Burrillville hands Westerly 1st loss
Broncos claim No. 1 seed, host Rogers in D-II quarterfinals
WESTERLY — Gennaro Ferraro and his Burrillville football team didn’t need any extra motivation to get up for their Division II regular-season finale against undefeated Westerly.
With the regular-season title on the line, Ferraro said he had “no emotion” about coming back to his hometown and beating his alma mater.
“The scenario is this,” he said, following his team’s upset of the Bulldogs. “We came down and beat a team that was beating other teams 57-5, and we beat them 2114. I am very excited about that.”
“[This means] everything to me,” senior Cyrus Sikes said. “We’ve worked hard all offseason. Can’t wait ’till the playoffs – can’t wait to see them again.”
Sikes looked toward the already-vacated Westerly sideline as he said that.
The defensive lineman helped the Broncos defense accomplish something that no other D-II team has managed to do: slow down the potent Bulldog rushing attack.
“I admire the resolve of our boys,” Ferraro said. “They knew it was a huge challenge. Westerly is very good, physical, talented, well coached. We knew we had to basically play perfect to beat them.
“They embraced the challenge of playing a completely different defense. That’s what [Westerly] forces you to play.”
“We were,” playing a 5-6 defense, Sikes said. “We didn’t want them taking advantage of double teams. They had to run outside every time, and they don’t throw it, so our corners picked it up.”
The Bulldogs run nearly every single play, heavily featuring senior Tristan Turano in their backfield. Turano had scored in every single game this season and his team had never trailed, two streaks that came to a sudden end against the Broncos.
“I don’t think the scheme was any different from what any other team has tried to do,” Ferraro said, of stacking the box against the run-happy Bulldogs. “I just really think our boys embraced being the underdog. We’ve haven’t been the underdog in a really long time. They embraced that role, they wanted to win a Division II championship.”
A scoreless first quarter gave way to an exchange of touchdowns. Anthony Fusaro opened the scoring with a 12-yard run for Westerly, but the Broncos came right back with a dose of their own medicine.
Sophomore Bobby Thatcher has had a breakout season and that continued on Friday night. Playing in the biggest game of his young life, Thatcher responded to Fusaro’s touchdown with a 49-yard score of his own on the next drive.
Westerly’s high-scoring offense gets all the headlines, but their defense has been just as dominant this season. The Broncos’ offense was the first unit this season to score more than six points against the Bulldogs first-team defense.
A big part of that was the play of senior quarterback Jacob Gelinas. Facing constant pressure, Gelinas led the offense to a zero turnover day.
In a 14-14 game in the third quar- ter, Gelinas scrambled out of the pocket and connected with Aidan Tupper for a 41-yard catch on fourth down.
“That was the biggest play of the game, I thought,” Ferraro said. “Jake is a two-year starter. He’s a phenomenal athlete. The thing with this team is that they’ve been playing together so long. Jake is the backbone of the offense.”
The Broncos moved the ball effectively all game against the stout Bulldog front, but ran into trouble at the goal line. Thatcher looked to have scored on a 20-yard run in the second quarter, but was ruled down at the 1-yard line. Three of the next four plays were runs by the sophomore, but the Bulldogs held strong and forced a turnover on downs.
Gelinas took things into his own hands the next time the Broncos were in the redzone. Again right up against the goal line, Ferraro opted to have his diminutive quarterback sneak in to tie the game at 14.
Thatcher ultimately had the last laugh, after narrowly missing out on the earlier short-yardage situation. Following the dramatic throw by Gelinas to Tupper, Thatcher dove into the end zone for the game-winning score.
“Our offensive line really did a great job of picking up their exotic blitzes,” Ferraro said. “Bobby Thatcher ran really hard.
“It was a 48-minute game. We knew it was going to take 48 minutes and every fiber of our bodies.”
The Broncos were never afraid of going for it on fourth down. Still sporting their one-touchdown lead late in the fourth, Ferraro opted to run Thatcher instead of punt on fourth and short.
Thatcher rewarded his coach by earning the first down and sealing the season-defining win.
“The kids embraced the game plan and executed it to perfection,” Ferraro said.
The win secures the II-B title and the No. 1 seed in the upcoming playoffs.