End of an era doesn’t mean end of high hopes for East

Kevin Pomeroy
Posted 8/20/14

In the eyes of many, last season was the closing of a window for the Cranston East football team.

Armed with talent all over the field – especially on the offensive side – the ’Bolts made a …

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End of an era doesn’t mean end of high hopes for East

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In the eyes of many, last season was the closing of a window for the Cranston East football team.

Armed with talent all over the field – especially on the offensive side – the ’Bolts made a late-season charge and earned their first trip to the Division I Super Bowl since 1987 with an unprecedented No. 4 vs. No. 1 upset over Barrington in the semifinal round of the playoffs.

On the biggest stage in the state, East fought, but came up short against now four-time defending state champion Bishop Hendricken in a 45-34 loss.

With the defeat came turnover. Record-setting, All-State quarterback Alex Corvese graduated after two years at the helm, and All-State wide receiver Marven Beauvais moved on to play at the University of Rhode Island. Four-fifths of the starting offensive line graduated as well, depleting the state’s top-scoring offense.

Yet, head coach Tom Centore looks at this year’s roster and doesn’t see it the way that it may be perceived elsewhere. While replacing his stars is undoubtedly an enormous challenge, Centore sees a veteran defense with a chance to take big steps forward, and on the offensive side of the ball, he sees a group that may take time to mature but should be paced by one of the – if not the – state’s best player in senior Marquem Monroe.

The window may not be quite as open as it was a year ago, but that doesn’t mean it’s anywhere near being shut.

“I think some people are thinking, ‘Okay, they lost those guys and they’re done,’” Centore said. “Everybody can think what they want. It’s going to be a battle, but we’re not going into the tank.”

East’s chances at a third straight Division I playoff berth and potential success beyond that start with Monroe, who has been a fixture on both sides of the ball since his sophomore season.

A first-team All-State selection last season, Monroe ran for 574 yards and nine touchdowns, while also catching 11 touchdown passes to go with 1,005 yards receiving.

One of the top prospects in New England, a lot will be on his shoulders, especially with the departure of Beauvais, Corvese and Jimmy Saab, another graduated offensive standout.

“He’s certainly the best player in our program,” Centore said. “He’s got to stay healthy. I’ll say this – he’s a special player. He’s different. And he’s working hard.”

Monroe will slide all around the offense, even more so than he did last year, as he’ll play in the slot, out wide and in the backfield.

Similar to last year’s Portsmouth team in which All-State quarterback Matt Sewall was the clear-cut No. 1 option on nearly every play, Monroe is East’s ticket to offensive production.

“He’s going to be the guy,” Centore said. “People are going to play him differently than they did a year ago. He’s going to get doubled and tripled. Everywhere Marquem goes they’re going to go.”

The rest of the offense, for the most part, is a work in progress. Senior center Nick Sawaia is back to anchor the line after starting a year ago, but he’ll be surrounded by players who saw limited or no time last season.

As far as replacing Corvese at quarterback, it’s a three-man battle among junior John Anderson and seniors Logan McConaghy and Darrio Carter.

McConaghy is also the team’s kicker and was formerly the quarterback on the freshmen team, Carter was a safety a year ago and served as a back-up quarterback, while Anderson was one of the team’s primary running backs and also played linebacker.

Sophomore Randy Durand is also coming along, but at this juncture, the position is far from settled.

“It’s going to be a work in progress,” Centore said. “But the good thing about the quarterbacks is that we don’t ignore them during the season. They take snaps.”

East figures to focus more on its running game this season, and Centore is excited about his group of backs and tight ends who could help pave the way for a solid ground attack.

Seniors Justin Silva and Vannak Rourm are in the mix at tight end, with sophomore Jay Bast – a starting linebacker as a freshman last year – also there. Senior Tuti Wehjla could be a factor at fullback, while the tailback spots will be held down by Monroe, sophomore Malik Gavek – who Centore thinks has high-end potential – junior Andre Garcia and junior C.J. Dummett, who returns to the team after playing his freshman year and taking last season off.

At the receiver spots, senior Michael Castillo is with the team after starting as a sophomore but not coming out last season. Seniors Melvin Paniagua, Carlos Canelo and Amir Pettiway all played sparingly last year and should jump into bigger roles this season. Armand Lucchetti is another senior who can play a variety of roles.

“Now they’ll get their opportunity to play,” Centore said.

Joining Sawaia on the offensive line are a number of players competing, including sophomore Brendan Lanigan, seniors Ryan Lackey, Blake Doyon, David McCormick and Dasheshky Pena and juniors Zach Hubbard and Jonathan Vittorioso.

“They’re not as big as (last year’s starters) Eric Almonte and Austin (Stadelbauer), but they’re still pretty good-sized guys,” Centore said.

Defensively, East has the potential to make some noise – something it struggled to do early last season.

Monroe returns to lead a veteran secondary that includes Carter, junior David Todd, Pettiway, Paniagua and Garcia, as well as Dummett.

Junior Max Perez returns as a solid linebacker/defensive end, and Castillo will join the fold at the defensive end position. Bast and Silva are two of the team’s top linebackers after gaining a ton of experience last year. Anderson is also a linebacker, and will play there if he doesn’t end up at quarterback, and Wehjla will also play some linebacker. Senior Nick Ngourn could see time at nose-guard, while some of the offensive lineman will likely fill in the defensive tackle spots.

“That’s the thinking, that early on, defense is going to have to help us through,” Centore said.

McConaghy will be the team’s field goal kicker, while sophomore Jaireal Rodriguez may end up taking kickoffs and punts. McConaghy and Anderson can also punt.

At the end of the day, East finds itself somewhat inexperienced, but with a lot of options all over the field. With about 85 players from the sophomore through senior classes, and another 40 freshmen, numbers are high and that’s always an important sign for a team trying to contend year-in and year-out.

“The kids want to be a part of it,” Centore said. “You get some seniors that come out that might not have played before, but they want to try it. A couple of them could help us.”

That said, there won’t exactly be a lot of time for East to ease its way into the season. It has an Injury Fund game at Cranston Stadium on Sept. 5 against Coventry, then has a non-league game Sept. 12 against Division II Woonsocket.

After that, it’s on to D-I play, and East will travel to perennial playoff team Portsmouth on Sept. 19 for its opener and the inaugural game on Portsmouth’s new turf field.

The ’Bolts then have their bye week very early in the season before playing Cranston West, Hendricken and La Salle consecutively.

East will have to make the most of its early season practices and scrimmages, and then learn on the fly when it’s time to strap the helmets on for real.

There’s no Corvese, and there’s no Beauvais. But there’s still optimism, and that’s not going anywhere.

“I think these kids expect to be a playoff team,” Centore said. “That’s going to be our goal. I don’t think we’re in a position where we’re young enough and saying that we just want to compete.”

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