Sports
Rams Dominate Townies in Football Playoff, 41-14
The LaSalle Academy football team of Providence scored five times in the first half Tuesday night and went on to soundly defeat East Providence High in a Division 1 playoff contest.
No contest.
The LaSalle Academy football team scored on all five of its first-half possessions Tuesday night and went on to post a lopsided 41-14 victory over East Providence High in a Division 1 semifinal-round playoff game before a large crowd at Lou Cimini Stadium in Providence.
Quarterback Anthony Francis threw three touchdown passes to wide receiver Keon Wilson as the host and top-seeded Rams constructed an insurmountable 34-0 lead by halftime and coasted the rest of the way to earn a berth in Saturday’s Division 1 clash against either second-seeded Bishop Hendricken High of Warwick or third-seeded South Kingstown High. Hendricken faced South Kingstown in Warwick in the other semifinal-round tussle Tuesday night.
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LaSalle will bring a season record of 10-1 (10-0 against Rhode Island opponents) into Sunday’s titular battle in quest of its first state crown in three years. The Rams’ only loss this fall came in a non-league outing against Bridgewater-Raynham (Mass.) Regional High.
Tuesday’s setback ended a bitter season for the fourth-seeded and injury-ravaged Townies, who concluded at 6-6 overall and 6-5 against state rivals. After winning six of its first seven games this fall (climaxed by a decisive 35-14 road triumph over Hendricken), East Providence dropped its last five starts by a collective margin of 177-43, including a 34-13 loss to LaSalle on Thanksgiving Day morning at Pierce Stadium.
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The Townies were simply outplayed, out-gunned and out-quicked by the deep and talented Rams on Tuesday night, and EP Coach Sandy Gorham said as much at game’s end.
“We were just overmatched,” Gorham said. “We couldn’t match up with their speed and we couldn’t match up with their intensity up front. That (LaSalle) is a great football team.”
Employing their patented hurry-up and spread offense complemented by an aggressive and fly-to-the-ball defense, the Rams took control Tuesday night from the outset. After forcing a Townie punt on the game’s opening series, LaSalle marched 47 yards in just five plays for its first score, with Francis tossing a 32-yard scoring strike to Wilson along the right sideline. Peter Picerelli’s conversion boot gave the hosts an early 7-0 edge.
The Townies showed life on their next possession when starting quarterback Jashaun Bennett hurled a 31-yard pass completion to Darian Johnson, but three plays later, Bennett was picked off by Chris Jeffrey at the LS 40-yard stripe. From there, the Rams needed only six plays to navigate 60 yards to paydirt, with Francis scrambling for 17 yard and a first down and later firing a 35-yard completion to Jeffrey. Francis snuck over the goal line from one yard out to give LaSalle a 13-0 cushion after one period.
Francis teamed up with Wilson for a 14-yard touchdown strike on the opening play of the second quarter to widen the gap to 19-0. Later in the same chapter, speedy Josh Morris sprinted 58 yards for a touchdown on an option pitch and Francis flipped a two-point conversion pass to Jack Collins to expand the bulge to 27-0.
Directed by backup quarterback John Costa and fueled by the power running of Jalin Braxton as well as three major infractions against the hosts, EP marched to the Ram one-yard line late in the second session before Braxton was tackled just inches shy of paydirt on a fourth-down carry. Undaunted, LaSalle sped 99 yards in seven plays (including a 32-yard jaunt by Morris and four Francis pass completions) during the closing 90 seconds of the first half, reaching the endzone for the fifth time on a one-yard pass from Francis to Wilson with no time remaining. Picerelli’s second extra point created a 34-0 chasm at intermission.
The Rams substituted freely in the second half, but added insult to injury midway through the third quarter when Tyneli Cooper intercepted a Costa aerial in the flat and sauntered 58 yards for a touchdown. Picerelli’s third conversion boot expanded the bulge to 41-0 after three stops.
East Providence finally got untracked offensively in the fourth quarter behind fourth-string quarterback D.J. MacKay, who thrilled the Townie faithful by clicking with Victor Adewusi on an electrifying 97-yard touchdown pass on the opening play of the period. Dominic Leonardo booted the extra point to narrow the gap to 41-7.
MacKay guided EP 47 yards in only two plays with less than four minutes to go for its second score when Edwin Rivera galloped 38 yards to paydirt. Leonardo’s second conversion kick concluded the scoring.
“Injuries just caught up to us this year and I’m really disappointed for our seniors because I thought we had the chance to do something this year,” Gorham said. “The team that played the Hendricken game, I think, would be very competitive with LaSalle.”
