Prior to last Friday night, Max Willette had been quietly going about a solid freshman season on the Portsmouth High football team. He's quiet no more. Willette emphatically announced his arrival as a big-time contributor as his 80-yard kickoff return late in the contest propelled Portsmouth past Cranston West, 20-19, and sent the Patriots to the Division One playoffs for the first time in three years.
Actually, Jimmy Toppa's extra-kick was the deciding point in what turned out to be an entertaining finish to a rather drab affair despite its importance.
"It was great blocking. We practiced it all week, worked real hard. I just followed my blocks, took it down the sidelines," Willette said. "I threw a stiff-arm, broke some tackles. It was the best feeling ever."
The win upped Portsmouth's league record to 4-3 and gave the Pats a tie-breaker edge over any other playoff contender in the middle of the D-One pack.
"It's very rewarding to be in the playoffs with a group that's so young," said Pats coach Bob Monteiro. "With the numbers we have, 24 kids, 25 now, for them hang in there, to practice like they do, it means a lot."
Portsmouth and St. Raphael will play Friday night in Pawtucket for the third-seed in the postseason and the right to play the loser of the East Providence-LaSalle showdown of the unbeatens in the semifinals, Dec. 2.
The Division One Super Bowl is slated for Pierce Field in EP, Dec. 8.
"The kick return was huge. Some days we spend five minutes on it in practice, others we spend 20, 25 minutes when we're not doing it right. I tell the kids that's why spend time on it because someday we're going to need it," Monteiro added.
Both the Pats and Cranston West entered Friday needing a win to remain in the playoff hunt, each though was flat for much of the night.
The Falcons came to life first and were first on the board, using a 29-yard screen pass from quarterback Kenny Evers to running back Chris Mallard to get on the board with 6:57 left in the second quarter.
West wasn't done before the break, and once again the Falcons did their damage through the air.
Following a Portsmouth punt with less than a minute to go, Evers threw four times and used a Pats' penalty to reach paydirt. The mini-drive culminated in a 10-yard strike from the QB to Victors Serebian. Portsmouth blocked the PAT and also knocked down a pass for two to keep the score at 13-0 into the intermission.
"I didn't say a lot at halftime," said Monteiro. "Obviously, we were disappointed in what we were doing on offense. We pointed out some things we could do scheme-wise, but that's about it. We just told them they had to play. They had to play better in the second half and they could win."
The Pats came alive first on defense. Aaron Anderson stepped in a front of an Evers' screen attempt from his defensive end spot, returning the pick all the way back for a 71-yard TD. A poor snap and a failed pass on the conversion made the score 13-6 with 6:45 left in the period.
"It was a swing to the fullback," said Anderson. "We were working on it in practice all week. I was seeing it. It just took me a while to step in and get it."
Portsmouth's best offensive series of the night came later in the quarter.
The Pats needed seven plays to cover 59 yards to reach the endzone. Toppa ran twice at the end of the possession, the first for 23 yards and the second for the final three. His kick leveled the score at 13 with 1:55 left in the third.
"Losing 13-0 at the half, no one was giving up," Anderson added. "We knew we could do it. We knew we could come back."
Little occurred throughout much of the fourth, save for some confusion among and confusing calls by the four-man refereeing crew. A relatively high total of 21 flags were throw, 13 on the host Pats.
The real action, however, came in the waning moments of the night.
The Falcons quickly responded after an eight-play Portsmouth drive stalled at the West 27 when Toppa was stopped shy on a fourth-and-three run.
Evers danced his way 71 yards down the sideline on an option to set up a first-and-goal at the Pats' four. Anthony Ferrer burst in on the next play to give West back the lead.
A Portsmouth encroachment penalty on the PAT attempt was accepted by West and put the ball at the one. Hurriedly, and despite having a timeout, Falcons coach Steve Stoehr opted to go for two instead of one.
Ferrer was stuffed by a gaggle of Pats, including Adam Martens who leveled the initial stick.
"After the penalty I thought (Stoehr) would go for two, but I didn't think we would hurry like that," Monteiro said of his counterpart's call. "It kind of helped us. On the touchdown we weren't ready. We were running around like chickens with our heads cut off trying to get our goal line defense in.
"It was a big play for us...Would I have done it? I don't know. It's a tough call."
Stoehr's decision was a prelude to Willette's dramatics. Receiving the ensuing kickoff at his 20, the frosh danced a bit in the middle of the field before breaking loose down the left sideline. A couple of Falcons had a chance to knock him off his feet, but Willett outraced them for the touchdown.
Toppa, who hasnít missed a point-after kick all year, calmly split the uprights down the middle to put the Pats up 20-19 with 2:52 remaining.
"It was great blocking," said Monteiro. "And the kid (Willette) ran through two or three arm tackles at the end. It's pretty special for a freshman to do that in a game like this that means so much."
The Falcons made things a bit interesting with a couple of mid-range completions on their next series. But a West penalty, an illegal formation, negated what could have been a 75-yard gain. Sacks by Jake Perry, playing his first game of the year, and Alex Allen, the latter's on a fourth-and-eight play, helped snuff out the West drive with 1:21 to go.
The Pats couldn't run out the clock, giving the Falcons a last-gasp effort with 15 seconds left, a completion that eventually went for 28 yards on the final play of the game.
BY MIKE REGO
mrego@eastbaynewspapers.com