Pats set sights on return to big game

By ALEX SPONSELLER
Posted 9/3/19

By ALEX SPONSELLER The Pilgrim Patriots entered 2018 under the radar and seemingly out of the playoff hunt. They were coming off multiple down years and brought in a new coaching staff to turn things around. Many of the players had not played playoff

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Pats set sights on return to big game

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The Pilgrim Patriots entered 2018 under the radar and seemingly out of the playoff hunt.

They were coming off multiple down years and brought in a new coaching staff to turn things around. Many of the players had not played playoff football, and had never experienced being part of a winning culture.

The Pats struggled in the early going and the season was on the verge of becoming a lost one. However, the leaders stepped up, a few new faces emerged, and they would catch fire and reach the Division III Super Bowl.

Pilgrim enters 2019 motivated to get back to the big game – and to get the job done while also establishing itself as the top team in the division.

“We’re motivated and ready to go. We’re not cocky, but we feel like we’re getting prepared for everything that we could face this season. We feel that we can beat any team we face; we’ve been working hard and grinding. We never forget about last year and coming up one yard short … we keep saying, ‘one yard short,’ and we feel like if we play the right way that we can win it all,” Adam Ferrara said.

Although Pilgrim earned the respect of the state last year, it still carries its underdog mentality into the 2019 season and hopes to continue prove itself.

“We’re not getting big heads; we didn’t do anything last year. Second place is just first loser, it doesn’t mean anything. Since we lost, we are more motivated than if we had won, we still feel like we’re the underdogs, no one believes in Pilgrim. We are very hungry,” Ethan Asadorian said.

Things were not always easy this summer, especially considering the budget crisis in the Warwick public school system. Pilgrim head coach Blake Simpson is proud of his team’s mental toughness as it canceled out all distractions and put its best foot forward it its preparation.

“The guys have been really resilient this summer, between the debacle in Warwick, showing up for workouts in the heat, they’ve worked really hard and have come back as a better team and a better unit. We hope to carry that into the season and make some noise,” said Simpson, who has also been impressed with the leadership that the upperclassmen have demonstrated. “The attitude has been great; we have so many leaders on this team. Ethan Laramee is returning as our captain on defense, he’s one of our more vocal guys. We could have had 12 captains this year, that was the hardest part, but we had a team and coach vote and came up with five great leaders that I think will help bring us to where we want to go.”

The Pats return much of the same core as last year, including Laramee, Asadorian, Ferrara, as well as quarterback Mike Borges and running back Dimitri Ayres.

Simpson believes that they team’s confidence will be key this season as well as having tasted last year’s success.

“The guys are using [last season] as a motivator because they came so close to winning and they know that they can make it back,” Simpson said. “They have the work ethic, they’ve put in the work on the field and in the weight room. They have one vision, and that’s to get back there and win it.”

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