By Russ Waterman
MaxPreps.com
Defending state Division I football champion St. Raphael Academy and 2007 state runner-up Bishop Hendricken both began their 2008 campaigns with losses.
Cranston East capitalized on a series of St. Raphael offensive mistakes on its way to a come-from-behind, 23-15, non-league win over the Saints in Pawtucket on Saturday.
Bruising 205-pound Cranston East fullback Albert Duran rushed for 96 yards on 16 carries and scored on a five-yard return after recovering a Saints’ fumble to start the second half.
St. Raphael, rebuilding after its perfect season of a year ago, was shaky following a fast start. The Saints scored on their first possession, needing just four plays to go 90 yards; the drive featured an 80-yard run by Nael Pierre-Louis (109 yards on 13 carries).
A few minutes later, linebacker Ricardo Pognon snatched a pass attempt by Cranston East quarterback Brian Corvese out of the air and rumbled in for a 43-yard score.
Cranston East recovered, however, and capitalized on three fumbles, penalties and missed snaps while holding Pierre-Louis to just 12 yards the rest of the day. The Saints' fleet-footed junior running back and linebacker also did not play in the fourth quarter due to injury.
"I think the key to this game was our failure to score in the second quarter," said St. Raphael coach Mike Sassi, whose team has just 10 seniors left from its Super Bowl squad of a year ago.
St. Raphael was primed to score on first-and-goal at the 9-yard line in the second quarter. But the Saints turned the ball back to the visitors after being held to a total gain of five yards on four downs.
"The biggest thing we have to learn is how to react to adversity by not making so many mental mistakes," said Sassi.
Cranston East sophomore linebacker Joseph Boseman-Hinds caused havoc all game for the St. Raphael offense, bursting through to flush out or sack the quarterback or otherwise make key tackles all over the field. "He took over the game from his defensive end spot," said Cranston East coach Tom Centore.
Cranston East broke a 15-15 tie in third quarter just one play after taking possession following a bad Saints' snap on fourth down. Marco Jones easily went in for the go-ahead score from 11 yards out.
The Thunderbolt capped the scoring with a safety and held off the Saints’ last-gasp attempt, which featured four completed passes for 66 yards by quarterback Tyler Malo.
"We lost 24 players so we did a good job considering our inexperience," said Centore. "We kept rotating four in and four out on defense so that we could keep fresh. It was a nice win, but we have a lot of work to do."
Rhode Island Football at Glance
* South Kingstown knocked off Bishop Hendricken, 12-0, in a non-league contest. Kane Noka scored on a 84-yard touchdown run and Ben Hamill linked up with receiver Pat Gee on a 29-yard TD pass.
* Middletown relied on a sensational performance by sophomore Rico McCray to turn aside Rogers, 36-24. McCray scored on an 82-yard kickoff return, a run of 60 yards, a recovered fumble and return of 45 yards, and capped of his stellar day with another long TD rush of 64 yards.
* Toll Gate scored three first-half touchdowns on the ground and then held on for a 20-13 win against cross-town rival Warwick Vets. All-State running back Doug Johnson scored on 35 and 75-yard runs and quarterback Joe Richotte added a 14-yard rush for a TD.
Bob Bensten, Warwick’s all-state quarterback and 2007 Rhode Island Gatorade Player of the Year, scored on a 25-yard scamper and almost brought the Hurricanes back with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Jared Coffey late in the fourth quarter.
* Gus DelFarno scored on runs of 5, 53 and 23 yards as LaSalle Academy shut down Shea, 32-0.
* North Kingstown prevailed over Westerly, 18-6, with quarterback Dave D'Errico connecting for a 10-yard TD to Chris Cooper and running in twice from the one-yard line.
* Mike Read spearheaded Barrington’s 28-6 conquest of Moses Brown by scoring on runs of 11, 78 and 61 yards and amassing 227 yards on the ground overall.
* Nick Pistaccio and Michael Conti had two touchdowns each in Johnston's 28-16 victory over Coventry.
* Adam Sweeney had three touchdowns in a 29-14 win by Exeter/West Greenwich over East Greenwich.
Volleyball: Classical Outlasts East Providence
In an up-and-down marathon contest, Classical finally pulled out a 3-2 victory over host East Providence in a battle of two previously undefeated squads. The scores were 25-15, 10-25, 25-19, 20-25 and 15-11.
All-Stater Brennan Johnson led the Purple with 18 kills, with Jessica Ho providing 27 assists and recording 19 points on serve.
East Providence entered the match with wins over North Kingstown, East Greenwich and Ponaganset while Classical had defeated Chariho, South Kingstown and Burrillville.
Defending Division I state champion LaSalle Academy, currently tied for first in Division I North with Classical, also remains perfect and has yet to lose a game after putting away Cranston East, Cumberland, Chariho and Woonsocket. LaSalle faces Classical this week.
East Providence, a five-time state champion which lost to LaSalle in the 2007 finals, should be in the thick of the race again this year, according to second-year coach Alex Butler.
"Our success will always be built around our passing and defense but we have a little more offense this year, too," Butler said. "Elizabeth Caruolo on the right side and middle hitters Stephanie Michalopoulos, Karissa Goad and Morganne Booker are strong players.”
Libero Jessica Amaral (who served for 13 straight points in one game and had five aces in the win over Ponaganset) bears watching, too.
"Her service game has been used as a weapon since her freshman year," noted Butler. "We have the makings for a pretty good team."
"But there are a lot of other teams that should be strong, too," he added, "especially LaSalle and Classical, with Brennan Johnson being one of the best players in the state. Coventry, North Kingstown and South Kingstown will be very competitive, too. LaSalle returns a lot of very good players."
Russ Waterman covers Massachusetts and Rhode Island for MaxPreps. He may be reached at rwathoop3@aol.com.
