Coventry Falls, 22-17, At Johnston

Johnston quarterback Steven Simone completed an 18-yard pass to wide receiver Jason Cate with nine seconds left for a 22-14 victory over Coventry in Johnston on Sept. 17.

Starting at their 30-yard line with less than two minutes remaining, the Panthers' 7-play game-winning drive was ignited by a 45-yard scamper down the left sideline by Joseph Santilli to the Oakers 20.

“It was a buck sweep play like Vince Lombardi used to run,” said head coach Joseph Acciardo of the decisive play — which hadn’t been used all game. “We kept tweaking those fullback plays until we decided to run it. Guards Michael Mendez and Nicholas Paola got out and blocked, and we had another key block” to spring Santilli.

A Panthers penalty and staunch defense by Coventry had stalled the hosts before the TD reception. Simone was also flushed out of the pocket to scramble out of bounds from hot pursuit by Oakers linesmen Ben Smith, Zachary St. Pierre, and Anthony Hodde.

On the game-winning play, Simone ran to the right and threw to a well-covered Cate, who made a lunging catch to stay in bounds just inside the right sideline.

“The team really grew up in the second half,” said Acciardo. “We missed a lot of assignments in the first half and we weren’t executing plays. We challenged them and didn’t change our schemes. Then we really stepped it up on both sides of the ball. It would have been a terrible loss for us.”

Oakers head coach Gerry Zannella said his team showed good effort in the loss.

“We showed great improvement and really played hard,” explained Zannella. “We just made some critical mistakes and we can’t do that.

The game began on a down note for both squads as a total of three turnovers were committed, including two critical ones by Johnston.

First, a clever onside kick by the Oakers to begin the game was recovered by the Oakers’ Brandon Parenteau. Three plays later, the Oakers gave the ball away on a fumble at the Panthers 31.

The Panthers first offensive series clicked and advanced all the way from their 25 to the Coventry 11 with Simone completing two passes for 16 yards, Brandon Pappas running for 17 yards, including a 12-yard reception, and junior Phil Ndifon also running twice for 17 yards.

A fatal Panthers mistake ended the drive as Oakers safety/QB Alex Zannella stepped into the passing lane for an interception at the two.

The Oakers then assembled a 98-yard drive, keyed by an early 24-yard bolt by Zanell and fueled by senior fullback Hodde, who had 57 yards on 12 carries in the first half behind stellar offensive line play.

Zanella then hooked up with wide receiver Andrew Mitura for a 39-yard gain to the Panthers 21. Hodde later ran for seven yards before Zanella scored on a 4-yard keeper. After two penalties and on a third try for extra points, Hodde marched into the left side of the end zone for two points and 8-0 lead.

Coventry stopped the Panthers late in the first quarter and took over possession to mount their second TD drive. Starting at their own 44, Coventry relied again on Hodde to begin the 9-play drive with a 19-yard rumble.  Oakers sophomore back Stryker Blue darted inside for 12 yards to the 8 and then Hodde burst inside for the second Oakers TD.

The Panthers completed a well-balanced 62-yard drive late in the second quarter behind Simone who threw pass receptions of 11, 16 and 17 respectively to Victor Halton, Zach Fontes and Joseph Peters. Brendan Pappas bolted in for a two-yard with 1:42 left. Joseph Barletta barreled up the middle for two extra points to trim the Oakers lead to 14-8.

“That was a big momentum change when they scored just before the half,” said Zanella. “Hodde had a great game in the first half, but Johnston made some adjustments, and we just have to score when we are at our own 30 [late in the fourth quarter] — and we didn’t.”

With the win, Johnston improved its season record to 2-0, while Coventry fell to 0-2.

Coventry is next scheduled to travel to Central High School on Sept. 24.

Download the movie

Download the movie