SPORTS

Fall playoffs underway

Posted 11/1/22

The fall regular season is behind us, so now, let’s dig into the playoffs.

For football, we have two teams remaining in Bishop Hendricken and Cranston West. The Hawks will be hosting No. 4 …

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SPORTS

Fall playoffs underway

Posted

The fall regular season is behind us, so now, let’s dig into the playoffs.

For football, we have two teams remaining in Bishop Hendricken and Cranston West. The Hawks will be hosting No. 4 Central next Friday night while the second-seeded Falcons will be taking on Woonsocket at home this Friday.

My forecast for Hendricken has been the same since the first day of the fall. Anything but a state championship would be a surprise.

Central played the Hawks tough just a couple of weeks ago and have presented Hendricken issues the past few meetings. This matchup is not going to be easy, but I am pretty confident that Hendricken Awill get it done.

I think the key for the Hawks will be to stick to what they do best: Play good defense, rush the football and use their stout lineman to be physical. If they do that, they will be fine. Looks like it will be another Hawks-Rams title game in a few short weeks.

As for the Falcons, I like their chances against Woonsocket this week. These two teams have had strong campaigns, but the Falcons are on the right side of the momentum wave as opposed to the Villa Novans, who have struggled as of late.

Kelan Cornell has emerged as a legitimate starting quarterback for West while Marcus Chung has been one of the state’s most electric playmakers. The defense has also settled in nicely in the second half of the year, there is a lot to like about this team.

We have many soccer teams ready to make a run at titles.

The Toll Gate boys team has been on fire in its new division, finishing without a league loss this regular season. Top scorer Aiden Preuit is also set to return and the Titans feel like a top team. It will come down to Toll Gate and Scituate, who tied one another in their meeting earlier this season.

The Toll Gate girls have also bounced back nicely after losing their top three players from last season to injury in the preseason. The Lady Titans finished in first place and too, are one of the favorites in Division III.

The question will be whether or not this team can finish the job without a true, elite scorer. Girls like Kara Yelman and Katie Pale have stepped up big, but losing a producer like Olivia Dutra is tough. They’ve been on a tear all fall though, so it will be fun to watch.

The Pilgrim girls are once again primed to make a deep run toward a Division I championship. Gillian Brown and Amaya Coffie have been outstanding this fall and it seems like the only thing standing in their way is North Kingstown. Pilgrim fell to the Skippers this season, but you know Division I, it is a true dog fight that can change any moment.

The Johnston girls are also in a great spot to make a run, taking first in Division IV. The Panthers have found much success after making the move down and have had a shutdown defense from start to finish. Rogers will pose a problem and handed the Panthers their only loss of the season, but Johnston’s defense is just so elite. It has allowed less than a point per game, which is ridiculous.

The Cranston West boys have heated up down the stretch, while the West girls will have a chance to make some noise as well. The East girls have also been sneaky good in Division III, too. Bishop Hendricken is also a mid-tier Division I team, but one upset would be enough for the Hawks to have a chance.

A few of our girls volleyball teams made the postseason, including Johnston, Pilgrim and East. All of our teams are in a similar situation … they are all good teams that deserve to be there, but will need some luck to make big runs.

Kaleigh Catucci and Gianna Ramos have been stellar for Pilgrim, as has Talia LaFlamme for Johnston and Taylor Simoneau for East. The question is the rest of the roster behind these standouts … will they have enough big performances to help propel them forward into actual contention?

Hendricken’s cross country team cruised to the Class A title last week and is seated firmly in the driver’s seat for this week’s state championship meet. Troy Silvestri followed up his solid finish last year by taking first place at the class meet and emerging as the top runner in the state. As always, the Hawks have the talent and depth to get the job done. The way they dominated the competition, including La Salle, was impressive, and anything less than first place this weekend would be surprising.

Now, on the flip side, here are a few of my thoughts on teams who have seen their seasons come to an end:

It was a rebuilding fall for the Pilgrim and Johnston football teams. Each team improved as the season progressed and answered a few questions we had heading into the year. Johnston found their quarterback, Pilgrim found a few playmakers.

Cranston East had a tough season in that it had plenty of flashes and close games, but just never got over the hump. Although the Bolts will be relying on a young roster next season, many of them logged some big minutes this fall.

The Pilgrim and Cranston field hockey teams finished their seasons and should be happy with how things played out. Pilgrim fell to Classical in the first round, which may have been a bit premature, but the Pats rebounded after a rough 2021 to return to the playoffs. The Cranston co-op also overcame a slow start and injuries to get hot down the stretch and reach the playoffs as well, while also picking up a win. Plenty to be happy with.

pitch, column

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