This story originally ran in The Standard-Times on Sept. 21, 2002.

By Nick Tavares
Standard-Times correspondent

MASHPEE -- Despite a strong game on the ground, the Bishop Stang football team last night couldn't answer the Mashpee Blue Devils, who had been energized by a boistrous home crowd.

While the Spartans' excecution was sometimes cluttered, as the game went on they found themselves as a unit and put together some long drives in an effort to get back into the game.

But Mashpee hung on for a 12-0 win.

"I think the seniors played well," said head coach Tim McCarthy. "We came up a little short on our drives, and a lot of that had to do with hurting ourselves with penalties and maybe a little bit of inexperience in the backfield with the younger kids."

Jordan Sousa managed to gain 92 yards on the ground for Stang (0-2), which relied on the run for most of the evening. Sousa's biggest game came in the second quarter, when he took a handoff to the Mashpee 26 for a 61-yard gain.

After exchanging punts on their first possesions, the Blue Falcons (1-0) first got on the board at 9:55 of the second quarter when Erik Pfundstein ran the ball 11 yards for the touchdown.

The extra-point attempt was blocked, leaving the score at 6-0.

Sousa took Stang to the 20 on its next possesion, but it was forced to turn over the ball on downs.

The Stang defense made life tough for Mashpee as well, stopping a drive towards the end of the first half when Ted O'Leary picked off a Steffen Panzone pass at the 29 and ran it back 35 yards.

The Spartans got the ball back again with 30 seconds left in the second quarter when Albert Wickel came up with an interception, followed by a 17-yard return.

The Spartans gained momentum after the half as they owned the third quarter, maintaining possesion for all but one play.

Sophomore quarterback and Mashpee transfer Nick Mulvey, filling in for the injured Kasey Cwyner in front of his hometown, performed well in his debut, settling down after the first half to get himself in a groove, running for 47 yards total.

"Nick did a pretty good job," said McCarthy. "He ran the offense pretty well, but again this was his first game, and the inexperience came through, but he did a great job."

Mulvey also ran to convert a fourth-and-one situation in that quarter, taking the Spartans to the Mashpee 20.

"We had a plan where we would keep the ball and take it in," said McCarthy, "and were hoping to convert and get back into the game, but penalties or a bad play always seemed to hurt our chances."

In the fourth quarter Pfundstein again found the back of the end zone and a failed two-point conversin left the final score 12-0.

Despite the loss, coach McCarthy sees growth in his squad.

"They did a great job and it's going come together, it's just going take a little time."

This story appeared on Page B3 of The Standard-Times on September 21, 2002.