Strong first half leads Avengers past Pats

By Brandon Maxwell
Posted 9/27/16

The Pilgrim Patriots were handed their first loss of the season Friday night with a disappointing defeat to the East Greenwich Avengers by a final score of 37-14 after beginning the season …

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Strong first half leads Avengers past Pats

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The Pilgrim Patriots were handed their first loss of the season Friday night with a disappointing defeat to the East Greenwich Avengers by a final score of 37-14 after beginning the season 2-0.

Things got off to a rocky start for Pilgrim in its second conference game of the season when the Avengers scored 30 points in the first half thanks to a combination of size and speed that created a nightmare scenario for Pilgrim on both sides of the ball. East Greenwich featured an offense led by quarterback Andrew Blessing, who replaced last year’s Gatorade Athlete of the Year, Nick Andreozzi, after he graduated.

The junior threw three of his four total touchdowns on the day in the first 20 minutes of the contest, including a 57-yard touchdown to Andrew Licciardi. The two would connect again to score in the game’s final moments. Blessing’s other two touchdowns came on targets to Matt Sylvia, who posed a matchup in the secondary that required some tweaking in the second half.

The Avengers added on to their lead in the first half with a 55-yard run from Donovan Cassidy. He would finish the day with 149 all-purpose yards, including 131 yards rushing on 21 carries.

“East Greenwich is a good team,” Patriots head coach Rob Pacifico said. “They bring it to you physically and I give them all the credit in the world. We made some adjustments at halftime, and we did look better in the second half, but it was a little too late. Defensively we changed a couple bodies just to get some bigger size out there, kids that are a tad quicker to the perimeter.”

Despite the point differential on the scoreboard, the Patriots were able to buckle down in the second half, only allowing a garbage time touchdown in the final minute on a fourth-and-goal pass from Blessing to Licciardi.

After three-and-outs from both teams to start the second half, Pilgrim’s special teams put the offense in position to score after a blocked punt. Running back Simon Davis was able to punch it in for his first of two scores in the game.

Though the Avengers were able to put a cap on the passing game, Davis took advantage of his opportunities to help the offense avoid its second straight shutout loss to East Greenwich after a 47-0 contest ended the regular season last year.

Davis’ second touchdown came at the midway point of the fourth quarter when a redzone rush that looked dead on arrival resulted in Davis carrying what appeared to be the entire Avengers’ defense on his back. The ensuing 2-point conversion gave Pilgrim its final points of the night to put it down, 30-14, before the final EG touchdown made it 37-14 with just over 40 seconds left.

Pacifico said that he was happy with Davis’ performance after making him the main ball carrier in an adjusted game plan for the second half.

“It took a little while for Simon Davis to get his feet under him, but he ran the ball really well once he got used to being out there,” he said.

Pacifico and the Patriots’ coaching staff are preparing for this week’s matchup against the 4-0 Smithfield Sentinels by returning to their original mindset and playing style.

“The kids know this was a humbling experience and they need to get back to work,” Pacifico said. “It’s gut-check time. They’re not going to have as many fans in school this week as they had last week and we have to go back to work. That’s what we need to get back to.”

With the loss, Pilgrim is now 2-1 with a 1-1 league record on the young season. It’ll head to Smithfield for a non-league game for its next contest on Friday. The Patriots will look to hand the Sentinels their first loss of the season fresh off a 49-0 trouncing of Exeter-West Greenwich last week.

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