Cumberland duo expected to help Bryant win games
Senior Fine, freshman Henderson should see plenty of playing time
SMITHFIELD — Every Bryant football player who was recruited by former coach Marty Fine has spent the last seven months trying to prove to new coach James Perry that they fit into the coach’s uptempo system.
Senior tight end Joe Fine, who is from Cumberland, not only had to impress the new coach, but he also had to emotionally deal with the fact that his father would not coach him in his final year of college football.
“The transition has been fantastic. Coach Perry has been great with me,” Fine said after Saturday’s scrimmage at Bulldog Stadium. “One of the first couple of days he was here, we were in the office talking about the offense and working out. The transition has been really easy for me.
“Coach Perry is a great coach and the offense is a lot of fun to work with. We’re doing a lot of things we didn’t do in the past. It’s a real exciting time to be a Bulldog.”
During his father’s tenure in Smithfield, Fine slowly developed into an important part of the Bulldog offense. After not catching a pass during his freshman campaign, the former Clipper All-Stater caught five passes as a sophomore. Last season, Fine caught 10 passes for 150 yards and two touchdowns.
“Joe’s done a great job. He’s starting for us right now,” Perry said. “He catches the ball well and he’s a smart guy who can really execute the plays. He’s our starting tight end. I’ll always play the best 11 guys, so if that means playing three tight ends, that’s what I’ll do. We’re a fast operation, but speed comes in a lot of forms – including tight ends.”
Fine, who Perry called a team leader because of his experience in the program, said he enjoys the amount of responsibility put on his shoulders.
“Similar to the old offense, the tight end has to be versatile,” Fine said. “Aside from the quarterback, we have to know multiple positions, different routes and protections. I like my role and where I’m at and I’m just trying to get better every day. It’s easy to do my job when we have two great linemen in seniors Pete Mestre and Shawn Gholson, who are as good as anybody in this conference.”
While Bryant returns a number of talented defensive players and key skill position players in Portsmouth’s Matt Sewall, Fine and running back Brenden Femiano, the Bulldogs were picked to finish sixth in the seven-team conference.
That’s all right with Fine because he sees a lot of parallels between this team and the 2014 squad that was blooding in a new quarterback in Dalton Easton, who went on to become a record-breaking three-year starter.
“Where we were picked doesn’t matter at all to us – I wish we were picked seventh,” Fine said. “If you remember the last time we thought we were going to have a great defense and a quarterback competition, we started 8-1 and we were 15th in the country. History says this is going to be a big year for us.”
While Fine is focused on leading the Bulldogs to their first Northeast Conference title and their first trip to the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs, his father is 2,000 miles away trying to rebuild Division II New Mexico Highlands University in Las Vegas, N.M.
Fine, who spent time coaching at Western New Mexico State two decades ago, is taking over a Cowboys program that didn’t win a game a season ago.
“He’s trying to do what we did at Bryant years ago and build up the program,” Fine said. “It’s an interesting conversation we’ve had because while he’s building, we’re trying to win a bunch of games and make a playoff run. We talk on a daily or weekly basis.”
True freshman Mekhi Henderson, who is also from Cumberland but was an all-state two-way player at Massachusetts powerhouse Xaverian Brothers in Westwood, is battling for playing time in the defensive backfield and on special teams.
“During the recruiting process (Perry) told me I could play right away and help the team, so that’s a big reason why I wanted to come here,” Henderson said. “Coach expects a lot out of me, so I’m doing my best. This is a different level than high school, you have to be at 100 percent every time and sprinting on every play.”
Henderson, who is the son of Woonsocket principal and former Boston University standout Carnell Henderson, played left corner with the second defensive unit during Saturday’s scrimmage.
Perry said he’s impressed with how quickly Henderson has embraced the challenge of playing at the FCS level.
“He’s done a great job. He’s going to push for playing time,” Perry said. “I think he’s embraced Division I football very well, which is hard to do for a freshman. He’s a gifted kid, so we need to put the best players on the field. So far, he’s embraced the challenge.”
After the graduation of Easton, Perry was left with an inexperienced group of signal callers. He wasn’t ready to name a starter for the season opener against Merrimack on Sept. 2 at 3 p.m. in Smithfield.
Perry, a former standout quarterback at Brown, said he will name his starter following Wednesday afternoon’s situational scrimmage.
“At that point, we’re going into gameplanning,” Perry said. “Those guys are competing really well. They are playing well enough at some things I like to do that we can keep this going. After Wednesday, from a rep allocation standpoint, we need to make a decision.”
Perry has plenty of options to choose from, but none of the team’s six quarterbacks has much experience. Louisiana Tech transfer Price Wilson, Monmouth transfer Devin Ray and junior Kyle Presti all have some college experience.
Wilson last played for the Bulldogs in 2015 when he played two games, while Ray completed two passes in four games for Monmouth last season. Presti threw one pass and played in three games for Fine last season.
The Bulldogs also have three freshmen quarterbacks, including Hendricken’s Chris Hindle.
“The young guys are pushing really hard,” Perry said. “Chris is another local guy that’s done very, very well. He had tremendous success in multiple sports, so all he knows is going out there and competing. He added a new energy to the room.”