Avenger Football: EGHS Falls To Lincoln, 20-0

The biggest yardage gain for the Avengers Friday night came on a fourth-down pass by Andrew Minor to Kevin Mason for 35 yards. But, with only 16 seconds left on the clock, it was too little, too late for the Avengers, who lost to the Lincoln Lions 20-0.

The game, under the lights at Nick Carcieri Field, was rife with penalties, interceptions and missed passes for the Avengers. Nonetheless, thanks to tough defense, EGHS was still in the game even into the fourth quarter - Lincoln ahead 6-0 - until a pass by quarterback Andrew Minor was intercepted by Lincoln’s Kyle Jackson at the 35. Jackson ran it in for a touchdown.

Lincoln went on to score one more TD, again on a pass by Anthony Palombo to Jackson, who was All Division last year. After two failed attempts at a two-point conversion, Lincoln got it right the third time. EGHS couldn't come up with an answer.

The first quarter ended scoreless, but on a high note for the Avengers, when junior Kyle Palmer intercepted a pass at the EG 10 yard line. EGHS couldn’t capitalize on it, however, and Lincoln running back Joshua Reyes was able to score of a short pass from Palombo.  

The end of the second quarter saw back-to-back interceptions, first with Lincoln intercepting a pass from Minor, then EG intercepting a pass from Palombo. The half ended with an incomplete pass by Minor to Kevin Mason.

In the second half, Carney Crawford, a sophomore, ran the ball, making incremental gains for the Avengers. But the Lions were thick on Minor, and the pressure pushed him back again and again. With two minutes left in the third, Crawford went down with a leg cramp. He was back in the game for the fourth quarter. But wild snaps, incomplete passes and a weakening defense sealed the Avengers fate.

After the game, Avenger Coach John George acknowledged that it wasn’t a stellar night, but he said he wasn’t discouraged.

“I told the guys I thought they played hard,” he said. “They played with a lot of heart. I just thought, we’ve got to eliminate mistakes and we’ve got to make plays, we’ve got to come up with those catches.”

He gave kudos to the defense.

“I thought our defense played well and it was a tight game until we threw that interception down here in the third quarter,” he said.

“Offensively, we just couldn’t get it going,” said George. “Too many mistakes. We were moving the ball early, dropped passes, missed assignments, penalties….”

The penalties, in particular, were frustrating, he said.

“They killed our drives. We’re moving the ball, we had positive plays, and they’re getting called back so now we’re second and fifteen instead of second and five,” George said. “That killed us early on where I thought we had some things and we were moving the ball.”

George said Crawford played well. “He’s a competitor. That’s in him. He’s got fight in him. We could use a little more of that too.”

Other standout EGHS players last night included Kevin Mason, Alex Cleary, Brendan Higgins, Eric Laurel, Cameron Rocke and Duncan MacIntosh.

Team co-caption Mason said it was a tough night, but saw a bit of sunlight in the gloom.

“I think we played a lot harder this week,” he said. Still, he said, “we would get some big plays and then after that we would just drop a pass, fumble the ball and it would just go right down the toilet.”

“We’re getting in there. We’re just improving. We’re a really young team. There are only six seniors. We have a lot of room for improvement," said Mason.

Next week, the Avengers play Burrillville away. George said they’d be ready.

“We’ve just got to get better,” he said. “We start again tomorrow.”