Patriots Are Super Bowl Victors!

In a 13-12 overtime win Thursday night, November 17, 2005, at Cherry Creek’s Stutler Bowl, the twelve year-old Patriot Silver team (from Littleton) defeated the previously unbeaten Dolphin Silver (from Douglas County).

“I didn’t even feel them hit me, because I wasn’t going down,” halfback Nile Carrethers commented about his game-winning run to score the extra point that secured the win and sent players, coaches, and fans into a jumping, whooping, hugging frenzy.

Hit at the line of scrimmage, Carrethers bounced and rolled off the Dolphin tacklers and swept into the end zone for the margin of victory. On the previous play, he’d tied the score on a smash up the middle.

Overtime rules gave each team four downs from the ten yard line, akin to college sudden death. The Dolphins won the toss and scored on their first play in the overtime, but were prevented from securing the point after.

The Patriots then had their turn, receiving three extra chances during their four downs due to repeated Dolphin infractions.

Carrethers was the work-horse for the Patriots, carrying the ball 10 times.

Ball handling was a challenge because of the 20 degree temperatures, though neither team was hurt by its fumbles. Snow showers earlier in the day deposited skiffs of snow on the Astroturf. As night fell, and the moon rose, temperatures dropped. The playing surface glazed over as the game progressed, but the Patriots defense, led by Thomas Cunningham and Alec Segal, swarmed the Dolphin offense, yielding only a fourth quarter score.

The Patriots’ defensive domination had given the offense an early first quarter chance to score, with another prime shot in the third quarter. But the offense sputtered both times.

In the second quarter, the Patriots broke the scoreless deadlock on a drive featuring a center sneak by Dalton Halverson and a 17-yard option run by quarterback Sam Siekmeier. The Patriots capitalized as Siekmeier (4-8 passing) tossed an 18-yard scoring strike to Dillon Means, who went up in traffic and came away with the catch to take a 6-0 lead.