It was an impressive, albeit abbreviated, 2026 debut for the Mt. Hope High School football team Thursday night, Sept. 3, the Huskies dominating Moses Brown, 21-0, in the Injury Fund game for both sides played over two quarters at Barrington High.

MHHS senior quarterback Will Francis ran for two touchdowns and threw to classmate Nick Rogers for the other six. Sophomore placekicker Jake Mancieri drilled each of his three points-after. Another of the senior Huskies, Chase Savinon, put an emphatic end to the shutout with a pick on the last play of the contest.

Mt. Hope and Moses Brown could meet again down the line as both vie in Division III, though they are not scheduled to play during the upcoming regular season.

"It's the first step in a long process," said MHHS head coach Shane Parker. "We've got four linemen who didn't play tonight, so we were worried about that. And I honestly thought that they were the highlight of things we did. We've got some timing issues and things like that that we need to work on, but I think the offensive line stepped up and really, really came to play today and let us move the ball a little bit on the ground, which was great."

Returning starter at center, junior Lucas Machado, anchored the Huskies' O-line last Thursday with classmate James Carmo at right tackle, senior Logan Curria at right guard, senior Matthew Thibaudeau at left guard and freshman Andrew Jordan at left tackle.

The effort of the quartet up front allowed Francis time to throw relatively effectively throughout the game. He started hot with three passes in a row to Rogers and a couple of quality runs by senior Brody Cavalieri before Mt. Hope's initial drive stalled.

But just as it did to in turning the Quakers over on downs to end the first series of the game, the Huskies' defensive, led by Cavalieri at linebacker, forced Moses Brown to punt on its second possession.

Junior Tyler Rhynard caught the kick just inside the 50-yard line and returned it all the way back to the two before he was spiraled out of bounds. On the next play, Francis kept it for the TD, followed by Mancieri's first PAT to give Mt. Hope a 7-0 lead.

Early in the second quarter, and after the Quakers intercepted a Francis toss, the Huskies D again turned Moses Brown over on downs. Francis quickly made amends for his miscue, racing for 28 yards to begin the drive then carrying the remaining 19 to endzone. Mancieri's second kick upped Mt. Hope's edge to 14-0.

"A lot of our defensive backs and middle linebackers are back, and we're trying to build the defensive line right now, but we got a lot of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors, underclassmen. I really think we're going to come together and we'll get it done," Cavalieri said of the defense.

Following another defensive stop, Francis and Rogers connected on an intermediate shot, a 20-yard pass and catch in the endzone. Mancieri's third PAT accounted for the final points of the outing.

"Coach noticed that the corner was playing a little in on him, so we decided to send it and it worked out just fine for us," Francis said of his TD toss.

The Huskies have some time to work on things before they begin their 2026 regular season on Saturday, Sept. 12, when they host Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School at Vets Field in Warren. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.

The Craftsmen, actually based in Taunton, compete in the Mayflower Athletic Conference. Under the second year of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League's points system, Bristol-Plymouth is considered a D-III team, which means it will be rated the same as if the Huskies were playing a team within their usual in-state grouping.

The Craftsmen went 6-5 overall last season, qualifying for the Massachusetts Vocational School championship playoffs where the fell to 26-20 to eventual runner-up Whittier Regional Voc of Haverill in the opening round of the eight-team event.

The Huskies are coming off an 8-4 campaign a year ago, going 5-2 in counting games during the regular season and reaching the D-III title contest, losing to Classical, 40-28.