Lions meet Avengers in showdown
Undefeated Avengers invade Ferguson Field for D-II showdown with Lions
Endgame for Lincoln is to grab top seed from East Greenwich
LINCOLN — If the Lincoln football team wants to pull off what would be a mild upset victory over Division II Super Bowl finalist East Greenwich at Ferguson Field on Friday night, it will need to do three things flawlessly, according to head coach Sean Cavanaugh.
Those are to execute and play unselfishly, trust in each other and utilize an “old-school formula.”
“It’s going to be a grind because they have great balance between the run and pass; they’ve got tremendous athletes at all of the skill positions, and we’ve got s lot of respect for coach John George and his program,” Cavanaugh stated of the Avengers, who will carry a 5-0 overall mark and 4-0 league record into this battle. “Their kids are very well-coached and execute on both sides of the ball.”
“It’s going to be a grind because they have great balance between the run and pass; they’ve got tremendous athletes at all of the skill positions, and we’ve got s lot of respect for coach John George and his program,”
— Lincoln coach Sean Cavanuagh
In those five wins so far this season, EG has racked up 186 points while yielding only 57; that means it has won each game by an average of 37-2.-11.4.
The Avengers have accomplished that with superb skill players, including senior quarterback Conrad Swanson, classmate and tailback Matt Licciardi and others.
“Offensively, they put up big numbers, so we know it’s going to be a challenge just to stay competitive with them,” said Cavanaugh, whose own contingent sits at 4-1 overall and 4-0 in II-A action. “Their quarterback is very good; he stays in control of the game, takes what the defense gives him. H can hurt you with arm or his legs, as he’s very elusive.
“The thing about EG is they have a lot of returnees from last year’s Super Bowl team (it lost to Woonsocket), so they’ve been there before. They know how to win.”
Cavanaugh explained the Avengers run an offense that includes some pro-set, some “I” and some spread, and “we’re going to have to do everything right to combat that. We need to be physical, we need to be fast, we need to be tough – and smart. If not, it could be a long night
“Defensively, they run a 4-4 or a 4-2-5 depending on the situation,” he added. “They can play multiple, depending on who they’re playing. They’re very good at using their athleticism to make a stop of pull off a big play, and they play physical. They’re just solid.
“I’m being dead serious when I say the most impressive thing about them is they don’t worry about the numbers or the individuals; it’s all about how they play as a complete unit … What we have to demonstrate is all the positives I just said about them. We’ve put in all the work this week; the kids are showing up early and staying late. They know how important this game is to us.”
Another local match-up has drawn a lot of interest among the masses this week, and that’s Friday night’s Division III clash between Central Falls and Tolman at Max Read Field (like the Lincoln-EG game, it’s slated for 7).
The Tigers enter the affair fresh off two heartbreaking losses to Narragansett (20-19) and Pilgrim (16-14) just last week. Tolman held a 14-point cushion through most of the game before allowing the Pats the game-winning TD and two-point conversion with about five minutes remaining in regulation.
“My thought is that it was a good, hard-hitting game, but we just came out on the short end,” head coach Jason DeLawrence stated. “The wind affected us much more than it did them because they’re more of a ground-andpound team. I mean, we can run it, but I’d much rather be balanced. We just had our passes being affected by the wind; that’s why we had only a couple of completions, but we also had some drops.
“Still, the good news is that my kids fought hard and they didn’t back down; hopefully, we’ll get a chance to see (the Pats) later.”
As for this upcoming contest against visiting CF (2-2 overall, 1-2 league), DeLawrence admits the offense is very strong with senior signal caller Luis Gonzalez and the senior-freshman rushing tandem of Darryl Fleurantin and Andreni Maldonado in the backfield.
“They’re
really
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running back and also tight end,” he noted of senior Jaquell Christal. “He’s got good hands and good size. So will be a difficult matchup, and their quarterback is a good athlete with a good arm. When I saw the films of their games against Pilgrim and Narragansett, I was impressed with the deep balls he threw.
“For us to stop them defensively, we have to try to win up front with the big guys and make sure we cover their receivers or guys out of the backfield. We can’t give up any easy TD passes; we have to make them earn everything they get.
“Defensively, they run some 4-4 and some 3-3 stack with Cover-3,” he continued. “Hopefully we can be more balanced this week than we were in the rain and wind last week. It was like playing in a wind tunnel.
“When we have an opportunity to make a big play, we have to be successful. We also have to limit their big plays.”
Not surprisingly, CF veteran mentor Jeff Lapierre has the same kind of respect for the Tigers (3-2 overall, 2-2 in D-III).
“They’ve got an explosive offense, led by that quarterback (sophomore Jordan Cooper); he’d a very skilled and strong passer, so he’s going to be tough to defend,” Lapierre said. “He loves throwing the long ball and finding the open receiver, and that’s usually that kid (senior Danny Akinsheye), who’s excellent. Then again, so is (senior) Jeremiah Edwards.
“I also think the offense is well-balanced because, if they have to, they’ll try to ground-andpound you with the running game,” he added. “They’ve got two really solid backs (in senior Cute Today and sophomore Aaron Carrion).
“In that passing game, they’ve got to much speed, they get separation and get deep on you fast, so you have to be really aware. How do we combat it? Well, we’re very young this year, but we’re coaching are kids up. They have a lot of heart and they’re listening. They’re working hard.”
Lapierre indicated he is currently starting four freshmen on defense and two on offense.
“We just have to play as mistake-free as we possibly can,” he offered. “The last couple of weeks, when we played Pilgrim and Narragnsett, we shot ourselves in the foot so many times. I mean, they’re good teams, but we beat ourselves. We had false starts, holding calls, a couple of interceptions. We just need to play better in all facets of the game.
“They’ve got a very aggressive defense – they show a five-man front, so they’ll bring the heat. They show a lot of blitz, so we have to be ready. We do that by shoring up our mistakes … We’ve had a good week of practice so far. Again, I’m not guaranteeing anything, I don’t want to predict anything, but I feel we’re in a really good place right now. We’ve had a good positive vibe in practice all week.”