Red Raiders Overwhelm Dolphins, Cruise To 55-14 Victory

By: Tom Moran Jr.
Published: 09/21/12

It had been four years since Dennis-Yarmouth had played at Leo Shields Field and after the Barnstable High football team hung a 55-14 whoopin’ on the Dolphins last Friday, it may be another four years before we see them in Hyannis again.

For the second time in as many games, the Red Raiders put on an offensive clinic, rolling up more than 500 yards in total offense while scoring eight touchdowns against the defending Division 2 Super Bowl champs.

In both of the previous two seasons, the Dolphins built early leads before fending off late Barnstable charges to record the win, but that was not how it played out this time before a big and boisterous home crowd.

The Red Raiders shot out of the box, scoring two touchdowns in the first five minutes and never looking back as quarterback Nick Peabody and his corps of sure-handed receivers scored almost at will over the remainder of the contest.

Peabody had himself a game, completing 14 of 17 pass attempts, good for 340 yards and four touchdowns.

Helping the senior QB put up the big numbers was wide receiver Dylan Morris, who hauled in five passes, including touchdown receptions of 98 and 51 yards, for a total of 200 yards.

The Red Raiders also got a big-time performance from their defensive unit as defensive ends Jason Frieh and Johnny Eldredge (eight tackles each) and linebackers Andrew Ellis and Ryan Litchman, each with nine tackles and two passes defended, made life miserable for D-Y’s offensive unit.

The Dolphins won the opening coin toss and chose to receive the second-half kickoff, not having the slightest idea that by the time they got that kickoff, the game would be out of reach.

The Red Raiders made good use of the ball on their first possession, marching 61 yards in nine plays with halfback Hayden Murphy capping the drive with his five-yard touchdown run.

Terry Mudie booted the PAT and with just 3:29 gone in the first quarter, the Red Raiders had themselves a 7-0 lead.

The Red Raider defense forced the Dolphins to punt the ball away but the visitors regained possession when the punt was fumbled.

The visitors’ bid to get right back into the game was denied as Red Raider defensive back Derek Estes made a diving interception at the Barnstable 2 and Peabody followed with a 98-yard touchdown strike to Morris.

Morris never broke stride, latching onto the ball at the 50-yard line and outrunning D-Y defensive back Spencer Tyler on his way to the endzone.

Mudie split the uprights and with 1:02 left in the quarter, the BHS lead was 14-0.

Again the Barnstable defense got stingy and forced the Dolphins to punt the ball away and again the Red Raiders needed just one play to score as Peabody and Morris teamed up, this time on a 51-yard scoring toss, to boost the Barnstable lead to 21-0.

The Dolphins countered with a big play of their own to get on the scoreboard as quarterback Jake Pawlina connected with halfback Spencer McCaffrey on an 80-yard touchdown pass.

The Red Raiders answered almost immediately as Peabody found a wide-open James Burke and the senior wideout went untouched into the endzone to complete the 44-yard scoring play, upping the Barnstable lead to 27-6.

The Dolphins continued to have trouble moving the ball against the Barnstable “D” and Peabody and company made sure their teammates on the other side of the ball knew how much their efforts were appreciated by putting together a 41-yard scoring drive.

Murphy brought the drive to a successful conclusion when he scored from 18 yards out and when Mudie followed with his fourth PAT kick of the contest, the Red Raiders took the 34-6 lead into the halftime intermission.

The Dolphins opened the third quarter with their best drive of the game, moving 71 yards in 12 plays for the touchdown with halfback Cory DeSimone going into the endzone on a two-yard plunge.

After Pawlina ran for the two-point conversion to trim the BHS lead to 34-14, the Red Raiders took the heart out of the Dolphins by using just 1:08 to counter with yet another touchdown.

Tedaro France closed out the 58-yard drive, sweeping around the left side from six yards out for the score and a 41-14 Barnstable lead.

The Dolphins had no defensive answers as the Red Raiders continued to find their way to the endzone.

Peabody connected on his fourth touchdown pass of the evening, finding Manny Perry from 20 yards out and backup QB Kristian Lucashensky closed out the scoring with a two-yard carry in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter.

Craig Whilby booted the PAT to push the score to its final margin.

Lost in the smoke of the scoring explosion was the outstanding effort turned in by Barnstable’s offensive line of center Tom Grimmer, tackles Owen Murray, Tom Harrington and Allen Buckley, and guards Bill Grimmer and Chris Kennedy.

In addition to giving both Peabody and Lucashensky plenty of time to throw they also opened huge holes in D-Y’s defensive front when the Red Raiders chose to run the ball.

The Red Raiders also got outstanding defensive performances from Bryan Hardy (five tackles and half a sack), Robbie Stuart (four tackles), and Manny Dulak (three tackles).

“A very good team effort,” said BHS coach Chris Whidden. “We still have room for improvement but tonight the kids really played well on both sides of the ball. They wanted this win over D-Y and the level of intensity they brought to practice all week showed on the field tonight.”

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