School football: Falmouth toe-to-toe with Mashpee

Source: Cape Cod Times, Hyannis, Mass.新蒲崗迷你倉Sept. 14--MASHPEE -- It wasn't pretty, but for the first time since 2010, Falmouth clinched a season-opening win.The Clippers battled a depleted Mashpee team and took advantage of three turnovers en route to a 13-8 nonleague victory in the home opener for the Falcons at Michael S. Horne Stadium."When Matt and I started this two years ago with a scrimmage this is what we were shooting for, another great local rivalry with two quality programs," said Falmouth head coach Steve Femino referring to Mashpee coach Matt Triveri.In last season's match between the two teams, Mashpee walked away with a 22-0 win. This year it was the Clippers' turn.Penalties hurt an already depleted Mashpee (1-1, 0-0 South Shore Small) squad, which had three players on crutches and had lost running back Robert Andrade and tight end Joey Spinola to injuries the previous week in a win over Nantucket.On Falmouth's first drive of the game, the Clippers brought the ball to the Mashpee 6, but failed to convert turning the ball over on downs. The Falcons brought the ball up to their own 12, but a holding penalty followed by a fumble gave Falmouth (1-0, 0-0 Atlantic Coast League) the ball back at the Mashpee 15 with 1:44 left in the first.After two carries from junior Curtis Brown, who joined the team two weeks ago, quarterback Jack O'Rourke connected with Thomas Tobey for a 6-yard score. The kick gave Mashpee a 7-0 lead with 19 seconds left in the first.The Falcons were able to get on the board midway through the second thanks to a Falmouth misstep. At their own 8-yard line, O'Rourke took a botched snap that trickled into the end zone, but he swatted it out of bounds for the Mashpee safety.The Falcons looked like they might have gained some momentum when Kevin Frye caught the punt return and ran through the Falmouth coverage for what appeared to be a touchdown. But he was called back on a clipping penalty. Two plays later Mashpee turned the balmini storage over for the second time on a fumble.The Clippers took the 7-2 lead into the half.Falmouth missed an opportunity in the opening drive of the second half when a Mashpee 'too many men' penalty on a Falmouth fourth-and-4 revived a seemingly dead drive. The Clippers failed to produce, but when the Falcons regained possession, a Mashpee fumble gave the Clippers yet another chance.This time Falmouth took advantage. Curtis Brown carried the ball eight times for 28 yards before O'Rourke again connected with Tobey on a 10-yard score with 9:11 left in the game. The kick failed, but it gave Falmouth a cushion and a 13-2 lead. Brown finished with 20 carries on 57 yards.The Falmouth insurance became even more important when Mashpee put together a scoring drive of its own on the ensuing possession.DeShaun Dias opened the series with an 18-yard run that brought Mashpee to the Falmouth 45. Dias and freshman quarterback Nick Carpenter combined for nine more carries to bring the ball downfield as Dias capped the drive with a 5-yard scoring run. The two-point conversion failed, but Mashpee had closed within five points with 4:27 left.After a Falmouth three-and-out, Mashpee made things interesting retaking possession with 2:47 to go on their own 45. Dias brought them to the Famouth 35 on two carries. Carpenter employed a halfback option pass, pitching out to Dias on his left who fired downfield to Frye, but the pass fell just out of Frye's reach, steps from the end zone. The drive ended a play later and the Falmouth escaped with the win.Dias finished with 13 carries for 99 yards and a score."I couldn't be prouder of these guys," Femino said. "This started in January, carried through the spring and summer, our offseaosn workouts we had a high of 56 and low of 37 and they've just really bought in."Copyright: ___ (c)2013 the Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, Mass.) Visit the Cape Cod Times (Hyannis, Mass.) at .capecodonline.com Distributed by MCT Information Servicesself storage