC High made a couple of decision-making errors and Belmont punished them for two tries.

However, BC High scored four tries and took a 26-12 lead into halftime.

We beat Belmont last night 54-19. We played well throughout. We had some questionable decision making in the first half that Belmont punished and took a 26-12 lead into the half.

"The boys cleaned up those decisions and executed really well in the second half, and while Belmont punched, we answered," said BC High Head Coach Paul Carty.

Both teams looked to garner some territorial advantage, and ultimately it was BC High that had the better of it as their counter-attack was very good.

In addition, said Carty, "our kick-chase and defense were connected, patient, and working cohesively throughout the match."

Add to that the Eagles' discipline—they were penalized just four times in the game—and BC High was not helping Belmont with penalties. Meanwhile, injuries were not helping Belmont, as some key players went down during the match.

Conrad Babka scored three tries for BC High while Mikey Smith, Owen Hurley, Brennan Blind, and Charlie Thomison each scored one try. Thomison ended up with 19 points as he added seven conversions, missing just once. Twice when Belmont was putting something together, BC High intercepted the ball and took it to the house, stifling momentum Belmont was trying to build.

"Credit to BC, they executed their game plan very well and we let ourselves down in a few key areas and it cost us dearly," said Belmont HS Head Coach Greg Bruce. "There attack was sharp, moved the ball well and attacked our edges which caused us some stress. Their defensive effort also put us under a lot of pressure and led to some poor decision-making.

"We gave away too much possession and lost momentum repeatedly throughout and they were clinical in how they capitalized on our mistakes. This was a great opportunity for us to look at the areas we need to improve and come back better next week in our final match and to prepare for the postseason."