BATTLE OF UNBEATENS
Broncos, Vikings play for first place
BURRILLVILLE – Saturday morning is SAT time for high school students across the state, and Burrillville science teacher Gennaro Ferraro is concerned about how his juniors may fare in gaining a favorable score for college acceptance.
But that will only last so long, as – that afternoon – Ferraro, also the varsity coach, will be honed in on outdueling usually-gritty Rogers at Alumni Field at 2 o’clock.
So far this campaign, his Broncos have looked solid with a non-league win over Division I foe South Kingstown, then respective II-B opponents Mount Hope (49-7) and Mount Pleasant (21-14).
As for the Vikings, they sustained a 42-0 non-league beating to Middletown before manufacturing II-B blowouts over West Warwick (34-6) and Johnston (48-8).
“They’re very athletic and extremely well-coached,” Ferraro said of Frank Newsome’s contingent. “I’ve seen the game films, and – offensively – they run the option, though it’s more of a pistol-option scheme. The running backs are junior Kayvon Lockhart and sophomore Darian Piker, and the quarterback (junior Max Newsome) is another super runner out of the backfield. They have an offensive line that gets a great push upfront, and they’re well, I don’t know, very well put together.
“Coach Newsome knows how to maximize his roster; he’s got the right guys in the right spots to get what he wants them to do, and he’s very successful at it,” he added. “The QB throws the ball well o the bootlegs, but he can throw long as well. He knows how to deal with pressure in the pocket; when he’s pressured, he hangs in there.”
Ferraro admitted he was less than thrilled with how his offense, defense and special teams operated against the Kilties last Saturday.
“We especially need to improve our execution offensively,” he said. “We have to do that by affecting the focus of practice and let the kids know that they need to get better and how to. I think we lacked focus (last week) when it comes to catching the football, pass protection, making openfield tackles.
“For us offensively, we need to execute extremely well when the opportunity presents itself,” he continued. “We also can not walk away empty from inside the red zone. We need to produce because that team is dangerous.”
The good news for the Broncos: Junior running back/linebacker Bobby Thatcher didn’t play as much as the coaching staff believed he would against MP, but Ferraro claimed he’s fully recovered and ready to go at it with the Vikings.
“He was just cramping up some from dehydration,” he said. “That’s why we played him more on offense.”
More good news came from the play of his replacement at middle linebacker, sophomore Tommy Reilly, who closed with a punt block and recovery and 14 tackles.
“Oh, he’s going to see some significant time after what he did last week,” Ferraro laughed. “He did a great job.
“We just have to play sound team defense and finish drives offensively, and do both without making any crazy mistakes,” he added. “If we don’t do that, we’ll get clubbed. In this league, with all these teams having such skill, if you have a bad day, you’re going to lose.
“All we have we’re capable.”
to do
is execute
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