Pats fall to second-place EG in regular season finale

Matt Metcalf, Assistant Sports Editor
Posted 11/18/14

The Pilgrim High School football team suffered its first home loss of the season on Friday night, falling to second-place East Greenwich High School 45-18.

Junior running back Owen Kelly was the …

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Pats fall to second-place EG in regular season finale

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The Pilgrim High School football team suffered its first home loss of the season on Friday night, falling to second-place East Greenwich High School 45-18.

Junior running back Owen Kelly was the top offensive performer for the Patriots, rushing for 123 yards and a touchdown, while adding two catches for 19 yards.

However, Kelly’s effort wasn’t enough, as the Pats’ defense just didn’t have an answer for the Avengers’ offense.

East Greenwich was led by junior quarterback Nick Andreozzi, who completed 11 passes for 224 yards and four touchdowns. Wide Receiver Quinn Sullivan also caused headaches for Pilgrim’s secondary, catching eight passes for 147 yards and four touchdowns.

“They’re not in second place out of luck,” Pilgrim head coach Tom O’Connor said. “They’re a well-coached, disciplined and systematic team. [Andreozzi] was outstanding. He had a great game. Even when we covered and our coverage didn’t break down, he put it where only his guy could catch it.”

East Greenwich capitalized on its first drive of the game, as Andreozzi connected with Sullivan for a 30-yard touchdown, giving the Avengers an early 6-0 lead.

Pilgrim settled in after East Greenwich’s early score, keeping the Avengers off the board for the remainder of the first quarter.

But an interception near the end of the first quarter by East Greenwich’s Brian Gemma gave the Avengers’ offense good field position.

A few plays later, East Greenwich upped its lead to 12-0, when Sullivan beat a Pilgrim cornerback and Andreozzi delivered a perfect pass for an 11-yard score.

“It didn’t matter who we put on [Sullivan], he was on fire,” O’Connor said. “Everything was quick and on time and the quarterback had a quick release, so we couldn’t get any pressure on him. It was just a well-played game by them.”

However, the Pats did answer just a few minutes later, when Kelly broke free for a 39-yard dash into the end zone to make it 12-6.

East Greenwich added two more scores before the end of the half on an Andreozzi pass to Sullivan and a Mitchell Gemma run, before Pilgrim quarterback Rob Quaine connected with Roger Anyango in the final seconds of the half to trim East Greenwich’s lead to 24-12.

The Pats had a little bit of momentum swaying in their favor to start the second half, as they got the ball to start the third quarter and only trailed by two scores.

Unfortunately for Pilgrim, Quaine was intercepted around midfield on its opening drive by Owen Haines.

“We had a couple of turnovers at bad times and we weren’t consistent,” O’Connor said. “To play against a team that is that systematic, we have to be consistent.”

Quaine seemed to be ailing a bit throughout the game, the result of a long season taking a toll.

“He’s banged up a little bit,” O’Connor said. “He runs the ball hard. But I think he did a great job to put those passes behind him. He stayed in and battled and he wasn’t coming out no matter what.”

The turnover was costly, as Andreozzi found Sullivan for his fourth touchdown on a 30-yard pass down the left sideline. Haines added the extra point to increase the Avengers’ lead to 31-12.

East Greenwich continued to pour it on in the second half, as Dillan White capped off a long drive towards the end of the third quarter with a 5-yard scamper into the end zone, giving the Avengers a 38-12 lead.

Mitchell Gemma closed out the scoring for East Greenwich on a 6-yard run with 6:02 remaining in the game to make it 45-12.

Pilgrim was able to cut into its deficit in the final minute, as Sean Cooney powered his way into the end zone from 1 yard out, but East Greenwich’s lead was insurmountable.

Pilgrim closes out its league schedule with a 4-4 record, good for fifth place to narrowly miss the final playoff spot. It currently has a 5-4 overall record heading into the annual Thanksgiving Day game against Warwick Vets.

“We competed this season,” O’Connor said. “Even today, we were in the game at halftime. They just wore us down. They controlled the ball and they were a good team.”

A win against Vets will give Pilgrim its first winning season since 2004.

The Pats will host the game against Vets on Thanksgiving, with kickoff set for 10 a.m.

“We just need to get back to work,” O’Connor said. “We didn’t have the best week of practice this week. We need to get back to what we do and work hard to get set for Vets.”

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