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Hendricken downs E.P. gridders, 28-7 |
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Tuesday, 17 November 2009 |
By STEVE MAZZONE
Sports writer
EAST PROVIDENCE – About the only thing the Townies won was the coin flip.
Fighting for what it thought was its playoff life, Bishop Hendricken High looked every bit like a team on a mission Monday night in a dominating 28-7 decision over East Providence High at Pierce Field.
The Hawks set the tone early, scoring on a lengthy, seven-minute opening drive. Although the Townies were able to respond later in the quarter with quarterback Robert Delgado finding the end zone on a 54-yard TD run with less than a minute remaining in the quarter, it never got any better for E.P.
Offensively, the Hawks out-gained their Division I rival via the air and ground by a convincing 372-60-yard margin. With the win, Hendricken upped its record to 6-2. Although the Hawks earned a playoff slot after Portsmouth High (4-4) was upset by Rogers High (2-5) prior to the conclusion of their contest with the Townies, that wasn’t the case when the two teams squared off under the lights at the E.P. venue.
The setback by the Townies, who have already sewed up a postseason berth, drops their record to 5-2 with a Thanksgiving Day showdown against La Salle Academy (6-1) remaining on its league slate.
The Hawks finished up their divisional season on Monday and face D-II opponent Toll Gate on Turkey Day.
“It’s disappointing,” said E.P. coach Sandy Gorham. “They didn’t do a darn thing that we hadn’t seen or worked on. I don’t know if it’s the fact that they had to win it to get in and we knew we were in it. That sounds cliché and an excuse but I was really kind of disappointed in our energy and the way they controlled the ball. When we did get some drives going we shot ourselves in the foot. It was disappointing. For us to show anything in the playoffs, we’ve got to beat good teams and we haven’t shown that yet. I was disappointed in our performance.”
The Hawks’ win could provide an interesting scenario in the coming weeks. If the Townies defeat the Rams in their holiday classic, that would cause a three-way tie for second behind league titlist Barrington (7-1). As to who gets the No. 2 seed should that happen, that’s anyone’s guess.
On Monday, the Hawks were led by senior running back Mike Flanagan, who rushed for 124 yards and scored twice. Flanagan and junior fullback Ethan Ferreira (13 carries, 49 yards) did the bulk of the damage on Hendricken’s opening drive, one that covered 82 yards and ended with Flanagan avoiding several Townies defenders with an 8-yard TD run.
E.P. took advantage of one of the few turnovers in its favor to score its lone touchdown. With just over a minute left in the first quarter, Chris Grant recovered a Hawk fumble at the Townies’ 37 when Zach Conte coughed up the ball after catching a screen pass from quarterback Tom Verdi (8-for-12, 141 yards). In just three plays, the score was tied with Delgado breaking loose for his 54-yarder.
That would be about the only highlight for E.P. the remainder of the game as the Hawks dominated their divisional foe. The Hawks would scored two more touchdowns by halftime with Ferreira getting into the end zone on a six-yard run and Conte scoring from eight-yards out.
In the opening half, Hendricken had more than double the offensive plays as East Providence (33-16). For the game, that figure didn’t change much (61-30).
The Townies were playing their first game since a 14-6 victory over Rogers on Oct. 30. Gorham felt the long layoff might have had some affect on how his players performed.
“We have been off for 18 days. We’ve had two games in four weeks,” he said. “I don’t know if that’s the reason we played poorly. I was disappointed that they took it to us tonight and controlled the ball the entire time.”
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 29 November 2009 )
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