Raiders now turn their focus to D-I playoffs

WARWICK — Having already secured a spot for themselves in the playoffs, the Shea Raiders looked to close out the regular season on Friday night with their biggest win to date. Standing in their way was an undefeated Hendricken Hawks squad that had no interest in seeing their Senior Night spoiled in front of the home fans and by night’s end, made sure that they didn’t.

With nearly all of the scoring done in the opening half, the Hawks rolled to a 34-14 victory, staying perfect on the year at 7-0, while dropping the Raiders to 4-3.

“Listen, they’re a good team, class act though. Coach (Keith) Croft, all the kids are class acts,” Shea head coach Dino Campopiano said following the defeat, the second in a row for his team following a 4-1 start to league play. North Kingstown, the other major force in D-I, handed the Raiders a 40-21 home defeat the previous week.

Friday’s outcome was not ideal, but Campopiano credited his players for battling the whole way through the game with a handful of his players get banged up by night’s end.

“I thought we started off a little slow and then our kids played really hard (but) unfortunately, we had five or six kids go down and that was tough,” he said.

The opening quarter was a rough one for the visitors, with Hendricken taking a 20-0 lead by the time it was complete.

Already out in front 7-0 early, senior running back James Gobewole made it 13-0 Hawks with 1:53 remaining, scoring on a six-yard run into the end zone, while the twopoint conversion came up short.

On 3rd and 10 at their own 26-yard line, Shea looked to answer back, only to have a Trentin Curry pass intercepted by Nick Comella and returned for the score for the home team’s third touchdown of the quarter.

Determined not to let the game get away from them, Shea showed signs of life on their ensuing drive with junior Henrique Duarte returning the kickoff to midfield, giving the visitors a short field with which to work. On the opening play of the second quarter, senior Jaylen Smith, utilized his speed and agility to get his team on the board, scoring the first of two touchdowns on the night.

After catching a screen pass, the running back/track star evaded a throng of Hawk defenders before suddenly cutting back all the way across the width of the field only to then scramble an additional 50 yards for the score to make it 20-7.

That surge of energy would be short-lived however, as Hendricken countered with a 69yard drive of their own in 4:01, capped by a 17-yard touchdown catch from senior wide receiver Angel Sanchez. It would be the first of two scores for Sanchez in the quarter, as he caught a 40-yard pass from Thomas Comella later on in what proved to be their final points of the night.

“Honestly, you have to give all the credit to them. They’re a great team, their kids played well and it is what it is,” Campopiano said.

Shea started with the ball to begin the second half, but was stopped on fourth and inches, though senior Brian Rego-Melo would get the ball back for his team when he pounced on a Hawk fumble.

A 40-yard run by Curry set up 1st and goal at the six-yard line, but once again, Hendricken’s defense stepped up to the task, denying the Raiders a trip into the end zone.

With just second remaining and the score still 34-7, Smith gave Shea something to build off of going into next week’s playoff game against Central, as he weaved his way through Hawk defenders once again for a 50-yard score that did little to change the outcome of the game.

As of now, the focus for the Raiders is entirely on Central, as they get set to face the Knights this coming week in the opening round of the D-I playoffs.

“We’re in the playoffs and that’s great, so we’ll get back to work on Monday,” said Campopiano.

Central (3-4) was blanked 22-0 by South Kingstown on Saturday to close out their own regular season.