Beaudoin scores late touchdown in victory
NORTH SMITHFIELD — Mount St. Charles sophomore fullback Jared Beaudoin spent most of the first 43 minutes of Friday night’s Division IV showdown against undefeated Tiverton blowing open holes for North Smithfield junior running back Cade Curran.
But, with the Northmen/ Mounties down by a point and facing a fourth-and-1 at the Tiverton 3-yard-line, coach Wes Pennington decided to put his team’s fate in his dependable fullback’s hands.
“Coach doesn’t give me a lot of carries, so when he called that play, it showed how much he trusted me,” Beaudoin said. “I really have to thank my offensive line for that one.”
Beaudoin followed the left side of his offensive line into the end zone to put the home side ahead by five points. The Northmen/Mountie defense, which struggled to slow down Tiverton dual-threat quarterback Matt Gacioch in the first half, stopped the Tigers on a Xavier Croteau interception to secure a 19-14 win and remain in first place in the division.
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“This feels great because this is good win, a ycharacter builder for us,” Pennington said. “Our
seniors really stepped up as the game went on. eXavier Croteau made a great catch to keep that ndrive going and he scored a touchdown. You -can’t say much more about how the defense played. Cole Dubois and Kyle Johannis both had great games.”
“That was one of the best wins we’ve had in years,” Curran said after rushing for 148 yards, including an 80-yard touchdown in the first half. “To come out and show the town and the entire state what we’re made of is great. We’re not just out here beating bad teams, this team was very good. They punched us in the mouth and we responded. I couldn’t have asked for more from anybody.”
North Smithfield/Mount St. Charles (4-0, 3-0 Division IV) will have time to recover from a physical game because they aren’t back on the field until Saturday, Oct. 13 when Exeter-West Greenwich/Prout comes to town for an 11 a.m. contest. The break could be crucial, because all-division kicker Pasquale Camastro suffered an injury in the first quarter when he dove at a Tiger receiver’s legs on a tackle.
Offensively, quarterback Jack Puccetti completed 11 of 20 passes for 191 yards and a touchdown, while Josh Carufel caught six passes for 72 yards and Croteau caught four passes for 124 yards and a touchdown.
Croteau’s touchdown came on the Northmen/Mounties’ second play from scrimmage. The senior speedster caught a pass at the Tiverton 45 and proceeded to outrun the Tiger secondary for a 63-yard touchdown just 2:54 into the contest. Camastro made the extra point to put the home side up seven points.
Curran extended the lead to 13 late in the first quarter when the junior found a hole behind his right guard and proceeded to run untouched for 80 yards. The two-point conversion run failed.
“Oh ya, I thought I was scoring,” Curran said. “I saw that hole and I have that speed, I knew that if I made one little cut, I was going to be in the end zone.”
Tiverton responded with a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter to take a one-point lead going into the second half. First, Gacioch found junior receiver Daniel Garde for 37-yard touchdown just 2:02 into the second quarter. Gacioch, a junior, finished the evening with 98 yards passing and 51 yards on the ground.
The Tigers took the lead on a trick play when junior Nate Upchurch finished off a double pass with a 41-yard touchdown reception.
After giving up 159 yards of offense in the first half, the Northmen/Mounties only gave 50 yards in the second half. Gacioch and Upchurch combined to run for 21 yards on seven carries.
“In the second half we started to understand what they were trying to do to us,” said Pennington, who prepared his defense for the Tigers’ zone-read attack. “The kids were just determined to not let them score in the second half.”
The Northmen/Mounties appeared on their way to retaking the lead early in the second half when they drove from their own 12-yard line to the Tiverton 37. The drive, however, came to a sudden end when Curran fumbled for the home side’s third turnover of the evening.
Even though the drive didn’t produce any points, Pennington knew his running game was wearing down the Tigers. NS/MSC started its next drive at its own 30 and proceeded to drive 70 yards in just seven plays to retake the lead on Beaudoin’s three-yard plunge.
“I kind of knew that as the game went on – especially in a close game like this where everyone is giving their all – that a team that runs the ball gets those drives at the end of the game because the other team isn’t tackling as hard,” Pennington said. “I knew that if we had the football late in the game, we were going to be successful running the ball.”