Blowouts are hard. The team getting blown out can eventually begin to feel that they have nothing more to lose and don't care any more. It's good that you and your partner were aware of the sitch and were calling it tight. As for the attempted push, this is an obvious escalation and, I think, must be handled. Nothing good will come of you letting 'em skate, as JR put it. One, or more, of three things could very easily happen if you don't call the T:
- B1 will soon do something worse
- B2 will see that you didn't whack B1 and do something similar, or worse
- A1, or A2, will see that you didn't handle it, and decide to "handle it" for you
It sounds like you got out of the situation with no harm. Congrats. I think that's the best you can hope for in a 40 point blowout.
I have a related question for the brain trust: At what point would you consider forfeiting a blowout that had gotten, or was getting, out of control?