The Barrington High School football team's defense bent but did not break Friday night. As a result, the Eagles recorded a 20-10 win over Westerly, a victory which Eagles' head coach Bill McCagney called his team's first big win of the season.

The triumph moves the third-place Eagles to 6-2 in Division-Two play while the Bulldogs slip to 5-3. Unbeaten Cumberland and once-beaten West Warwick sit in the top two division slots.

"It looks like the league is shaking out to be four tough teams," said McCagney. "We lost the first two big games against West Warwick and Cumberland and we won the third one with the fourth big game coming next week against Coventry.

"We take things one game at a time. We prepare for all teams the same way. We start on Sunday night."

The Bulldogs seemingly exploited the Barrington defense and amassed 288 yards of total offense. Westerly pushed the ball deep into Barrington territory three times in the opening 24 minutes but entered halftime still chasing the Eagles, 6-3.

The Bulldogs' first trip inside the Eagles' red zone came on the game's first possession. Westerly spread wide, ran to the weak side and found seams in the defense. On the game's first play from scrimmage, Chris Lewis romped 20 yards and the Eagles were flagged for 15 more following the first of their three face mask penalties on the night.

From the Eagles' 31-yard line, the Bulldogs launched weak-side runs of 7-, 4- and 6-yards to bring the ball to the Barrington 14-yard line. But John Anderson, Matt Coffey and Joe Goniprow were able to clog holes and make big stops in curbing Westerly's early momentum.

"When the other team is driving, that's when we do our best," said linebacker Coffey. "I just tell the guys do not get down. I know we can stop them because we have one of the best defenses in the state."

Following the first-possession stand, the Eagles completed a swing in momentum by driving the ball 86 yards on 8 plays. The march ended with a 17-yard Coffey trot through the center of the Bulldogs' defense. Jeff Wardyga extended the drive with a clutch 11-yard counter run on third-and-seven from his team's own 31. And Coffey scampered 25 yards on a screen play to set up the score.

Kicker Matt Capone didn't get a chance to strike at an extra point due to Coffey's errant snap.

"Coffey's got a little bruise in his wrist," said McCagney. "He was complaining before the game. I said, 'Let me know if you can't snap the ball before you make a bad snap.' "He made a bad snap."

The Bulldogs and Eagles traded possessions for the balance of the first half with Barrington compiling 133 yards of total offense and Westerly besting that total by 10 yards. But Barrington maintained its six-point edge until a late Westerly drive ended with a 25-yard Andrew Wells' field goal.

In past games, the Eagles had been able to seize games by charging out of the halftime gates and immediately putting points on the board. However, it was the Bulldogs who stole the lead from the Eagles with a 76-yard drive to start the third quarter.

Westerly, aided by two Eagles' penalties, marched three quarters of the field on 12 plays. The drive culminated with Chris Lewis's six-yard sweep into the Barrington end zone.

Following the deflating score, kick returner Dan O'Connell was able to give the Eagles a spark when he busted the ensuing kickoff 24 yards to the Barrington 46-yard line. From there, sophomore quarterback Capone seemed to come of age in leading the Eagles the rest of the way.

Capone stepped up against a tough Bulldogs' pass rush, which recorded four sacks on the night, and connected with a wide open Brett Azar for 25 yards on third-and-10. Three plays later, Capone kept the ball on an option play from the 14-yard line that reclaimed the lead for the Eagles, this time for good.

For the game, Capone completed 5-of-8 passes for 117 yards, threw for a score and ran for another.

"We think he's already playing like a senior," said Capone's coach. "He's got good tools, he's quick, he's a good athlete. He sees the field well and he's just got that extra intelligence.

"He doesn't get panicky. He looked good against Cumberland, but he threw two interceptions. I told him he needed to do what he did against Cumberland but with no interceptions. That's what he did."

Capone sealed the game when he connected with Coffey on a 10-yard screen play to end his team's next possession.

The screen pass to Coffey was the Eagles' bread-and-butter play against the Bulldogs. Barrington ran the play three times and gained 54 yards. It set up the team's first score, and causing the Eagles' sideline to explode on to the field in celebration with Coffey's fourth-quarter romp.

"That's just our regular screen," McCagney said. "Coach Jackson drew that up about three years ago. We drill our screen all the time. It's one of our base plays. We work it with our linemen for 15 minutes every week so we execute it well.

"And Coffey is so strong, we teach him to run through the end's inside shoulder. And that's easy on the chalkboard, but you need a strong kid like Coffey who can drive through the end and keep rushing."

Coffey led all rushers on the night with 116 physical all-purpose yards. Jeff Wardyga pounded out 37 yards and Chris Belanger, Sean Wirth and Azar each made receptions for the Eagles.

"They're tough," said McCagney. "They just played a real tough game and I'm glad they did because Westerly came to play."

"The only reason we won was our line blocked and tackled today," said Coffey. "We can run the ball, I know that. We can block too. When we block we win."

The Eagles prepare for another big match-up this Friday, Nov. 14, when they host 5-2 Coventry at 7 p.m. If Barrington beats Coventry, it is assured of a playoff berth. If the Eagles lose, they could be thrown into a three-way scramble with Coventry and Westerly for the final two postseason spots.

However, with the team riding a swell of confidence, simply making the playoffs may not be enough.

"I think we can go all the way," said Coffey. "In the beginning we had penalties and turnovers. We don't have those anymore. We had seven or eight penalties in our losses. We can progress without those. We're a more mature team now."

BY ADAM COTE

sports@eastbaynewspapers.com