In search of a victory
EG thumps winless Novans in Bowl rematch
EAST GREENWICH — The tortoise doesn’t always come from behind to beat the hare. Despite what the popular fable may lead you to believe, sometimes the hare just can’t be caught. That was the case when East Greenwich and Woonsocket met for a Division II Super Bowl rematch on Friday afternoon.
A slow start for the Villa Novans morphed into a methodical rhythm on offense through the course of the game. An early 21-point deficit, however, was just a little too much to overcome, and the Novans fell to the Avengers, 41-19, to remain winless on the season.
The slow and steady Novan attack was no match for the explosive Avengers. Four of EG’s six touchdowns went for longer than 40 yards. Quarterback Conrad Swanson connected with Grant Driscoll and Jack McMullen once, and Andrew Plympton twice for scores through the air. Matt Licciardi rounded out the offense with two rushing touchdowns.
It took until the end of the first half for the Novan offense to move into gear. An early promising drive was stopped dead in its tracks by an interception by sophomore Tim Votta. Prior to Votta picking off a pass by Novan quarterback Tarik Robinson-O’Hagan, the Novans were marching on a 37-yard drive.
Robinson-O’Hagan did most of the heavy lifting on that early drive, and atoned for his interception on the very next drive. The bulldozer of a quarterback fought his way through the undersized Avenger defense for an 11-yard scamper that ended an EG run of three unanswered scores.
The Novan defense came up with a threeand-out to extend the first half for one extra Novan possession. Robinson-O’Hagan and crew made the most out of the opportunity. Junior receiver Eric Agyemang broke through the secondary-heavy defense to draw the Novans within a single score for halftime.
Getting the ball to start the second half, the Novans borrowed a play from the New England Patriots by scoring on each side of the break. In their most methodical drive yet, the Novans went 72 yards on 12 plays to open the third quarter. Robinson-O’Hagan busted into the end zone for another rushing score, his second and final score on the day.
The Novans had earlier missed an extra point, and attempted a 2-point conversion following their third touchdown in an attempt to compensate. Robinson-O’Hagan’s pass attempt fell incomplete on the try, and the Novans stilled trailed by a pair of points as a result.
Having inched right up to their opponent, the Novans suddenly stopped dead in their tracks. Touchdowns passes from Swanson of 50 and 65 yards followed the score that had made it 21-19. The now-scuffling Novans punted during game.
Since last year’s Super Bowl, won by Woonsocket, 37-13, the two teams have headed in polar opposite directions. The Avengers haven’t lost since then, picking up convincing win after convincing win.
The Villa Novans haven’t won since they beat EG for last year’s title. They’ve dropped all four games they’ve played this season, losing to Westerly, St. Raphael, Lincoln and now East Greenwich. and turned their final the ball over on two possessions downs of the