Tolman roll past North Providence
Playoff-bound Tigers pitch shutout against Cougars
CUMBERLAND — No one representing St. Raphael Academy seemed to be in much of a mood to chat after the Saints suffered a heartbreaking 21-13 loss to Division I-A host Cumberland at Tucker Field on Friday night.
And why should they be? With the defeat, the Saints dropped to 3-5 overall and, more critically, 2-5 in league action; that meant the Clippers had ousted them from any playoff possibility.
“With a win here, we would’ve been in, but now East Providence is in instead of us,” veteran head coach Mike Sassi sighed while some of his older players mourned the result. “We have the same record (before their respective weekend clashes), but they beat us in overtime the first week of the season, so that’s it.
“I’m proud of the way our guys fought, especially in the second half (after Cumberland jumped out to a 14-0 cushion early in the second quarter and a 21-7 lead at intermission),” he added. “But they were just stronger than we were. We’ve lost a couple of games this year because we’re just not as (physically) strong as we need to be.”
Sassi also indicated that losing sophomore tight end Chase Dombroski early on didn’t help matters.
“We don’t know what happened to him, except he went to the hospital because of an arm or bicep (injury),” he noted. “We basically didn’t have a tight end anymore, so we basically had to call our offense (without a blocker and receiver involved) the rest of the game.”
On the positive side, senior quarterback Devin O’Malley completed seven of 12 tosses for 89 yards and a touchdown with a pick. He also led his team on the ground with 79 yards and a paydirt on 16 keepers.
SRA also only committed two penalties for 10 yards, while the hosts were whistled for seven for -71.
As for the negative, the Saints’ young defense had issues stopping the quarterback-tailback tandem of senior Dante Aviles-Santos and junior Isaiah Cole. The former converted on only three of 10 passes for 29 yards and an interception, but did register 87 more on 21 bootlegs.
And Cole provided quite a punch, manufacturing 139 yards and a TD on 25 handles, while junior Ryan Larson earned two snags for 15 yards.
The Clippers nevertheless climbed to 4-4 overall and, most importantly, 4-3 in league play. In the process, Cumberland sealed the No. 3 seed in I-A, and now will face either La Salle (Lima’s alma mater), Cranston West or Portsmouth in next weekend’s D-I quarters.
The massive home crowd, however, loved how the game started. After forcing SRA into a quick “three-and-out” (while moving into the wind), Lima’s bunch opened its initial possession at the visitors’ 39, and took seven snaps for Aviles-Santos to scamper 11 yards off right guard for the score.
Senior Ben Fogell booted the first of his three extra points for the 7-0 lead with 6:11 left in the period, but – due to an unsportsmanlike penalty on the Clippers on the PAT – not to mention junior Kai Meerbott’s 14yard return, the Saints took over on their own 45.
They actually moved into Cumberland territory before the drive stalled, and the hosts needed seven play calls to roll 51 yards; that ended on Aviles-Soares’ threeyard keeper up the middle with 1:19 left in the first.
The Saints nevertheless answered that TD with one of their own, that after punting but getting the ball back seconds later on senior captain Andrew Andella’s interception, ironically at the CHS 49.
Highlighted by O’Malley’s 39-yard toss to junior Jaden DeLomba, the quarterback hustled six yards around right tackle to slice the deficit to 14-7 (that after senior Adam Gomes’ PAT).
The Clippers took little time in fashioning a response, moving 58 yards on 10 snaps, with Cole closing the deal with a one-yard TD plunge. That came with 5:52 left before the break.
A few series later, Sassi and Co. moved from its own 48 to the CHS 26 before junior Marc DiSalvo brought it to an abrupt end with a pick.
It looked as if the hosts might turn it into a blowout on the opening kick of the third stanza; junior Ryan Larson snagged it and bolted 68 yards down the left sideline, giving his club a first-and-10 at the 28. After officials whistled it for respective holding and ineligible receiver downfield flags on three downs, Cumberland squandered the possession.
Its loss would be the Saints’ gain. O’Malley directed his offense 67 yards on 10 plays, the last his 16-yard TD screen pass to Meerbott on the left sideline. Gomes’ extra-point try sailed wide right, yet the Clippers were called for encroachment, and Sassi chose to attempt the two-point conversion.
Junior Aidan Faria, however, sacked the QB by his lonesome.
With 1:02 left in the third, following Aviles-Santos’ failed fake punt, SRA took over on the Cumberland 27, but O’Malley fumbled it away to Cole.
The Clippers responded with a 14-play possession from their own 31 to the visitors’ 34, and Cole sprinted the remaining distance around the left side and down the sideline for the score with just over five minutes remaining. Yet again, though, a holding call brought it back, ending the threat.
The Saints couldn’t nail down a fourthand-16 try from their own 30 with 2:10 remaining, and CHS killed the clock.
“I thought we were a little flat early on, and then we picked it up as time went on,” Sassi stated. “I thought we showed our inexperience early, playing such a big game. We were a little flat, waiting for things to happen instead of making them happen.
“In the second half, we just started playing better,” he continued. “We made a few adjustments, especially without Dombroski in there. We figured it out a little bit, had some chances. We were inside their 30 a couple of times and turned the ball over. You can’t do that against a very good team.”