Freshman Hawks gear up for Super Bowl showdown with rival La Salle

Kevin Pomeroy, Sports Editor
Posted 11/13/14

Last Friday night, the Bishop Hendricken football team played a key game against La Salle, and the atmosphere was fitting of the state’s best rivalry.

This Saturday that rivalry will occur again …

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Freshman Hawks gear up for Super Bowl showdown with rival La Salle

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Last Friday night, the Bishop Hendricken football team played a key game against La Salle, and the atmosphere was fitting of the state’s best rivalry.

This Saturday that rivalry will occur again at the freshman level, where the Hawks and Rams are set to square off in the Division I Super Bowl for another season.

The two teams played a year ago, with No. 2 seeded Hendricken getting the best of previously undefeated La Salle 38-22.

The Hawks will have to dial up a repeat of that upset this year if they want to claim a second straight championship and a fifth in six years, as they enter the game as the second-seed again, with the Rams boasting another record without a blemish.

The first time the teams played this year, La Salle won 30-0 on

Oct. 25.

“They’ve got some weapons,” said Hendricken head coach John Stringfellow. “Offensively, they’ve got a kid Leroy (Deoliveira) who’s pretty good. They run a pistol. Good quarterback. The offensive line is big and physical.”

Hendricken enters the game coming off of another solid regular season in which it went 5-2, with losses to La Salle and then Portsmouth in the regular season finale.

Last weekend, in the D-I semifinal against third-seeded Cranston East, the Hawks found themselves on the brink of elimination, trailing 14-8 with less than two minutes to play.

But standout R.J. Almeida took an East kickoff down to the 5-yard line following a Thunderbolts’ touchdown.

“It kind of looked like the season was going to be over,” Stringfellow said. “We just talked to the guys on the kickoff in the huddle and said, ‘They’re not going to kick it deep. We’ve got to return the ball the best yards we can get.’”

The Hawks found the end zone on the next play to secure the winning points in a 20-16 victory.

That set up the showdown with a La Salle team that has been dominant from the start to finish this season. The Rams lead D-I in scoring 232 points and have given up the fewest points as well, 12.

In their semifinal game, they ran by East Providence 54-8.

“They’re a good football team,” Stringfellow said. “Well-rounded. The first time we had 35 yards of total offense.”

The Hawks’ statistics stand out as well, however, as they scored 179 points during the regular season compared to just 68 given up. Both of those numbers are second in the division.

Hendricken is led by Almeida, who handles a significant portion of the running duties from his fullback position and is also a weapon defensively at middle linebacker.

“The workhorse is Almeida,” Stringfellow said. “We like to run the fullback. He’s been the mainstay for us, consistently all season.”

Joining Almeida in the backfield have been halfbacks Connor Sheridan and Devin Rivet. Under center is Alex Mulvey, and his biggest weapons through the air are tight end Patrick Thomas and split end Preston Santos.

Santos is 6-foot-4 and has been hurt for much of the second half of the season but is a difference maker when healthy.

“He’s kind of a game-breaker for us,” Stringfellow said. “We’d been able to get him the ball early in the season. We’ve struggled the last couple of weeks getting him the ball, he’s been hurt.”

Along the offensive line from left to right has been Mason Carr, Dylan Gardner, Mike Lupino, Aidan Corcoran and Zach Knight.

Defensively, Thomas plays with Almeida at the middle linebacker position, with Rivet and J.P. Mason playing on the outside.

Up front, Lupino and Sheridan handle the end duties with Corcoran, David Batista, Zach Knight and Ahamd Smith rotating in at defensive tackle.

In the secondary, Santos, Gardner, Jacob Lepre and Jaylen Da Cruz have been the mainstays.

It adds up to a strong team that has already had a strong season, but one that will undoubtedly be underdogs on the state’s biggest stage for freshmen this Saturday.

If the Hawks want another title, they’ll need another upset.

“The holes were there, we’ve just got to get through them,” Stringfellow said. “Hopefully kind of the cobwebs are out and the nervousness of them is out. We’ve got nothing to lose.”

Kickoff is at 12 p.m. at Cranston Stadium.

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