Barnard and Hill star as Hingham High football team ends Silver Lake's playoff hopes

KINGSTON ‒ The unsung heroes were no longer silenced for the Hingham High football team Friday night.

Third-string running back Brendan Hill and defensive lineman Brian Barnard both led the way for the Harbormen in the regular-season finale.

Hill rushed for 147 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Barnard caused havoc all game with five tackles for loss

Hill rushed for 147 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Barnard caused havoc all game with five tackles for loss

Hill rushed for 147 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Barnard caused havoc all game with five tackles for loss

Hill rushed for 147 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Barnard caused havoc all game with five tackles for loss –including a sack – as Hingham blanked Silver Lake, 21-0, in a Patriot League Keenan Division game. The loss eliminates the Lakers (2-6) from playoff contention.

“It just comes back to practice, flying around, going at it 100 percent,” Barnard said of the shutout. “The scout team is really showing us the (correct) look out there, so it’s helping me and everyone improve.”

“We knew going into it that our defensive line is pretty good and that kid anchors it for us and he’s all over,” Hingham coach Mark Nutley said of Barnard. “He’s a pain in the butt to block in practice, too. So it’s a good thing he’s out here on our team.”

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Hingham (6-2) scored all of its points in the first half in its final outing before kicking off the Division 2 state playoffs.

“We preached all week that we’ve got to jump on these guys on offense and defense and that’s exactly what we did,” said Nutley. “We put 21 in the first half and we killed ourselves after that. The defense gave us short field (position) and the offense drove down and finished it off.”

From the jump, Hingham had aimed high this season. Despite the glistening record, the Harbormen were ranked No. 12 in the most recent Division 2 power rankings. The top 16 teams with three or more wins qualify.

“Six-and-two is not too shabby for the regular season,” said Hingham coach Mark Nutley. "We had plans from Day 1 to be a playoff team and hopefully we are. I think we are. I told them, ‘Hey guys, put the work in and everything will pay off.’ Most of these guys have been starting for us since they were sophomores and putting in work in the weight room and it shows off on the field.”

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Jayce Mellish contributed to the shutout with an interception while James Schwartz recovered a Laker fumble. Kevin Sullivan stepped up in the secondary.

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With a tight group of seniors on both sides of the ball, the upperclassmen want to make sure their fellow teammates end their season the right way.

“I've known a lot of these guys since the fifth grade, so it’s very important to go out there and have fun," said Barnard.

On offense, seniors Hill and Matheus Neves (rushing TD) both had a strong first half. On their first drive, the Harbormen employed a hurry-up offense that ended with a 5-yard touchdown run from Hill.

“That was kind of our game plan – to come out strong tonight and we definitely answered that,” said Hill, a captain. “We let our defense do their thing. I think that’s our strong point, to start out strong. We've just got to keep that throughout the game.”

Hill, who also plays safety, was ready to answer the call when his number was picked on offense.

“He’s our third-string running back,” Nutley said of Hill. “Brendan gives us the extra edge. We try to give him the ball any time we can. He finds the end zone for us.”

As for Silver Lake, this game was a must-win for the team's playoff hopes; three wins most likely would have put the Lakers into the Division 3 field. They were ranked No. 13 in the latest power rankings, but they'll fall short of the three-win threshold.

Still, the future appears bright for a rebuilding team under first-year coach Mark Killinger.

“I just told the guys that coming in and trying to build a new program is (hard and) that we have three more games together,” said Killinger. “And we need to see improvements moving forward and start building things and make a determination on what we want this program to be.”

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: Hingham High football defeats Silver Lake Regional 21-0