Hawks hold off Townies to open D-I play

Ryan D. Murray
Posted 9/22/15

The Hendricken Hawks eased past the East Providence Townies, 20-6, at Pierce Memorial Field on Friday night.

Hendricken’s offense, led by junior quarterback Chris Hindle, was moving the chains …

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Hawks hold off Townies to open D-I play

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The Hendricken Hawks eased past the East Providence Townies, 20-6, at Pierce Memorial Field on Friday night.

Hendricken’s offense, led by junior quarterback Chris Hindle, was moving the chains early, but was forced to punt after a bad snap over Hindle’s head set up a fourth-and-26th.

The scoring began later in the first quarter when East Providence punted the ball to Hendricken’s Matthew DiTondo, who ran it 60 yards to the East Providence 4-yard line. On the next play, Hindle ran the quarterback keeper and scored a 4-yard touchdown, giving the Hawks a 7-0 lead after kicker Ryan Blais added the extra point.

The Hawks would lead 7-0 at halftime.

In the third quarter, when Hendricken was on the East Providence 35, the Hawks went for it on fourth-and-1 only to be stopped by a daunting Townie defense.  

Then, with five minutes to go in the third quarter the Townies struck.

On a trick play – Townie quarterback Ryan Ellinwood flipped the ball to backup quarterback Riley Cronin who threw it to running back Thomas Lopes for a 35-yard touchdown reception. The Townies would miss the extra point attempt and trail 7-6.

On the next Hendricken possession, DiTondo ran the ball from the Hawks’ 31 all the way to the end zone, giving Hendricken a 13-6 lead. Hendricken kicker Andrew Flint missed the extra point.

On the ensuing kickoff, Hendricken would force East Providence to fumble at the 46. But East Providence would temporarily redeem itself with a big sack on Hendricken at its own 40 that forced the Hawks to punt.

Hendricken opened the game up with about six minutes to go, when Hindle connected with wide receiver Dante Baldelli on a 31-yard touchdown to give the Hawks a 20-6 cushion.

The Townies tried to inch closer, as Ellinwood would connect on a 33-yard pass to Jayden Chase who would make it to the Hawks’ 25. But Ellinwood would ultimately throw an interception to Hawk safety and captain Caleb Wurster in the right corner of the end zone to seal the deal for the Hawks.

Ellinwood rushed for 27 yards and was 2-of-10 throwing for 42 yards with one interception for the Townies.

For Hendricken, DiTondo had 114 yards rushing, including a 70-yard run for a touchdown, and running back Jake Derderian added 62 yards on the ground.

Hindle would end the day with an efficient 10-of-14 for 90 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown pass. He also ran for 40 yards, highlighted by a 4-yard touchdown run. Baldelli had two catches for 39 yards and a touchdown.

Hendricken head coach Keith Croft was happy with his quarterback’s effort.

“He’s a junior,” Croft said. “This was his first varsity start. He did well tonight. You know he’s going to get better as the year goes on but I thought he made some good reads and had some nice passes. He’s got to keep working but he had a good night. He worked hard.”

The Hawks will remain on the road, as they’re set to travel to Portsmouth this Friday for a 7 p.m. start. Both teams are 1-0 after the Patriots defeated Cranston East, 14-6, on Friday.

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