SPORTS

Boys Team of the Year: Hendricken football

Posted 1/12/22

It was an unusual year for football in 2021, as teams were forced to deal with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The typical 2020 fall season was pushed to the spring, forcing teams to adjust to a new preseason schedule, a crammed regular season schedule

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SPORTS

Boys Team of the Year: Hendricken football

Posted

It was an unusual year for football in 2021, as teams were forced to deal with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The typical 2020 fall season was pushed to the spring, forcing teams to adjust to a new preseason schedule, a crammed regular season schedule and new opponents. Then, to make matters worse, they would be forced to essentially turn right back around to start preparing for the 2021 fall season without much down time to rest and recover. Not to mention many football players went on to play spring sports during the fourth season.

No team handled the moving pieces as well as the Bishop Hendricken football team, who would collect two state titles within the same calendar year, which is why it has been named the Warwick Beacon’s Boys Team of the Year.

The Hawks did not skip a beat in the spring season. It was a shortened season, but Hendricken did what it always does and finished the year undefeated and winning another title over rival La Salle.

Then, this past fall, things got a little rocky for the Hawks.

Hendricken dropped two games to out-of-state powerhouses and would nearly taste defeat against Central on its home turf. Luckily for the Hawks, an improbable last-minute drive would earn them the win to keep their title hopes alive.

Then, heading into the state championship match against the Rams, most people had Hendricken as the underdog.

La Salle had the state’s best offense, a solid defense, all while Hendricken seemed as vulnerable as it had in over a decade. It was a rare time that Hendricken seemed to have more questions than answers.

Sure enough, one would never know that by watching what ended up being the highest-scoring state championship in state history that the Hawks ran away with in the final quarter.

“It’s special,” said Bishop Hendricken coach Keith Croft after winning the title in the spring. “We talk all the time with guys here about legacy, leaving it for the next generation which is important.”

team of the year, Hendricken

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