There will be no trip to Gillette Stadium this season.
After winning eight straight games and defeating some of the best Division 1 teams in the state, Barnstable High (8-2) fell to the Mansfield Hornets (10-0) last night on the road, 41-16. The Mansfield victory earned the host Hornets the 2013 MIAA Division 2 South Sectional Championship and a trip next week versus Waltham High.
Barnstable gets a bye week and will finish its storied 2013 campaign versus 120-year Thanksgiving Day rival, the Falmouth Clippers.
In short, Mansfield was simply the better team on both sides of the ball on this crisp mid-November Friday night beneath the lights, and it showed precisely that by jumping out to a 14-3 lead in the first quarter. It was a lead the host Hornets would not relinquish, even when Barnstable had its chances.
Barnstable scored its points on a Dereck Pacheco field goal and touchdowns by Kristian Lucashensky and Derek Estes.
Red Raider senior co-captain Hayden Murphy - who played his heart out on both sides of the ball - was held to 28 yards on 10 carries rushing and had three receptions for 44 yards. Justus Chaffee ended up being Barnstable's leading rusher for the night, 8 carries for 29 yards. Lucashensky also had 28 yards rushing on 8 carries while back-up quarterback Griffin Burke had 7 carries for 21 yards on Barnstable's final possession of the game and threw a 22-yard TD pass to Estes on the game's last play.
Lucashensky went 6-15 on the night for 82 yards but threw a pair of interceptions. Burke went 1-2 for 22 yards, his sole completion being the touchdown to Estes.
Colby Blaze and Mike Bilodeau - both senior wide receivers - each had one reception on the night, Blaze for 15 yards and Bilodeau for 10.
Defensively, Barnstable junior linebacker Clyde Perry turned in a rock-solid performance as did senior co-captain and fellow linebacker Chris Kennedy, while Murphy and defensive end Conor Walsh handed in gutsy efforts.
Mansfield senior quarterback Kyle Wisnieski, though, was simply too tough to handle for the usually stoic Red Raider defense.
Wisnieski went 20-25 on the evening for 279 yards and four touchdowns.
Barnstable will next face Falmouth on Thanksgiving Day for its final game of the season. The game will begin at 10:00 am at Elmer "Guv" Fuller Field.
