BARRINGTON – The defending state champs got up close with one of the possible heirs to the throne Saturday afternoon as St. Raphael bowed to Barrington, 32-12, at Victory Field.
The loss is the Saints’ fourth consecutive, dropping them to 1-4 in league play, 3-5 overall. The Eagles keep pace at 5-1, setting up a showdown for the league crown with undefeated La Salle (5-0) this week in Providence.
Even though Barrington was minus top runner Mike Read (ankle injury), the Eagles were able to survive. Barrington built a 17-6 lead at halftime before salting the game away with an 8-spot in the third quarter.
The only daylight the Saints saw in the opening half was Kyle Sequin’s one-yard run with one second remaining. Sequin’s second score in as many weeks was set up on a connection between new quarterback Todd Vasey and Nael Pierre-Louis.
SRA was looking for more as the fourth quarter got underway, but a fumble near the goal line killed any hopes of an upset bid. The Eagles drove 90-plus yards for an insurance score, making it 25-6 Barrington with just over seven minutes remaining.
The Saints did find the end zone late on a Vasey to Jean-Daniel Roussel connection from two yards out. Vasey was guilty of four interceptions.
Who ever thought the Super Bowl rematch would feature teams sporting a collective 3-8 record? St. Raphael and Bishop Hendricken may be out of the playoff picture, but both will try to relive some of that magic from last season when the Saints and Hawks meet up this Friday in Warwick.
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SRA 0 6 0 6 -- 12
Barrington 6 11 8 7 – 32
SRA scoring: Touchdowns - Kyle Sequin (1 run), Jean Daniel-Roussel (2 pass from Trevor Vasey).
Barrington scoring: Touchdowns - Steve Crawford (2 run), Steve Goniprow 2 (7 run, 43 run), Marc DeSisto (35 run); Field goal - Brandon Lewis (27 yards); Conversions - David Sylvia (pass from Crawford), DeSisto (run), Lewis (kick).