Mt. Hope Huskies' comeback against Barrington falls short

Despite outscoring Barrington over final three quarters, early 19-point deficit proved too much

By Ted Hayes
Posted 4/6/21

The Mt. Hope Huskies could not overcome a tough first quarter against rival Barrington Saturday, falling to the Eagles 30-22, at their temporary home field in Middletown. The loss drops the Mt. Hope …

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Mt. Hope Huskies' comeback against Barrington falls short

Despite outscoring Barrington over final three quarters, early 19-point deficit proved too much

Posted

The Mt. Hope Huskies could not overcome a tough first quarter against rival Barrington Saturday, falling to the Eagles 30-22, at their temporary home field at Gaudet Field in Middletown. The loss drops the Mt. Hope squad to 1-1 on the season, but gives the team something almost as good as a win — faith in themselves, and plenty of motivation.

The game seemed to be all Eagles over the first five minutes of play. After Mt. Hope won the coin toss and elected to receive, the Huskies fumbled the ball deep in their own territory, setting up an Eagles first down at the Huskies 20 with just seconds off the clock. Two plays later, the Eagles were in the end zone and added an extra point for a quick 7-0 lead.

The Huskies fumbled again three plays later and before they knew it, the game was 14-0.

This was somewhat familiar territory, as the Huskies played poorly in the first quarter of their opening game before clamping down on defense and getting their special teams and offense into a rhythm. On the sidelines, Coach DelSanto told the team to keep playing hard and once again they responded, shutting down the Eagles for the rest of the first quarter and ultimately, outscoring the Eagles 22-16 over the remaining 50 or so minutes of play.

After their opening win a week earlier against Newport, Head Coach TJ DelSanto said he was proud of his team for working as a unit, never giving up when things didn't go their way and making plays on both sides of the ball. He echoed those same points following the tough loss, but said the loss was a good learning experience and could pay dividends in the form of a team that believes it has something to prove.

"It was more frustration than disappointment for all of us," the coach said. "We all felt like we could have played a little better and could have pulled it off."

Back at practice Monday, the sting was still fresh and the motivation strong, the coach said, and that was good to see.
"Already the kids were saying, 'I can't wait, I can't wait'" to face Middletown this coming Friday, in a 7 p.m. matchup at Gaudet.

Numbers and accolades
Mt. Hope's Bruce McGuire earned Huskies Player of the Game honors following his two-touchdown performance, which included one 80-yard pass play for a touchdown in the fourth quarter, and Huskies junior quarterback Aidan Ramaglia completed 18 passes for 236 yards, three touchdowns and a two-point conversion, while giving up no picks.

The passing game constituted most of Mt. Hope's gains, with 236 total yards in the air. But the Eagles stifled the running game, holding Mt. Hope to 18 net yards on the ground (19 total) for a net average of 1.8 yards per carry. The Huskies lost two fumbles and were penalized five times for 35 yards.

Though Mt. Hope is playing its home games on the artificial turf of Gaudet Field in Middletown, Coach DelSanto had hoped to play long-time rival Barrington on the team's permanent home field in Bristol. But rains over the week before the game made that impossible.

Eagles Coach Sandy Gorham acknowledged Mt. Hope's overall game, and acknowledged the Huskies' effort.

“They played well. They’re a good team," Coach Gorham said.

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