D1 Mites Deadlock with Hingham , Head to Playoffs

HYANNIS – In perhaps the most exciting game of this season, the Barnstable Silver Bullets D1 Mites staved off a relentless Hingham offense Saturday night at home, ending in a 0-0 tie to close the regular season.
      The D1 Mites finish at 5-1-2 on the season and now head to the playoffs this weekend. The top four teams in the Old Colony Youth Football League standings square off this weekend with the winners of each game earning a spot in the D1 Mites Super Bowl. Barnstable fell to Bridgewater last year, 21-0, in the Super Bowl.
      But if Saturday night’s 0-0 tie versus Hingham showed anything, it showed how resilient and tough the Barnstable defense is this season.
      Superlative defensive play was handed in by middle linebacker Cam Crocker, noseguard Andrew Ellis, tackles Devin Broadley and Damian Johnson and defensive ends Bob Melley and Everett Walsh. Kevin Hardy, Steven Huska and Curtis Collopy also added great pursuit in the defensive backfield. Crocker, Ellis, Walsh and Broadley each collected solo quarterback sacks on the day. Crocker collected five tackles on the day, followed by Ellis with four, Walsh with four, Melley with four, Huska with three and Johnson with three.

    “As much as I hate ties, the defense played their butts off,” Head Coach Paul Hickey said. “The defense made a great stand.”
      Melley, Crocker, Tedero Franz and Charlie Rice each contributed to a solid running game, but inopportune fumbles – one in the red zone – and an inability to convert in fourth down situations, cost Barnstable its hope of putting the ball in the end zone.
Regardless, the defense notched its fourth consecutive shutout (fifth overall), and if it showed anything this day, it showed an unwillingness to give up, symbolized in a fourth quarter defensive stint that will not soon be forgotten.
      On 2nd and 8 to start the fourth quarter, Hingham controlled the ball and had been gaining good ground on a Barnstable defense that had spent the better part of the entire game on the field. A five-yard offsides penalty put Hingham at their own 45, and made it 2nd and 13. Then Hingham busted outside for 33 yards, a long run that was saved by Collopy. But Hingham now had a first down at the Barnstable 22 yard line.
      On 1st and 10 at the 7:15 mark, Hingham pushed hard up the middle for six yards, ended by a nice Ellis tackle. On 2nd and 4, Ellis again hit the Hingham back hard, hard enough to stop the Hingham running back just inches short of a first down.
      Now at 3rd and 1 with 6:30 on the clock, Hingham staged a perfect quarterback sneak for the first down. With the ball on the 10-yard line and 6:09 remaining, it would have taken an almost superhuman effort by any good football team to keep its opponent out of the end zone.
      And it was that precise type of effort that was handed in by noseguard Andrew Ellis. On 1st and 10 on the 10-yard line, in an almost instantaneous flash upon the snap of the ball, Ellis leapt midair across the line of scrimmage and sacked the quarterback for a loss of two yards. Now 2nd and 12 and Barnstable fired up by their teammate’s effort, the defense jumped the gun and went offsides resulting in a 5-yard penalty to place the ball at the 7-yard line. On the ensuing play, Hingham tried to get outside, but Hardy and D’Olimpio met the Hingham running back and took him down, making it 3rd and goal with 4:25 left in the game.
      Hingham tried to run the ball inside but this time was met by an entire wall of Barnstable defenders at the goal line. The next play, on 4th and goal on the goal line with 3:13 remaining in the game, could very well have been the definitive defensive play for the D1 Mites this season.
      Trying to get around defensive end Bob Melley, Melley fought off his blocker and wrapped the ball carrier around the legs and just as the ball carrier was about to lean forward and break the goal line plane, middle linebacker Cam Crocker hammered him hard and helped Melley bring him down. Barnstable took the ball over, on its own goal line, with 3:10 to go in the ball game.
      With 1st and 10, the ball went to Melley who got stopped on the 1-yard line. On 2nd and 10, Crocker got the ball for a gain of two yards. On 3rd and 8, Melley got the ball on halfback option pass and under heavy pressure fired one to tight end Everett Walsh, but the ball fell incomplete. On 4th and 8, Barnstable was forced to punt from its end zone. Broadley shanked it, but almost miraculously it tipped off the Hingham receiver’s hand and Barnstable recovered the ball.
      Now on the 14-yard-line with 1:47 remaining, Melley got the nod for the halfback option again, but this time he was sacked for a loss of 8 yards. Deep in its own territory and struggling to move the ball, Barnstable had no choice but to punt again. This time, Broadley lofted an amazing 32-yard bomb, a critical kick that put Hingham in a bind to score. With 1:16 left, Hingham had one last chance.
      On the 35-yard line, Hingham tried forcing it up the middle but was halted abruptly from going further when the ball carrier was met full force by Crocker and Theodore France. On 2nd and 9 from the 34, the Hingham was forced to spike the ball to stop the clock. With no time outs remaining, Hingham soon found itself at 3rd and 9 with 0:52 remaining.
      Opting for a crafty double reverse, the Hingham ball carrier busted loose but was brought down at the 11-yard line by Collopy and D’Olimpio. On the 11 with 0:42 to go, but bolstered by a 1st and 10 situation, Hingham was met full force by a stunting Broadley who sacked the quarterback as his arm was poised to toss. The play was good for a 12-yard loss by the revved up Barnstable “D.”
      With 0:37 to go and 2nd and 10, the Hingham ball carrier busted up the gut but again was met by Crocker, leaving Hingham no choice but to spike the ball once more. Hingham ’s last chance was 4th and 6 with 0:12 to go. Opting once more to try and get outside, the Hingham ball carrier was met full force by cornerback Steven Huska who stopped the ball carrier dead in his tracks.
      Allowed just five seconds on the clock, Melley dropped back for his third halfback option attempt of the day and completed it to Charlie Rice, but Rice could not break free and time ran out.
“Our defense did a very, very nice job. They played very tough,” said Coach Hickey. “This was a tough team we played.”