BARRINGTON — The much-anticipated rematch of last year’s Division One football state championship game between Barrington High School and LaSalle Academy played Friday night, Nov. 6, lived up to its billing in terms of excitement and the result certainly pleased the majority of the overflow crowd at Victory Field as the host Eagles routed the defending champs and previously-unbeaten Rams, 54-33.

After a tightly contested opening period, Barrington blew out LaSalle in the second period. The Eagles trailed 13-12 at the end of the first quarter, but exploded before the break to take a commanding 34-13 edge to intermission. Barrington had the lone score of the third quarter, before the sides exchanged multiple touchdowns in the fourth.

At the end of the night, the Eagles had taken control of the race for first place in the D-One regular season standings and, more important, the pursuit of the No. 1 seed in the upcoming state tournament. Barrington improved to 6-1 with the victory while the Rams slipped to 5-1. The Eagles finish their regular slate next week, Nov. 13, against Cranston West on the road.

“Any time you beat LaSalle in this state, you’ve got to be happy,” said BHS head coach Bill McCagney. “We had a great week of practice, a lot of intensity, a lot of focus. Usually when you have that, you have a good football game.”

The Barrington offense, sputtering in recent outings, got a little better last week in a 33-6 victory over St. Raphael. Friday night, any Eagle woes seemed cured.

Three plays into the contest, Barrington was on the board when quarterback Steve Crawford connected with Marc DeSisto on a 64-yard scoring play. The kick for point missed, leaving the locals on top 6-0 90 seconds into the game.

The Eagles then held the Rams on downs, but turned the ball over themselves, leading to LaSalle’s opening score. The Rams’ David Hansen scooped up a Mike Read fumble, returning it to touch 16 yards later. Peter Picerelli’s kick for point gave LaSalle the lead.

That edge lasted briefly as Read quickly went from goat to hero, ripping the first of his long TD runs in the contest. The senior raced 79 yards on Barrington’s ensuing possession to give the ad back to the locals, 12-7. An attempt for two by the Eagles failed.

The Barrington defense again thwarted LaSalle’s next offensive series, but another Eagle turnover gave the Rams the ball back. East Providence-product Luke Francis picked off an errant Crawford throw deep in Barrington territory. Moments later, Hansen ran the final 11 yards to touch to give LaSalle what would be its last lead, 13-12, late in the first period. The snap on the point-after attempt was mishandled and Picerelli never got the kick off.

From there, it was all Barrington. Read, who finished the night with four TDs and over 250 yards total, then capped the Eagles’ next series with five-yard TD run to give the locals the lead for good, 18-13. Barrington then blocked a punt, which was recovered at the LaSalle one. Crawford snuck in for the touchdown and Read ran for two, making the score 26-13.

Before the break, Brandon Lewis intercepted a Corey Fossa throw, returning it all the way back 56 yards for the “Pick Six” touchdown. Crawford’s toss to DeSisto for two gave Barrington the three-touchdown lead at intermission.

In the third, a Vinny St. Angelo interception gave the Eagles the ball back midway through the period. Read gained a huge chunk with a 45-yard rush. Crawford and DeSisto then hooked up again, this time on an 11-yard TD strike to make the score 40-13.

The Rams finally put an end to Barrington’s spree of 28 unanswered points as Francis, shifted to quarterback from slot back, rushed for a 35-yard TD to make the score 40-19 Eagles early in the fourth period.

Alex Speiss’ pick of a Rams’ pass at his own one later repelled potential LaSalle scoring effort. Read soon made the visitors pay for yet another transgression, sprinting 40 yards to touch. A kick for point by Lewis made the score 47-19.

The trading of touchdowns continued as Francis ran for a 34-yard score, matched later by DeSisto’s 57-yard run to the endzone. Francis tacked on the game’s final score in the last minute of play, a 26-yard run.