Surviving OT
The Cumberland High School football team needed overtime to take care of Moses Brown in a Division I playoff tilt.
PROVIDENCE — With their season on the line, Cumberland High School football coach Josh Lima decided that two was better than one.
Two, as in a two-point conversion rather than a standard extra-point attempt.
Facing off against Moses Brown in the Division I quarterfinals on a blustery Saturday afternoon, the Clippers had battled down to the wire against the Quakers in a hard-nosed defensive affair that needed overtime to determine a winner.
Trailing 14-13 following a one-yard touchdown score by Lloyd Griffin on fourth and goal in response to an Moses Brown score that opened up OT, Cumberland decided that the next play would be the last of the game, regardless of how it turned out.
For Cumberland, it turned out rather nicely.
Quarterback Joe Leonard connected with wide receiver Michael Nocera in the corner of the end zone, and just like that, the game was over, with the Clippers knocking off the favored Oakers, 15-14. on their home turf.
“I believe in our guys. You know, we’ve talked all week about how we’re a family, it’s a brotherhood. If we can play together as a full team, good things can happen,” Lima said of his squad’s gutsy victory.
Tied 7-7 going into the extra session, Cumberland won the coin toss and elected to start on defense, only to have Moses Brown score on their very first play, with Quaker quarterback Mike Walsh connecting with wide receiver Jack McGahan on a 15-yard pass play before Matthew Jumes split the uprights, giving the home team their first lead of the day at 14-7.
Cumberland was not phased. A pair of runs by Jack Andrews brought the ball inside the Quaker three-yard line, but Leonard was stopped short of the goal line on the ensuing play, bringing up fourth down. Following a timeout, the team elected to hand the ball to Griffin on a do-or-die play with the senior running back barreling through the Moses Brown defenders across the goal line.
Instead of going for the traditional PAT and engaging in a see-saw affair in OT with each side looking to one up the other, Cumberland put everything on the line, a decision that worked out in the end.
“We’ve got heart and we’re going to go for the two. I knew that if we put them in the right position that they would make the play,” said Lima.
For all of the offensive drama of the final moments, defense ranked supreme throughout the day, especially in the first half, with both teams going into the break, knotted 0-0.
“They’re a great offense and defensively, we knew we’d have our hands full, but my defensive staff, Derek DeSousa, Gabe Gonzalez, Jerome Evans, they did a great job preparing these guys,” Lima said, crediting his assistant coaches for getting his players set for Saturday’s showdown.
Despite the failure to produce points of any nature, there was a golden opportunity for the visitors to get on the board first, but nothing would come of it.
A 30-yard run by Dante Aviles-Santos helped set the Clippers up deep in Quaker territory, but a trick play on a field goal attempt on 4th and goal from the 4-yard line did not pan out, with Andrews getting stopped short after Nocera, the placeholder flipped him the ball.
The game remained scoreless until midway through the third quarter when Andrews was given the ball by Leonard and connected with Aviles-Santos on a 37-yard touchdown pass on the opening play of their drive to make it 7-0.
“We were clicking. Special teams-wise, we had a couple blunders you know, but we knew what we had to do,” Lima said of his team’s execution.
The score remained unchanged for the duration of the third quarter, as a Clipper fumble pounced on by MB’s Jack Moran proved not to be costly, with McGahan dropping a Walsh pass on fourth down, handing the ball back to Cumberland.
The Quakers did finally respond in the fourth quarter however, thanks in large part to the footwork of Walsh, as he helped set up MB inside the Clipper 10-yard line before McGahan punched the ball through on a sixyard run to even the score.
Both sides would punt in their final offensive series of regulation before taking part in a brief, yet thrilling overtime session.
The Clippers will now await the winner between North Kingstown and South Kingstown to find out who they will be facing in next week’s semifinals.