By ERIC BENEVIDES

Sports writer

PAWTUCKET -- He was 12-for-12 in extra point attempts this year, but never did junior Chad Bacon attempt a field goal – until Cumberland High needed his heroics in the final quarter of the Clippers’ Division II-B showdown with Shea High on Friday night.
Bacon’s 19-yard field goal with 6:05 to play in the contest erased a one-point deficit and allowed the Clippers to bus out of the Max Read Field parking lot with an exciting 16-14 victory that helped keep their postseason hopes alive and ended Shea’s aspirations.
The Clippers are now 3-2 in the division (3-4 overall) and can return to the postseason by beating Cranston East High next Friday and neighboring rival Lincoln High the following week. If the Clippers lose one of those contests, they could still get some outside help that will land them in the quarterfinals.
“The kids really played great tonight,” added Cumberland head coach Chris Skurka. “We had to win this game if we any inclination of possibly continuing our season, and we just got a great effort from everyone.
“Shea’s a great team and Dino (Campopiano) is an excellent coach, so this is just one of those things that when you come to their place and beat them, you have to feel lucky getting out of here with a field-goal win.”
The loss was just one in a string of tough defeats for the Raiders, who dropped to 1-4 in division play (1-6 overall) and dropped their four games by a total of 20 points. Like the Clippers, they needed to win their final three games, but unlike their visitors, one defeat meant a swift end to their playoff hopes.
“I thought we dominated the game, but unfortunately, the only thing that matters is the final score,” said Campopiano as he took a glance at the scoreboard. “You have to give Cumberland credit. They came through when they had to. They scored when they had to and they stopped us when they had to.”
The Raiders, who went into battle minus standout tailback Malcum Moniz (severely sprained ankle) and backup Freddy Gobewole (one-game suspension) actually picked up a season-high 257 yards on the ground, had their ball on offense for close to 30 minutes (29:42) of the 48-minute game, and visited the red zone six times while the Clippers went there only once.
But unfortunately for the Silver & Black, they were a dismal 1-for-6 inside the Clippers’ 20. They turned the ball over on downs four times and quarterback Josh Burgo tossed a pair of interceptions to kill the other drives.
“Unfortunately we hurt ourselves and the shame’s on us,” said Campopiano. “We played hard, but that’s been kind of the story all year. We hurt ourselves and we come out on the losing end. You can’t make mistakes against teams that are as equal as you, and tonight, Cumberland didn’t make many mistakes that’s why they won.”
The only time the hosts succeeded inside the Clippers’ 20 came midway through the first quarter. After the Raiders got the ball from the Clippers on a fumble recovery by lineman Mike Adams at the Clippers’ 19, tailback Fidel Wright picked up six yards on a carry and then -- operating out of the Wildcat offense -- picked up the other 13 yards by battling his way up the middle and into the end zone.
The Clippers then came back with the next two scores in the final 3:55 of the first half on a pair of long touchdowns. Tailback Adrian Oliveira produced the first on a 62-yard run down the Clippers’ sideline, and after a Raider turnover, quarterback Dan Canavan lofted a 37-yard TD pass to Joe Vecchio with 2:55 on the clock.
Shea then grabbed a 14-13 on the first play of the fourth quarter on a 15-yard interception return by lineman Max Perry, followed by a two-point conversion run by Burgo that put the Raiders ahead.
Canavan, who faced a third-and-15 from the Clippers’ 15, was chased out of the pocket by lineman Dean Wertz and tried to zip the ball over Wertz, but the pass sailed right into Perry’s hands and he motored into the end zone untouched.
The Clippers then responded with their longest drive, a 13-play, 70-yard march that took 5:47 off the clock and resulted in Bacon’s short field goal, which zipped straight through the uprights and would have been good for 40 yards.
The Clippers had a first-and-goal from the Shea 8, but after three carries produced just six yards, Skurka turned to Bacon to get him the lead and the junior responded like a veteran.
“I was just trying to do what I had to do,” added Bacon. “It feels great. I really felt like I helped the team out.”
“I really hoped we could have punched the ball in there,” noted Skurka. “but Chad’s been outstanding for us. The extra point team has been great and they were clutch keeping us in our overtime games. But I can’t say enough about Chad. He wears No. 13 on his jersey because he’s been ‘Lucky 13’ for us.”
The Raiders did their best to reclaim their lead on their ensuing drive by working the ball from their 20 to the Clippers’ 31 on eight carries. But again, they turned the ball over on downs when their next four plays resulted in a loss of two years.  
“I thought the defense played outstanding,” said Skurka. “They had bad field position for most of the night, but they still managed to come up big on fourth downs and capitalize on mistakes -- things that we’re been trying to preach to these guys all season long. Ricky McCoy, Keith Gaumond, Mike Krueger, Cam Glad -- the whole defense are seniors and they just played outstanding.”
Also playing outstanding were Wright and Oliveira, who both weren’t on their respective teams’ radar charts at the beginning of the year, but totaled over 100 yards on the ground. Wright, a senior who was playing in his second varsity game, finished with 165 yards on 23 carries, and Oliveira, a sophomore who was making his first varsity start, had 112 on a dozen handoffs.  
**
CUMBERLAND, 16-14
Cumberland        0    13    0    3    --    16
Shea            6    0    0    8    --    14
S – Fidel Wright 13 run (run failed)
C – Adrian Oliveira 62 run (Chad Bacon kick)
C – Joe Vecchio 37 pass from Dan Canavan (run failed)
S – Max Perry 15 interception return (Josh Burgo run)
C – Chad Bacon 19 field goal

            C        S
First downs        8        13
Rushes-yards        27-164        45-257
Passing        7-18-3        2-10-3
Sacked-yards lost    3-20        3-12
Net passing        127        (-9)
Punts-average        3-16.3        1-30.0
Fumbles-lost        2-1        3-1
Penalties-yards    4-45        4-25
**
Individual statistics
RUSHING: C – Adrian Oliveira 12-112, Justin Gaudette 6-30, Keith Gaumond 8-16, Dan Canavan 1-6. S – Fidel Wright 23-165, Manny Baptista 12-77, Josh Burgo 3-19, Orlan Thomas 1-(-1), Tim Monteiro 6-(-3).
PASSING: C – Dan Canavan 7-18-3-147. S – Josh Burgo 2-10-3-3.
RECEIVING: C – Keith Gaumond 4-74, Joe Vecchio 2-53, Justin Gaudette 1-20. S – Manny Baptista 1-6, Fidel Wright 1-(-3).