West All Stars fall after late field goal

Jacob Marrocco
Posted 7/2/15

East Providence’s Corey Resendes sent a 30-yard field goal through the uprights with 6:38 left to go to power the East team over the West at the R.I. All-Star Game on Saturday afternoon at Johnston …

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West All Stars fall after late field goal

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East Providence’s Corey Resendes sent a 30-yard field goal through the uprights with 6:38 left to go to power the East team over the West at the R.I. All-Star Game on Saturday afternoon at Johnston High School, 24-21.

St. Ray’s running back Alfred Dorbor scored twice and Toll Gate’s Jacob Moran recorded a fumble recovery to help East win the third annual bout between Rhode Island’s best high school football players.

“These kids are fantastic,” East head coach Jim Stringfellow said. “I wish I had this team through the whole season. They’re a great bunch of kids, they have no quit inside them at all. We turned the ball over twice, but they didn’t stop going. They didn’t stop going.”

Portsmouth quarterback Colin Tullson picked up the offensive MVP after throwing for one touchdown and rushing for the game-sealing first down. East Providence defensive lineman Dajon Pereira was awarded defensive MVP.

Defense and special teams carried East throughout much of the first half, including giving it its first points. After a three-and-out on its opening drive, West was forced to punt from its own end zone. The line quickly broke through and blocked the punt, which West recovered in its own end zone for a safety to put East on top 2-0.

West was unable to get a first down on its next drive as well and punted again to give East solid field position at its own 39-yard line. It was unable to convert, though, as Shea’s Chris Duarte threw a pass across the middle on third down that was picked off by Cranston West’s Jared Tirocchi. Tirocchi darted down the field and broke the goal line to pull West in front, after Nick Chartier’s extra point, 7-2.

“All I saw was the quarterback eyeing the wideout, and I just jumped the route underneath and picked it,” Tirocchi said with a smile. “Saw the end zone after that.”

That lead was short-lived, as Dorbor took control of the next East drive.

The 5-foot-9, 200-pound tailback had all 59 rushing yards on the ensuing three-play march down the field, including a 30-yard dash down the left sideline to put his team back in the lead.

East’s defense held West to one first down for the entire opening quarter. West’s fourth drive ended in a turnover-on-downs at East’s 9-yard line. Tolman’s Prince Johnson was stuffed in the backfield for a loss of six by Narragansett’s Pete Durkin to halt West’s best chance of the day up until that point.

The West side had another chance after driving from its own 20 to the East 13-yard line with seven seconds left in the first half. Furtado was sacked for a loss of eight, which forced Chartier to attempt a 38-yard field goal with one second left. The try went wide left and East took a 9-7 lead into the intermission.

“Defense was absolutely fantastic,” Stringfellow said. “Gerry Zannella did a great job, from Coventry, as the defensive coordinator. He worked with these kids for the two weeks and he did awesome.”

Dorbor helped pad East’s lead with his second touchdown of the day to open the second half. After receiving the kickoff to start the third quarter, Dorbor found a seam to his right with some good blocking and bolted 84 yards down the field for a score. The two-point conversion failed, so West was still only down by one score, 15-7.

West’s offense answered right back on a 77-yard drive down the field that looked like it would be another three-and-out. Westerly’s Clayton Minnich used some trickery to pick up 27 yards on a fake punt, setting up West with a first down at the East 49-yard line.

Mount Pleasant quarterback Emmanuel Leake took advantage of the opportunity. On 3rd-and-16, Leake fired a 44-yard touchdown pass to La Salle’s Henry Dunphy, who caught it over Shea’s Anthony Almeida. St. Ray’s strong safety Joshua Alves, who had an interception earlier, continued to come up big when he stopped Prince Johnson on a two-point conversion attempt to keep East ahead 15-13.

“We had to find holes in the defense,” West quarterback Steve Furtado (Cranston West) said. “They packed the box, we had to spread them out on option plays or on deep passes, and after that, we kept rolling with what was working.”

East looked to respond quickly, and did so in fewer than four plays. After a roughing the passer penalty turned a third-and-long situation into a first down, Tullson showed why he was named MVP. The 6-foot quarterback avoided pressure and found Shea wide receiver Uthman Ajia, who burst past West defenders for a 65-yard touchdown. The extra point was no good, though, so the lead remained at eight, 21-13, early in the third.

Tolman’s Emmanuel Almanzar took the next kickoff for West, but fumbled deep in his own territory as Moran recovered it at the West 9-yard line.

“I just followed the kid around and eventually he made a mistake and fumbled and I capitalized on it,” Moran said. “It felt good.”

East looked poised to run away with the contest but Scituate’s Michael Winfield fumbled at the 1-yard line, and Barrington’s Quinn Morvillo jumped on it for the defense.

West was only able to push the ball out to its own 39, but the stop kept it alive, and a couple drives later, it leveled the score. Just a few minutes into the final quarter, Cranston West’s Mazen Taman recovered a Jose Santos fumble at the East 40-yard line. One play later, La Salle’s Don’Trae Odufunade broke through the defense for a 30-yard run into the end zone. Prince Johnson was able to convert the two-point try on the ground, making it 21-21 with 11:17 to go.

West gambled on special teams once again, opting for an onside kick. Its roll of the dice failed as Shea’s Andy Darius fell on the ball to set up East in West territory at the 49-yard line. West’s defense forced a three-and-out and returned the punt to its own 32, but a penalty moved East’s 4th-and-11 forward to a 4th-and-6 and Stringfellow opted to re-punt.

East Providence’s Trystan Casey took the snap instead and rolled right, throwing to Ajia for a gain of 22 and a first down at the West 22-yard line.

“Actually it was Trystan,” Stringfellow said when asked why he decided to fake punt on the second attempt. “Trystan wanted to fake punt. He said ‘I got it,’ so that’s what we did. We thought he was going to run and he made a heck of a play.”

After pushing the ball out to the 13-yard line, Resendes capped the nearly five-minute drive with the eventual game-winning field goal.

West would reach its own 41-yard line on its final drive of the day, but could not convert a crucial fourth down. Furtado, who just reentered the game after Leake left with an injury, completed a pass to Prince Johnson, but he was brought down before reaching the first-down marker.

With 3:19 remaining, East was able to move the chains and run out the clock to seal its victory. Both first downs on the drive came on Tullson keepers.

“It was fun, especially playing with some different guys, [some] D-I athletes compared to D-II and D-III,” Pilgrim’s Robert Quaine, who played wide receiver for the East team, said. “So it was all fun. We came together in the two weeks.”

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