Providence Pounces on Minooka's Mistakes

Turnovers can deflate a football team.

Just ask Minooka.

The Indians committed six turnovers and still almost beat Morris in Week 1 but dropped a 27-21 decision.

On Friday, the Indians coughed the ball up twice and threw an interception on their final offensive play of the night.

The result? An 0-2 record.

Providence gave the ball away in its opener but also had its share of takeaways to beat Morgan Park. The Celtics bounced back against Minooka, surrendering just a meaningless interception on a desperation heave from quarterback Chris Salazar at the end of the first half in a 7-0 victory on Friday night.

“We’ve got a lot of pressure on us to get plus-1 turnover a game and that’s what we did,” Providence linebacker Mike Valentino said. “We didn’t create that many last year and know we have to win this battle each week.”

Troy Sheppard picked off a pass in the final seconds to help save the night for Providence. The Indians were driving and had only 23 yards to go to get to the end zone, but also had fourth down and only 10.6 seconds left. Sheppard snatched a Joseph Carnagio pass, his third pick already of the season, and the Celtics headed for home smiling and, most importantly, 2-0.

“If you would’ve told me before the season that we would be 2-0, I’d have been very happy,” Providence coach Mark Coglianese said. “Obviously, as a coach, we have a lot to still work on, but getting those two wins was huge for us because we know the road is going to get tougher in conference.”

The defense has done its job for the Celtics, surrendering just a fourth-quarter touchdown in the opener. Against the Indians, the Celtics withstood a 14-play, 8:07 drive to open the second half.

“That was killer, but we didn’t break,” Valentino said. “We have a lot of young juniors playing defense and they’re still learning the fast tempo of varsity. It was another good effort they put in for us.”

Along with the defense, the Celtics aren’t giving things away, especially the ball, which has been devastating for the Indians.

“Turnovers can help you win or lose a ballgame, and they’re always a focus of our defense to cause them and to not make them on offense,” Coglianese said. “We had way too many penalties tonight, but we didn’t turn the ball over.”

On an uncharacteristically hot and humid September night, holding onto the ball wasn’t easy either.

“It looks like I just got out of a pool,” Providence running back Andrew Hoffmeister said. “Ball protection is very important and we practice that every day. Last year we had a lot of breakdowns mentally and physically and we’ve kind of threw everything out from last year and started fresh.”

Fresh as in a 2-0 record. The Celtics have now equaled last year’s win total.