H/B: The ball stops here

Friday, October 28, 2011

Joe Marchilena photo Hollis/Brookline's Colin Pellerin gives a stiff arm to Portsmouth’s Travis MacDonald during Saturday’s 14-7 Cavaliers win.

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HOLLIS – The Portsmouth High School football team was inside the Hollis/Brookline red zone for almost as long as it took the Clippers to drive to Hollis.

Unfortunately, once they were inside the H/B 20, the Clippers couldn’t find their way across the goal line.

Portsmouth had the ball in the red zone seven times on Saturday, getting in the end zone once. The other six times, the Cavaliers stood their ground, forcing three interceptions and turning the ball over on downs three times, and H/B did just enough offensively to hand Portsmouth its first Division III loss, 14-7.

Colin Pellerin had two interceptions while David Caponigro and Sean Connors also each picked off Portsmouth’s Bill Hartmann. But H/B (5-1 division, 6-1 overall) wasn’t without its own mistakes, as Kyle Gervais threw three interceptions and the Cavs lost two fumbles.

But when its back was against the wall, H/B stepped up and made the play.

“The defense just played out of its mind,” H/B coach Milt Robinson said. “We bent a little bit, but we did not break, we would not let them in the end zone. They played inside the (Hollis) 20 the whole fourth quarter almost.”

It only felt that way. Portsmouth (5-1, 5-2) opened its last three possessions from inside H/B territory, starting with a drive that began on the Cavs’ 46-yard line following a Nate Ferenczhalmy fumble with 7:32 to play.

The Clippers moved to the H/B 20, but on first down, Hartmann’s pass was intercepted by Connors at the Cavs’ 3-yard line.

H/B couldn’t pick up a first down and was forced to punt from its own 10. Connors shanked the kick to the short side of the field, giving Portsmouth the ball back at the Cavs’ 18.

But on fourth-and-2 from H/B’s 10, the Cavs stepped up and stopped Portsmouth’s Billy Lane inches short of a first down with 2:02 left.

The Cavs again couldn’t get a first down and this time Connors punted from his own 12. A nice return by Portsmouth’s Jack Mackey gave the Clippers the ball at H/B’s 39 but after picking up two first downs, the Clippers faced a third-and-6 at the H/B 14.

Hartmann had Lane open for a first down, but the running back slipped coming out of his route and the ball fell incomplete. On fourth down, Hartmann’s pass to Mackey was broken up by Caponigro, giving the ball back to the Cavs.

“It was scary, right until the last play,” Robinson said. “They have tremendous athletes. Any time you’re facing an offense as explosive as them, you’re scared, especially inside the 20. My kids just would not let it happen.”

It started on the first drive of the game as Pellerin intercepted a Hartmann pass and returned it to the Portsmouth 7. Three plays later, Ferenczhalmy forced his way across the goal line to give the Cavs a 7-0 lead with 9:38 left in the first quarter.

“Colin is an amazing player,” Ferenczhalmy said of his teammate. “He’s all over the field, making huge plays all of the time. He’s a heck of an athlete. It was a huge momentum swing.”

Ferenczhalmy finished with 89 yards rushing while Pellerin added 64 on the ground. Connors added the winning touchdown early in the fourth quarter, scoring on a 5-yard run that made it 14-7 with 10:44 to play.

Lane had Portsmouth’s only score, tying the game on a 4-yard run early in the third quarter, and he finished with 58 yards rushing and another 35 receiving and also had an interception.

Hartmann was 16 of 36 for 113 yards and the four interceptions.

“It was a tough game all the way around,” Portsmouth coach Bill Murphy said. “They are a very physical team and I think they maybe beat us up a little bit. Hats off to them, they were well prepared.”

H/B will rent lights for the second time this season when it hosts Milford on Friday. Portsmouth returns home to host Bedford, also on Friday.