Div. 5 Pee Wees Silver Bullets Battle It Out With Hingham to 8-8 Tie

For three quarters, the Barnstable Silver Bullets Division 5 Mites battled Hingham with a fiery defense, but were met with equal fervor by their opponents when trying to score. After three quarters, Saturday night's game at W. Leo Shields Memorial Field was deadlocked at 0-0. The final tally would be Barnstable 8, Hingham 8, leaving Barnstable at 2-1-1 on the still young season.

              But in the 4 th quarter, facing a 4 th and 2 situation on the five-yard line, running back Charlie Rice broke the ice, punching it in to make it Barnstable 6, Hingham 0. Rice quickly followed suit and drove into the end zone for a two-point PAT conversion to make it 8-0, Barnstable.

              Barnstable then held Hingham with an amazing effort by its defense. Taking the ball over deep in its own territory, Barnstable tried desperately to move the ball toward midfield, but Hingham would not relent. With a 4th and 11 situation on its own 9-yard line with 2:35 to go in the game, Barnstable had no choice but to punt. Punter Devin Broadley sent it 22 yards to the Barnstable 22.

              Hingham then went to work and chipped away and in seven plays ended passing into the end zone to Matt King for the touchdown. Only 0:05 seconds remained in the game. Hingham punched it in. The score was tied 8-8 with not enough time for Barnstable to try and get it back.

              The line backing trio of Kevin Ostrom, Dominique Tillman and Damon Blake played a phenomenally tough game with Blake collecting 5.5 tackles on defense and special teams (including two sacks). Tillman collected 3.5 tackles on the day, followed by Ostrom with two.

              Other solid defensive efforts came from defensive end Everett Walsh with three tackles (one on special teams), Zach Stevens (2), Charlie Rice (2), Theo France (2), Cam Crocker (2), Curtis Collopy (1.5), Rob Dombrowski (1.5), Nick Cincotta (1.5), Bob Melley (1.5) and James Starkey and Caleb Eldredge who made a great combo hit on a kickoff return.

              On offense, Ostrom was a steaming mad bull with the ball, rushing seven times for 31 yards, while Rice was 5-31, Blake was 6 for 32, France was 5-15, Tillman was 1-3 and Scotty Warren had one carry for a gain of one yard. Blake was 1-5 passing with one completion to Walsh for 7 yards and a first down.

The Play-by-Play

              Bob Melley kicked off to Hingham , followed by a good midfield tackle by Everett Walsh, and then the Barnstable defense went to work.

              Blake made the first hit from his slot at outside linebacker, bringing up 2nd and 8, followed by a super hit by Melley, Cam Crocker and Ostrom up the gut to bring up 3rd and 8. Ostrom connected again to stuff the Hingham ball carrier to bring up 4th and 8, but Hingham opted for the outside and picked up the first down, with outside linebacker Dominique Tillman tracking the ball carrier down.

              Blake and Walsh converged on the next play to bring up 2nd and 9 with 4:16 remaining in the first quarter. A 10-yard completion gave Hingham another first down, with Tillman making the tackle. Ostrom followed with yet another solid hit up the gut to bring up 3rd and 10. Defensive tackle Zach Stevens then connected solo, bringing up 4 th and 3. Blake blitzed and picked up the sack, giving Barnstable the ball.

              A fumble on Barnstable's first offensive play put the Bullets in a precarious but not insurmountable 2 nd and 15 situation. Ostrom then got the nod and picked up five yards to bring up 3rd and 10 to end the first quarter. The score: Barnstable 0, Hingham 0.

              A Barnstable fumble started the second quarter and Hingham recovered at midfield.

              The Barnstable defense would not relent and great tackles by France, Blake, Tillman and cornerback Stephen Huska found Barnstable back in charge on offense again with a 1st and 10 on the 31.

              Ostrom took the rock first, gaining but a yard as the Hingham defense began to come alive. Ostrom said “no problem” and took off for his biggest run of the day – 11 yards – for the first down. Charlie Rice took the ball on the ensuing play, gaining 4 yards to bring up 2 nd and 6 with 3:26 remaining in the first half.

              Ostrom – aka “The Raging Bull” – then barreled his way four yards to bring up 3rd and 2. Blake opted to keep it on the ensuing play, but took a hard, 4-yard loss to bring up a critical 4th and 6. Blake rolled out and found tight end Everett Walsh who took a hit but dragged his man an extra yard for the first down. The blocking up front of Chris Lawler, Zach Stevens, Cam Crocker, Cam Lariviere and Alex Grove seemed to be clicking just fine.

              Barnstable followed with a tough personal foul call for a loss of 10 yards on the ensuing play, however, bringing up 1st and 25. Blake tried rolling out to hit Walsh in the flat once more, but his throw was almost intercepted and fell to the ground, incomplete to make it 2nd and 25. Scotty Warren then got the call and gained a yard to bring up 3rd and 24 with 0:23 remaining in the half. Blake took matters into his own hands, then, and jaunted 20 yards to bring up 4th and 4 with 0:11 left in the half. A pass to Nick Cincotta fell to the ground, ending the half.

              Barnstable appeared charged up after the halftime intermission as evidenced by Charlie Rice's 16-yard kickoff return. On 1st and 10, Rice took it three yards to bring up 2nd and 7, followed by Ostrom with a nice 8-yard run for the first down.

              France followed suit with a 4-yard run of his own to bring up 2nd and 6, followed once again by Ostrom who bulled his way five yards to make it 3rd and 1. Blake took it himself and picked up the first down to bring the ball down to the Hingham 16-yard-line.

              A fumble on the first play on the 16 was recovered by France to make 2nd and 10 from the 16. Barnstable seemed unable to advance and with 1:52 left and 4th and 2 on the 5, Blake took it two yards for the first down.

              Ostrom charged forward for a yard to bring up 2 nd and 2, but then Blake took a hard sack for a loss of four yards to bring up 3rd and six. France picked up four yards to end the third quarter.

              On 4th and 2, Charlie Rice answered the call, scoring the first touchdown of the day for either team and giving Barnstable a 6-0 lead. He followed right after with a successful two-point conversion to make it 8-0.

              Following a nice kickoff tackle by James Starkey and Caleb Eldredge, Barnstable found itself defending its lead at midfield.

              Curtis Collopy made the first hit, followed by Cincotta on an attempted end around. Walsh followed with a tackle and then cornerback Rob Dombrowski added one in to bring up 4th and 5 on the 14. Crocker and Dombrowski converged on the next play on a pass completion, stopping the receiver cold in his tracks. Barnstable recovered the ball on downs with just 3:36 remaining in the game.

              On first and 10, Ostrom carried the rock once more, gaining three yards to bring up 2nd and 7. France took the ball on the next play, gaining two to make it 3rd and five. Hingham took a time out with just 2:46 on the clock. France then took a hard hit in the backfield for a loss of six yards to bring up 4th and 11. Hingham took another time out with 2:39 remaining on the clock.

              Forced to punt from its own 9-yard line, Devin Broadley sent it 35 yards to give Hingham the ball on Barnstable 's 22-yard line with 2:23 remaining in the game (Blake made the tackle on the punt return).

              Cincotta and Melley combined on Hingham 's first play to drop the ball carrier for a five-yard loss to bring up 2nd and 15. Hingham then tried to pass to the other side of the field and completed it, but before the Hingham receiver could gain a yard he was taken down hard by Walsh.

              With Hingham now at 3rd and 15, Barnstable had a huge opportunity to shut the door, but Hingham went to the air once more and connected, gaining 17 yards before Rice brought the receiver down. Just 0:46 remained, but Hingham was suddenly on the 10-yard line. An incomplete pass to the end zone and then a six-yard run left Hingham with 3rd and 4 with 0:40 remaining. Saving his best effort for last, defensive tackle Zach Stevens pursued and took the ball carrier down hard, stopping him short of the first down.

              Now with 0:13 left and no time outs, Hingham had no choice but to pass, and it worked once more, this time a connection to Matt King in the end zone to make it Barnstable 8, Hingham 6. Only 0:05 remained on the clock. Running inside, Hingham got what it needed and scored the game-tying two-point PAT to knot it at 8-8.

              Barnstable received the ball and had it at midfield with 0:02 left, but a Charlie Rice run could not take care of things and time ran out.