Mariners Tame Lions, 22-6

LINCOLN – Limiting the Lions to 15 yards on the ground, the Mariners used their own dominant rushing attack to beat Lincoln 22-6 on Friday night.

Seniors Frank Castrovillari, Willie Perkins and Mark Griffith combined for 239 yards on the ground. Castrovillari had two touchdowns on his 15 carries, and chewed up an average of 5.5 yards per carry.

Although the Mariners (4-3, 3-2 Division III) struggled with fumbles – committing six but only losing one – Castrovillari seems to have put his early season troubles holding on to the football behind him. He had a unique way of solving it.

“I slept with a football for a couple nights,” he said, laughing a bit.

The Mariners got the only touchdown they would need against the Lions (1-6, 1-5 Division III) in the first quarter. Castrovillari seemingly had it on the third play of the game for Narragansett, but a false start brought the play back.

However, the Mariners’ drive continued, thanks to a first down rush by Griffith. And then, with 4:39 remaining, Castrovillari ran up the middle for 25 yards and a touchdown. Freshman Christian Humulock knocked in an extra point.

Perkins scored on an inside trap reverse from 35 yards out with 2:05 left in the first half. Castrovillari added another touchdown from two yards out in the fourth quarter, along with a two-point conversion.

Narragansett head coach Dick Fossa said that while he was glad his team handled a “chippy” Lincoln team, his players still haven’t played a complete game.

“We can’t seem to get a full game where the offense, defense, no penalties and special teams are gelling,” he said.

The Mariners finished with 99 yards on 11 penalties, most coming in the second and third quarters of a sluggish game. Lincoln had 87 penalty yards on 13 flags.

Narragansett had several big plays called back because of penalties. A Perkins kickoff return for a touchdown was negated because of a block in the back, in addition to the Castrovillari run called back.

However, Fossa said he was glad just to get the win.

“We’re looking at it as we have to win one game at a time,” he said.

The defense was again a strong factor in the Mariner victory. Lincoln had a 53-yard pass play that led to a touchdown when a defensive back slipped, but otherwise Narragansett dominated. Lincoln only had two plays greater than 10 yards the entire game.

The Mariners sealed the game in the final four minutes when junior Jimmy Kershaw picked off a pass. Despite dealing with a painful hip injury, Kershaw has picked off at least a pass a week for four weeks now.

Narragansett hosts Burrillville (0-6, 0-5 Division III) for its Homecoming game at 12:15 p.m. Saturday. Homecoming floats and skits will be shown at 11 a.m. The Mariners then have a bye week, before finishing their season with Classical (6-2, 3-2 Division III) and East Greenwich (3-4, 3-2 Division III).

Narragansett is a game behind Rogers and Moses Brown for tops in the division, and bunched with Tiverton, Classical, East Greenwich and Middletown for third through seventh place. The top four teams make the playoffs.

NARRAGANSETT STATS

LINCOLN STATS