on 11-18-2009 22:52

By TERRY NAU

Sports editor

on 11-17-2009 21:49

By BRENDAN McGAIR

Sports writer

There were concerns, to be sure. There always are whenever you’re dealing with a situation akin to the girls’ soccer episode that has cast the programs at Woonsocket and Tolman High in a negative light.
From the perspective of one athletic department, the chief worry was that those student-athletes and coaches deemed at fault would be “hung out to dry” and made examples of for their bad behavior last week.
Those fears were realized Tuesday morning when the R.I. Interscholastic League passed sentence.
A total of nine players received suspensions ranging anywhere from two games to five, the latter being the maximum penalty that can be distributed under the bylaws pertaining to the sport.
Both head coaches, Woonsocket’s Kathleen Fagnant and Bel Pereira from Tolman, were also included in the punishments meted out by the RIIL’s Principal’s Committee on Athletics, a group that oversaw the entire fact-gathering process before presenting its findings to executive director Tom Mezzanotte.
The Interscholastic League, choosing to protect the identities of the players and coaches involved, felt that the only way to prevent episodes like the skirmish between the Tigers and Villa Novans in the closing stages of last Sunday’s Division IV championship from happening in the future was to send a firm message reprimanding the parties involved in the series of events that unfolded at Rhode Island College.
Mezzanotte and his office declared as much in a prepared statement. “The [Principal’s] Committee has issued suspensions as a clear message to not only those involved, but to all athletes that fighting and unsportsmanlike behavior has no place in interscholastic athletics and will not be tolerated.”
In Woonsocket’s case, all but one of the five suspensions steered the high school’s direction will take effect next season. The lone Villa Novan that is the exception to that rule is a senior. Her five-game sanction automatically rolls over to the winter sport she participates in.
“In the case of the others, it’s OK because it’s still connected with soccer,” explained Woonsocket athletic director George Nasuti. “The senior is put in a different set of circumstances.”  
Mezzanotte mentioned earlier in the week that the schools are welcome to appeal the rulings. School officials are not precluded from taking further action, if they deem it to be appropriate. 
“If there is an appeal, we will consider it on a case-by-case basis as it arises,” Nasuti said. “I understand and agree with the severity of the consequences in that the league is taking a stand on fighting and most importantly, students coming off the bench. We are abiding by the suspensions at this time.”
The footage shot by WPRI Channel 12 played, according to Nasuti, “a major role, and because of that fact, we are making examples of the students and coaches involved. It happened in a public forum, the media got a hold of it and that’s probably why the suspensions range in the way they do.”
Nasuti didn’t dismiss the possibility of the suspensions being more lenient had television cameras not filmed the fracas. “If this wasn’t filmed, it would have been an officials’ account. Due to the study of film we were able to indicate those parties involved. The [TV] media helped heighten, in my opinion, the response and the consequences.”     
Why high school girls’ soccer in the Ocean State carries such stringent rules and potentially lengthy repercussions as opposed to other sports is a bit of a mystery, feels Nasuti.
“My guess is that they were trying to cut down on the violence in soccer. In my mind it’s a game that can get out of hand because there’s no equipment and 22 bodies are on the field at one time,” opined Nasuti. “The people that run soccer want to keep it a clean game, which I have no problem with.
“When you get into a fight during a regular season game in basketball, football or hockey, you get thrown out for one game. In a second fight, you get thrown out for two games in your sport. A third fight and you’re done for the year,” Nasuti explained. “[How judgment was passed in the girls’ soccer fracas] was a little different than I’ve ever experienced.”   
Calls to Tolman seeking comment were not returned to Blackstone Valley Sports.
 

on 11-17-2009 21:48

By TERRY NAU

Sports editor

Some things I think I think:
Well, the Rhode Island Interscholastic League has handed down its decision in the Tolman-Woonsocket girls soccer melee. Executive Director Tom Mezzanotte did what he had to do, delivering suspensions of varying lengths to nine different players. Very impressive. I just have one question. If a similar fight breaks out in a hockey game this winter, can we expect the same kind of penalty? Even if there are no television cameras around?
There’s no question that Channel 12’s film footage of the fight, which has been re-run for the past week, placed pressure on the RIIL to put an end to this kind of unsportsmanlike behavior among its athletes. That film provided a handy tool for Mezzanotte and his staff to study. And they knew they had to make the penalties swift enough to deter athletes in other sports from going overboard when things get physical on the gridiron, or at a hockey rink.
Bottom line: The nine players from Tolman and Woonsocket are being held up as poster girls for bad behavior. No way nine of them get banned if Channel 12 wasn’t around.
They are like celebrity entertainers who get caught cheating the IRS, and earn harsher penalties, just so that a message can be sent to lesser-known folks who might want to cheat on a smaller scale.
Is the penalty fair? I don’t think so. But I’m just a sports writer who has seen a lot of similar stuff happen over the past 40 years. Mezzanotte, who is trying to run a league that includes teams from more than 40 schools, must stand up for what he believes. And the RIIL for years has been proud of its sportsmanship program that honors teams every season for keeping their poise in the heat of competition.
Nobody ever said life is fair. The nine girls who got suspended have to turn this incident into a positive for themselves. Maybe they can learn a lesson about life. Keeping your head while others are losing theirs is an asset that can be used to great effect as the years pass by. Losing your composure never wins any battles, on the field or in life.
And maybe a more subtle lesson is this one. You can’t beat the people in power. It might be fun to try when you’re young. But the bottom line is that authority always wins. John Mellencamp wrote a song on the subject a long time ago.
***
In all the brilliant analysis of Bill Belichick’s costly decision not to punt on fourth down late in Sunday night’s game against Indianapolis, one piece of business has not been touched upon. Nobody has talked about whether the Patriots’ defense was so weary that Belichick had little confidence that his unit could stop the Colts from anywhere on the field.
This has happened before, of course. Playing indoors inside a controlled climate is a whole different kind of physical experience than playing outdoors in autumn weather. The Patriots and Colts have played at least two other down-to-the-wire games in the  RCA Dome. The Colts rallied from 18 points down in the 2006 AFC Championship game as the Patriots’ defense went belly-up in the second half.
Everyone also remembers the “Willie McGinest Game” back in 2004 when the Colts rallied and had a chance to push across the winning touchdown in the waning moments. McGinest, who had faked an injury to buy some time on second-and-goal, made the game-saving tackle with an amazing burst from left end to tackle Edgerrin James short of the goal line.
Colts fans were a little disgusted by McGinest’s sudden revival.
Patriots fans might also remember the 2007 Super Bowl when their defense allowed a mediocre New York Giants offense to march down the field late in the fourth quarter for the winning score. This game was played outdoors in Arizona, another warm climate.
That’s the thing about football. We’re so used to seeing games played outdoors in weather that goes from warm to brisk to cold during the course of the season. Conditioning isn’t as big an issue in November  and December when the Patriots are at home. We do hear a few words on the subject when the Patriots visit Miami late in the season.
So my question for Bill Belichick is this: How does he prevent a recurrence of this scenario during the playoffs? Does he have enough depth among his defensive linemen and linebackers to rotate players and keep his key personnel fresh for when the game is on the line?
The answer to that question apparently was a resounding “no” inside BB’s head on Sunday night. I guess 40-year-old linebacker Junior Seau might not be the answer when it comes to situations like this.
And then there’s the whole Richard Seymour thing. That 2011 No. 1 draft choice coming from Oakland two years from now did not make one tackle for the Patriots on Sunday night. Do you think the Patriots miss Seymour’s physicality along the line of scrimmage? They can beat mediocre teams without Seymour. When it comes to beating elite teams like the Colts, this is where a guy like Seymour is missed.
When the Patriots were winning Super Bowls earlier in the decade, their defense beat up opposing teams. That hasn’t been the case in recent years. The Patriots have become a finesse team, capable of scoring quickly on offense, and bending but not breaking on defense. Well, they broke against the Colts on Sunday night and the sight apparently changed the way Bill Belichick would normally coach the game.
Belichick thought he was giving his team the “best chance to win” by going for it from his own 28-yard line. Judging by the way his defense was sucking wind on the sideline benches, it probably was the only call he could have made.
Bottom line: If the Patriots want to get back to the Super Bowl, they probably need to go through the Colts and their indoor sauna berth in mid-January. Maybe next time, the defense will have something left in its reserve tank for the final drive of the night.

 

on 11-17-2009 21:47

By STEVE MAZZONE

Sports writer

CUMBERLAND – Unnecessary penalties and bad breaks.
That’s been Cumberland High’s story this season, one in which it came a game short of qualifying for the postseason.
Besides those two factors, however, the Clippers had another problem to deal with in its Division II non-league contest with visiting Tolman on Tuesday night.
Fleet-footed quarterback Jordan Johnson.
The Tigers’ senior captain carved his way through the Clippers defense for 158 yards. For good measure, he also put some numbers on the board, running for a touchdown and passing for another as the Tigers bused home from Tucker Field with a 23-20 victory over the Clippers.
“He’s a good athlete,” said CHS head coach Chris Skurka. “He’s tough to tackle. He’s tough to bring down. He’s a very good athlete. He made plays when they had to.”
The game, which was twice postponed before it was finally played before a scarce crowd at the Cumberland venue, was an extra tilt added after both teams failed to make the playoffs. In essence, it was a contest played for pride before the two squads play in their respective Thanksgiving Day showdowns - the Tigers (2-5 in Division II-A, 3-6 overall) matching against Shea next Wednesday night at Max Reed Field and the Clippers (3-4 in II-B, 3-7 overall) facing heated-rival Woonsocket at Barry Field on Turkey Day.
“I told the guys either you can lay down and quit with two more games or you could show a little bit of pride and win your last two games,” said THS head coach Dave Caito. “We are halfway there. We have a big test with Shea coming up.”
While Jordan was doing his damage as well as the Tigers’ defense making a few key plays along the way, the Clippers certainly couldn’t get things to go their way to earn the ‘W.’ Cumberland finished the game with eight penalties with the most critical occurring with less than two minutes left in the third quarter.
After the Tigers scored what proved to be the winning touchdown of the game when Ousmane Samb capped off a 68-yard drive by the Tigers with a 15-yard run, Cumberland answered the score with one of their own. On the first play from scrimmage from the 47, quarterback Dan Canavan hit Justin Gaudette with a perfect spiral on a cross-pattern and the senior shifted his way though several Tolman defenders for a 53-yard TD play. A missed extra point by Chad Bacon, his first of the season, would put the Clippers behind 21-20.
That, of course, was not the critical play. That came shortly after when Keith Gaumond intercepted a Johnson pass at the Clippers’ 45 and scurried into the end zone only to find not too long after that his score was nullified due to a hold penalty.
“We can’t seem to catch a break,” said Skurka “When we make a big play it gets called back every time. I’m frustrated. The kids are working hard, but we can’t seem to be getting anything to go our way this year.”
Another key point in the contest came just before Samb scored when the Clippers were faced with a fourth and inches on their won 47 after what looked like a bad spot by the officials. The Clippers elected to go for the first down and were stopped dead in their tracks by the Tigers’ defense. Three players later, Samb scored on a drive that was assisted by two big penalties - face-masking and roughing the passer.  
“I had confidence in the offense to get six inches and it came down to a postcard in between (the marker),” Skurka said. “I had confidence in the offense to make the first down. That’s what it comes down to. I would make the same decision again….As a team, I just thought that was the right call.”
“We stepped it up,” Caito said. “We won that battle on the line of scrimmage. That was huge for us.”
Tolman took the early advantage. After getting great field position at the Clippers’ 20 after Cumberland was called for a block in the backfield on a punt attempt in the first quarter, Johnson finished off a quick, four-play drive with a 20-yard aerial to Maynard for a 7-0 lead.
The Tigers would take a 13-0 cushion at the start of the second quarter when it again got prime field position; this time at the 8 after a blocked punt. Johnson took care of all the running during the three-play drive, finishing it off with a three-yard run.
Cumberland would score twice before the quarter was finished, taking a 14-13 lead at the break on a five-yard TD run from Dave Elkas and an 11-yarder from Gaumond.
After the two teams traded scores in the third quarter, the Tigers would put the final nail in the coffin with a safety with 1:04 left on the clock.
***
Tolman 7 6 8 2 - 23
Cumberland 0 14 6 0 – 20
T – Jordan Johnson 20 pass to Kyle Maynard (Jahmal Bowman kick)
T – Johnson 3 run (kick blocked)
C – Dave Elkas 5 run (Chad Bacon kick)
C – Keith Gaumond 11 run (Bacon kick)
T – Ousmane Samb 15 run (Jordan pass to Maynard)
C Dan canavan 53 pass to Justin Gaudette (kick failed)
T - safety

           C    T
First downs     7    9
Rushes-yards      26-162    41-191   
Passing     4-16-1    1-6-1       
Net passing    91    20           
Penalties-yards    7-55    5-50        
Fumbles-lost    1-0    0-0       
Punts-average    2-25    0               
***
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING:  C – Justin Gaudette 5-34, Keith Gaumond 1072, Dave Elkas 7-52, Dan Canavan 2-4, Robert England 1-(-1), Brian Buxton 1-1. T – Ousmane Samb 18-37, Justin Johnson 21-158, Anthony Bryson 1-(-3), Jahmal Bowman 1-6.
PASSING: Canavan 4-16-1 91. T – Johnson 1-6-1 20.
RECEIVING: Evan Patrick 1-14, Elkas 1-16, Joe Vecchio 1-7, Gaudette 1-53. T – Kyle Maynard 1-20.