NS/MSC dominates Super Bowl rematch
NORTH SMITHFIELD — The reigning Division IV champion North Smithfield/Mount St. Charles co-op football team hasn’t played a game in over 16 months, but not much has changed with the Northmen-Mounties’ stout defense.
It might be hard to remember the last game the squad played, but it was a shutout victory over Scituate on Thanksgiving Day in 2019. The Northmen-Mounties returned to Veterans Memorial Field to start the pandemic-impacted truncated season Friday night against a familiar foe and the defense was in midseason form.
Tiverton, which played NS/MSC in each of the last two Super Bowls, brought an inexperienced squad on the road and the Tigers struggled to move the ball against a battle-tested defense led by linebackers Michael Paiva and Jared Beaudoin. Outside of a 59yard reception by senior Michael Roy in the third quarter, Tiverton didn’t produce a play over 11 yards.
Paiva recovered a fumble and snared an interception, while fellow senior Jordan Allard rushed for 191 yards and three touchdowns in a 36-0 Division III victory.
“It’s been almost a year and half and we’ve been working so hard over the summer and whenever trying to get the work in,” Allard said. “To come out here and put up numbers against a good team is a good feeling knowing how much we put in to get here. There’s nothing like scoring a touchdown and getting hit. We just needed to get those first-drive jitters out and go.”
“Defensively, I think we performed amazing,” Paiva said. “The defensive ends [Nate Tessier and Evan Gravel] and our line gave us the ability to play the pass more. Those defensive ends really stepped up, so it was a great defensive performance. It’s an unreal feeling and I’m just happy to play my senior year and everyone gets to enjoy playing football.”
NS/MSC (1-0 Division III) knows tougher tests are coming in April with former Division II squads Johnston and Coventry on the schedule, but the Northmen-Mounties hope Friday’s win and next week’s game against Juanita Sanchez/PCD co-op can set the stage for a run to the division playoffs where four of the seven teams earn a shot at the Super Bowl.
“These first two games are a good chance for our young guys to build up their confidence and get a boost going into the tough part of the schedule,” Allard said. “I like how we get to finish out the season because it gives us time to prepare for those games and shows who we are against those teams that came down from Division II.”
The two quarterbacks who dueled in the last two Super Bowls – Matt Gacioch and Jack Puccetti – are now in college, so Friday’s game was always going to be a work in progress for both offenses. Tiverton quarterback Michael Keating threw an interception on his first pass, but settled down as the game went along.
North Smithfield sophomore lefty Cole Vowels completed three passes for 37 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Pasquale Camastro at the end of the first quarter. Vowels also threw a second-quarter interception when he tried to find Camastro in double coverage.
“The defense is going to be ahead of the offense until it starts to work a little bit better,” NS/MSC coach Wes Pennington said. “There were some things Cole did really well and there were some things he needs to work on, but that’s all a part of the process. He’s just a sophomore and he just needs to get better week to week.”
A Charles Rapoza fumble recovery in the first quarter set the stage for the Northmen-Mounties to score the only points they would need to win the game. Allard broke through three poor Tiverton tackle attempts and scampered into the end zone for a 20yard touchdown with 4:23 left in the opening quarter.
Following Paiva’s interception, Vowels found Camastro for a 30-yard touchdown pass with 3:16 left to increase the lead to 130. Allard send the hosts into halftime up 20-0 when he broke off a 56-yard touchdown run.
Allard rushed for a 28-yard touchdown with 4:12 left in the third quarter to extend the lead to 26-0. Camastro kicked a 31-yard field goal to make the score 29-0 and junior Declan Curran finished the scoring with an 11-yard touchdown run with 2:11 left in the final quarter.
“We’re going to play every football game and see where everything falls at the end of the season,” Pennington said. “We need to limit the mistakes – especially down the road in some of those bigger games. Hopefully we’ll be in the thick of things. We had a lot of penalties and dropped balls, but overall it was a good performance.”