The Mt. Hope High School football team delivered an impressive performance to begin its 2026 regular season as the Huskies totally stifled Bristol-Plymouth Regional Voc Tech en route to a 35-0 shutout of the visiting Craftsmen at Veterans Field in Warren Saturday, Sept. 12.

The victory was the initial season-opening win for the locals in their four years under the direction of Shane Parker, something that did not go unnoticed by the Huskies' head coach.

"It's the first time in my tenure that we've won Week One. So we finally get to not put ourselves in a hole for once," Parker said. "The last three years, we started 0-2, so to get a win for our opener is huge for us in the standings and all that stuff."

It took Mt. Hope just two plays after receiving the opening kickoff to notch the game's first score; the first a 37-yard completion by quarterback Will Francis to receiver Tyler Rhynard and the second a 29-yard run by the Huskies' senior signal caller.

Mt. Hope later capped the scoring with just over four minutes remaining in the contest on a one-yard run by back Chase Savinon.

Francis helped set up the touchdown with four completions, two to impressive freshman receiver Finn Loftus. He also connected with senior wideout Cam Oliver for 13 yards. And the most meaningful was a pass-and-catch for 56 yards to Rhynard.

Superb sophomore placekicker Jake Mancieri booted the extra points after each TD, just as he did all five times the Huskies reached the endzone.

In between, Mt. Hope dismantled the Craftsmen, who play at the Division IV level of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association and compete in the Mayflower Vocational League, on both sides of the ball.

The Huskies forced B-P into a three-and-out to end the guests' first possession. The hosts then used just five plays to up their edge to 14-0. Francis hit senior end Nick Rogers twice, on catches for 17 and 12 yards. The QB also kept it a pair of times, the second for a 13-yard TD with 5:57 remaining in the first quarter.

The Craftsmen put a bit of resistance during their next drive, though it ultimately ended in a botched snap recovered by MHHS defensive lineman/offensive center Lucas Machado at the Huskies' 46.

"I think we did pretty good. As you can see, we have a little goose egg over there," said Machado of Mt. Hope's defensive effort, pointing to the scoreboard showing the 35-0 result. "We did a good job of containing them, not letting them get like big chunk plays."

Francis next made one of his few bad decisions in the pocket on the afternoon when he was picked off three plays later at the B-P 36.

The series of miscues continued into the second quarter when the Huskies, in turn, intercepted a Craftsmen pass, Jaden Fox making the pick at midfield and returning down to the B-P 28.

After Francis ran six yards to open the drive, he finished it with a 22-yard pass up the seam to Rogers in the endzone. Mancieri's third PAT made it 21-0 Mt. Hope.

"The first one I was in 'flex.' It's almost like our specialty. If I can get out in space, it's wide open," Rogers explained of his initial TD catch. "Will can make that throw. I know he can make that throw. He put it to me right in a perfect spot in the back of endzone for the touchdown."

The teams proceeded to trade possessions heading towards intermission before the Huskies added their four touchdown of the opening 24 minutes.

Fox, from his defensive back position, broke up a B-P pass attempt on fourth down at the Mt. Hope 46. Francis opened the series with an 11-yard run. It concluded three plays later when Rogers took a screen to the right at the B-P 40, darting back inside and racing to the endzone. Loftus and Rhynard delivered key blocks outside on the play.

"The second one, I just used my wheels," Rogers said of his other score, adding of the Huskies' offensive overall on the day, "I think it could have been better. We made a lot of mistakes. We'll definitely find things to work on when we go back and watch film Monday. But overall, I think we did pretty good today."

Francis finished his afternoon with 102 yards on the ground while going 7-for-11 for 222 yards passing and the two TD throws to Rogers, who had 85 yards total receiving. Rhyhard had two catches for 90 yards. Loftus had 3-for-25.

Senior linebacker Brody Cavalieri led the Huskies with eight solo tackles and six combos for 14 total. Junior linebacker Travis Furtado had seven solos. Savinon and Machado had six apiece. Fox and senior D-lineman Matthew Thibaudeau each had five.

"I think we played incredibly hard. And that's all I can really ask for," Parker said. "There's plenty of things that we can do better. I mean, that's what football is. You want to be better by Thanksgiving. You want to be the best not today, but at the end of the season. We have a lot of things to build on, but like I said they played really hard."

The Huskies ready for their first road game of the year and also their initial encounter against a fellow Rhode Island Division III side when they travel to Cranston East Saturday, Sept. 19, for a noontime start at Cranston Stadium.

The host Thunderbolts began their 2026 season this past week with a 45-14 win over the Division IV-Juanita Sanchez/Providence Country Day co-op.

Mt. Hope throttled Cranston East twice late last year, 24-6 during the regular season and 32-6 in the quarterfinals of the 2025 D-III playoffs.