The Warwick PAL Pee Wee Patriots got a taste of what the best teams in the state have to offer when they ran into a buzzsaw this past Sunday at Hope High in Providence.

The Patriots had won their first two games of the season over Chariho and Exeter/West Greenwich. Sunday, however, the Mt. Hope Cowboys showed they were on a different level.

The Cowboys scored on their second play from scrimmage and really never looked back. Warwick tried to control the clock with a power running game but the Cowboys front line was very disruptive, getting into the Patriots’ backfield time and again. When the Patriots tried to throw they had little time for their quarterback in the pocket. On the defensive side of the ball, while the Patriots’ interior line was fairly strong, outside running plays were their down fall. The Patriots never figured out how to stop the Mt Hope wishbone when the ball went outside the ends. The score at halftime was 18-0.

The second half wasn’t much better, but to their credit the Patriots never gave up, even when it was clear that the game was out of hand. Noah Thao and Nate Ferri both ran hard the whole game but couldn’t quite break away for a score as the Cowboy defense pursued well all day. Jacob Zuller put in a full day’s work at both fullback and defensive tackle and was one of the bright spots for the Warwick squad. Linebacker Xavier Acosta and defensive tackles Joe Deliello and Jackson Caffrey led the defense with four tackles each.

The Cowboys are coached by former La Salle and Bryant College standout Lorenzo Perry.

Next up for the 2-1 Patriots is a home tilt this Sunday against the Mashpee Falcons from Cape Cod. Game time is 1 p.m. at Pilgrim.