Woonsocket catches fire, hurries past Vets

Kevin Pomeroy
Posted 10/28/14

It started out well enough on Saturday, as halfway through the second quarter the Warwick Vets football team was down only 12-7 to Woonsocket.

But before long, the ’Canes were in an all too …

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Woonsocket catches fire, hurries past Vets

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It started out well enough on Saturday, as halfway through the second quarter the Warwick Vets football team was down only 12-7 to Woonsocket.

But before long, the ’Canes were in an all too familiar spot.

The Villa Novans grabbed a touchdown before the half, then added three more in the third quarter. When the dust settled, Vets had been dealt a 47-7 loss that was both puzzling and disappointing.

Woonsocket had just one win entering the game, and looked like a team that the winless ’Canes could compete against. It didn’t happen that way.

“I thought we matched up well against them this week, and we did,” said Vets head coach Bryan Nappa. “It just comes down to executing and not quitting on plays.”

At 0-6 in Division II-A, the ’Canes will have only one more chance at a league win and it’s not very likely. They’ll face perhaps their toughest test this Thursday, as they host undefeated St. Raphael at 7 p.m. The Saints have been arguably the most impressive team in all of Division II this season.

After that, Vets will have a non-league game against West Warwick.

The ’Canes will have a lot of work to do to recover from Saturday. Deven Guernon scored five touchdowns and ran for 160 yards for Woonsocket, as the Villa Novans scored touchdowns on their first four drives of the second half.

Vets, meanwhile, didn’t pick up a first down until halfway through the fourth quarter, and their best scoring chance came in the final minute when they reached Woonsocket’s 4-yard line before eventually turning the ball over on downs.

“Second half, I don’t know what happened,” Nappa said. “That wasn’t the team we normally see in the second half. Throughout the year we’ve been a team that fought all the way to the end, regardless of the score. It’s indicative of what we saw in practice.”

The first half wasn’t perfect either, but it was at least competitive for the early going. Vets went three-and-out on its first three drives, and Woonsocket led 12-0 after the first quarter on 4 and 53-yard touchdown runs by Guernon. But the ’Canes made some progress on their fourth drive of the game, starting at their own 41-yard line and finding the end zone on the ninth play of their drive, a 2-yard touchdown plunge by Mickenzey Pacheco.

The extra point from Nick Reynolds made it 12-7.

The ’Canes struggled offensively for the reaminder of the half, and Guernon added his third touchdown of the game with 1:12 to play in the second quarter, this one from 1 yard out. It was 18-7 at that point, and still very much a game.

Almost immediately in the second half, it wasn’t a game anymore. On the second play of the half, Guernon took off up the right side for a 50-yard touchdown, making it 25-7.

Two more three-and-outs in a row for Vets led to two more Woonsocket touchdowns, with Guernon scoring from 12 yards out and Sam Meali scoring from a yard out. Woonsocket led 40-7 with two minutes to play in the third quarter.

“I think they just lost their gut,” Nappa said. “That’s not something we’ve seen them do this year. I think they really felt like they had a chance.”

Woonsocket added the exclamation point with 9:42 to play in the game, when Saheeb Ishola-Jackson rumbled into the end zone from 17 yards out.

Vets’ best drive of the second half came right afterwards, with quarterback Nick Beaufort completing four passes to get the ’Canes to Woonsocket’s 11-yard line. A pair of runs brought the ball to the 4, but Nate Ferri and Mike Isles were taken down for losses on the next two plays to keep Vets out of the end zone.

One kneel down later, the game was over.

“We played pretty stout defense in the first half,” Nappa said. “Big plays again bit us, just like they’ve been biting us all year. We have flashes of wanting to be a good team, then we just fall apart.”

Woonsocket improved to 2-3 with the win.

Vets’ next task is gearing up for St. Ray’s. The ’Canes are playing the game on Thursday to avoid playing on Halloween.

They’ll host West Warwick the week after that, then will play a D-II crossover game the next week, likely against Chariho. After that it’s another non-league game against Toll Gate, and then the annual Thanksgiving game with Pilgrim.

The ’Canes will get some key players back from injury this week, as they’ll be trying to right the ship and show some progress over the season’s final stretch.

“St. Ray’s is a good team,” Nappa said. “We’re looking to do some positive things there. Then we see West Warwick who we match up well against. We should see Chariho again, and then we set up a non-league game with Toll Gate right before Thanksgiving. We’re trying to build some confidence.”

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