Burrillville claims D-II No. 1 seed
BURRILLVILLE – Junior tailback Bobby Thatcher is about as shy, reserved and unassuming a kid as you’ll ever come across, but when he’s toting the football – or someone else is – watch out. He’s a beast … and a burden on opponents.
Just ask Westerly, Burrillville’s opponent in Saturday’s Division II-B season finale at Alumni Field on Saturday afternoon. Not only could the Bulldogs’ defense not stop him, it’s funky Single-Wing attack couldn’t, either.
Thatcher racked up 179 rushing yards and a TD on 23 carries, adding 43 more on four receptions (good for 222 all-purpose yards) in the Broncos’ wild, chess-like 1413 victory over Westerly before perhaps 700 entertained fans both inside and outside the stadium.
Most importantly, he also was involved in the play of the game.
BHS had been guarding a 14-7 cushion with 5:35 left in the regulation when senior quad-captain Luke Heto shanked what became a oneyard punt, and the Bulldogs took over on the Burrillville 47.
Senior Rocco Cillino immediately hustled 27 yards for the first down, and that sparked a six-play possession ending on Cillino’s nine-yard pass to wide-open classmate Joe Fusaro in the right section of the end zone.
All the visitors had to do was kick the extra point to knot it, Westerly coach Duane Maranda and his staff chose to go for the two-pointer and the triumph. With 3:06 left, Cillino attempted to plow up the gut, though to no avail. Burrillville’s wall couldn’t be dented, at least not this time.
According to Thatcher, “I was just at the bottom of the pile, so the guys in front of me must have done the job,” he said of the front including senior captains Nick Roy and Luke Hetu, junior Kolby Stockwell and 12th-grader Luke Wilson. “I was hoping we could stop them before the goal line, and I think we did just because we’re connected as a team.”
Offered Stockwell: “I’m usually in the middle at nose, but they put me at D-end so I could fill the gaps; they kept running my way. (On the conversion), I was just thinking we had to stop them. I was so into the game, and I wasn’t worried. I just knew we’d do it; I don’t know how. I just had a feeling we’d get it done.”
Defensive coordinator Chris Belluzzi, Ferraro’s reliable sidekick, had his own take.
“Players make plays; The defense played unbelievable,” he noted. “Besides a couple of big plays, I thought we played really sound football. We tackled and the kids played their hearts out … The great thing about these kids is that they don’t give up.”
Thanks to that monumental goal-line stand, the Broncos not only finished with an unblemished 7-0 league mark (8-0 overall) but also secured home-field advantage for next week’s D-II quarterfinal against Rogers.
Westerly fell to 5-2 in II-B and 6-2 overall, though a rematch isn’t out of the question.
When asked if he was surprised when Maranda went for the win instead of the tie, Ferraro immediately responded, “Not at all. I just think that tying the game wasn’t beneficial to them at that point. I thought they were a little tired … (plus) we’re built to score fast and they aren’t.
“I thought it was a good call by him, I really do,” he added. “I thought he would go for two. Look, both teams played their styles of football, it was great football on both sides and all the kids gave everything they had. It was just an unbelievable high school football game, and we ended up winning by a point.
That Burrillville defense did yield Cillino 156 yards and a score on 26 carries, and he also tossed that TD pass to Fusaro, but their myriad of “quarterbacks” only connected on three of eight for 36 yards and a pick.
It also sacked the aforementioned three times for 47 yards, and forced six fumbles, yet failed pounce on any.
Besides Thatcher on offense, senior quad-captain receiver Aidan Tupper gathered five receptions for 54 yards and a score, but also returned two punts for 26 more.
Likewise, sophomore Wes Cournoyer finished 12-for-24 with 139 yards and a touchdown with a pick.
“As far as I’m concerned, Bobby Thatcher is the best player in all of Division II-B, hands down, because he can carry the load on both sides of the ball,” Ferraro said. “He plays offense just as hard as defense. He makes a ton of tackles, and – on offense – we ride hin hard. He’s at least one of the vefry best in all of D-II.”
That’s the word to describe how the Broncos opened the showdown for first place. Senior Sam Clifford returned senior Tyler
J
Rodriguez’ opening boot 29 yards to the 44, and his club quickly moved to the Bulldogs’ 38 before a penalty and sack ruined the drive.
On the following snap, Cillino bolted through the hole behind the right guard and flew 77 yards for the touchdown. Sophomore Chad Mayne notched the PAT for the 7-0
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lead with only 3:17 elapsed.
Burrillville, however, responded in kind. After senior quad-captain Aidan Tupper’s
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13-yard return to the BHS 39, sophomore signal caller Wes Cournoyer directed a mere four-play possession ending – naturally – on Thatcher’s 41-yard scoring jaunt up the gut.
BHS also had three more drives into opposing territory, the first to the Westerly 17, but that ended on a turnover on downs. The next closed on a Cournoyer interception and the last on the final play before intermission.
The Bulldogs took their initial possession of the third quarter beyond midfield, but that stalled, and that’s how most of the period
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played out.
That all changed, however, toward the
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end. With 3:51 remaining, Thatcher opened with three totes for 31 yards, and Tupper closed it with a 24-yard scoring snare deep down the left sideline on the final play of the
Y
third.
Actually, the last was Stanish’s extra point, which proved to be the eventual game
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clincher.
Westerly followed that with a trip to mid
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field before senior Ethan Lambert’s timely
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interception with 7:20 left in regulation, but then took advantage of the shanked punt to
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slice it to one.
That’s how it ended.
“I got the wind knocked out of me in the second quarter; I couldn’t breathe, but I was back three plays later,” Hetu offered. “Why? I love football. It’s all about helping the team. This win means everything to me, to us. We’ve worked so hard.