Falcons ready to seize the day

Kevin Pomeroy
Posted 9/17/14

Non-league games are useful in a lot of ways for high school football teams, but they aren’t always an indication of future success.

Take Cranston West and Cumberland, for example. The last four …

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Falcons ready to seize the day

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Non-league games are useful in a lot of ways for high school football teams, but they aren’t always an indication of future success.

Take Cranston West and Cumberland, for example. The last four years, the two teams have squared off in the non-league opener, with West winning all four times. The Falcons won 27-12 last season in Cumberland.

Yet, while the Clippers have gone on to make the Division II playoffs the last three years, including a D-II runner-up finish last year and a D-II title the year before, West has missed out on the postseason each year following the early season victory.

That said, this season, the game will have a direct correlation to both teams’ ultimate success.

Cumberland, on the heels of those consecutive D-II Super Bowl berths, has moved up to Division I this year, while Tolman moved down to D-II in a direct swap. That means the non-league rivalry of the last four years is history between West and the Clippers, and a game with much more on the line is now in the cards.

The two teams will meet on Friday night at 7 p.m., at Cranston Stadium in the Division I opener for both sides.

The Falcons are fresh off of a 26-14 non-league win over D-II Westerly last week, while Cumberland fell to D-II St. Raphael 21-14.

Based on the success West has had over the past four years, this week is a golden opportunity to start the league season with a victory. The Falcons haven’t started 1-0 since 2011.

“It seems like we always start out of with the mettle of the division – Hendricken, La Salle, Barrington, Portsmouth,” said West head coach Steve Stoehr. “I laugh because it seems like every year those are the teams. I’m not taking anything away from Cumberland, but we have a good shot to open the season with a league win.”

The four consecutive wins for West over Cumberland have been relatively lopsided, with the closest game coming in 2012 in a 12-6 West victory. In the other three games, the Falcons won by a combined 93-33 score.

Yet, Stoehr hasn’t even watched the game film from last year’s win in preparation for this weekend’s game. He’s expecting an entirely different Cumberland approach, thanks to a change in head coach.

Chris Skurka is out after holding down the head job for years, and Josh Lima is now running the program. While players like quarterback Tyler Calabro and running back Michael Stock are back in the fold, Stoehr is focusing only on the game film he’s seen from Cumberland’s Injury Fund and non-league games this season.

“They’ve got a new coach,” Stoehr said. “Last year – having played them before – it was a little familiar. But they’ve got a new coach and they’re going to do some different things. They’ve got some good players. They’re good.”

West will be searching for just its second 1-0 Division I start in the last six years. The last two years, late-season surges have put the Falcons just short of a playoff spot.

Winning the first one this year would be a nice change, obviously, and it would set the tone for the remainder of the season.

It would also build momentum heading into West’s game the following week with La Salle, followed by a rivalry game with Cranston East.

It’s a chance that the Falcons haven’t really had in the past, and it’s one that Stoehr thinks his team has a real chance to seize thanks to how it’s played in the early season. To go with its victory over Westerly, the Falcons also have a 21-8 win over West Warwick in the Injury Fund to their credit.

“The kids are playing for each other, and I like that,” Stoehr said. “I like when they’re a unit. There’s a lot of energy. These kids are giving me everything they’ve got.”

The Falcons do have improvements they need to make heading into game day, though, especially as it pertains to pass coverage and tackling. Quarterback Steven Furtado has played well thus far but will need to take care of the ball, and Stoehr is hopeful the defense can generate turnovers.

That will have to be the recipe for a fifth straight win over the Clippers.

“We need to be able to cover flats ands we need to tackle,” Stoehr said. “They’re big. They’ve got a good running back. We have to tackle them. Their quarterback seems to be able to throw. We have to be able to play some good defense and offensively we need to keep doing what we’re doing.”

And if everything goes the way it has in the past – albeit against a different Cumberland team in a different kind of game – West will still be unbeaten by this time next week.

“I’m feeling pretty good about this team,” Stoehr said. “We’ve got to get better every week. We played good last week, but we need to get better from last week.”

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