The Bishop Hendricken football team cruised past host East Providence 34-13 last week to wrap up first place in Division I and a spot in the upcoming 2019 State Championship.

The Hawks relied on their rushing attack in the victory, racking up four touchdowns on the ground from four different runners to pace the Hendricken offense.

“I told them that at this point in the season, you need two things. You need to be playing your best football and you need to be healthy. We need to be able to run the ball this time of year. It’s getting colder, championship games are always cold and tough to throw in, so I think that’s something that we’re going to hone in on the next few weeks,” said Hendricken head coach Keith Croft after the win.

The Hawks jumped on the Townies early and would score on a six-yard rush from Helio Sousa to make it 7-0. James Gobewole then added a rushing score of his own to double the Hendricken advantage to 14-0 after one.

The East Providence defense improved early in the second quarter and the Townies would make things interesting when they scored late in the second to make it 14-7. However, Hendricken quarterback Tom Comella would connect with receiver Angel Sanchez for a score in the final minute of the first half.

Comella would then rush for a score midway through the third quarter, followed by Isaiah Emmanuel who scored in the fourth to secure the win.

Although the Hendricken offense has been grabbing headlines, the defense has quietly been one of the top units in the state this season. The only team to successfully score 20 points against the Hawks this year was North Kingstown, who boats arguably the top offense in the state.

The Hendricken defense was sound once again, allowing just seven points through the first three quarters and another six in the final minutes after the game was in hand.

“Defense is our thing. Historically, we have always been good defensively and the offense has gotten better as the years have gone on,” said Croft, who was also happy to see his team continue to get healthy. “We have played well defensively and on offense we want to be able to run the ball. We’ve had some linemen banged up, so right now it’s going to be about repetitions and playing together as a unit. It was great to get some of those guys back and to get James back.”

The Hawks will finish the regular season this week at home as they host Shea. Although Hendricken has bigger games ahead, Croft and his staff are still approaching this week’s game with urgency.

“We’re taking this game very seriously. Shea has one of the best running backs in the state, so we’re going to really have to work on our tackling this week. We don’t worry about what’s next, we go into every game wanting to win. Shea is a good team and this is a big week for us, we are focusing on this week and then we’ll start thinking about who’s next after,” said Croft, who is also pleased to see his team’s confidence continuing to grow. “They’re confidence is always good so it is up to us as coaches to tell them what can happen if they don’t do things the right way. We need to get after it at practice.”