Vikings Best Mariners in Football Shootout

NARRAGANSETT – The Rogers High School Vikings passed their first serious test of their Division III schedule on Saturday afternoon, beating a scrappy Narragansett squad 34-25.

The Mariners (2-3, 2-2 Division III) had no answer for the running of senior Reeyon Watts, which also setup the play action passing game for Rogers (3-1, 3-0 Division III).

Rogers head coach Frank Newsome said he was glad to see his team come out on top in an early-season Division III test.

“Although you don’t want to give up points as a coach, it’s good to see that they can come back,” he said. “This week, they [Narragansett] were scoring and we had to come back.”

Despite being on the losing end, Narragansett head coach Dick Fossa was pleased with his team’s effort.

“If you’re going to lose a game, I’d rather lose like this than ,” he said. “We were able to play as physical as they were.”

After taking a 12-7 lead following a turnover-filled first half, Rogers seemed to take control of the game at the start of the third quarter. Starting at their own 2-yard line, the Vikings gashed the Mariners’ defense with a combination of running by Watts and counters by senior Trevor Morgera.

The duo had runs of 7, 38, 20 and 22 yards on the drive. The Vikings scored on a pass from senior quarterback Cody Platt to senior tight end Divon Bailey. A run by Platt for the two-point conversion gave Rogers a 20-7 lead.

Watts finished with 218 yards on 26 carries, and two touchdowns.

However, Narragansett answered on its next play from scrimmage. Senior quarterback Mark Griffith run up the middle, broke a tackle in the secondary, and scored on a 51-yard play.

Griffith had a strong day on the ground, finishing with a pair of touchdowns and 129 yards on 14 carries. However, he struggled through the air, not completing any passes in 10 attempts and throwing three interceptions.

The Mariners couldn’t convert for two points, and trailed 20-13.

Platt finished with three touchdowns to Bailey, but he had an inconsistent game overall, frequently missing open receivers. The lack of consistency would rear its head on the next Rogers’ drive.

On first-and-10 from his own 47-yard line, Platt threw a perfect spiral. Unfortunately, it was right to Narragansett defensive back Arthur Kershaw.

The junior returned the interception about 55 yards for a touchdown. He finished the day with three interceptions, and has picked off a pass in each of the Mariners’ last three games.

However, the Vikings again stuffed the Mariners on the two-point conversion attempt. With 5:04 remaining in the third, Rogers led 20-19.

Facing a suddenly feisty opponent though, the Vikings didn’t panic. It took them only about two minutes to score again.

Taking the handoff from Platt, Watts ran down the left sideline, shedding several tacklers for a 47-yard touchdown. An extra point by Platt was good, giving Rogers a 27-19 lead.

The Mariners scored their final touchdown with 11:28 left in the fourth quarter. Narragansett got into the red zone thanks to a 44-yard run by senior Willie Perkins.

Facing fourth-and-two several plays later, the Mariners managed to convert thanks to a gutty play call. Griffith optioned the ball to senior fullback Francis Castrovillari, who picked up five yards and the first down.

On the next play, Castrovillari was untouched on a two-yard touchdown run. However, he was stopped on a pitch for the two-point conversion. Narragansett trailed 27-25, and wouldn’t get any closer.

With a little more than 11 minutes left, Rogers eschewed their passing game and went solely to running. The clock ticked under six minutes after nine straight runs by the Vikings. Rogers went 43 yards down the field in the process.

The running perfectly set up the final play of the drive. Platt faked a handoff to Watts, which left Bailey wide open in the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown. The extra point from Platt gave Rogers a 34-25 lead with 5:20 left.

Newsome said they had stressed throughout the year to Bailey the importance of blocking.

“We tell him, the more you block, the better you block, the better the play action works,” Newsome said.

Narragansett had one possession before the game ended, but calls by the officials brought out some ugliness in the crowd.

Facing fourth-and-eight from their own 47-yard line, Griffith threw to a receiver that was double covered. The pass was incomplete, but a referee said that a Rogers’ defensive back had hit the receiver before the ball arrived.

As a result, one Rogers’ fan screamed at Narragansett, “Way to pick it up you faggot!” Another fan yelled at the ref, “You cost us the game!”

However, the Mariners’ drive stalled out on third and fourth down. On third down, Griffith almost threw an interception, but the Rogers’ defensive back had one foot out-of-bounds on the catch.

On fourth down, Griffith did throw a pick to a Rogers’ defensive back with about three minutes left in the game. The Vikings used seven running plays and two first downs to end the game.

Both coaches mentioned that their teams wore down a bit, thanks to an unusually warm October day. The temperature hit 79 degrees, according to Weather.com, 14 degrees above the usual high for October.

“We had problems at the end stopping them,” Fossa said, noting that they did their best to rotate in new linemen. “It was fatigue more than anything.”

The Mariners host Smithfield (1-3, 1-2 Division IV) in a non-league tune-up 1 p.m. next Saturday. Their next league game is Oct. 21 at Lincoln (1-4, 1-3 Division III).

Rogers has a tougher opponent on the schedule – local rival Middletown (4-1, 2-1 Division III).

While Newsome said that his players obviously looked forward to the game because of Middletown’s location, he didn’t think last year’s game would carry over.

“Last year is last year, and these are two different teams,” he said. “It’ll come down to the end, and whoever makes less mistakes will win it.”

NARRAGANSETT STATS

ROGERS STATS