Gallery: East Providence beats LaSalle in Thanksgiving Day football game

Townies take down Rams in 89th annual holiday tilt

Photos by Julie Furtado
Posted 11/24/17

EAST PROVIDENCE — The East Providence High School football team defeated LaSalle Academy, 41-0, in the 89th edition of their annual Thanksgiving Day rivalry, November 23, at Pierce Memorial …

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.


Gallery: East Providence beats LaSalle in Thanksgiving Day football game

Townies take down Rams in 89th annual holiday tilt

Posted

EAST PROVIDENCE — The East Providence High School football team defeated LaSalle Academy, 41-0, in the 89th edition of their annual Thanksgiving Day rivalry played November 23 at Pierce Memorial Stadium.

Juan Diaz scored three touchdowns on the ground (20, 50 and 30 yards) for the host Townies while Jaren Alves (42 yards) and Justin Pena (50 yards) each scored defensive touchdowns for the locals on pick-six interception returns. Zeke Tavares accounted for the other E.P. touchdown on a short rush (4 yards). Nick Oliveira kicked five extra points.

For East Providence, its 2017 season comes to a close with a 4-6 overall record. E.P. went 2-5 during the Division I regular season and failed to qualify for the playoffs. The Townies' win cut the Rams' overall advantage in the series to 50-37-2.

LaSalle (9-3 overall), which meets Hendricken for the state championship on December 2, played Thanksgiving without any of its 22 first-string regulars (11 on offense, 11 on defense), a decision Rams’ head coach Geoff Marcone said was made partly out of necessity and some common sense on his part.

“The last two years we’ve played our starters at least a quarter, but this year we’re more banged up than we’ve been in the past,” Marcone explained. “I didn’t think it was in the best interest of our team to possibly lose those guys to injury in this game when we have the state championship game coming up. And we’re also not as deep as we’ve been in the past, so that played into my decision as well.”

“We played a physical game last Friday night (November 17) against a very good Portsmouth team,” Marcone added of the Rams’ victory over the Patriots in the playoff semifinals. “You don’t practice the next day and you don’t want to practice on Sunday, so that left us with three days to prepare for Thanksgiving. We tried to get our younger guys ready for East Providence, showed them their tendencies and hoped we could get some things done. Unfortunately it didn’t work out that way.”

LaSalle has played and lost to Hendricken in the Division I Super Bowl the previous three seasons. The Hawks are seeking to add an eighth title to their record run of seven consecutive championships when they face the Rams at Cranston Stadium at noon Saturday. Hendricken defeated LaSalle, 21-7, in a meeting earlier this fall played September 15.

“We feel we have a chance every year when we play them,” Marcone said of the Super Bowl contest. “If we can stay healthy during the week and in the game, I feel good about this team.”

2024 by East Bay Media Group

Barrington · Bristol · East Providence · Little Compton · Portsmouth · Tiverton · Warren · Westport
Meet our staff
MIKE REGO

Mike Rego has worked at East Bay Newspapers since 2001, helping the company launch The Westport Shorelines. He soon after became a Sports Editor, spending the next 10-plus years in that role before taking over as editor of The East Providence Post in February of 2012. To contact Mike about The Post or to submit information, suggest story ideas or photo opportunities, etc. in East Providence, email mrego@eastbaymediagroup.com.