Novans trip up Saints
Woonsocket looks strong in win over St. Raphael
PAWTUCKET – Woonsocket High jumped out to a 16-point lead in the first quarter and never looked back en route to a 22-8 victory over St. Raphael Academy at Pariseau Field on Friday afternoon.
The Villa Novans (2-3, Division I-A) received two touchdown passes from quarterback Geraldi Paniagua. Both throws ended up in the arms of senior playmaker Ke’Vaughn Davis, who was faced single coverage each time.
Emmanuel Gomes closed the scoring for Woonsocket with a 20-yard rushing score in the third quarter. The Novans successfully responded after the Saints (1-4, Division I-A) capped off the first series of the second half with a touchdown that saw DeJuan Hayes take a short pass from quarterback Devin O’Malley and turn it into a 10-yard score.
It’s the second straight game that Woonsocket’s defense held its opponent to exactly eight points. Unlike the team’s 8-5 loss to East Providence on Sept. 29, the offense more than did its share and made sure not to pin all
hope on the unit guided by defensive coordinator Patrick Pass.
“The biggest thing for us is that we need how to win before we can start winning. The East Providence game, we were able to get these guys to realize how good we can possible be,” said first-year WHS head coach Charlie Bibeault. “The execution in that game terrible, but we were still in a position to win.
“We jumped out to a big lead and then our inexperience started to show with all the penalties, but we got it together again in the fourth quarter and Emmanuel was able to take us home,” Bibeault said.
The first Paniagua-to-Davis connection covered nine yards and capped off the game’s first drive, which encompassed eight plays. The key sequence was a half-back option on third-and-11 from the Woonsocket 46-yard line. After taking the pitch from Paniagua, Davis rolled to his right and threw the ball into the arms of a wide-open Justo Colon. The play covered 46 yards.
Two plays later, the Novans were in the end zone as Paniagua looked left and found Davis in the left corner.
A blocked punt by Rogelio Gonzalez-Escalera deep in SRA territory directly led to Woonsocket’s second score just before the first quarter ended. One play after the strong showing on special teams, Paniagua hit Davis from nearly the exactly the same spot that resulted in this first touchdown. This one covered 24 yards and Paniagua rushed it in for two more points.
It remained a 16-0 game heading into halftime. St. Raphael came out in a Wing-T formation to start the third quarter with junior De’Andre Babbitt totaling 29 yards on three carries. His strong running opened up the passing game as O’Malley hit Hayes, who broke a tackle on his way to getting the Saints on the scoreboard.
It was Woonsocket’s turn to answer and the Novans did behind Gomes, who on the ensuing drive ripped off runs of 16, 17, 15, and 20 yards on his way to scoring with 3:40 left in the third quarter. The touchdown was possible thanks to Paniagua completing a 12-yard pass to Henry Camacho on third-and-12 from the SRA 31.
SRA had the ball for the majority of the fourth quarter but couldn’t advance it past midfield. Gonzalez-Escalera came up with a key sack of backup quarterback Pat Coughlin, who replaced the injured O’Malley, and Woonsocket freshman Logan Coles broke up a pass with 2:55 remaining that proved to be the last gasp for the Saints.
Woonsocket will look to make it two straight next Friday at Cranston West. The day, SRA will travel to South Kingstown.