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Undefeated Ponaganset downs Burrillville |
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Thursday, 26 November 2009 |
By BRENDAN McGAIR
Sports writer
FOSTER – Never once did Ponaganset High head coach Tom Marcello let the talk of an undefeated regular season creep into the discussion.
“I’m going to be 100 percent honest: I could really care less,” was the blunt honesty Marcello delivered following Ponaganset’s 30-19 holiday triumph against Burrillville High at ‘The Reservation.’ The win, the Chieftains’ 10th in as many opportunities, clinches a perfect regular season. They are the only team in the state that can brag about such a claim.
To Marcello, tunnel vision is something he swears by. The next step comes Tuesday night at North Smithfield High when Tiverton High pays a visit in the Division III semifinals.
“[Yesterday] obviously counts, but it doesn’t have any impact on how you play the next game. You could have stinker, then come back and come back to have a great game,” said Marcello. “It’s about the practice in-between. We don’t talk about games, and you really have to approach it that way.”
The Broncos, on a three-game winning streak coming in, had hoped to play spoiler. Instead Burrillville will take the hard lessons learned during a 4-6 season and hope better times sprout next autumn.
“The 2009 version of the Burrillville Broncos should be very proud for the way they played all year,” stated head coach Gennaro Ferraro. “They are the springboard for the future.”
The Chieftains, the top seed in the upcoming D-III tournament, removed all the drama out of this one early. Senior running back Nick Keeling (102 yards, three scores) kicked off his productive morning with a nine-yard touchdown, capping off Ponaganset’s opening drive that was fueled mainly by quarterback Josh Morgan’s 55-yard connection with Peter Mathieu.
Morgan ended Burrillville’s first offensive series with an interception at midfield and extended Ponaganset’s lead nine plays later, finding Adam Babcock from 45 yards out for a 13-0 lead after one quarter.
A 30-yard field goal by Ethan Walsh strengthened Ponaganset’s to 16-0 with four minutes gone by in the second. Burrillville finally broke through with 73 seconds left in the opening half, quarterback Roger Blanchard finding Nicholas Haffner from three yards out. That capped off a 14-play, 63-yard drive that covered 6:22.
Both sides were alternated turnovers just before halftime, Burrillville’s Jeffrey Hauser getting the game of hot potato rolling by picking off Morgan. Keeling wasted no time returning the favor, returning a Blanchard interception 65 yards for a score on the half’s final play. That gave the Chieftains a 22-7 bulge.
The lead was extended to 30-7 midway through the third quarter after Keeling made a mad dash towards the end zone, tiptoeing his way down the left sideline on his way to covering 40 yards. The rest of the scoring belonged to Burrillville, running back Brendan Darigan (85 yards) burnishing 18 yards on the ground while Blanchard found Dylan Armstrong on a 47-yard catch-and-run that helped make the final score respectable.
Even with a game of great importance just four days away, Marcello didn’t give any thoughts of pulling his starters prematurely. “We wanted to win the game,” Marcello added. “We debated [whether to rest the key guys], but we had the same ‘What do we do?’ discussion a few years ago. We always end up just going out there to win the game. It’s a big game for the kids even though it’s not a big one in terms of the standings.
“I would love to play two games a week,” the coach said with a chuckle. “The good thing is that we can practice during the day; we’ll come in and get our work done. If you need to hit at this time of year, you’re in trouble.”
Ponaganset received a big lift when injured quarterback Jake Kravitz took the game’s initial snap. Kravitz has been sidelined since late September with a broken foot.
“He is an inspiration for us in a different way, but he was always a leader on the field, always vocal. He would get on his teammates if something went wrong,” said Marcello about Kravitz. “The seniors know how hard he’s worked and are really trying to do it for Jake.” |
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Last Updated ( Sunday, 20 December 2009 )
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