By STEVE MAZZONE

Sports writer

CUMBERLAND – It was all cut and dry for the Clippers.
Prior to its Division II-B showdown with Shea High Friday night, Cumberland had just one victory. Take a quick glance through the league standing and that ranked the Clippers in a tie for 12th in the league.
With just eight teams making it to the playoffs, the odds were already slim that the Clippers wouldn’t make it to the extra season.
Plain and simple, if Cumberland had any thoughts of possibly earning a berth this season it would need to run the table in its remaining three league games, including its Homecoming tilt with the Raiders.
Keeping those hopes alive in their weekend match-up, the Clippers came to play before a very boisterous fan base at Tucker Field. Junior quarterback Dan Canavan’s seven-yard pass to junior teammate Patrick Evans with just over five minutes left in the game provided the margin of victory as Cumberland defeated Shea, 21-14.
With the win, Cumberland upped its record to 2-3 in the league, while Shea drops to 2-3.

“If we win our next two, we’re in,” CHS coach Rick Reetz said. “It’s that simple. If we lost, we were out. That’s the way we took this week; every week’s a playoff week for us. We knew we had to win this week, and we pulled it out. Now let’s see what happens next week.”
Both teams were minus a few key players in the contest. The Raiders were without their top quarterback Albert Amado, who is rumored to not longer be with the team. Meanwhile, Cumberland was playing the contest with star running back Brian Elkas sitting on the bench, apparently with an injury.
“It was a big win,” Reetz said. “I know both teams were playing with a little
e adversity today. Our guys just rose to the occasion.”
The telling tale in Friday’s contest was a splendid effort by the Cumberland defense. Shea’s Malcum Moniz, who was playing QB for the first time in place of Amado, did give the Clippers’ fits with his speedy legs. He finished with 77 yards on 17 handles. Still, Cumberland’s ‘D’ did its job, limiting Shea to just four first downs, two of which came in the final drive.
“He’s a new quarterback. He’s only had a couple of day practicing,” said Shea coach Dino Campopiano about Moniz. “I think the cornerbacks were surprised at first and then they made their adjustments. We didn’t score in the first half and that hurt us. Malcum played a great game. He played with a lot of heart.”
The Raiders’ final drive proved to be crucial for the Clippers to hold on to a rare win over the Raiders.
Just after the Clippers took their 21-14 lead when Canavan spotted Evans in the left corner of end zone with 5:10 left on the clock, the Raiders put together a last-ditch effort that would last the final minutes of the game and ended when Cumberland recovered running back Dave DeOliveria’s fumble at the Shea 35 with just over 30 seconds remaining.
The Raiders were their own worse enemy in the drive with three of their five penalties, but Cumberland’s defense certainly was a major reason for them coming up short.
“We did make some nice plays,” Reetz said. “They had a couple of penalties that hurt them in the end, and that was it.”
Moniz gave the Raiders an early lead when he capped off an eight-play, 63-yard drive with a 35-yard paydirt. After the Clippers took an 8-6 advantage at the start of the second quarter on a two-yard run by Alex Jallette and a Canavan to Evans’ two-point conversion, Shea was able to take a 14-8 cushion into halftime by capitalizing on a Clipper miscue. Just two plays after recovering Michalangelo Federici’s fumble at the 19, Shea scored on a 17-yard run by Conrad Wise and a run by Moniz for the extra two points.
For Shea, the setback is its third in the last four games. The Raiders host first-place South Kingstown on Saturday. The Clippers will tangle at Cranston East

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Shea 6 8 0 0 - 14
Cumberland 0 8 7 6– 21
S- Malcum Moniz 35 run (kick failed)
C – Alex Jalette 2 run (Dan Canavan pass to Patrick Evans)
S – Conrad Wise 17 run (Moniz run)
C – Dan Canavan 1 run (Camaron Glad kick)
C – Canavan 7 pass to Evans (kick failed)

    CHS  SHS
First downs   8  4
Rushes-yards   32-161  29-144
Passing    7-17-0  2-10-1
Net passing   165  23
Fumbles-lost   1-1  3-2
Punts-average   1-0  1-25
Penalties-yards   4-45  5-35

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: C – Dan Canavan 6-29, Michelangelo Federci 1-1, Josh Chevelier 1034, Joe Vecchio 2-7, Barrymore Greaves 1-8, Alex Jalette 2-2, Keith Gaumond 6-51. S – Malcum Moniz 17-77, Conrad Wise 9-65, Manny Baptista 1-4, John Moavero 3-9, David DeOliveria 2-6.
PASSING: C –Canavan 7-17-1 165.  S – Moniz 2-6-1 23, DeOliveria 0-1-0-0, Moavero 0-3-0-0.
RECEIVING: C – Gamound 1-9, Chevelier 1-9, Branden Aikens 1-4, Patrick Evan 1-10, Vecchio 1-3, Mohammed Alam 1-22.