By ERIC BENEVIDES

Sports writer

CUMBERLAND --- Tucker Field has not been a kind place to play for Cumberland High this year, and the Clippers’ woes at home continued on Friday with a disheartening defeat on Homecoming Night.
Mount Hope High took advantage of a dominant ground game that amassed 286 yards on 52 carries and a handful of mistakes by the Clippers and bused home to Bristol with a 20-7 non-league triumph that certainly left a bad taste in head coach Chris Skurka’s mouth.
“This game’s Homecoming,” remarked Skurka, whose team is 1-0 on the road, but 1-4 at home. “We play this game for pride -- non-league, whatever – it’s still Homecoming and that should mean something to you. I think the kids get it, (but) we just have to figure out a way to stop beating ourselves.”
The Clippers’ four losses at home have been tough pills to swallow. First, they dropped a 13-7 non-league verdict to Classical High, a Division IV club. Then came overtime losses to Coventry High and Toll Gate High, and on Friday, the setback to the Huskies, who are 3-1 in the Division II-A ranks.
“That’s a very good football team,” Skurka said of the Huskies. “I’m not taking anything away from Mount Hope, they’re in first place in the other division. It’s just disheartening when you lose Homecoming in that manner we did tonight.”
Three running backs did all the damage for Mount Hope. Bruising fullback James Olson keyed the Huskies’ assault on the ground by picking up 117 yards on 26 carries, tailback Chris Raiola contributed 86 yards on just eight handoffs, and tailback Aaron Booth added 84 on 17 carries.
Not only did the trio receive solid blocking up front from its line, but the Clippers turned in some sloppy tackling at times that led to big gains.
The Huskies grabbed a 14-0 lead at the half by controlling the ball for 15 minutes and 39 seconds and picking up 179 of their 191 yards on the ground.
They opened the game with a 13-play, 63-yard drive that took 7:31 off the clock, but saw them turn the ball over on downs at the Clippers’ five. But two plays later, the Clippers fumbled the ball back to the Huskies at the four, and seconds later, the Huskies broke on the board on a four-yard TD run by Booth and a two-point conversion run by Olson.
After the Clippers went three-and-out on their next drive, the Huskies claimed their two-touchdown lead 1:05 into the second quarter on a 16-yard run by Raiola that capped an eight-play, 63-yard drive that took just three minutes to complete.
The Clippers had a golden opportunity to get on the board on their next possession when they drove 43 yards on just six plays to the Huskies’ 24. But the next three plays totaled just nine yards, and on fourth-and-one from the 15, they tried to pick up a first down by handing the ball up the middle to Justin Gaudette, but he was tackled for a four-yard loss.
Cumberland also came close to scoring on the opening possession of the third quarter. The Clippers drove from their 29 to the Huskies’ eight on six plays – one of them a 39-yard run by Gaudette on a fake punt – and thought they had a touchdown on an eight-yard run by Gaudette around the right pilon, but a holding penalty wiped out that score.
The hosts were pushed back to the 15, and after the third of four sacks by the Huskies moved them back another five yards, the drive died on an interception by quarterback Dan Canavan at the two-yard line.
The Huskies then made it a 20-0 game by driving from their two to the end zone on 23 plays and milking exactly nine minutes off the clock. Olson concluded the drive with a one-yard plunge up the middle with 8:30 to play in the game.
“That kid’s a very good football player,” Skurka remarked of Olson. “He’s really tough to tackle and he’s hard to bring down.”
The Clippers, who spent the rest of the game passing the ball, scored their touchdown on a 36-yard pass from Canavan to Gaudette in the middle of the end zone with 4:48 and got the extra point off the foot of Chad Bacon.
Canavan ended the night completing 15 of 31 passes for 174 yards and went 9-of-16 for 132 yards in the final eight minutes of the contest. Joe Vecchio caught seven passes for 77 yards, and the Clippers produced just 96 yards on the ground on 16 carries.
The Clippers, who are 2-2 in a very tight race for the four playoff spots in Division II-B, return to league action next Friday night with a tough test against Shea High at Max Read Field – the first of the Clippers’ final three division duels of the season.         
“As far as I’m concerned, the next three games are must-win games for us,” said Skurka. “We have three very good opponents, and we’ll take them one game a time. We have to go the road next week and play Shea – tough place to play, Dino (Campopiano) is a great coach. We just have to keep coaching it up and keep doing what we have to do.”
**
MOUNT HOPE, 20-7
Mount Hope        8    6    0    6    --    20
Cumberland        0    0    0    7    --    7
MH – Aaron Booth 4 run (James Olson run)
MH – Chris Raiola 16 run (run failed)
MH – James Olson 1 run (pass failed)
C – Justin Gaudette 36 pass from Dan Canavan (Chad Bacon kick)

            MH        C
First downs        17        12
Rushes-yards        52-286        16-96
Passing        1-3-1        15-31-2
Sacked-yards lost    0-0        4-22
Net passing        12        152
Punts-average        1-25.0        2-34.0
Fumbles-lost        2-0        1-1
Penalties-yards    5-40        6-50
**
Individual statistics
RUSHING: MH – James Olson 26-117, Chris Raiola 8-86, Aaron Booth 17-84, Tyler Carreiro 1-(-1). C – Justin Gaudette 5-46, David Elkas 3-28, Cameron Glad 5-19, Dan Canavan 3-3.
PASSING: MH – Tyler Carreiro 1-3-1-12. C – Dan Canavan 15-31-2-174.    
RECEIVING: MH – Chris Raiola 1-12. C – Joe Vecchio 7-77, Justin Gaudette 4-70, Evan Patrick 2-16, David Elkas 2-11.