The Bishop Hendricken and La Salle rivalry is guaranteed to produce classic games, no matter the level or the sport.

Fans weren’t let down once again on Saturday night, when the Rams’ freshmen football team eked out a 40-36 victory over the Hawks for the Division I state championship at Cranston Stadium.

“We had good coverage on the kids, they stepped up, they made plays,” Hendricken head coach Jon Stringfellow said. “I thought we did enough to beat them, but hats off to them. They made plays, and that’s basically it. They deserved to win today.”

The game featured eight lead changes and two ties, culminating in the final touchdown that saw La Salle overcome a 36-32 deficit that Hendricken built early in the fourth quarter.

The Rams got the ball down by four points with 10:29 remaining in the game, marching down the field on nine plays from their own 41 to Hendricken’s 14. However, the drive stalled there and La Salle faced a pivotal fourth-and-10.

Rams quarterback Rayven DeOliveira sent a pass to wide receiver Richard McNeill in the end zone, but McNeill couldn’t complete the catch and La Salle turned the ball over on downs.

The Hawks had the lead and the ability to waste the clock, but one costly penalty would doom the opportunity. Running back Israel Emmanuel broke off a 46-yard run down the left sideline on the first play from scrimmage, but a holding call on the Hawks saw it called back.

Hendricken then tried a run up the middle into a pile of players, and after several seconds of pushing from both sides, La Salle defensive end Jared Claeson emerged with the ball and went 14 yards to the end zone. DeOliveira’s keeper was good for the two-point conversion, putting the Rams up 40-36 with six minutes remaining.

After Emmanuel fumbled the pitch on Hendricken’s next drive, the defense worked to stop the Rams with enough time left for the offense to get back to work. The Hawks did just that after DeOliveira couldn’t connect on a fourth-and-9 pass, giving Hendricken the ball back with 2:45 to go.

After Emmanuel rushed for six yards on the first play, the Hawks failed to gain positive yardage. Their last breath came on a fourth-and-9 pass from quarterback Robert Fiorito down the left sideline to Evan Rinaldi, but Rinaldi couldn’t field it cleanly. The Rams kneeled on the ball to secure the state title.

The Hawks and Rams never built more than an eight-point advantage, allowing for a tight ball game that featured impressive plays in all three phases of the game.

La Salle opened the game with the ball, but running back Jamari Jenkins fumbled the ball on the second play from scrimmage, with Hendricken recovering at the La Salle 47-yard line. Emmanuel, on the Hawks’ first play of the night, dashed 42 yards into the Rams’ red zone to set up his own 3-yard touchdown and giving his team a 6-0 lead.

The Rams would strike back later in the first quarter when DeOliveira used his arm and his legs to march La Salle to the Hendricken 1, where he plunged in and got the two-point conversion to make it 8-6 La Salle.

“[DeOliveira’s] always been hard to stop all season,” Stringfellow said. “When he comes in, he gives you the look that he’s banged up a little, but he’s a gamer. He comes to play, he’s got nice loose hips and he makes people miss.”

DeOliveira later helped the Rams go up 14-6 when he found a hole in the middle and went 49 yards to the end zone, but the two-point conversion failed. The Hawks found themselves down one score, but the offense sputtered for most of the second quarter while the defense kept the Rams at bay.

The Hawks took over at the La Salle 48 with 57 seconds left in the first half looking to get their offense going. Fiorito led his team down to the La Salle 21 with 9 seconds left, but two straight incompletions looked to spell an end to the drive. However, as time expired on the second incompletion, La Salle was given a roughing-the-passer penalty to give Hendricken one untimed down at the La Salle 11. Fiorito scrambled and dodged a couple of tackles before getting into the end zone to slide momentum back to the Hawks. His two-point conversion knotted the score at 14 heading into halftime.

“They bought in,” Stringfellow said. “They played with a lot of faith in each other and we had a great week of practice with The Double Clicks and the Mystery Machine, which is our scout team offense and defense, and they just believed in each other and they could make plays.”

Out of the break, the Hawks kept rolling. Emmanuel ripped off another long run, this time for 41 yards to get Hendricken to the La Salle 3-yard line. Two plays later, Fiorito snuck in for the score to put the Hawks ahead 20-14.

The Rams wasted no time responding, as DeOliveira again scampered 49 yards up the middle and to the right pylon to tie the score at 20.

McNeill intercepted Fiorito at the Hendricken 39-yard line on the second play of the Hawks’ next drive, and that set up DeOliveira’s touchdown pass to put the Rams in front 26-20. Again, though, the Hawks’ defense prevented the two-point conversion.

Down by six, the Hawks were faced with a fourth-and-8 at the La Salle 41 and decided to go for it. Fiorito hit Andre De Los Santos just past the first-down marker. De Los Santos then turned and ran 30 more yards into the end zone for a touchdown, with Emmanuel’s rush putting the Hawks up 28-26.

The teams exchanged quick blows at the start of the fourth quarter before a defensive fight ensued for the final 10 1/2 minutes. DeOliveira continued a La Salle drive that carried over into the fourth with a pass to McNeill that set up a first-and-goal. Jenkins rushed for a 3-yard score, but the two-point conversion failed, putting the Rams up 32-28.

Hendricken hit right back, as Emmanuel took the kickoff 75 yards down the left sideline with exceptional blocking into the end zone. He also converted the two-point attempt to give Hendricken a 36-32 lead it had trouble holding down in the end.

Despite the loss, Stringfellow said that the team has impressed him all season and that the future of Hendricken football remains very bright.

“We’re excited about the future of Bishop Hendricken,” Stringfellow said. “It’s a great foundation to go with and I know that they got better every game we played, so I just consider you’ll see that growth right through their senior year. I think they’re destined for great things.”