Silver Bullets D1 Mites Take Down Scituate

HYANNIS – The Barnstable Silver Bullets D1 Mites staved off both a bitter, driving rain and a hard-charging Scituate running attack Saturday night at W. Leo Shields Field, defeating the visitors 6-0 and handing them their first defeat of the season.
Quarterback P.J. Crosby was the lone scorer of the day, punching it in from the goal line in the middle of the second quarter.
      Defense was the embodiment of this ball game, as cornerbacks Curtis Collopy and Steven Huska shifted tight to the line and made tackle upon tackle. Other stellar defensive efforts came from tackles Damian Johnson and Devin Broadley.
The D1 Mites now stand at 3-1-1 on the season, following a tough, 6-0 loss to non-league opponent Rockland last week. Scituate now stands at 4-1 on the season.
“I am proud of all of them,” Head Coach Paul Hickey said following the game. “They earned it.”

First Quarter
Kicker Bobby Melley launched a tremendous 35-yard boot to start things off for the Red and Gray, putting the ball on the Scituate 25-yard line.
Defensive End Everett Walsh made the first hit of the day, followed immediately by a vicious Broadley tackle that caused a Scituate fumble. Defensive end Melley recovered the ball and in a matter of seconds Barnstable found itself with possession of the ball on the Scituate 20-yard line.
     Crosby took a hard sack on 1st and 10 to put the ball on the 25-yard line, followed by a Melley run of seven yards to put the ball back at the 18. With 5:36 to go in the first quarter, Barnstable stood at 3rd and 9. Fullback Cam Crocker rammed the ball up the gut for a nice gain of five yards to make it 4th and four to go. Melley got the rock once again and took it six yards for the first down. With 3:46 on the clock and 1st and 10 on the 11-yard line, Barnstable seemed poised to strike first. Tedero France took the ball next, but got stuffed hard for a gain of only one, then took it again and gritted out three hard-earned yards to make it 3rd and six to go. With the ball on the seven-yard line, however, Barnstable fumbled and Scituate found itself deep in its own territory with 1:42 remaining in the quarter.
       Linebacker Dominique Tillman, who played a super, hard-hitting game all evening, converged with Johnson on the first play to yield nothing to the Scituate offense. On the ensuing play, Johnson again manhandled his opponent and stopped the Scituate ball carrier cold. Tillman came up huge again on 4th down, putting a damper on any chance for a Scituate gain. As the first quarter clock ticked down, Barnstable took possession of the ball on downs and this time, was poised to strike paydirt.

Second Quarter

A pair of runs by Melley and Crocker to put the ball on the Scituate goal line was all Crosby would need. On third down and goal, Crosby called for a quarterback sneak and punched it in for the touchdown. The two-point Pat failed on a fumble, but Barnstable led Scituate 6-0 and it was all the Silver Bullets would need.
      Charlie Rice made a superb hit on the Melley kick-off, and added to the mix was a Scituate clipping penalty to put the ball deep in Scituate territory once again.
Walsh and Broadley converged on a great backfield hit on the first Scituate play, followed by a great tag team effort by Melley and Johnson. Middle linebacker Crocker took his turn offering Scituate zero-yardage on third down. Andrew Ellis followed on fourth down with great pursuit of the ball from his slot at noseguard and with 2:32 remaining, Barnstable took possession at the 29.
      With the rain pelting down and sending the fans for cover, the Barnstable running game could not find room to breath and ultimately was forced to punt deep in Scituate territory. An errant referee's whistle caused Broadley to re-kick a spectacular punt, but this time the Bullets opted to fake it. Unfortunately, Broadley could not get wide and was sacked. Scituate took over but this time Collopy and Huska stepped in.
      Time and time again Scituate tried to force the ball outside around the ends, trying to double and even triple team the usually stoic Silver Bullets' boys. Time and time again Collopy and Huska showed that it is not the size of the dog in the fight, but the size of the fight in the dog. Collopy slammed an exclamation point down on the final Scituate play of the half, yielding nothing to the visitors.

Third Quarter

Silver Bullet Ryan Litchman made a beautiful hit on the kick-off to set the tone for the unbending Barnstable defensive unit, followed quickly by a nice Ellis stick. Scituate , though, came out of halftime angry and bent on tying the ballgame, but Collopy would have none of it. Nor would Broadley. With almost half of the third quarter clock expired, Barnstable took the ball over on downs.
      The sloppy turf and stinging rain, however, was difficult on the Red and Gray offense as another fumble gave Scituate the ball once again with 3:05 remaining in the third. Scituate chewed up as much ground as it could, but again Collopy and Broadley caused the visiting offense nothing but grief. While Scituate still held onto the ball and had collected three first downs to cross deep into Barnstable territory, the third quarter clock expired and the hosts did not seem willing to give up much more ground.

Fourth Quarter