Clippers, Raiders to face off
Cumberland prepares to visit Shea tonight in Div. 1 showdown
PAWTUCKET – Neither Shea football coach Dino Campopiano nor Cumberland coach Josh Lima seemed thrilled at the prospect of having to answer questions about their Division I-A showdown tonight at 7 at Max Read Field.
The simple reason: No one wants to give away possible trade secrets (as in approach) or bulletin-board material.
In fact, when asked how he expects his defense to stop the Raiders’ vaunted rushing attack, including star senior tailback Jaylen Smith, he responded, “Like we say, Division I football is good football. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing; you know it’s a good football team. It’s a D-I league game, so it’s just the same as any other team you’d be preparing for. You’ve got to take it seriously, as it could have implications down the road.”
Campopiano, on the other hand, was somewhat more forthcoming, especially about his squad’s disgruntling 14-6 loss to new league rival St. Raphael last Saturday.
“They just outplayed us; in my mind, they just wanted the game more,” he sighed.
“It’s a D-I league game, so it’s just the same as any other team you’d be preparing for. You’ve got to take it seriously, as it could have implications down the road.”
— Shea’s Dino Campopiano
a “They outplayed us in all three phases – offense, defense and special teams, and we’re better than that … The bottom line, against Cumberland, is that we have to come dout and play a good, full game of football.
We have to execute. o “We only had a turnover and just a few penalties, so that’s not what I mean by ‘execute,’” he added. “(The Saints) were a more -physical team than we were, so we’ve got to dgo out and play our game on offense, defense tand specials. More than anything, though, kwe have to want it more. That’s one thing
I’m going to be paying particular attention dto.” t The Clippers enter with a 1-1 league mark, while Shea (2-1 overall) has the same. Still, this should be an interesting battle between sthe two senior quarterbacks – CHS’s Dante Aviles-Santos and Shea basketball phenom hErickson Bans.
, “Their kid does a nice job throwing the gball, but he can run it, too; he can throw dshort, middle or long, and Cumberland mixmes the run and pass very well,” Campopiano said. “That can make them deadly. Any high Ischool team that can do that, have that kind fof versatility, you’ve got to be concerned.
“Up front, they’re big and physical, so twe’re going to have to do a good job of blocking and protecting Bans in the pocket,” the continued. “I know we’re going to have gto throw the ball because you know Josh is egoing to have his kids ready to stop our runsning game. e “Erickson has had a pretty good year, and sJaylen’s Jaylen, but we also have DeJuan Hayes and Erickson and other guys who can step in.”
As for Cumberland, it collected a thrilling 30-21 victory over East Providence last weekend and will be looming forward to making it two straight in league action.
“I think we played well, but there were still a lot of mental errors, and that’s one thing we haven’t done much of this year,” he indicated. “They weren’t penalties or turnovers, but things like misreads, missed blocks, missed assignments, guys going the wrong way, etc.
“We had been pretty disciplined, but the little things – like getting only two yards when it should have been 20 – can add up to bigger issues,” he added. “We’ve got to keep those to a bare minimum, but all in all, I think we’ve been pretty good. We scored 30 points (against EP) and forced four turnovers, so those were positives.”
He mentioned Aviles-Santos finished 11for-17 with 198 yards and four TDs, and classmate/tailback Isaiah Cole gathered
abouyt 80 yards on the ground last week, not to mention two receiving touchdowns.
“Jaylen’s a brilliant rusher, but Shea always has a lot of them; that’s why you have to prepare for a lot of stuff,” Lima said. “You’ve got to be ready to go no matter what they throw at you. I can’t say we’re going to focus on this or that, because you won’t know until Friday night comes.”