"You have to believe you're going to do better each play, and that everything's going to work out fine."
Spectacularly, even.
The 6-3, 190-pound Buckley now owns a share of the city-leagues record for touchdown receptions in a game. And, get this, all four of his scores were posted in the final 19 minutes, fueling a 34-6 outburst (28-0 to close things out) that enabled La Salle to triumph, 44-27, in the nonleague classic.
The begoggled Buckley entered halftime with one catch for 8 yards. He finished with nine for 168. The touchdowns came on plays of 9 (fade), 64 (streak), 1 (slant) and 9 yards (another fade), and the lobbing/gunning was done by classmate Matt Magarity, Buckley's longtime, football-activity partner.
Those guys began clicking as seventh-graders for a combo squad that represents St. Genevieve, in Flourtown. After Magarity seized Buckley's job, that is.
"I was a quarterback in sixth grade," Buckley said. "I went out for it again in seventh, but I kind of knew what was going to happen. I was aware of Matt's skills, so when I heard he was joining our team . . . Yup, he took my job. No problem. I always liked catching the ball, anyway. There wasn't much of a transition."
At halftime Saturday, the operative word was confusion.
Magarity, the victim of two early interceptions, had been yanked by coach Drew Gordon with about 8 minutes left in the second quarter for ignoring a team directive. His replacement, Chris Kane, was still directing the Explorers as the third quarter opened.
"I didn't know what [the punishment] was going to be," Gordon said. "Couple series? Rest of the night? I went with my gut. When he got back in there, Matt was outstanding."
