Raiders, Saints meet at Pariseau
Bragging rights on line in Division I showdown
PAWTUCKET — Shea High basketball phenom Erickson Bans is quite used to facing Catholic school foe St. Raphael Academy on the basketball court, simply because the Dennis M. Lynch Jr. Memorial Holiday Tournament is held every December.
The tall, lanky Raider, though, has never faced the Saints on the gridiron, as this is is the first time he’s ever played at the varsity level. Still, he’s about to, as the two will meet in a critical, early- season Division I- A clash at 1: 30 p. m., Saturday at Pariseau Field, but he doesn’t care who, what or where he’s going to play.
When asked if he’ll be a little more pumped up than usual given the fact his next opponent will be SRA, Shea’s newest starting quarterback grinned, threw a tight spiral to a teammate and scoffed at the notion it’s a more important affair because it’s a “Battle of Pawtucket.
“It doesn’t matter (if) we’re playing Saints; I’m just going to play as hard as I always do,” he stated. “I know some guys who play hoop, but not anybody on the football team, so it doesn’t matter. I’m always competitive when it comes to any sport, and I don’t consider Saints a crosstown rival. “That’s Tolman.”
Veteran mentor Dino Campopiano explained that it’s a rather friendly rivalry to him personally, as friend Mike Sassi has been the head coach at SRA about as long as he has at Shea.
“Honestly, we’ve bee friends going on 30 years or more; I enjoy our friendship and we enjoy playing against each other,” Campopiano said at the tail end of Thursday afternoon’s practice. “The last few years we’ve played some great games, and I don’t think Saturday is going to be any different. Mike does a great job with those kids.”
The Saints (1-1 overall, 0-1 league) are coming off an emotional 22-20 overtime loss to East Providence last week, while Shea (2-0 overall, 1-0 I-A) has captured both by an average of nearly 25 points per game.
As for this particular showdown, Campopiano expects a physical, fastpaced contest.
“I’ve seen the films, and their quarterback (senior Devin O’Malley) does a nice job of running the ball and controlling the offense,” he noted. “He runs the waggle nicely; he’s a pretty complete quarterback, and their tight end, No. 13 (junior Kai Meerbott), he runs nice patterns and has got good hands.
“I also think they have a couple of running backs, one in the slot and one in the backfield, run hard, but they can also catch. They’re pretty quick,” he added. “Defensively, they swarm to the ball because they’re so quick, so we’re going to have our hands tied trying to move the football. We’re going to have to mix things up and keep them off-balance.
“We’d like to throw the ball a little more because we know they’re going to be focused on our running game, in particular (All-Stater) Jaylen Smith, not to mention our other backs like Dejuan Hayes and Henrique Duarte. Erickson has done a nice job under center; every game he’s gotten better and better. We’ve been very pleased with his progress, but even more so with his intense desire to want to improve.”
Sassi admitted he just wants to look forward after the devastating defeat to the Townies, but indicated facing Campopiano’s Shea crew will not be easy.
“They’re as fast as a team there is in the state, and it starts with Jaylen Smith,” Sassi said. “Dino’s always done a good job of outflanking people, and – defensively – they always come with a lot of pressure. They come with a ton of speed, and pressure what you’re trying to do offensively. I’m sure they’re going to make it very hard for us to pull our linemen because of the blitzing they do.
“As for us, we just have to execute,” he added. “We can’t keep playing the way we have been at times; we’ll gain eight yards on first down and lose six the next. We’ve got to execute the way we’re capable.
“Then again, you also have to expect some mistakes as we have seven sophomores and freshmen playing varsity. Of the 45 kids in our football program, 22 are sophomores and freshmen. They’ve got to learn.”
Campopiano insisted the key for both sides are limiting crazy mistakes.
“When you play a good team, you can’t turn the ball over,” he said. “You’ve got to keep any mistakes, penalties and the like, to a minimum. If you do that, you’re going to be in the ball game.”
When Burrillville collides with Division II-B Mount Pleasant at 10:30 a.m., Saturday, it will do so for the first time this season at its own cozy Alumni Field confines.
The Broncos also will try to keep their unbeaten record (2-0 overall, 1-0 in league) intact, and there’s no reason to think they won’t. They clubbed Division I foe South Kingstown, 33-8, in their non-league opener, then pounded Mount Hope, 49-7, in its first league tilt, while the Kilties (0-1) dropped a 35-20 decision to Central in Week No. 1.
“It’s our first home game – awesome!” offered head coach Gennaro Ferraro. “We’re looking forward to it. We had a longer week of practice because we played last Friday, so we were able to slow things down for the younger kids. We took advantage of the extra time (to prepare).”
It’s those very “younger kids” who have most impressed Ferraro so far this year.
“We’re just prodding along – you know how it goes,” he said. “We’re off to a good start because our young guys have been executing and developing week to week. We have 24 kids from 10th grade on our varsity team, and they’re hard-working, devoted young men who love to be challenged and who love to rise to the expectations placed before them.
“I’m very pleased with the way the sophomores have adjusted to the varsity level; obviously, it’s a big jump in size, speed, precision.”
Among his offensive standouts so far: Junior tailback Bobby Thatcher, and senior receivers Aidan Tupper and Sam Clifford, who already has snagged six TD passes from sophomore signal caller Wesley Cournoyer. Ferraro noted Tupper just returned from a calf injury last week, and that senior back Nick Roy has been pivotal.
When it comes to facing MP, the veteran mentor is wary of its collective talent, despite its 0-1 start.
“They’ve got tremendous team speed, very skilled at back and receiver and they have an All-State center who anchors the offensive line,” he said. “Their linemen are also big, very big, while they’re very athletic everywhere else.
“To beat them, we’re going to have to play solid, cohesive team defense,” he added. “We also have to be able to tackle them to slow them down on offense. They’re are limited times in a game where you have the opportunity to score, especially against a good team; we must take advantage of ours because they can be dangerous.”