Not since the likes of 1995 co-captains Jon Sproul and Mike Duffley has the Barnstable High School football team seen such clear-cut dominance.
Not in 17 years has Barnstable seen such a well-attended crowd at W. Leo Shields Memorial Field. There were more fans encircled around the field and overfilling the bleachers on both sides than have been seen at some recent Thanksgiving Day games, to be frank.
And it very well could have been the simple, fan-enticing fact that the Red Raiders' offense is every bit as potent as it has been in recent years, if not more as senior quarterback Nick Peabody put on an aerial show with receivers Dylan Morris and James Burke, and Hayden Murphy put on a running attack that posted a 55-14 rout versus the visiting Dennis-Yarmouth Dolphins.
Peabody, with a handful of Ivy League collegiate scouts in attendance, went 13-17 for 342 yards passing and four touchdowns while wide receiver Dylan Morris caught touchdown passes of 98 and 51 yards and had a total of 205 yards on just four receptions. Senior wide receiver James Burke caught a touchdown pass of 44 yards and had two receptions for 85 yards. Peabody also connected with senior wideout Manny Perry on a 20-yard TD score.
Junior running back Hayden Murphy ran in a pair of touchdowns on carries of five and 19 yards, Tedaro France tacked on another one from six yards out and Kristian Lucashensky ran one in from the two-yard line in the fourth quarter.
Dennis Yarmouth had touchdowns from wide receiver Spencer McCaffrey on a 75-yard romp downfield, and Cory DeSimone scored from five yards out to open the second half but at that stage the score was Barnstable 34, D-Y 14.
The Barnstable defense once again turned things up early and often on the visiting Dolphins, with junior Derek Estes picking up a huge, momentum-shifting interception in the first quarter on the two-yard line and Jason Frieh once again wrecking havoc on special teams and from the defensive end slot. Ryan Litchman and Kevin Hardy broke up a pair of passes from D-Y QB Jake Pawlina as well.
Pawlina played a phenomenally stoic and gutsy game for the Dolphins. Barnstable heads to Sandwich next week to face the Blue Knights.