Div. 5 Pee Wees Silver Bullets Defeat Hanover , 14-6

 

In a complete turnaround from last week's season-opening, 16-0 loss to Marshfield , the Barnstable Silver Bullets Div. 5 Pee Wees bore down to defeat host Hanover, 14-6 last Sunday afternoon at Hanover High School.

              Running back extraordinaire Charlie Rice picked right up where he left after last season's Super Bowl victory over Scituate , carrying the ball 9 times for 127 yards and two touchdowns, including runs of 36 and 57 yards. Including a 20-yard kick-off return, Rice had 147 all-purpose yards on the day. Rice also picked up 1.5 tackles on the day, including a stellar tackle on the goal line to stop a Hanover two-point Pat conversion attempt.

              Barnstable quarterback Damon Blake was no slouch on offense either, carrying the ball five times for 41 yards, scoring a two-point PAT conversion, and going 4-6 passing for 55 yards. Blake also collected three tackles on defense, including a touchdown-saving solo hit on the final play of the game as Hanover came marching down toward the Barnstable end zone with the clock ticking away.

              Tight end Bob Melley made three receptions for 50 yards, including a spectacular grab late in the third quarter for 15 yards. Nick Cincotta also picked up a five-yard reception from Blake just as the first half ended, narrowly missing a touchdown as time expired.

              Other solid defensive efforts were turned in by noseguard/middle linebacker Cam Crocker (2.5 tackles), middle linebacker Dominique Tillman (3 tackles), Theo France (4 tackles/fumble recovery), defensive end Everett Walsh (3 tackles), linebacker Joe D'Olimpio (2 tackles). Other good tackles were made by defensive end Nick Cincotta (1.5 tackles), cornerback Rob Dombrowski (1.5), Melley from the defensive tackle slot (1.5), linebacker Kevin Ostrum (1.5 tackles, one fumble recovery) and safety Ryan Desmond (1 tackle). Kicker Devin Broadley added a touchdown-saving tackle on a kick-off return by Hanover . Scotty Warren added a combo tackle with Crocker to also save a touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Cornerback Curtis Collopy combined with Walsh on a fine tackle in the third quarter.

              This game was by no means easily won by the visiting Division 5 Pee Wee Silver Bullets, however.

              Walsh, Cincotta and France tried to set the tone on defense with three successive tackles after the opening kick-off, with France and Rice combining on third down to hold the ball carrier and France finishing up the job to give Barnstable the ball at midfield.

              The tone seemed set and the momentum was there as Rice then proceeded to chew apart the Hanover defense with successive runs of 5-, 10- and 36-yards, scoring on his third carry to put Barnstable up, 6-0, with 1:35 remaining in the first quarter. On a broken play on the two-point PAT conversion attempt, quarterback Damon Blake kept his cool and punched it in to make it 8-0, Barnstable .

              Barnstable seemed to be in the driver's seat.

              On the ensuing kick-off, Walsh made a nice solo kick-off tackle to get the defense fired up at midfield. In this defensive stint – one that carried into the second quarter – Melley, Crocker, Blake, Walsh/Collopy, Tillman and then Ostrum and Tillman combined on tackles to hold Hanover once more. Barnstable took over on downs with 5:25 remaining in the half.

              Rice picked up 8 yards on 1 st and 10 to bring up 2 nd and 2, but an ensuing cary by the nimble back went nowhere and Barnstable opted for a time out to regroup. Blake opted this time to carry the ball and rolled for 15 yards, then followed with a nice strike for a 20-yard gain and the first down to Melley from the split end slot. Rice followed with a three-yard gain to bring the ball to the six-yard line. A fumble on the next play dropped Barnstable back 10 yards to put it at the 13, but Blake regained the lost yardage on his next run, a 10-yard jaunt. Seeing Cincotta open in traffic on their last chance to score before the end of the half, Blaked nailed the tight end for what appeared to be a touchdown, but the line judge ruled Cincotta's knee was down before the ball broke the plane and Barnstable had to settle for an 8-0 halftime lead.

              France took the Hanover kick 10 yards to start the second half, and Rice picked right up where he left off with a quick gain of three yards on his first carry of the quarter, then a 57-yard marathon run into paydirt to make it 14-0, Barnstable. With Blake sidelined with a temporary ankle injury, P.J. Crosby was in to run the offense and immediately took the ball toward the goal line for the two-point PAT conversion try, but to no avail. On the ensuing kick-off, it was the kicker Devin Broadley who saved the Bullets with a diving tackle to push the Hanover kick-returner out of bounds.

              The scare was short-lived, however, as Kevin Ostrum helped cause and recovered a Hanover fumble on the next play. With 5:39 remaining in the third quarter, Crosby took the reins once more only to get snared by the feisty Hanover defense. An ensuing Barnstable fumble (recovered by France ) brought up 3 rd and 12. Crosby had apparently taken quite a hit on the play, however, and had to be replaced by Rob Dombrowski. Dombrowski got nailed in the backfield to bring up 4 th down and Barnstable had to punt.

              With Hanover trying to gain some of its own momentum, linebacker Dominique Tillman wanted none of it and hammered the ball carrier hard on an end around – unfortunately getting injured on the play. D'Olimpio came in to replace him and made a nice tackle, but Hanover had gained a first down on the play. Running the reverse almost to perfection for the sixth time on the day, Hanover then picked up a quick 20 yards to march all the way down to the Barnstable 10-yard line.

              Cincotta and France combined on a tackle at the two-yard line to hold them off, followed immediately by an Ostrom-Melley combo hit. With 0:50 left in the third quarter, though, Hanover was on the doorstep and punched it in to make it 14-6. Giving one final solid effort, the hole opened wide for Hanover on the two-point PAT but Rice was there to greet him – hard – to keep the score at 14-6, Barnstable .

              Rice then picked up 20 yards on the kick-off return and Barnstable went to work trying to chew up the clock. While Blake would pick up a first down with a nice 13-yard run, and then follow with a sweet 15-yard pass to Melley, Barnstable would end up fumbling on 4 th and 1 with 4:23 remaining in the game.

              D'Olimpio, filling in nicely for the injured Tillman, dropped the Hanover back for a loss of yards, but then another reverse play saw Hanover pick up 25 yards. With 3:27 left, safety Ryan Desmond made a good solo tackle but Hanover was marching and marching quickly.

              The reverse play came once more, but this time Scotty Warren caught the Hanover runner as he could see the end zone, and then out of nowhere came Cam Crocker to finish the job and save it. Blake showed some guts with a sack for a loss of five yards on a corner blitz and France followed suit leaving Hanover at 4 th and 9 with 0:21 left and the ball on the Barnstable 35. Hanover then lofted a deep completion to bring it inside the red zone with just 0:12 left. With no time outs remaining, Hanover rolled right but the star of the day Blake was there to drop the ball carrier in the backfield and preserve the Barnstable victory.