By ERIC BENEVIDES

Sports writer

NORTH SMITHFIELD - North Smithfield’s bid to go from winless season to postseason is still alive.
Senior tailback Roger Sherman rushed for 122 yards and three touchdowns on 21 carries and the Northmen took advantage of six Central Falls turnovers on Friday night en route to a 34-22 victory in their Division IV battle and N.S.’s Homecoming Night.
Both the Northmen (3-3 in the division) and the Warriors came into this duel in dire need of a win in order to keep their postseason hopes alive. They not only needed to take this game and run the table on their division schedule, but they also needed some outside help along the way.
The Northmen, who were winless a season ago and 1-7 in 2007, will hit the road for their final two games and look to defeat North Providence (1-6) next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and Scituate (3-2) on Thanksgiving morning.
They also need Exeter/West Greenwich (3-2), which they beat in the second week of the year, to lose one of their final three games to Hope (4-2) today, Classical (4-2) next week, or the Warriors on Saturday, Nov. 21, or have Scituate lose once to Classical this week, Middletown (5-1) next week, or the Northmen in their finale.
“They’re playing some very good football teams,” N.S. head coach Wes Pennington said of EWG and Scituate. “We still have to win our final two games, but I’m hoping that (the teams they’re playing) help us out to make this thing a little bit easier for us.”
The Warriors, who fell to 3-4 in the division, came into this game with victories in three of their last four games, but fell prey to the turnover bug (two first-half interceptions, four second-half fumbles).
“I don’t think we quit, I just think it wasn’t our day,” added C.F. head coach Mo Jackson. “We beat ourselves. You can’t turn the ball over six times against any team and expect to win.”
“The turnovers really turned the game around for us,” said Pennington. “When you get a turnover, that brings the momentum to your side and we were able to capitalize on some of them.”
The Northmen took a 14-0 lead after a quarter of play on a 12-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Matt Rondeau to Giguere Giles with 3:48 on the clock and a strong 33-yard run up the middle by Sherman with 35.6 seconds to play.
The Warriors made it a 14-8 game when Antonio Mena tossed a 34-yard halfback option pass to Robert Alers in the end zone and followed that throw with a two-point conversion pass from Steven Vazquez, but things soon went downhill for C.F. in the second half.
After the Warriors’ second fumble of the third quarter gave the Northmen the ball on the C.F. 25, the Northmen added to their lead six plays later on a 1-yard run up the middle by Sherman and the third of four extra points by Bill Nangle.
With 8:50 to play in the game, Sherman made it a 27-8 game by scoring on a 7-yard run, and after another fumble by the Warriors inside their 20 gave the Northmen back the ball with great field position, Jimmy Martins reached the end zone on a 2-yard run.
“The guys did well and came out to play,” added Pennington. “I think our win last week against Middletown really gave us some confidence tonight.”
The Warriors’ final two touchdowns came in garbage time, as Vazquez hooked up with Emmanuel Versailles on a 22-yard touchdown pass with 2:29 to play and Mena on a 10-yard TD pass with 38.3 seconds left.
Vazquez, a sophomore quarterback who passed for over 120 yards in each of his first four varsity starts for the Warriors, was 7-for-18 for 98 yards and his two picks, but before the Northmen took their 34-8 lead, he was only 2-for-10 for 18 yards.   
The Warriors did receive a fine outing from senior tailback Albert Bello, who picked up 107 yards on 14 carries.
**
Central Falls        0    8    0    14    --    22
North Smithfield    14    0    7    13    --    34
NS – Giguere Giles 12 pass from Matt Rondeau (Bill Nangle kick)
NS – Roger Sherman 33 run (Bill Nangle kick)
CF – Robert Alers 34 pass from Antonio Mena (Antonio Mena pass from Steven Vazquez)
NS – Roger Sherman 1 run (Bill Nangle kick)
NS – Roger Sherman 7 run (kick blocked)
NS – Jimmy Martins 2 run (Bill Nangle kick)
CF – Emmanuel Versailles 22 pass from Steven Vazquez (pass failed)
CF – Antonio Mena 10 pass from Steven Vazquez (Antonio Mena pass from Steven Vazquez)

                CF        NS
First downs            11        12
Rushes-yards            25-152        45-179
Passing            8-20-2        6-12-0
Sacked-yards lost        2-13        0-0
Net passing            119        64
Punts-average            1-36.0        7-15.0
Fumbles-lost            7-4        3-0
Penalties-yards        3-25        3-30
**
Individual statistics
RUSHING: CF – Albert Bello 14-107, Emmanuel Versailles 5-24, Antonio Mena 2-16, Steven Vazquez 2-3, Jay Juan Carter 2-2. NS – Roger Sherman 21-122, Alex Blanchette 10-43, Jimmy Martins 4-17, Matt Rondeau 5-2, Giguere Giles 3-2, Peter Mancini 2-(-7).
PASSING: CF – Steven Vazquez 7-18-98-2, Antonio Mena 1-1-34-0, Albert Bello 0-1-0-0. NS – Matt Rondeau 6-12-64-0.
RECEIVING: CF – Emmanuel Versailles 3-41, Antonio Mena 3-30, Robert Alers 1-34, Kevin Figueiredo 1-27. NS – Giguere Giles 3-36, Peter Mancini 3-28.