East Providence edges St. Raphael in league football opener

Townies defeat Saints in overtime

By Mathew Galvao
Posted 9/20/18

EAST PROVIDENCE — Fresh off a non-league win against Mt. Hope in the lead up to the league season, the East Providence High School football team opened its Division I regular season in the win …

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East Providence edges St. Raphael in league football opener

Townies defeat Saints in overtime

Posted

EAST PROVIDENCE — Fresh off a non-league win against Mt. Hope in the lead up to the league season, the East Providence High School football team opened its Division I regular season in the win column with a 15-7, overtime victory over visiting St. Raphael Academy Friday night, Sept. 14, at Pierce Stadium.
Tied 7-7 after regulation, and having scored first in the extra session, the Townies defense came up big shutting down the Saints offense to earn the hard-fought first league win.
“That was a good, tough win but we made too many mistakes. I believe we had eleven penalties in the first half,” Said East Providence head coach Jay Monteiro. “Too many penalties on offense, late hits, no discipline. It’s my fault. I gotta do a better job with it.”
After a scoreless first quarter, St. Ray’s would put up the games first points just 14 seconds into the second quarter as Devin O’Malley rushed the ball 12 yards into the endzone to help give the visitors a 7-0 lead.
The Townies answered quickly on their ensuing drive. Senior running back Dion Hazard got things started when he broke open for a 75-yard run setting up the hosts deep in Saints territory. Townies quarterback Justin Pena took it in himself on a five yard keeper tying the game 7-7 heading into halftime.
Both defenses locked it down in the second half keeping what each offense could do to a minimum. Tied 7-7 the game would head into extra time with both teams getting an opportunity to score. The locals won the toss and elected to take the ball first.
Junior quarterback Justin Pena would give the Townies a 15-7 lead after taking the ball himself in the endzone for a touchdown and then converting on the two-point conversion pass to Hazard.
Both teams get at least one possession per overtime rules. And when the Saints got the ball, the East Providence defense came up with a huge stop as Clinton Ogunronbi and Hazard both made key plays to secure the Townies win.
“Yeah our defense came up big. It’s always been our backbone,” explained Monteiro. “It feels good. It’s tough, I’m tired. I’m just frustrated with not having enough guys in line, that’s my fault, I could do a better job. I gotta fix it.”
Coming into this season, Monteiro has lofty goals for a group that showed they have the skill-set and talent on both sides of the ball to be a real juggernaut in the reconfigured Division I-A subgroup along with Cranston East, Cumberland, St. Ray’s and Hendricken as well as league newcomers North Kingstown and Shea. It’s all about being able to put it all together for this team.
“I have really high expectations for this team. We have some really good athletes. Sometimes they need to listen, and they’re probably sick of me telling them,” Monteiro said.
The 2017 was a year of injuries for the Townies with running backs Hazard and Diaz missing key time with ailments. Both now healthy to start the season, they could provide the locals with one of the best one-two punches in the state.
“It’s huge (to have them back). Last year we played a lot of the games we lost without Juan and Dion. We gotta get Dion and Juan the ball a little bit more,” explained Monteiro.
After a slow start a year ago, one that ended with a 2-5 record and missing the postseason, Monteiro explained the importance of getting out of the gate quickly this fall to hopefully put the team in a better position to make the revamped playoffs and possibly play a home game in the early rounds. For the first time this fall, the teams with the best records in the I-A and I-B subgroups will play for the state title. Teams in places 2-5 on both sides qualify for the eight-team D-I championship tournament.
“Last year we started off slow. We started getting injuries but we got better at the end of the season. We can’t allow that to happen. You gotta win up front. In the league the way it’s set up, if you win three games you could be in the playoffs,” Monteiro said. “To get to the number one Super Bowl with the Hendricken’s and La Salle’s you can’t lose. We got the toughest schedule in the state. We’re gonna go with it, but there’s some good teams on our side.”
East Providence hosts Cumberland, the third new team to D-I this fall, Friday night, Sept. 21, at 7 p.m.

— Photos by Tyler Maxwell

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