By STEVE MAZZONE

Sports writer

WOONSOCKET – First-year Woonsocket High coach Carnell Henderson considers his team young but talented.
Unfortunately, what often happens with those two attributes is the youth aspect usually takes time to be on even terms with the skill level. Before that occurs, the so-called “rookie mistakes” will often interfere with the overall game plan.
The Villa Novans got a taste of that in their non-league Challenge Cup contest against Division I opponent East Providence on Saturday afternoon.
While the Townies had the advantage as far as size and skill, it was costly turnovers that caused the biggest headaches for Woonsocket in an eventual 48-22 drubbing by EP at Barry Field. The Villa Novans fumbled the ball four times and were intercepted twice - all but two of those miscues the Townies were able to capitalize on by finding the end zone.

“It doesn’t matter who the opponent is,” Henderson said. “I’m not going to say that they came out here and over-powered us and executed properly. That’s not what it came down to. Blown assignments early and then you just get out of what you do. Those are the things regardless of who are opponent is. If we don’t do what we are suppose to do we are not going to be successful…We can’t be young forever. We have to grow up and we have to grow up quick.”
East Providence out-gained the Villa Novans in total yards of offense by a 379-268 margin – a statistic that was certainly aided by a strong fourth quarter by Woonsocket. With the Townies already holding a 34-0 edge after three quarters, the Novans did all their scoring in the final 12 minutes, including two long touchdowns by junior Jordan Barr.
The Townies’ Ryan Bellamy rushed for three touchdowns and sophomore quarterback Robert Delgado, who only played the final two quarters, looked impressive, scoring on TD runs of 20 and 48 yards.
“Robert did a great job in the second half, and he actually did it with a lot of the second unit,” EP coach Sandy Gorham said. “He scored a couple of touchdowns. He’s a fabulous runner. He did a really good job with pressure on him.”
If Woonsocket needed an omen of things to come in the contest, they got it just 10 seconds after the opening kickoff when senior James Suber fumbled the ball to give East Providence prime field position at the enemy’s 27-yard line. The Townies appeared as though they gave the ball right back to Woonsocket on the next play when starting quarterback Aaron Spivey pitched out to teammate Emerson Perez, who fumbled the ball to the Novans. But the referee ruled that Spivey’s knee had touched the ground before the play.
After Spivey recovered his own fumble on the very next play, East Providence needed two more chances to find the end zone. Spivey connected on a 16-yard pass to sophomore Trey Britto to get the ball to the 11. Bellamy then found the end zone by running right up the gut.  Spivey’s first of six PAT gave the visitors an early 7-0 advantage.
The Villa Novans were able to stop a lengthy 10-play drive by the Townies when sophomore Rody Fernandez intercepted a fourth-down Spivey pass deep in the end zone with about four minutes left in the quarter.
On the ensuing play, the Townies were able to capitalize on another turnover by the Villa Novans when EP senior Alex Therrien intercepted a pass by Gonzalez off of a deflection. On a keeper from the 29, Spivey hustled in for the score and a 14-0 lead for his teammates.
“Turnover, blown assignments, we have a lot of young guys, inexperienced guys,” Henderson said. “We have to correct those things. You can’t be a good team by making those mistakes.”
Bellamy capped an 8-play, 57-yard drive that began at the tail end of the first quarter and into the early parts of the second with a four-yard TD run to give EP a 21-0 cushion by halftime.
Woonsocket was playing the game without its top running back, senior Tyrell Nealy, who badly twisted his ankle in last week’s Injury Fund contest against Lincoln. Nealy was suited up, but did not feel good after testing his ankle before the contest.
Taking care of most of the running duties in his absence, Barr performed well against the Townies. In addition to his two touchdowns, he finished with 130 yards on just nine carries.
“He competed from the beginning to the end and he didn’t want to come out,” Henderson said. “He just wanted to keep competing. We know he’s that type of kid. Minus Tyrell, I believe I have something in that kid and his willingness to work. We’ll just have to build on that.”
The Townies scored two more times before Woonsocket finally put a number on the scoreboard. Two plays after another Villa Novan fumble - this time on a punt return - EP made it a 34-0 game when Emerson Perez scored on a 12-yard run. Early in the fourth quarter, Delgado scored on an 18-yard paydirt.
Besides an impressive 80-yard run down the right sidelines, Barr also scored on a 20-yarder in the fourth quarter. Gonzalez also hooked up with Suber on a perfect 58-yard touchdown pass.
Woonsocket returns to action next Saturday when it host Chariho in a Division II-A opener at Barry Field. East Providence begins its Division I slate on Friday at Cranston West. Gorham expects his squad to be competitive.
“This season is wide open,” he said. “Hendricken got beat in the Injury Fund game and in the playoffs in the first round. (St. Raphael Academy) has some great athletes. They look really good. They all look good. We could be 5-5, we could be 10-0 or we could be 1-9. I have no idea. I think we have the capability of competing.”

EAST PROVIDENCE, 48-22
East Providence 14 7 13 14 – 48
Woonsocket 0 0 0 22 – 22
EP – Ryan Bellamy 11 run (Aaron Spivey kick)
EP – Spivey 29 run (Spivey kick)
EP – Bellamy 4 run (Spivey kick)
EP – Bellamy 7 run (Spivey kick)
EP – Emerson Perez 12 run (kick failed)
EP – Robert Delgado 18 run (Spivey kick)
W – Jordan Barr 20 run (Thongsavone Souriyavong kick)
W – James Suber 58 pass from Danny Gonzalez (Souriyavong kick)
EP – Delgado 48 run (Spivey kick)
W – Barr 80 run (Barr run)

    EP  WHS
First downs   7  2
Rushes-yards   46-336  18-170
Passing   2-7-1  5-13-2
Net passing   43  98
Fumbles-lost   4-1  4-4
Penalties-yards  5-50  3-20
Punts-average   3-33  4-27
***
Individual statistics
RUSHING: EP – Ryan Bellamy 12-52, Emerson Perez 7-98, Aaron Spivey 9-53, Joe Felia 3-8, John Gorham 1-5, Trey Britto 1-0, Robert Delgado 8-115, Brian Poole 2-10, Scott Javis 1 –(-3), Manny Gomes 1-(-2), Brandyn Hitte 1-(-2). W – Jordan Barr 9-130, Danny Gonzalez 8-20, Jose Merced 1-20.
PASSING: EP Spivey 1-6-1-16. Delgado 1-1-0-27. W: Gonzalez 5-12-2 98. Luis Heredia 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING: EP – Britto 1-16, Gorham 1-27. W – Merced 3-36, Jesse Charette 1-4, James Suber 1-58.