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Sunday, 19 October 2008 |
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By BRENDAN MCGAIR Sports writer EAST PROVIDENCE – Both Tolman High and East Providence High walked out of Pierce Stadium Friday night feeling mighty confident, this despite a 28-8 final in favor of the Townies.
Given this was a non-leaguer, there was no bearing on the standings. Obtaining confidence for the stretch run was priority No. 1, and both sides felt that was obtained.
For Tolman, the confidence stems from being able to generate offense against a team of higher stature. The Tigers out-gained the Townies, 123-0, in the first quarter, a quarter that saw head coach Dave Caito’s crew run off 22 plays. On the flip side, the Townies were limited to a three-and-out.
The Tigers produced four drives of 10 plays or better. Collectively they rushed for 179 yards, Jordan White leading the way with 87 yards on 10 carries.
“We played hard and were physically right there,” said Caito. “(EP) is a Division I club and we like to challenge ourselves in hopes of moving up to the next level.”
Like Tolman, which was coming off a shellacking against Westerly, East Providence was also attempting to rebound from a sound defeat, the Townies’ defeat coming against Barrington. “It was good for us to come back and restore confidence,” said EP head coach Sandy Gorham.
The disparity between the Tigers and Townies came when EP quarterback Aaron Spivey directed the offense. Chewing up the clock with lengthy drives may have been Tolman’s specialty, but the big play was EP’s calling card. All four of the Townies’ touchdowns were 20 yards or greater, the longest belonging to an 80-yard catch-and-run between Spivey and Emerson Perez.
That gave the Townies a 14-8 lead in the second quarter. EP battled back from an eight-point deficit after Tolman quarterback Jordan Johnson called his own number from a yard out early in the second.
“(Tolman) was controlling the ball, which was very frustrating,” said Gorham. “We stretched their defense a little bit and started to play a little bit better.”
EP got on the scoreboard after Spivey rushed 21 yards up the middle. With Robert Delgado sitting this one out with a bruised knee (Gorham doesn’t believe the injury should cause the talented sophomore to miss next Saturday’s game vs. North Kingstown), Spivey didn’t have to worry about looking over his shoulder and wonder when Gorham would make the switch.
Besides being perfect (4-for-4) on his extra point tries, Spivey threw for 144 yards on three completions, two of which were scores, and piled up 60 yards on the ground. “(Spivey and Delgado) know the situation,” said Gorham. “What’s funny about an option quarterback is that they’ll make the right play 85 percent of the time. It’s the 15 percent of time where they get yelled at.”
The Townies (5-3 overall) may have been without Delgado’s services, but they survived just fine thanks to bruising tailback Corey Blair. After straightening out his academic issues that kept him sidelined earlier this season, Blair is starting to get into the swing of things. He rushed for 114 yards and a score.
Caito knew his club would have a hard time staying on the same field as the Townies’ offense. Still, he viewed Friday as by far and away the most competitive of the three games Tolman (2-4) has played East Providence.
“It’s getting closer, but every year you have to recycle and reload with the hopes you come back with a better team,” said Caito. “We have Warwick Vets next week. If we won Friday, that would have been great, but Vets is the bottom line.”
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 22 October 2008 )
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