Blue Knights Give Red Raiders A Run for Their Money

From the opening kickoff until the end of the first half, it almost looked like the Sandwich Blue knights (1-2) football team was more prepared to win last night at W. Leo Shields Memorial Field.

But the host Barnstable High School Red Raiders (2-1) would not relent and thanks to a pair of superb defensive plays by junior defensive end Jason Frieh, ended Friday (Sept. 23, 2011) night's game the victors, 28-26. With 5:51 minutes left in the third quarter and the score tied at 14-14, Frieh pummeled the ball out of the Blue Knight ball carrier's hands and junior linebacker Terrence Mudie pounced on the loose pigskin to give the Red Raiders key field position.

In just over one minute and in two plays, Barnstable took the ball from the Blue Knights' 34-yard line and scored with quarterback D.J. Crook tossing a 22-yarder to Tedaro France to make it 20-14. Sophomore kicker Tom Mullen then drilled his third straight PAT of the game to make it 21-14. Mullen would finish the night a perfect 4-4 and he is now 16-16 on the season. Mullen set a new school record on opening day versus Durfee, kicking nine PATs in a perfect 9-9 performance.

Frieh's second key play came at the 0:06 mark of the third when he scrambled through the Sandwich front line to block Colin Russell's PAT attempt and leave the score at 21-20. The play would prove the key to victory for the Red & White.

While the Red Raiders would tack on another score when Crook (9-20, 140 yards, 3 TD passes) hit Tedaro France on a 3-yard slant route at the pylon to make it 27-20 (and Mullen's ensuing PAT kick would make it 28-20), Sandwich came storming back with 5:30 remaining in the fourth quarter to score on a Zack Wagner 2-yard rush. The aforementioned kick-block by Frieh would prove pivotal as Sandwich was then forced to attempt a two-point conversion for the tie. On the first attempt, the Blue Knights' Tony Tulley made it in, but the guests were hit with two flags (false start and block in the back) and were forced to throw it up from the 13-yard line in hopes of tying it up. Senior Jeremy Hatstat intercepted Blue Knight junior QB Wagner's offering and the rest, as they say, was history, with BHS ending on top, 28-20.

Barnstable relied heavily upon the quick feet of Theo France from the outset as he turned in his second 100-yard game of the season with 9 carries for 116 yards rushing, including a 71-yard touchdown run in the second quarter that made it 7-6 (Mullen's kick made it 7-7). Other touchdowns scored for the Red Raiders included a 13-yard reception by junior Nick Peabody from Crook, a 22-yard touchdown reception by Tedaro France and the three-yard catch from Tedaro France.

Sandwich helmsman Jack Wagner, though, had the Barnstable defense on its heels, off and on, with his quick tackle reads and sleight-of-hand pitches on the option. In the end, Wagner ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns and had long runs of 29 and 26 yards. In the air, he went 9-16 for 98 yards but his last two passes of the game were intercepted. In essence, Wagner was the offensive show for the Blue Knights.

Barnstable's defense, though, had some bright moments, with both of Frieh's big plays being the highlight on the other side of the ball. Jake Kipnes picked up his third interception in as many games for BHS, while Mudie, free safety Ryan Litchman and junior linebacker Bryan Hardy laid on some vicious hits against the visiting ball carriers, with Hardy's being a a key stop on a 4th and 2 early in the third quarter. Sophomore cornerback Hayden Murphy also played a rock-solid game with five tackles on the night and he added one five-yard run on offense.

The Blue Knights Came to Play

They say a win is a win.

But the Red Raiders seemed collectively stagnant at the outset of this affair as Sandwich won the coin toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff, driving downfield from their own 20-yard line until they struck paydirt on a Wagner three-yard rush (5:10). It was also a drive that featured the first of four personal fouls or unsportsmanlike conduct calls against a defense slightly frustrated by Wagner's seeming ability to blaze through tiny gaps of daylight.

In its first offensive possession, down 7-0, with 5:10 on the first quarter clock, Barnstable's Chris Kennedy recovered a squib-kick attempt at the Red Raider 46-yard line but 7 plays into the red zone Barnstable found itself marching backward with a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct call. Faced with 2nd and 24, the Red Raiders saw two incomplete passes lead to a Devin Broadley punt (touchback). Sandwich pushed the ball across midfield but could not convert. On it's first play from the line of scrimmage on their own 29-yard line, Theo France went off of a Tom Grimmer block up the middle and raced untouched to glory (71 yards). Mullen's PAT kick knotted the game at 7-7.

But 15 plays later, Sandwich running back Tulley ran it in on 3rd and goal to make it 13-7 and Russell's PAT kick put the visitors ahead, 14-7. Both teams would exchange harmless possessions before ending the first half.

Barnstable's Hatstat made a solid kickoff return of 23 yards to begin the third quarter but five plays and a punt later and BHS was done. Sandwich couldn't seem to get things rolling either as Mudie made a pair of hard-nosed hits, combined with one from defensive lineman Josiah Dulak and then Bryan Hardy's bone-jarring stop on 4th and 2.

Appearing like they might sputter again, and still down, 14-7, Crook dropped back on 3rd and 9 with 5:56 remaining in the third quarter only to find Peabody at the pylon; it was a fine catch under apt man-to-man coverage. The score was tied, after Mullen's boot, 14-14.

The Blue Knights' ensuing offensive set was short-lived, however as Fried put a closed-fist on the football and set it free, with Mudie siphoning it quickly off the green carpet. Crook quickly answered with a 12-yard completion to Tedaro France in the open flat, followed by Tedaro France's catch and 20-yard run, breaking two tackles into the end zone. Barnstable garnered a lead - 21-14 - it would not relinquish.

In Sandwich's next possession, Wagner took matters into his own hands - literally - as he rambled off runs of 9, 1, 12, 4, 3 and then a 26-yard touchdown jaunt. Frieh's kick-block soon followed and the score remained, 21-20, in the Red & White's favor.

A 2nd and 10 pass interference call against Sandwich was a window of opportunity Barnstable could ill afford to ignore and ignore it, it did not. Facing a 3rd and 13 situation, Crook found the diminutive but gutsy Tedaro France wide open down the middle and hit him for a 50-yard gain that may have put a damper on the guests' collective hopes. one play later, Crook found the wiry Tedaro France all alone for a score (28-20 after Mullen's kick.

With 8:59 remaining in the fourth quarter, Tulley took the kickoff 26 yards which he would follow soon thereafter with a 26-yard rush only to be dragged down by safety Kevin Hardy. Eventually, Wagner would run it into the end zone but the two-point PAT attempt to tie it failed.

Next week, Barstable welcomes the state's top-ranked team in Everett High School. Everett (2-0) defeated Barnstable last season, 43-14. The Boston-area high school football juggernaut has played in 12 of the last 15 Division 1 Super Bowls in Eastern Massachusetts and it has won seven of those 12 trips to the Big Dance. The Tide face St. John's Prep Sunday (Sept. 25) at 2:00 p.m.

Barnstable's senior QB Crook now has 72 lifetime touchdown passes, just 13 shy of tying Brockton all-time great QB Tom Colombo's state record of 85 career TD passes. Last night was also Crook's third staright game without throwing an interception. He has not thrown one since Thanksgiving Day last season.