Pats fall flat in D-III debut

Kevin Pomeroy
Posted 9/30/14

The Pilgrim football team got a rude greeting to Division III on Friday night.

Playing in their first division game since dropping to D-III after spending the last decade-plus in D-II, the Pats …

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Pats fall flat in D-III debut

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The Pilgrim football team got a rude greeting to Division III on Friday night.

Playing in their first division game since dropping to D-III after spending the last decade-plus in D-II, the Pats didn’t take many positives home with them in a 31-0 road loss to Lincoln.

Pilgrim had 13 possessions in the game, and none were successful. The Pats punted seven times, turned the ball over on downs four times, threw an interception and saw the game end on what would have been a fourth-and-16 play on their final possession.

Lincoln improved to 1-1 on the season, as it had lost its D-III opener two weeks ago 21-7 to Classical. Pilgrim was coming off a bye week.

“We planned for what they did, we didn’t execute,” said head coach Tom O’Connor. “From the line to the backs to the wideouts.”

The Pats also played without starting quarterback Rob Quaine, who missed the entire game due to an ankle injury suffered in the team’s non-league opener against Smithfield on Sept. 12. Running back Owen Kelly – the team’s top offensive option – was also injured and was limited to just three carries and a brief appearance at linebacker on defense.

That certainly didn’t help, but the team did very little to off-set the loss of those players.

“That hurts,” O’Connor said of not having Quaine and Kelly healthy.

After more than 20 minutes of scoreless football, Lincoln went on top 7-0 with 3:43 to play in the first half on a 45-yard punt return for a touchdown by Mason Pineda, which came after Pilgrim was pinned at the 1-yard line and couldn’t escape its own goal line.

“The punt return, we had him corralled and we didn’t tackle,” O’Connor said. “We didn’t wrap, we didn’t finish and he broke free. Down the sideline he went. We lost contain.”

Yet, the one bright spot for Pilgrim up to that point was its defense, as Lincoln didn’t have a single first down and had minus-one yard of offense.

But even the defense broke down.

When the Pats got the ball back after the punt, they took over near midfield but lost three yards on the first three downs, setting up a fourth-and-13 from their own 49-yard line. With under a minute to play, O’Connor elected to go for it and Darren Grant – filling in for Quaine at quarterback – fired an incomplete pass.

That gave the ball back to Lincoln with just 49.7 seconds left. After two incomplete passes, quarterback Matt Oakley ran for eight yards on third down, giving the Lions a fourth-and-2 with eight seconds to play in the half from Pilgrim’s 41-yard line.

After a Lincoln timeout, Oakley reared back and hit Nathan Fay up the right sideline for a 41-yard, back-breaking touchdown with one second to play in the half. The extra point was no good, but the Lions led 13-0 when it could have – perhaps even should have – been 0-0.

“We had two-deep zone,” O’Connor said. “Eight seconds left. We were prepared for the deep route. They motioned, our safety took off and our linebacker didn’t drop back to where he was supposed to be. It was a missed assignment, and that’s what happens when you’re not executing.”

That touchdown was the start of a bad trend for Pilgrim, which continued to give up yards through the air as the game wore on. Oakley finished 6-for-14 for 144 yards and three touchdowns.

He also caught a touchdown pass from Fay on a halfback throwback for 28 yards.

“We had a couple key players that were out, and the back-ups weren’t doing what they were supposed to,” O’Connor said. “We could see that’s where they were going to go.”

The game got out of hand quickly for Pilgrim in the second half, as Lincoln drove but missed a field goal on its first possession, only to get it right back when the Pats ran five plays and turned the ball over on downs. On the Lions’ first play of their next drive, Oakley found Fay for a 38-yard touchdown on a seam route up the right hash. That made the score 19-0, and with the way Pilgrim’s offense was moving the ball, the game was over.

The Pats never moved the ball past Lincoln’s 22-yard line and finished with just 75 yards of offense.

A Pilgrim three-and-out once again gave the ball right back to the Lions, and on the fifth play of the drive, Oakley caught the touchdown to make it 25-0. He later hit Jermain Perez for a 52-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter.

“The seconds and thirds weren’t prepared enough, and that’s on me,” O’Connor said. “That won’t happen again.”

Roger Anyango led Pilgrim with 41 yards rushing, while Grant threw for 25 yards on 5-of-21 passing.

Pilgrim, now 0-1 in D-III, will try to regroup, as it hosts 0-2 Ponaganset Friday at 7 p.m. Kelly will likely be healthy enough to play, with Quaine still questionable.

O’Connor said the team was looking toward the long term in holding out its banged-up top options. If they play this weekend, he’s expecting a different type of performance.

“The long term goals superceded today’s game,” O’Connor said.

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