Football Focus

Even with no postseason, Pilgrim still in the midst of a bounce back season

Matt Metcalf, Assistant Sports Editor
Posted 11/13/14

Success hasn’t come easy for the Pilgrim High School football team in recent years. That came to a head prior to this season, when the team’s struggles forced a move from Division II to Division …

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Football Focus

Even with no postseason, Pilgrim still in the midst of a bounce back season

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Success hasn’t come easy for the Pilgrim High School football team in recent years. That came to a head prior to this season, when the team’s struggles forced a move from Division II to Division III.

But after taking some lumps with young players, particularly over the last two seasons, it seems that Pilgrim has found a comfortable home in D-III, a place where it can compete on a week-in, week-out basis. In some cases, the Pats have not only competed, but they’ve also accumulated some asymmetrical victories, games that they were on the other side of, at times, just a season ago.

After a combined record of 0-14 in D-II over the last two seasons, the Pats are 5-3 overall and 4-3 in D-III in 2014.

The Pats have defended their home field to the tune of a perfect 4-0 record heading into tomorrow night’s game with 6-1 East Greenwich.

Additionally, Pilgrim’s four league wins thus far are the most the program has tallied in a decade.

Yes, a decade.

You’d have to go all the way back to 2004, when the Pats finished 8-4 overall and 6-3 in league to find a Pilgrim team that won at least four league games.

Although the Pats are going to fall just shy of a playoff berth – as they are already eliminated due to D-III tiebreaker scenarios – head coach Tom O’Connor and his team have been in playoff contention for the last few weeks and he admits that playing in relevant games is uncharted territory for this group of players.

“It’s a new experience for us,” O’Connor said following Friday night’s 52-0 win over Hope. “We haven’t been here in a while. The kids are excited. They’ve certainly worked hard for it. I tell them that it’s their season and the coaches and I are just here to guide them along.”

It seems that Pilgrim has discovered the recipe for success.

It’s come in the form of a perfect balance between offense and defense in the last two games, out-scoring opponents 90-14 and holding opposing offenses off of the scoreboard for seven straight quarters.

A reason for that? The Pats have veteran players in key positions.

It was no more evident the last two weeks. Senior quarterback Rob Quaine threw for three touchdowns and rushed for two more in Pilgrim’s victories over Toll Gate and Hope, while junior running back Owen Kelly compiled six touchdowns on 367 total yards.

Kelly and Quaine, along with senior Sean Cooney, have been extremely effective running the ball throughout the season. However, Pilgrim’s leading rusher says it’s not because of the players who are running the ball.

“The offensive line has been great this season,” Kelly said. “They were in the weight room all summer and it shows. They’re ten times better.”

It wasn’t just the offensive line, though, that put in the time to improve. The team realized that a turnaround wouldn’t just come overnight. So it began its offseason preparation early, hitting the weights and conducting countless hours of seven-on-sevens.

“The success that we’re having speaks to the effort of the kids and the effort of the coaching staff,” O’Connor said. “They put in a lot of offseason work, seven-on-sevens and countless hours to get everyone ready for the season. The kids showed commitment, putting in hours in the weight room. That work has got us to where we’re at now.”

Where they’re at is a much better place than they were a season ago. For the first time in a while, the program is finally in a place of stability, a spot where it should have significantly less trouble competing from year-to-year.

Even though the bulk of Pilgrim’s key players are seniors and will play their final game in a Pats’ uniform in just two weeks, they’ve showed the younger players that you have to pay your dues to succeed.

With the big win over Hope on Friday, Pilgrim clinched at least a .500 record, not only in league play, but for its overall record as well. Kelly led the way for Pilgrim in that game, scoring four touchdowns and adding three two-point conversions.

“That was one of my best games,” Kelly said. “Whatever works, works. We executed well and were able to score some touchdowns.”

Kelly will return for his senior year next fall and that’s a great centerpiece to build an offense around, particularly at the D-III level.

But the turnaround started with this year’s group of seniors, who were determined to exit Pilgrim with a winning season.

A win in one of the next two games will secure that.

The hard work is certainly paying off.

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