Division 5 Mites Deadlock with Hingham , 22-22

The Division 5 Mites engaged Hingham Saturday night at W. Leo Shields Memorial Field in one of the most exciting games of the still young season, but had to settle for a 22-22 tie. The tie, however, left Barnstable in first place in the Old Colony Youth Football League Division 5 Mites standings, one point ahead second place Hingham .

              The Mites head to Scituate this Sunday (Oct. 10) for an 11:30 a.m. game.

              Both sides of the ball for Barnstable played exceptionally well throughout the game.

              On offense, quarterback Hayden Murphy punched in two touchdowns and tailback Darien Kaski had one. Murphy added a two-point PAT rush into the end zone and defensive stalwart Marcus Cunningham collected a critical safety for his team's remaining two points.

              On offense, Kaski had the best game of his young career on offense and defense, carrying the ball 13 times for 171 yards (touchdown), including two runs of 20 yards and runs of 26, 33, and 43 yards, respectively. Halfback Cunningham carried the ball 10 times as well, for 38 yards on the day. Fullback Conor Walsh collected 37 yards on 9 carries, including two first downs. Murphy carried the ball 9 times for a total of 48 yards. Kaski also had a beautiful 35-yard kickoff return, giving him 206 all-purpose yards on the day.

              On defense, the key play of the day was late in the 4 th quarter following a game-tying touchdown by Hingham . Tied 22-22, Barnstable held Hingham on its two-point conversion try, when cornerback Greg Harris and defensive end Rob Stuart combined to nail the Hingham ball carrier as he tried to get outside, forcing him out of bounds. The other key defensive play of the day belonged to Cunningham, who, from his slot at outside linebacker, singlehandedly took down the Hingham quarterback for a sack in the end zone for a safety.

              Perhaps its most exciting offensive drive of the day came with 2:38 left in the 4 th quarter. Following an offsides penalty, leaving Barnstable at 1 st and 15 on its own 30-yard line, Kaski bolted for the first down on a 20-yard run, bringing the ball to midfield at the 50.

              Cunningham then punched it up the gut for a five-yard gain, making it 2 nd and 5. Walsh followed with a 3-yard gain up the middle to bring up 3 rd and 2. Murphy then rolled wide right and picked up 20 yards, but the play was called back due to a holding call on Barnstable . Kaski would have none of it and on 3 rd and 7 took the ball 20 yards for the first down. Murphy then picked up 7 yards on a fine gain and Kaski followed once more with a six-yard jaunt to pick up another critical first down. Barnstable now had the ball on Hingham 's 3-yard line with only 0:15 seconds to go in the game. Murphy tried to punch it in and picked up 2 yards to put it on the 1-yard line, but with no time outs remaining, Barnstable ran out of luck and the game ended, 22-22.

              Outstanding defensive efforts were turned in all day by a Barnstable defense that had a tough time containing the outside lanes, but did not relent up the middle.

              Cunningham led all tacklers with four on the day, followed by Kaski (3), Stuart (2.5), Walsh (2.5), Murphy (2), Matt Lambert (2), defensive tackle Clyde Perry (1), Harris (1) and Hickey (0.5). Drew Lambert and Danny Skala also played well from the free safety slot while Justus Chafee played a solid game from the noseguard and defensive tackle positions.

The Play-by-Play

              Barnstable came out of the starting gates, slightly off-kilter, fumbling the first hand-off, but recovering the ball to bring up 2 nd and 12. Cunningham then took the rock for a gain of 5 to bring up 3 rd and 7 at the 28 yard line. Muprhy then got dropped for a loss of four yards to bring up 4 th and 11. No matter, Murphy then took the ball on his own and rambled 19 yards for the first down.

              Walsh got the first nod for a gain of 1 to bring up 2 nd and 9, but things looked awry when Murphy got nowhere on a broken play to bring up 3 rd and 9. Again, Barnstable fumbled on the ensuing play but recovered it to bring up 4 th and 10. Kaski got the call and jaunted 7 yards, but it was not enough. Middleboro took over at midfield.

              Hingham took advantage of good field position and in three plays picked up a first down and looked ready to roll. They did. On 1 st and 10 from the 40, Hingham broke outside and went all the way for the first score of the day. It followed with a two-point conversion and the score was Hingham 8, Barnstable 0.

              Following Drew Lambert's second kick return of the day, Walsh got the opening nod to try and get things rolling for the boys in red and gray. He went four yards to bring up 2 nd and 6. Kaski then saw an opportunity and capitalized on it, rolling 43 yards for the first down to put the ball on the Hingham 36.

              Cunningham then crushed through a sea of white and black to pick up 8 yards, followed by a Murphy first down jaunt. Kaski did the same, running nine yards to bring up 2 nd and 1. Walsh got the call to try and get the first down and he did just that, picking up six yards and the first.. He got the call again, this time picking up 2 to bring up 2 nd and 8. Situated on the 4-yard line, Murphy then rolloed right and punched it into paydirt to make it, 8-6, Hingham still ahead. The two-point PAT was no good on a holding penalty on Barnstable .

              On Hingham 's first offensive play at the 40-yard line, it made Barnstable pay dearly for a weak contain, running 60 yards for the touchdown. Barnstable found itself behind 14-6, its spirits dampened. The two-point PAT was good, and Hingham enjoyed a 16-6 lead.

              Not happy with the way things were rolling, Kaski came out firing on all cylinders, running the ball 35 yards on Hingham 's kickoff. Cunningham got the nod and gained four yards to bring up 2 nd and 6. Kaski got the call next, and eked out one yard to bring up 3 rd and 5. Murphy took the ball himself on the ensuing play, gaining three yards to bring up 4 th and 2. Walsh came in and got the job done, gaining four critical yards for the first down. Two plays later, Murphy headed for glory and his second touchdown of the day, a 16-yard run into paydirt to make it 16-12. The PAT was no good..

              Hingham picked right up where it left off, however, gaining 20 yards on the outside before being brought down by defensive end Rob Stuart. Still charged up, Kaski bolted in from his slot at cornerback to drop Hingham for a loss of 3 to bring up 2 nd and 7. Again, Hingham rolled wide and again they picked up a huge gain of 25 yards for the first down. Lucky for Barnstable , this play ended the first half.

              Hingham still had momentum rolling into the opening of the second half and roll it did, chewing up the entire third quarter on offense before finding itself pushed back to its own goal line due to penalties and a fired up Barnstable defense. With its back to the proverbial wall, Hingham tried rolling outside once more, but this time Barnstable was ready for them. Cunningham made the read from his slot at outside linebacker, raced into the end zone and nabbed the Hingham quarterback for the safety to make it 16-14, Barnstable. Hingham was forced to kickoff from its own 20 and Barnstable looked ready to strike.

              Strike it did.

              In appreciation of his fine defensive effort, Cunningham got the nod and raced 11 yards before being brought down. He got the call again, this time for a gain of four yards to bring up 2 nd and 6. Walsh picked up one yard on the next carry to make it 3 rd and 5. Enter Kaski. Seemingly prepared for anything this day, Kaski took off with the ball for 33 yards and Barnstable 's third score of the day. Barnstable had the lead, 20-16. A two-point PAT by Murphy was good and Barnstable had the lead 22-16, with the third quarter expired.

              Hingham came back and came back hard, but not before meeting the hard hits of Clyde Perry, Stuart, Kaski, Cunningham and Walsh. Sadly, the Barnstable defense broke down and Hingham took advantage of the cornerback, heading 35 yards for the touchdown to tie the game.

              Barnstable showed its true mettle, though, stuffing the two-point PAT try when Greg Harris and Stuart stepped into the breach. The score remained deadlocked, 22-22, with Barnstable having just 3:00 minutes to get the job done.

              The combination of Kaski, Cunningham and Walsh churned up 28 combined yards on the first 4 plays, but two key penalties (offsides and holding) kept Murphy from putting the ball at the Hingham 19 with a minute left to go. Kaski said “So what” and picked the 20 yards up on the ensuing play to give Barnstable the first down.

              Respective runs of seven, six and two yards by Murphy and Kaski placed the ball on the one yard line, but with the clock ticking away and no time outs left, Barnstable lost its chance for a last-second victory.