Division II Champions Humbled In Loss To Townies

If there’s a silver lining in a 42-0 loss, it may be that the Woonsocket High football team suffered a similar non-league defeat at the hands of Division I East Providence High to start the 2010 season, but went on to win the Division II Super Bowl.

Last year’s 37-12 blowout occurred in Woonsocket. The most recent game was played at East Providence’s Pierce Stadium.

"There wasn’t too much positive to take away from this game,” admitted Woonsocket head coach Carnell Henderson. “But at least I was able to get a look at our team.”

Henderson hasn’t had much time to evaluate his players, as he’s been recovering from knee surgery. In fact, because the coach can’t put much weight on his leg, he watched the game from the bleachers behind the Villa Novans’ bench as his assistants handled most of the coaching duties.

The Townies used their superior size to dominate the line of scrimmage on offense, creating gaping holes for fullback Jalin Braxton. The senior ran for 153 yards and two touchdowns in the first half alone.

Quarterback Brandon Peters also scampered for two touchdowns before halftime, running the option to perfection.

“East Providence runs a well-disciplined offense,” stated Henderson. “That means you have to be disciplined on defense and be aware of your assignments when they’re running the option.”

Woonsocket didn’t fare much better on the other side of the ball, as first downs were few and far between.

The Novans’ best drive came on their first possession. Woonsocket covered 45 yards on five plays. Unfortunately, the fifth play included a lost fumble on the Townies’ 19-yard-line.

“This was a humbling experience,” said Henderson. “East Providence has good size, good numbers and coach Gorham does a great job.”

Woonsocket’s numbers, on the other hand, are down this year, despite being the two-time Division II champions.

“When your numbers are low, there becomes a bigger difference in talent between your starters and your subs,” explained Henderson. “As it is, we have a lot of guys who have very little varsity experience. There’s just no substitute for game experience.”

One bright spot for Woonsocket was the play of junior tailback Jalen Evans. His 76 yards on 12 carries included a 20-yard run in the third quarter. But his efforts weren’t nearly enough to counter the East Providence onslaught.   

The Townies led 28-0 at the half and 42-0 at the end of three quarters. The perennial powerhouse is expected to be in the mix for the Division I title this season.

The Novans’ first league game will be at 1:30 next Saturday at home against Pilgrim.

“We don’t know much about Pilgrim, so we’ll have to watch them on film,” said Henderson. “Hopefully we’ll learn from our mistakes against East Providence and play better next week.”