Castellanos (10 of 16, 140 yards passing) hit Bond (6 catches, 102 yards) for a 42-yard pass with 1:28 remaining, then Tucker, a Catholic Memorial product, intercepted a pass with 36 seconds left and made the sack. Tucker stayed on the field and his momentum carried him Lambeau Leap-style into the student section.

The Eagles (3-1) played a video tribute to Welles Crowther, a Boston College graduate credited with rescuing at least a dozen people from the south tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. A crowd of 44,500 braved the steady rain to create one of the loudest crowds in British Columbia in recent memory.

The Spartans (3-1) took advantage of the momentum early, taking a 3-0 lead with 9:11 left in the first quarter on a 41-yard field goal by Jonathan Kim. Kim converted all four of his field goal attempts, including a 27-yard field goal for a 19-16 lead with 4:12 left, capping a devastating 18-play, 89-yard drive that lasted 9:24.

BC pushed deep into Michigan State territory, but Cal Haladay forced a costly fumble from Treshaun Ward at the 7-yard line. The Eagles held an 81-33 yard lead in the first quarter and owned the ball for nearly 10 minutes, but Michigan State entered the second quarter with a 3-0 lead.

Freshman Turbo Richard gave BC a 6-3 lead with an 11-yard run that bounced outside and found daylight with 12:22 left in the half. Richard showed promise in training camp and immediately carved out a key role for himself. However, Luca Lombardo missed the extra point after a high snap.

Michigan State responded when quarterback Aidan Chiles (17 of 34, 241 yards, 2 interceptions) found Montorie Foster Jr. for a 40-yard pass and then ran in on a 1-yard run of his own. The Spartans nearly struck again, but Carter Davis intercepted a floating pass from Chiles late in the half. Whenever Chiles took risks, the Eagles made him pay for them.

MSU scored a field goal late when BC’s Neto Okpala made a key stop on a third-and-3 attempt in the final minute. The Spartans took a 13-6 lead into halftime and held BC to 20 passing yards, eight first downs and 1-for-5 on third downs at halftime.

BC’s offense struggled early in the rain and was unable to consistently gain yards against Michigan State’s strong defense.

Then chaos erupted in BC’s favor, starting with the halftime kickoff. Davis, a promising redshirt freshman, ripped the ball off Kay’Ron Lynch-Adams and Omar Thornton pounced on it at the MSU 7.

The Eagles couldn’t make anything of it as Castellanos went into reverse on the third attempt, but Lombardo sank a 39-yard field goal to cut the score to 13-9.

Amari Jackson intercepted a pass from Chiles, then Ward (14 attempts, 102 yards) shot in from 36 yards and gave the Eagles a 16-13 lead with 12:22 minutes left in the third quarter.

After a largely uninspiring first half, BC quickly got going with a 10-0 run in the first two minutes. The Eagles sensed the urgency of the moment and entered halftime refreshed and energized.

Kim scored another field goal, this time from 49 meters, to tie the score at 16-16 with 9:06 minutes left in the quarter.

Neither team scored the rest of the third quarter, then the Spartans stopped Castellanos on his fourth attempt and goal from the one early in the fourth period.

The Eagles couldn’t return the favor moments later, as MSU converted on fourth-and-1 from its own 42-yard line. Kim eventually sank a 27-yard field goal as the Spartans took a 19-16 lead with 4:12 left.

Then Castellanos, Bond and Tucker delivered in the decisive phase and secured the decisive victory for the Eagles.

Trevor Hass can be reached at [email protected].