The East Providence varsity football squad continued its tear through Division II with a 42-6 thrashing of Classical High School on Friday, Oct. 16 on the Townies’ home turf.

The only score from the Lady Purple came at the end of the game, as East Providence had them on lockdown throughout the entire match.

“Holding them to six points, you can’t ask for much more, especially when it’s a garbage time touchdown,” said Xavier Rodriguez, who started at quarterback since the team’s captain, Isaac Rodriguez, was unavailable with an injury. “We held them down on defense.”

Xavier stepped into the role with poise, throwing for a touchdown and running in another. Trey Abdullah, the bruising senior running back, added a pair of rushing touchdowns and chipped in 108 total rushing yards. Jayden Rodriguez caught a pass for a touchdown as well.

“I was just trying to stick to fundamentals,” Jayden said after the game of his touchdown reception. “I looked up and it kind of just fell right into my hands.”

Jayden said that playing without their captain starter was certainly an adjustment, but one the team was ready for.

“I was a little nervous in the beginning but after a while I stepped up and started making plays,” he said. “It definitely took us a couple drives to get used to it, but we adjusted and stepped up.”

Xavier and Jayden said they were looking forward to the playoffs in a few weeks.

“It gets better every game,” Jayden said of the team’s chemistry. “I think we’re starting to clean up the little mistakes that we make and we’re ready.”

Xavier said that the team, while playing well, still had plenty of room to grow in the games ahead.

“Trying to limit our penalties, stay disciplined, stay home on defense especially,” he said. “Even though our defense is playing phenomenally this season, we still have a lot of work to do on defense. Offensively, protecting the football, all of that.”

On Friday the Townies host winless West Warwick at 6:00 p.m. East Providence sits at 6-0 in Division II play and 6-1 overall, their only loss coming at the hands of a last-second touchdown against Barrington in the season opener.

- With reporting from Parker Andrews, a junior at East Providence High School