Not since October 21, 2005 has the Barnstable High School offense been blanked.
But tonight at Dennis-Yarmouth regional High School, the host Dolphins did just that, avenging last year's 55-14 trouncing by the Red & White to give a thorough beating of their own. The final? D-Y 37, Barnstable 9.
Barnstable's defensive unit kept the Red Raiders in the game in the early going, forcing the Dolphins to punt after 7 plays, but it was the Red & White offense that appeared confused or at the very least flustered by the hard-charging Dolphin defense. BHS went four and out on its first possession but its 4th and 5 punt at midfield was shanked out of bounds and it placed the Dolphins in prime field position at their own 45. Still, it took 8 plays before the Dolphins struck paydirt when senior quarterback Spencer Tyler found senior split end Mike Anderson open for a 21-yard touchdown (1:35). Drew Tardiff's PAT kick was good and the Dolphins were ahead 7-0.
Barnstable was forced to punt again on its second possession, but the time was ripe for a fiery Red & White defense when senior cornerback Derek Estes picked off Tyler at midfield and raced 45 yards into the end zone. Dereck Pacheco's PAT kick was good and the score was tied 7-7 at 8:34 in the second quarter.
But that was the end of Barnstable's scoring until a safety late in the fourth quarter.
Dennis-Yarmouth scored 30 unanswered points, capitalizing on three Barnstable turnovers and an offense that simply could not take off running.
All the host Dolphins would need they would garner at the 4:55 mark of the second quarter when the BHS defense again did not relent for eight plays before Tardiff booted a 22-yard field goal to make it 10-7.
Barnstable went three and out on its next possession and the BHS defense again took the field and held D-Y for another eight plays before Tyler found senior Jake Pawlina on a 25-yard route down the middle over the outstretched hands of the BHS secondary. While BHS blocked Tardiff's PAT kick attempt, it had a 16-7 lead.
Following another three-and-out offensive stint by the visiting Red Raiders, D-Y capitalized on its own momentum and Tyler found the middle wide open and took off for 50 yards and a 23-7 lead his Green & White would never relent. (Tardiff PAT kick was good).
All totaled, Tyler ran the ball 17 times for 140 yards and a touchdown, while going 9-15 in the air for two TDs and one interception. Pawlina had three receptions for 66 yards and a touchdown and Corey DeSimone carried the ball eight times for 48 yards and a touchdown. Junior back-up quarterback Michael Dunn carried the ball six times for 51 yards and a 60-yard touchdown.
Barnstable's Justus Chaffee carried the ball 15 times for 144 yards. Quarterback Hayden Murphy carried the ball 14 times for 26 yards and went 4-10 passing with one interception. Barnstable lost three fumbles to the hosts.
Barnstable, now 0-1 heading into a bye week, was ranked in one poll at 11th best in the state while in another was ranked 25th. It remains to be seen if the Red Raiders will maintain a ranking after its offense could not put the ball into the end zone.
