East Providence edged out Cranston West, 20-15, on Friday night at Cranston Stadium. A controversial call against West in the third quarter didn’t help the Falcons, but a costly fumble on their final drive would prove to be their ultimate mistake.

While West head coach Steve Stoehr didn’t agree with some of the calls the referees made, he still felt that his team had its chances to win the game.  

“They should have still stopped them,” Stoehr said of his team’s defense. “We had breakdowns in pass coverage. Some of the kids played very hard. Matt Lonardo played very hard, but he made mistakes. You can’t fumble the football. Watts made a few great plays, but you can’t fumble the football. You can’t do that.”

The Falcons would take advantage of the good field position after the two sides traded unsuccessful first drives early on. On first down from the EP 44-yard line, Ryan Marsella handed off to Drew Watts, who took it 56 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown. West went up 7-0 with 31 seconds left in the first quarter.

Early in the second quarter, Ryan Ellinwood ran a quarterback keeper on third down, but he was stopped by a flock of Falcons at the EP 37-yard line. Thomas Lopes would punt to Lonardo, who called for a fair catch at the Falcon 40-yard line.

After a 3-yard rush by Watts on first down, running back Robert Guzman gave West another first down when he took it 19 yards to the EP 48-yard line. Lonardo started the new set of downs with a 4-yard run, followed by a 2-yard gain to the EP 39-yard line. However, on third down, Guzman suffered a 3-yard loss which forced West to punt

On the ensuing possession, Lopes rushed left on first down to the EP 25-yard line before getting knocked out of bounds by defensive end Michael O’Neill. The Townies were flagged for an offsides penalty before Ellinwood’s pass to senior captain Paulo Pereira fell incomplete on third-and-6. On fourth down, EP punted to Lonardo, who botched the punt before Pereira recovered it at the Falcons’ 29-yard line.

Lopes ran twice, totaling six yards on first and second down. On third-and-4, Lopes went nowhere and EP would face a fourth-and-4. After an EP timeout, Ellinwood’s pass intended for wide receiver Charles Hazzard was interfered with by a Falcons’ defender and EP was awarded a first down at the Falcons’ 10-yard line. However, EP failed to move the ball on the next three downs and on fourth down, instead of kicking a field goal, it ran a quarterback keeper that was stuffed at the 5-yard line by Kerwins Pinthiere and William Such.

The Falcons took over deep in their own end at the 5-yard line. A long run to the EP 10-yard line by Watts would be erased after a holding penalty was called against West. Starting from their own 2-yard line, the Falcons would replay the first down. Lonardo ran three yards before Marsella’s pass to Watts fell incomplete. After Watts lost a yard on third down, the Falcons punted. The Townies got a hand on Matt Malo’s punt and prevented the kick from going out of Falcons’ territory. Though, a personal foul on EP during the return moved the ball back to the Falcons’ 29-yard line. With 28 seconds left in the first half, Ellinwood completed a pass to Hazzard for a short gain. With 17 seconds left, Ellinwood ran a quarterback sneak that went for no gain to end the half. West led 7-0 heading to the break.

East Providence received the second half kickoff and Jayden Chase ran to the EP 37-yard line before getting tackled by Guzman. There was a 15-yard penalty against EP on the return, which moved the ball back to its own 22-yard line. On first down, Ellinwood ran a quarterback keeper for a gain of one yard before senior Nicholas Almonte took him down. On second down, Ellinwood threw a completion to Chase for a first down at his own 39-yard line. After Lopes ran left for no gain, on second-and-10, Ellinwood ran 61 yards down the right sideline for a touchdown to tie the game at 7 with 9:44 left in the third quarter.  

After EP went offsides on the initial kickoff, the Falcons elected for a rekick, which was returned by Lonardo to the 50-yard line. Lonardo ran on first and second down and gained 11 yards for a Falcons’ first down. On the next three downs, the Falcons would struggle to move the ball and, on fourth-and-5, Marsella completed a pass to Lonardo but it was short of the first down marker. EP took over at its own 18-yard line.

On first down, Ellinwood completed a pass to Hazzard, who pushed off of a West defender before making the catch. However, the referees didn’t see it that way. The refs called a defensive pass interference penalty on West, upholding the catch. It was a very controversial call. The Townies’ offense continued the drive from the West 12-yard line. On first down, Ellinwood rushed seven yards to the West 5-yard line. On second-and-3, Ellinwood ran again, but this time he was stopped by a flock of Falcons. On third-and-1, Chase ran right for a touchdown and EP took a 14-7 lead with 4:21 left in the third quarter.

EP kicked off and Lonardo returned it to the Falcons’ 32-yard line before going out of bounds. Lonardo then rushed up the middle for three yards before getting tackled by Dante Williams. On second-and-7, Marsella completed a 6-yard pass to senior wide receiver Thomas Misto. On third-and-1, Marsella quarterback sneaked up the middle for a first down to the Falcons’ 45-yard line. On the next play, Lonardo rushed up the middle six yards to the EP 49-yard line. On second down, Lonardo ran again, this time for two yards to the Falcons’ 47-yard line. On third-and-3, Lonardo received the ball again, running right for a first down to the EP 37-yard line. However, back-to-back West penalties pushed the offense all the way back into its own territory and set it up with a first-and-30. The Falcons weren’t able to dig themselves out of the hole, and on fourth down they punted.

Hazzard returned the punt all the way to the Falcons’ 39-yard line before getting tackled by Watts. On first down, Mario Peoples ran left for a 9-yard gain. East Providence was called for a penalty on the next play, setting them up with a first-and-15. Lopes rushed left twice, earning three yards each time, before EP was faced with a third-and-9 at the Falcons’ 29-yard line. Then, the Falcons’ defense came up with a big play. Watts intercepted Ellinwood’s next pass and returned it to the EP 45-yard line. A flag on EP moved the ball to the EP 20-yard line. Lonardo rushed three times before getting a first down at the EP 10-yard line. On third down, Lonardo rushed in for a touchdown from three yards out to pull West within 14-13 with 7:16 left in the game. West elected to go for a two-point conversion and was successful, giving them a 15-14 lead.

When EP took over, Chase ran on first down to the EP 35-yard line before getting tackled by Guzman. After coming up short on the next two plays, on third-and-9, Ellinwood completed a pass to Pereira to the Falcons’ 30-yard line for a first down. Then, Pereira rushed left for a loss of one yard. On second down, Ellinwood was sacked by the Falcons’ defense for a 6-yard loss. That wouldn’t get Ellinwood flustered, though. On the next play, he completed a pass to senior Cameron Almeida for a touchdown to put the Townies up 20-15 with 4:08 left in the game. EP would fail on its two-point conversion attempt.

The Falcons would have one last chance. They started the drive at their own 35-yard line. West ran Lonardo four times for 17 yards out to the 50-yard line, giving the Falcons a first down with 2:56 left to play. On second down, Marsella completed a pass to Watts, but he would fumble and Pereira recovered it for the Townies and ran it all the way to the Falcons’ 33-yard line. EP ran out the clock after getting a first down to seal the win.

West will look to get back on track when it hosts Portsmouth this Friday night at 7 p.m.