Football Notebook

Hawks clicking on all cylinders; Titans get back to action

Matt Metcalf
Posted 10/16/15

- Bishop Hendricken made a statement on Friday night, defeating Cranston East 42-0 – a score that could’ve been much larger.

Heavy rain led to a slow start for the Hawks in the first 10 …

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Football Notebook

Hawks clicking on all cylinders; Titans get back to action

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- Bishop Hendricken made a statement on Friday night, defeating Cranston East 42-0 – a score that could’ve been much larger.

Heavy rain led to a slow start for the Hawks in the first 10 minutes of the opening quarter, but after the rain came to a halt, the Hawks proved their superiority.

Behind a variety of strong runners and solid blocking up front, Hendricken rushed for four touchdowns in a span of nine minutes, 31 seconds to put the game out of reach.

In that span, Kwity Paye found the end zone three times on physically punishing runs. Matt DiTondo broke through the defense for a 41-yard score for the other touchdown as the Hawks took a 28-0 lead into halftime.

Hendricken head coach Keith Croft noted after the game that he wanted his team to play a more physical brand of football heading into the game, and the team certainly responded.

Paye, in particular, made his presence felt in all aspects of the game – offense, defense and special teams.

The Hawks are arguably the best team in the state already, but if they play like they did on Friday the rest of the way, it could be scary for the rest of the state.

Chris Hindle is settling in well as the starting quarterback, utilizing running backs Jake Derderian, DiTondo and Paye, while also spreading the ball around to top targets Trevor Lawton, Billy Mueller, Dante Baldelli, Andrew Hopgood and Caleb Wurster.

As a result, Hendricken currently leads all of Division I in points scored with 132.

The defense has been equally impressive, too.

Led by Paye, Shane Olson and Jimmie Sauro, the Hawks have also surrendered the fewest amount of points in D-I – 13 over four games.

Additionally, Hendricken has outscored its last three opponents by a score of 112-7.

The Hawks will now host 1-3 Cumberland on Friday night. On paper, this looks like another easy win for Hendricken, but the Clippers are coming off of their best performance of the season – a 17-10 win at Portsmouth.

Cumberland has a good quarterback in Jake Salisbury who can elude defenders and scramble around to make plays. The question for Cumberland is whether or not it has enough playmakers around Salisbury to keep up with the high-powered Hawks’ offense.

We’ll find out on Friday.

Score prediction: Hendricken 42, Cumberland 7.

- Toll Gate is off to its best start in a long time at 2-1 in Division III.

After a strong, 26-20 overtime win at defending champion Middletown two weeks ago, the Titans will now focus their attention on Hope following a bye week.

Toll Gate’s game at Hope at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday presents the Titans with a great opportunity to up their record to 3-1.

The Blue Wave have struggled early on, receiving lopsided losses at the hands of Classical and Lincoln, while getting their only win against winless Ponaganset.

The Titans have had a great deal of success in the running game, and they’ll look for that to continue on Saturday.

Alex Mowry, Sean Devlin and Austin Giard have gashed opposing defense through the first three games of the season, making trips to the end zone a regular occurrence. Giard has also been a tremendous asset on special teams, returning punts and kickoffs.

Entering Saturday’s game with some extra rest, I believe that Toll Gate will take care of business against a Hope team that it should beat.

Score prediction: Toll Gate 28, Hope 12.

- Pilgrim’s offense exploded for 50 points against Ponaganset over the weekend behind three rushing touchdowns from standout running back Owen Kelly.

It wasn’t just Kelly who had a big day, though.

Quarterback David McMullen threw for two touchdowns and rushed for another. Senior captain Darren Grant also got in on the action, scoring two touchdowns of his own – one on offense and one on defense.

The Pats are currently tied for third in D-III with Toll Gate at 2-1, and look to be for real this season.

The well-rounded Pilgrim team has scored the third-most points in D-III with 86, while it has surrendered just 44 points – good for second in D-III.

And the Pats will likely improve both of those numbers on Friday when they travel to 1-3 Narragansett, which has given up 133 points over just four games.

Pilgrim’s offensive and defensive weapons will be too much for the struggling Mariners.

Score prediction: Pilgrim 38, Narragansett 6.

- Warwick Vets’ struggles continued last Friday, as it was handed a 42-6 loss at the hands of Mt. Hope.

The loss dropped the ’Canes to 0-4 in Division II-A in their final season, as they have surrendered a league-worst 170 points.

Vets will have another tough test when it travels to 2-1 Shea on Friday for a 7 p.m. game.

The ’Canes have had issues on both sides of the ball thus far, but they should have a good chance to get in the win column next week when they host D-III Narragansett.

As for this week, I believe Vets gets in the end zone again, but Shea’s offense will just be too much for Vets’ defense.

Score prediction: Shea 34, Vets 8.

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