Eagles and Huskies prep for annual football showdown

Thanksgiving game moved to Wednesday night, Nov. 21

BY MANUEL C. “MANNY” CORREIRA
Posted 11/21/18

When the Barrington High School football team boards its bus for the trip to Bristol this week for its annual football game against rival Mt. Hope High, you can bet they’ll be …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Register to post events


If you'd like to post an event to our calendar, you can create a free account by clicking here.

Note that free accounts do not have access to our subscriber-only content.

Day pass subscribers

Are you a day pass subscriber who needs to log in? Click here to continue.


Eagles and Huskies prep for annual football showdown

Thanksgiving game moved to Wednesday night, Nov. 21

Posted

When the Barrington High School football team boards its bus for the trip to Bristol this week for its annual football game against rival Mt. Hope High, you can bet they’ll be all pumped up to make it two wins a row against the Huskies. 

The game has been moved to Wednesday night, Nov. 21. Game time is set for 6 p.m. at Mt. Hope High School’s Dietz Field.

“We’ll be ready,” said Eagles’ head coach Sandy Gorham, who was still beaming after his team’s final regular season victory over Cranston East. “That was our best overall game we played in terms of execution. We cut down on mistakes and that was a key.”

The Eagles will come into Bristol sporting a 2-7 overall record, not exactly what the team had in mind when the season began in September, but a steady progression of improvement ever since for such a young squad.

“We did make mistakes,” said Coach Gorham, “but that was the result of having such a young team.”

However, there were some bright spots, including the all-around play of senior Nick Roach, who started the year as quarterback, and ended up being one of the Eagles most talented running backs. Against Cranston East in the finale, he rushed for more than 130 yards and three touchdowns and ignited the spark the team needed en route to victory.

“Nick loves this game,” said Gorham. “He’s such an outstanding player. He was our top offensive player.”

When Coach Gorham replaced Roach with sophomore Brigham Dunphy at quarterback, the youth movement was in full swing.

“Brigham has progressed well,” said the coach. “He has responded nicely to the challenge at hand. He has all the tools to be a fine player.”

Mt. Hope will also have to keep tabs on another BHS sophomore of note, running back Mark Bernardo, who also doubles as a slot receiver and has excellent hands, according to Coach Gorham.

On the offensive line, Jacob (senior) and Josh (sophomore) Nutter have done well, while senior defensive tackle Zach Newberg has been strong.

“He is relentless to the ball,” said Gorham. “Zach has that high motor.”

“Our run defense has been good,” the coach continued, “but our pass defense not so good. But, it is getting better.” Sophomores Luke Gorham (the coach’s son), Thomas Rocha, and William Sanchez have helped lead the way.

Asked what impressed him most about the Mt. Hope team, Coach Gorham was quick to point out the effectiveness of their offensive line.

“They’re awesome,” he emphasized. “They get off the ball really well. They’re a tough bunch. They’ll be tough.”

“Coach T.J. Del Santo does a great job with his team,” Gorham added. “They’ll present a great challenge for us.”

The Huskies will be led by sophomore quarterback Jordan Pompey, and defensive stars Ben Iiams, Michael Trexler, Kyle Dias, and Cameron Rancourt. Running back Dylan Martins led the Huskies in scoring this year, while Ajay Bernardo and Jalen Kopecky provided additional firepower.

In all likelihood, the Huskies will be slightly favored because they’ll have home field advantage, but that won’t phase the Eagles one bit.

“We’ll be ready the best we can,” said Coach Gorham. “If we can bring the emotion like we did recently against Cranston East, we’ll be competitive. I know my kids will be ready.”

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
Jim McGaw

A lifelong Portsmouth resident, Jim graduated from Portsmouth High School in 1982 and earned a journalism degree from the University of Rhode Island in 1986. He's worked two different stints at East Bay Newspapers, for a total of 18 years with the company so far. When not running all over town bringing you the news from Portsmouth, Jim listens to lots and lots and lots of music, watches obscure silent films from the '20s and usually has three books going at once. He also loves to cook crazy New Orleans dishes for his wife of 25 years, Michelle, and their two sons, Jake and Max.