Football Preview: Thunderbolts Ground Game is Key to Playoffs

The Thunderbolts competed last year in Division I, as they moved up from Division II. The football team did not get out to a good start, dropping its first four games, but they rebounded to finish the season .500. Tom Centore, head coach for the Bolts, believes the playoffs are a realistic goal this year.

"We want to be a playoff team and we have some veteran leadership on the team," he said.

Last year, the team consistently got better as the season went on. They improved on a weekly basis and the coach hopes that pattern repeats itself this year.

"I think we have a chance to be very competitive," the coach added.

"Kyle Tracy is going to be our quarterback and our backs are very skilled," he said, "E.J. and Nate Isom are two of our top running backs and are both very talented players."

As a coaching staff, Centore, and his assistants have been stressing to the team that they need to get out to better starts in games. The first half is important, because you don't want to put yourself in position where you are always playing from behind.

The team plans to run the ball more than they did last year.

"We have to run the football and be physical in order to win games in Division I," Centore said.

South Kingstown High School is one of their main rivals because they played in Division II against the Bolts.

The team is looking to start off the season with a some wins, and avoid putting themselves in a hole early in the season, as they did last year.

The coach is confident that the team will succeed this year because of their experience last year. "We know how to adapt to the speed of the game now, whereas it was new to us last year," he said. Centore was referring to the difference between Division II football and Division I.