BRANFORD, Fla. — It wasn’t a perfect performance, but Branford still saw exactly what it wanted Friday night at Buccaneer Stadium.

The Buccaneers flew around defensively to earn a shutout while playmakers Aaron McQuay and CJ Pepper delivered more than enough offense for a 29-0 rout of Bell to end the spring.

“I was just really pleased how everything seems to come together,” Branford coach Tim Clark said. “All the answers that we wanted to get, we had pretty favorable outcomes with them.”

Most of what the Bucs wanted to see offensively was what kind of trouble Pepper could cause a defense while moving all around the field.

The answer was plenty.

The rising senior caught four passes, including a touchdown, while also carrying five times for 45 yards and another score.

“Pepper is so versatile,” Clark said. “He’s just a freak athlete. He’s put some weight on and we’re able to move him around a little bit. He played four or five positions tonight.

“We wanted to experiment a little in this game and move him around and create different ways to get him the ball in space. He really showed he could do about anything.”

Early on he caused the Bulldogs’ issues through the air, hauling in two passes on Branford’s first drive, including a 9-yard touchdown.

He finished off the Bucs’ third drive with an 18-yard scoring run without being touched.

When Pepper wasn’t torturing Bell’s defense, McQuay was. The All-State honorable mention selection last fall, McQuay continued to power the Bucs’ offense in the spring game.

A 34-yard run set up the first touchdown and he broke free from 63 yards out on the third play of the third quarter to extend Branford’s lead to 22-0.

McQuay finished with 166 yards on 12 carries as Branford ran for 189 yards on 26 carries through the three quarters of varsity action.

Branford’s final score came on the next drive when Jevin Johnson hit a wide open Junior Cress for a 65-yard touchdown with 8:09 left in the third. Johnson completed 4 of 10 passes for 98 yards, while Seth Heiderman completed both of his pass attempts for six yards.

Cress also registered a safety late in the first half when he sacked Bell quarterback Jonathan Walls for a nine-yard loss.

It was just part of an impressive defensive outing for the Bucs, who limited the Bulldogs to 52 yards through three quarters. Bell rushed for just 7 yards on 29 carries against Branford’s varsity. John Weston Powers paced the Bulldogs with 48 yards on 14 carries, but 27 yards came on four carries in the fourth against the Bucs’ young players.

“I know it’s just a spring game, but it’s been a long time since we had one,” Clark said of the shutout. “I can’t remember one.

“Dylan Bonds and Junior Cress were virtually unstoppable tonight. (Cress) was truly unblock able on the defensive line and Bonds had a great game in there too.”