The Barrington High School football team passed a series of tough tests and captured a 34-21 victory over Burrillville in the season-opener on Friday night, Sept. 9. 

The biggest test of the game may have surfaced late in the fourth quarter. With Barrington nursing a 28-21 lead and time running down, the Eagles’ offense faced an important third down and nine inside the Broncos’ 30-yard line. A Burrillville stop would give the surging Broncos a chance to tie the game or possibly take the lead.

But Barrington quarterback Alex McClelland was not going to let that happen.

McClelland took the snap, faked to his right and then rolled to his left. Waiting for him were three Burrillville defenders, but McClelland sprinted away from the rush, found his fullback Payton Murphy in the flat, and jumped into the air while uncorking a perfect spiral to his teammate. Murphy grabbed the ball and bolted for the end zone. 

The touchdown gave the Eagles a 13-point cushion with less than three minutes remaining and cemented the victory.

“Basically we fake it right and I booted out left, and there was a defender there and we didn’t plan for him to be there,” McClelland said. “So I had to jet out to the outside and happened to look upfield and saw he (Payton) was wide open, got it out to him and got destroyed as I threw it. And he made a great play — made a great catch and scored. It was great.”

Murphy was surprised McClelland was able to get the pass off under the heavy pressure.

“I saw him in the backfield with like 10 guys on him,” Murphy said. “I was like ‘Oh, this is not getting off.’ But I saw it coming. I came in for it… it was amazing.”

McClelland finished the game with three touchdown passes: the 27-yard strike to Murphy, a 49-yard bullet to Luke Bavier, and a six-yard TD to Jack Robinson. McClelland, a junior, was six-for-eight for 124 yards through the air. He also rushed the ball 10 times for 87 yards and another touchdown.

McClelland’s scoring run was from 41 yards out and capped the opening drive of the game for the Eagles. After the Barrington defense forced a three-and-out for the Broncos, the Eagles’ offense took over at midfield. Murphy carried for a nice gain on first down and then McClelland called his own number, charging through the Burrillville defense for the score.

Barrington went up 14-0 in the second quarter, after the Eagles’ offense passed another tough test. A holding penalty backed up the Eagles to a second and 20 from the Burrillville 31. McClelland dropped back and rocketed a pass to running back AJ DiOrio down the seam. The ball spun just over the hand of a linebacker, while DiOrio stretched out and hauled it in. 

A few plays later, DiOrio took a handoff and darted into the end zone. 

With about seven minutes remaining in the first half, Burrillville scored and cut the lead to 14-7. But the Eagles responded on their next drive. DiOrio carried for a couple of first downs and then McClelland completed a nice pass to Bavier deep down the middle of the field for a 49-yard scoring strike. 

Burrillville capitalized on a Barrington fumble early in the third quarter and cut the lead to 21-13. 

Barrington’s offense again answered the bell late in the third quarter, marching 60 yards in 10 plays. McClelland capped the drive with back-to-back passes to Robinson — the second went for six yards, a touchdown and a 28-13 lead.

But Burrillville bounced back with a quick scoring drive, narrowing the lead to 28-21 after a two-point conversion. Throughout the second half, Burrillville seemed to build momentum.

“They controlled a large part of the fourth quarter,” said Barrington Coach Sandy Gorham. “We were hanging on. We were moving the ball but we weren’t getting some of the big runs we had early. People think with the option, you’re going to get 60-yard runs every time. You’re not. I tell the guys ‘Drive for five.’

“They started to take over momentum. They were starting to take control. They were starting to take over the physicality.”

Gorham said the Burrillville offense seemed to take it to the Barrington defense.

“At times I thought they ‘out-physicaled’ us,” Gorham said. “At one time I said ‘I forgot to tell you guys, we’re playing tackle football.’ At times we got out-physicaled, and we’ve got to do a better job at that, and we will.”

Gorham said he was happy with the overall effort of his team.

“The only thing I was getting upset about was the number of penalties,” Gorham said. “There was a lot of penalties, we have to clean up. That bothered me.”

McClelland said he was happy his team was able to get the win.

“It feels great. We’ll get back to it at practice, ready to play a full four-quarter game. Last week we played a half, it’s a lot different going out there playing four quarters, especially in the second half,” McClelland said, referring to the Injury Fund contest. “We rallied together tonight and we powered through it. We got it done.”