Exeter-West Greenwich/Prout Makes Playoffs With 2nd Straight Win

After defeating Tiverton 19-0, the Exeter-West Greenwich/Prout football team sat at 2-3 and faced a must win game Saturday to keep their playoff hopes alive.

And despite some early turnovers, the Knights persevered against North Providence with a 13-7 home win. The win put the Knights in the playoffs for a second year in a row, something that hasn't happened in over 10 years.

The first quarter was a mud fest, with tackles seemingly being made over and over on the field's muddiest spots. Both teams moved the ball a little, but neither scored, because both defenses came to play.

Then in the second quarter, North Providence broke the stalemate and found their way into the end zone to take a 7-0 lead on a quarterback sneak. The Knights tried to rebuttal, but they came up short, as two turnovers killed their drives right before the end of the half.

"We played bad football, we turned the ball over, which we can’t do," Head Coach Cliff Fortin said. "We missed tackles, which will cost you games. We missed blocks, which will also lose games for any team, and we didn’t execute."

But then the Knights showed signs of life in the third quarter. The Knight's defense stepped up even more and just punished the runner from North Providence, not allowing them any positive yards and forcing them to punt.

Big plays and loud fans helped get the Knights offense get into gear, with some dominant running from Hunter Mumford, Todd Schofield, and Christian Dimery. The offensive line of Austin Hawes, Tyler Coates, Owen Spira, Johnathan Plowman and Hunter Adams used their dominance to over power the defensive line of North Providence.

Mumford ran over two defenders to get his first of two touchdown runs and tie the game 7-7. The scoring drive ate up seven minutes of the clock, and the defense of North Providence was noticeably tired with hands on their hips and slow to get up.

The fourth quarter was again spearheaded by the defense, but also saw the Knights offense control the clock.

The Knights defense pounded the North Providence offense and didn't let them get anything, forcing punts and three-and-outs. The final blow was a crushing sack by Dimery, forcing North Providence to punt deep in their own end zone and giving the Knights great field position.

The Knights took full advantage of the excellent field position and ran down the field until Mumford scored with a 10-yard rushing touchdown. The Knights would miss the extra point, giving them a 13-7 lead.

With four minutes left in the game the Knights kicked the ball off put everything on their defense to close the game out. North Providence didn’t go away easy and moved the ball down to the 9-yard line and had a first and goal. It was here the defense stepped up.

On first down and second down, the defense got pressure and forced North Providence's quarterback to make inaccurate throws. On third down, the ball was thrown over the middle, but Max Lafound tipped the ball away.

And on fourth down, with the fans going crazy, Lafound stepped up again, tipping a ball away headed for the corner of the end zone.

"This was an amazing win for us," Fortin said. "We had a bad first half, we made adjustments and we executed a lot better in the second half. Games like this in weather like this makes for a heart-pounding game. We feed off our fans' energy, they cheered us on and helped us get going. Our players from last year have experience playing for a playoff spot. Our new players found out what it’s like to play for a playoff spot, and collectively we made it possible."

Key Game Stats

• Hunter Mumford had 19 carries for 175 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
• Austin Hawes had 13 total tackles

Next game, the Knights travel to Hope to play on Saturday afternoon with a noon kickoff.