CF downs Mariners
Warriors, Tolman ready for first-place showdown
NARRAGANSETT — It was a case of the good, bad and ugly at Zepp Field during Friday night’s Division III contest as Central Falls stayed undefeated blowing out Narragansett.
With multiple injury problems straining an already thin depth chart, a losing record and a stadium packed with fans, Narragansett may have come in perceiving their backs up against some wall. That rabid cornered pugnacity did more harm than good as a dominant win for the Warriors was marred by an ugly brouhaha that ended the first half with a combined seven ejections.
“I’m glad we beat them,” Warrior head coach Jeff Lapierre said. “Because, unfortunately, while it seemed like they had a great philosophy: they wanted to play us physical. It’s a great idea. But then it started with the words, then hits, and there was some dirty stuff going on, chop-blocking on the kickoff, and some stuff that is not normally supposed to be going on. It got chippy; there was a lot of garbage out on the field.”
“When the referee looks and says we’re going to stop this and stop that,” Lapierre continued. “Then [the Mariners] are still pushing our guys off of the pileups. The referees lost control of the game and something like that happened.”
“That whole melee kind of hurt us,” Lapierre said. “But in talking to one another, we supported one another, and we came back and just tried to finish the game.”
“As a coach,” Mariner head coach Matt Blessing said. “You’re ashamed when something like that happens. There’s a little boy up at North Kingstown, Isaiah Hazard – here’s a kid who can’t play football – and teams are out there support- ing him, and we get into an argument on the field with the other team. Really both teams should be coming together and recognizing that we lift each other up.”
Hazard, a five-year-old North Kingstown Jaguars Pop Warner flag-football captain, was recently paralyzed by a rare neurological disorder and was recognized before the game in an effort of support.
“We took each other down a step,” Blessing said. “It’s just a disappointment – we’ll be out four key players next game, and they’ll be out three. That’s just not what high school sports should be about.”
The clock ticked to 1:20 in the first quarter without a point being scored, and the Warriors first touchdown drive didn’t necessarily foreshadow the absolute throttling they would give to Narragansett.
The Mariners produced a goal-line stand as junior quarterback Luis Gonzalez threw a pair of incompletions.
On fourth down, senior Jordan Alvarado scored from three yards. With senior Warren Smith’s kick going through, Central Falls was up, 7-0, and the quarter ended at that score.
With 9:13 on the clock, Central Falls’ defensive front collapsed Narragansett’s line and sacked freshman replacement quarterback Jared Chaloux in the Mariners’ endzone, making it 9-0.
Warrior senior Dutchie Arroyo returned the ensuing punt down the Central Falls sideline. The score was called back due to a holding penalty, and it was clear that Narragansett was out of their element at that point.
“We knew we were up for a huge battle,” Blessing said. “We played them tough in the playoffs last year, but they were a junior-laden squad last year. We knew if they all came back this year they were going to be the team to beat. I went up and scouted them last week; they were in a little bit of a battle, and they’re that type of team that even when they’re in a little bit of a battle they just break through quickly with that athleticism and speed.”
After gaining nearly 50 yards in three carries on the drive, Alvarado made it 15-0 on a 3-yard blast, spinning around and smashing past Mariner defenders.
After a couple of first downs from Alvarado and some flags, senior Leonardo DaVeiga caught a flat pass and scoreda 40-yard touchdown, making it 21-0. DaVeiga nearly registered as many lateral yards as forward, cutting and slashing through the Mariners like an old shirt.
Just before the half, senior receiver Gabe Wooten, who was one of the offensive positives for Narragansett, caught a pass on the Central Falls sideline. A fracas ensued, and Mariners were streaming into the Warrior sideline.
“That hurt them more than it hurt us,” Lapierre said. “Something like that hurts everybody.”
With 6:37 left to go, Arroyo made it 29-0 on a 6-yard carry after making distance downfield during the drive. Senior lineman Jonathan Acosta earned the 2-point conversion.
Central Falls made it, 350, on a 10-yard pass from Gonzalez to senior running back Stephawn Lockley.
Senior Gabe Wooten, one of the major contributors for the Mariners, scored on a 5-yard pass from junior Luke Waranis to make it, 35-6.
“Our quarterback wasn’t really in his groove at first,” Lapierre said. “The run game certainly did the damage and kept us in the game. If some of our passing plays were a little bit more successful than we have opened it up some more.”
Arroyo made it 41-6 on a 40-yard run. The only bad sign for Central Falls may have been their penalty count, but Lapierre brought some levity.
“Our aggression can hurt us,” Lapierre said. “That’s where those penalties come from. Because of the fact that we are in such a be-careful mode with football, that any aggression – as far as hits or blocks – goes against us.”