Hamilton, Crook Help Stage Major Upset Over Marshfield
Sept. 30, 2007
HYANNIS — How Sweet it was.
The Barnstable Silver Bullets Division 1 Midgets staged the most improbable, passionate and electrifying comeback in the 21-year history of the program last Sunday afternoon, as it scored two touchdowns and a two-point PAT conversion in the game’s final 30 seconds to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat and to send Marshfield home shellshocked.
The score with just 0:29 remaining in the fourth quarter: Marshfield 14, Barnstable 6.
The score when the final 30 seconds of the game had elapsed:
Barnstable 20, Marshfield 14.
Resting easy and thinking that victory was assured — and rightfully so — Marshfield stood poised to score and seal its victory on the Barnstable 1-yard line.
But on the first play from the line of scrimmage Everett Walsh and Chris Lawler put the hammer down on the Marshfield ball carrier, bringing up second down and inches, literally, and all looked dim for the hosts. An offensive miscue between the Marshfield quarterback and star running back Brian May, however, caused the ball to hit the ground. Barnstable’s Tevin Hill pounced on it. Barnstable had one more shot at tying the game up but it was a 100-yard longshot.
Rufus Hamilton got things rolling quickly when he took the ball to the 13-yard line on a beautiful run. On the ensuing play, DJ Crook
found himself rolling right under intense pressure from the Marshfield defense and launched up a beauty, directly into the outstretched hands of the fleet-footed Hamilton.
Hamilton outran the Marshfield secondary 87 yards to make it 14-12 with just 11 seconds on the clock. The Big Bull fullback Damian Johnson — who had Barnstable’s sole score of the day — then put forth an extraordinary effort into the end zone for the two-point conversion. The entire Barnstable crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief, it seemed, as the boys in Red & White had salvaged at least a tie in the the league standings.
But there’s more.
Barnstable kicked off with 8 seconds remaining on the clock and the Marshfield receiver pounced on it. No time came off the clock.
Barnstable went into its prevent defense and for some inexplicable reason, Marshfield opted to go deep. Hill batted down the guest’s first pass. There remained but 0:01 on the clock.
Again, inexplicably, Marshfield set itself to pass, tossing up another Hail Mary.
But this time Crook was there at his own 42-yard line to snare the ball from the sky. What followed was nothing less than unbelievable.
Crook weaved from sideline to sideline through a maze of Marshfield would-be tacklers, leaving a trail of bodies as he sped toward paydirt. The sharp-witted cornerback Kevin Hardy took Crook’s cue and sped downfield to run interference for Crook. With each step Crook took, a fan stood up and gawked. With each diving Marshfield tackler, it seemed the crowd’s roar began to swell like a tidal wave of glee and in one final plunge with a Marshfield defender literally on Crook’s heels, the precocious 8th grader dove into the end zone for victory.
The ecstatic endzone celebration of Barnstable players, fans and coaches could not have been foreseen by anyone in attendance. For thirty nine and half minutes out of forty, Marshfield had appeared to have the game well in hand, and with Crook’s leap into the end zone the guests were left dumbfounded.
The contest began less than auspiciously for the Bullets. Marshfield took the opening kickoff and drove sixty yards for a score, capping the drive with a twenty yard touchdown pass and adding a picture perfect, two point conversion pass for an 8-0 lead.
The Bullets first possession was a three and punt, putting Marshfield back in business for another scoring drive of 65 yards. Marshfield was having their way with Barnstable, as the Bullets were unable to stop the visitors from picking up big chunks of yardage with sweeps and off-tackle plays. When Marshfield’s best back sprinted untouched through the middle for a 15 yard touchdown, it looked like the home team was in for a long afternoon. It hardly seemed to matter that Everett Walsh and Kevin Hardy combined to stop the two point attempt, as Marshfield held a 14-0 lead before the first quarter had ended. However, as is often the case in youth football games; made and missed two point conversions turned out to be critical to the outcome of this contest.
The Bullet offense showed some signs of life on the ensuing possession as quarterback D.J. Crook got the option attack rolling. From the
Bullet thirty yard line, Crook reeled off nine yards on a keeper. A give to Zach Stevens for five yards and a first down was followed by Rufus Hamilton’s 15-yard burst on a counter, good for another first down. Then it was Stevens again for 7 yards, a pitch to Tevin Hill for six yards and another first down, Stevens again for nine yards followed by Hamilton on the pitchout for eight yards and another first down. The Bullets were in the red zone and threatening to make a game of it. The drive however, fizzled out here as the Marshfield defense twice stopped Hill going to the outside and some confusion on the part of the Bullets resulted in an incompletion and Crook being forced to run when looking to pass and coming up short of the first down.
Taking over on downs, Marshfield mounted another drive which looked much like the first two, except that this time an alert fumble recovery by D.J. Crook halted the visitors as they approached the red zone. The teams then exchanged possessions as neither was able to mount a serious scoring threat before the half ended with Marshfield up 14-0.
Barnstable looked like a different team in the second half. Following the kickoff, the Bullets marched 56 yards in 10 rushing plays as D.J. Crook gave the visitors a clinic in option football. Damian Johnson, in at fullback for an injured Stevens, got things going
with a 22 yard burst up the middle on third and eight. Alternating his own keepers with pitches to Hill and Hamilton, Crook deftly guided the Bullets to the Marshfield two yard line, where he handed off to Johnson, who went into the end zone standing up. Although the conversion pass attempt failed, Barnstable was on the board and back in the game, trailing 14-6.
Marshfield took the kickoff and picked up right where they left off in the first half, moving the ball relentlessly down the field, with the sweep play particularly hurting Barnstable. Perhaps Marshfield got bored with running the sweep, for as they neared the end zone they went to the air. Their passer found only the hands of Tevin Hill, who outfought the Marshfield receiver to come up with a big interception at the ten yard line, halting the drive as the third quarter neared to a close.
As the fourth quarter began, the Bullets were on the move offensively, picking up a couple of first downs, the second on a beautiful ten yard counter by Rufus Hamilton on third and 10. Two plays later the momentum shifted as Crook’s deep pass intended for Walsh was picked off by Marshfield.
Marshfield was now in a grind out the clock mode and for the next seven minutes they did just that, moving the ball methodically downfield and using up precious time. The clock ticked under three minutes as the visitors crossed inside the 20 yard line. The Bullets yielded ground more grudgingly then they had on previous Marshfield drives, but could not get the big stop or force the turnover they needed. With under two minutes left, Marshfield was inside the ten. With just over a minute left, it was first and goal at the four for Marshfield. The Bullets gave up two yards on first down, used their second time out, and got a big play from Kevin Hardy who knifed in from his corner position to halt Marshfield’s second down attempt for no gain. Then, on third and goal, the football gods smiled on Barnstable. An unforced error in the Marshfield backfield put the ball on the ground rolling toward the goal line. Tevin Hill fell on the ball at the one foot line.
There were 29 seconds left in the game. Behind by eight points, with no overtime format for regular season games, winning the game was out of the question for Barnstable. Tying the game was only an extremely remote possibility from 99 and 2/3 yards away. The Bullets needed a few big plays and they needed them fast.
Fortunately, this team has some big playmakers. In the last half minute of this game, D.J. Crook, Rufus Hamilton and Damian Johnson would author the most improbable and amazing sequence of big plays ever seen by anyone who saw it happen.
Division 1 Pee Wees Stage Solid, 18-8 Victory Over Marshfield at Home, Now 4-0
The Barnstable Silver Bullets Division 1 Pee Wees upped its record to 4-0 Sunday after a firm, 18-8 victory over previously unbeaten Marshfield.
Barnstable went up 18-0 before allowing a touchdown and two-point conversion in the fourth quarter to the visitors.
Split end Mike Bilodeau joined forces with halfback Marcus Cunningham for Barnstable’s first score of the day, a 37-yard halfback pass.
Cunningham lofted up a beauty and Bilodeau caught it in full stride and rode in easy to the end zone, unscathed.
The Bullets followed with a pretty, 23-yard Hayden Murphy bootleg into paydirt, and then the icing on the cake was a Rob Stuart plunge
to make it 18-0.
Derek Estes and Nathan Yingling also played well for the offense, but it was the offensive line of Josh Bestford, Noah Johnson, Lee Hickey, Pat Thompson, Brandon Wilkinson and Seamus Murray that truly outperformed and outhustled the Marshfield defense throughout the day.
Barnstable’s defense proved impenetrable for the first three-and-half quarters, led by linebackers Cunningham, Conor Walsh and Matt Lambert, as well as cornerbacks Johnny Hardy, Bilodeau and safety Drew Lambert. Andrew Ho and Jarod Johns also played well for the boys in Red & White.
The true defensive piece-de-resistance, however, came on a Joey Antosca blocked punt.
With Marshfield’s backs against the wall in the third quarter, noseguard Antosca blitzed through like a dog unleashed and batted down the Marshfield kick. Marshfield recovered but Walsh was there to bring the ball handler down and the stage was set for Murphy’s bootleg into paydirt.
Division 5 Midgets Defeat Hanover, 20-14
The still unbeaten Barnstable Silver Bullets Division 5 Midgets defeated Hanover Sunday, 20-14, on the road, behind Eric Rogorzenski’s two touchdown passes.
The first pass was 58 yards to Tedaro France and the second one was one of 20 yards to Terrance Mudie. Mudie’s TD in the 4th quarter and a 2 yard run from France in the 4th won the game for the Bullets.
Division 5 Pee Wees Fall to Hanover, 20-0
Despite a “New look” offense, Quarterback Bo Delaney, with Cam Dixon , Trevor Campinha and Joel Bess behind him, the Silver Bullets were frustrated by untimely penalties and a spirited defensive effort by the opposing Hanover team.
The Bullets lost the opening toss, Brendan Bindig kicked off to Hanover, and star running back Colin White returned the kickoff for a 65-yard touchdown.
The Bullets “D” came on the field to stop the extra point attempt. The ensuing kickoff was fielded by Nick Passalugo and the Bullets’ first offensive drive started with a 19-yard run by Trevor Campinha. That drive came up short as the Hanover defense held Barnstable and took over on downs. During the Hanover drive Bess stopped Hanover’s second most effective running back with an open field tackle to prevent a certain touchdown, however that 16-yard run did give Hanover a new set of downs and another chance to strike again.
With 20 seconds left to go in the first quarter, Bindig took down Colin White on a sweep who was in the clear and would have undoubtably scored. On the last play of the quarter, Hanover threw into the end zone and Delaney came out of nowhere and swatted the ball away from on open Hanover receiver.
The first play of the second quarter was a run by Cam Dixon off the left Guard, Dixon ran for 80 yds into the end zone only to have it brought back for an illegal block. The offense could not convert on that set of downs and Hanover’s offense took over on their own 32-yard line.
Hanover took two plays to reach the 12-yard line and on 1st and 10 Hanover ran around the end for their second touchdown. Barnstable’s defense stepped up again to stop Hanover’s point after attempt.
Barnstable fans remained hopeful and Delaney helped to keep those hopes alive as he ran the kickoff back 58 yards and set up the Bullets up for a late first half scoring attempt. That drive fell short and Hanover took over on downs. With time running out Hanover handed the ball off to Colin White and he beat the defense in his way to Hanover’s third touchdown of the first half before speedy DeMichael Johnson caught up to him in the open field and stopped him to end the half.
Hanover tried an onside kick to start the second half that was swallowed up # 34 Sonny Bisazza at the 45 yard line, but the Bullets could not capitalize and punted.The first Hanover drive of the second half was capped pff by another Hanover touchdown and two-point conversion.
The fourth quarter gave the coaching staff an opportunity to shake things up a bit and the fans/parents showed their support and appreciation. The offense had a promising drive going before unfortunately fumbling a snap and turning the ball over on downs. Hanover was driving late in the game and on second down Connor McPherson stripped the ball out of the quarterback’s hands. Hanover recovered the fumble but then Conner Holmes tracked down Hanover’s Q.B. in an open backfield for a sack.
