Red Raiders Tame the Taunton Tigers

This one was supposed to be easy.

The problem with high school football, though, is nothing is ever quite that simple, anything can happen and a team can never take its opponent for granted. It can be doubly difficult when emotions run high after a roller-coaster, whirlwind week for many Barnstable players who are close with the family of sophomore wide receiver Derek Estes and who are also friends with 2011 graduate and former Red Raider lineman Ben Pogue.

Both Red Raiders experienced tragedy this week with Estes losing his mother Terri Estes to a battle with cancer, while Pogue's mother Michele "Shelly" Lopes also lost a short but strong battle with the disease. Lopes was a four-time varsity letter winner for the Red & White in field hockey and basketball, playing for the late BHS Athletic Hall of Famer Katherine "Kay" Nehubian. Lopes helped lead Barnstable to a 24-11 record over the course of her junior and senior years in basketball and she helped pace BHS to back-to-back undefeated autumns in field hockey in 1969 and 1970. She was a member of the class of 1971.

Both women would have been proud of the Red Raiders last night, not least of whom being the up-and-coming Derek Estes.

Ahead just 17-10 on this tumultuous Taunton High School Senior Night, with just 2:00 remaining in the third quarter, Estes took an 11-yard Nick Peabody pass through a pair of befuddled Tiger tacklers straight into the end zone for what would ultimately prove to be the straw that broke the host team's back.

With fellow sophomore Tom Mullen's 29th straight PAT kick of the season, the score became an insurmountable, 24-10. (Mullen would later add his 30th consecutive PAT kick and he is now an incredible 30-30 on the season.)

But Estes' exciting catch and run into paydirt was pretty much when most of the fireworks ended on the night. Prior to that moment, this Old Colony League match-up was about as nail-biting as they come.

Consider the opening kickoff.

Junior Terrence Mudie, likely one of the toughest student-athletes to ever don the Red & White, revealed his versatility and skill when he received the opening Taunton kickoff and ran 80 yards for a touchdown through a gauntlet of would-be Taunton Tiger tacklers. With just 13 seconds elapsed in the game, Barnstable was up 7-0.

With just 25.8 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Barnstable was knocking heavily at Taunton's door only to have to settle for a 27-yard field goal from Mullen, his third of the season. Ahead 10-0, Barnstable (4-3) seemed poised to turn things up on a winless Taunton club (0-6), but Taunton was not shy about showing some emotion.

Each team exchanged punts in the second quarter until Barnstable found itself in beautiful field position at the Taunton 34-yard line. Peabody hit Hayden Murphy for an 11-yard gain on 3rd and 11, then found Estes for a two-yard gain, but then a Peabody to Murphy pass was tipped directly into the awaiting hands of Tiger Chris Fisher who ran 70yards downfield before being tackled at the BHS 9-yard line by Tedaro France.

Ultimately, Taunton had to settle for a 33-yard field goal which made it 10-3 heading into the half, but the momentum was ripe for the picking, even with a huge Ryan Litchman sack in the red zone. Heading back onto the field after the half, this game was really Taunton's for the taking. Or was it?

Taunton took the second half opening kickoff but was met head-on by Kadeem Bailey and Andrew Ellis in a hit that jarred the pigskin loose and was recovered by Bailey at the Taunton 20. On the first BHS snap, though, the transfer from Peabody to Murphy got mixed up and the ball was immediately returned back to the Tigers on the seven-yard line.

Taunton QB Joe Walsh then opted to keep the ball on a run up the middle as he took off to the races downfield for a 68-yard gain to put his Tiger 11 on the Barnstable 7-yard-line. One play later? Touchdown, Taunton. The PAT then tied the game at 10-10 with 10:03 to go in the third. Just 57 seconds had elapsed.

The game now tied, the Tigers predictably kicked a successful onsides kick and then proceeded to march downfield at what seemed to be like 15-yard intervals on passes from Walsh to a stable of Tiger receivers. Their fans cheering, the THS Marching band raising the decibel level, Taunton looked poised to snatch this affair out of thin air. But then they called time out. Huh? With all momentum going their way and a score tied at 10-10, the game suddenly seemed like it was Taunton's to win.

A time out?

The momentum shifted after the quick Tiger sideline pow wow, and it shifted precipitously to Barnstable's favor.

Following a pair of vicious Jason Frieh hits, Taunton soon found itself with its back to the wall and opted for a punt on 4th and 17. Proceeding the THS boot, Barnstable seemed to collectively say "The time is now."

On 3rd and 11, with the pressure on him and receivers covered everywhere he looked, Peabody located a wide-open Burke on the right side line, hit him with the pass and Burke barreled his way 58 yards to the Taunton 20. A pair of plays later, Peabody found Tedaro France wide open for a 26-yard touchdown and a 17-0 lead after Mullen's kick.

On Taunton's ensuing possession, Hardy ramped things up with a pair of solid hits and a fumble recovery that proved the difference-maker. Situated on the Tiger 15-yard line, Peabody ran a couple of plays before hitting Estes for glory in the end zone. Just one minute into the 4th quarter, now armed with a 24-10 lead, Peabody found Mudie all alone in the end zone and Mudie did not fail, catching a 7-yard Peabody offering. it was all BHs would need to seal the deal at 31-10.

All totalled, Peabody went 13-22 for 219 yards and three TD passes in just his second varsity start at QB since senior tri-captain D. J. Crook went down with a fractured thumb in the New  Bedford game.

Interestingly, even with a cast on, Crookplayed last night on special teams.

Next week: BHS takes on Mansfield on the road.