The Cumberland football team would erase an early deficit to run away with a 28-7 win over host Cranston West last Friday night, putting the Falcons in a near must-win situation in the final two weeks of the regular season.

Anthony Salas would get the Falcons on the board in the first quarter to give West a quick 7-0 lead but the Clippers would respond to knot things up 7-7 after one quarter. Cumberland would grab an interception to set up another score to extend the lead to 14-7 at the break.

Cumberland then returned the second half kickoff all the way to the West 1-yard line which set up another score to extend the lead, making it an uphill battle from there for West as the Clippers clinched the 28-7 win.

 “It was a close game, but they made us pay for those two mistakes. That was a 14-point swing. There’s not a lot of room for error for a lot of us going into the last two weeks,” said West head coach Tom Milewski. “Our backs are against the wall. The kids knew it against East Providence and they knew it against Cumberland. Every game from here on out is like a playoff game so we need to fix those mistakes.”

Next up for the Falcons is Mt. Pleasant, who is also fighting for its playoff life after dropping its game on Saturday to St. Ray’s. The Kilties boast some explosive playmakers on offense in David DeGraff Rodriguez and Benji Soe, so stopping the high-flying attack will be key.

“They’ve got a very good receiver, their quarterback throws the ball well, Benji Soe is a strong running back. It’ll be a good test for us. They also had some errors in their game against St. Rays which hurt them. We’re identical, we’ve both been bit by the mistake bug,” said Milewski.

The Falcons will wrap up their regular season with East Greenwich next week. West, Burrillville, Mt. Pleasant, St. Ray’s and East Providence are in a dogfight for the remaining playoff spots, and the Falcons will likely have to win each of its remaining matchups to clinch.

Although it has been an up and down fall, Milewski has been encouraged by his team’s persistence as the weeks fly by.

“They’ve been good about turning to the next opponent. I have to give the kids a lot of credit, they come to work and we’ve really preached turning the page to the next opponent,” Milewski said. “We control our future, it’s going to be tough and things are a little murkier with the losses to St. Rays and Cumberland, but they’re dialed in.”