Football Takes Care of Business, Downs East Providence, 34-14

From the perspective in the press box, it seemed last week that the Hawks came out of the gate a bit sluggish against the Johnston Panthers but righted themselves pretty quickly and won their season opener going away.

Last night, it seemed that the Hawks looked like they came to take care of business right from the get-go, yet there was another portion of the game - from roughly the mid-point of the second quarter to the mid point of the third - when it appeared that the Townies might actually find a way to win the game.

Whether that was due to another "sluggish" phase on the Hawks' part, or the Townies' asserting themselves, is something that will probably be answered as the season unfolds.

As it is, however, all is right with the football Hawks, as they move to 1-0 in D-I action and 2-0 overall after another 34-point performance in their win over East Providence.

Of course, The Network was there with full coverage, broadcasting the game live to the Hendricken community - well, to the world, for that matter - and with a whole staff on hand to do all the necessary work to put the production together: Stone Freeman and Cam Brennan behind the mic for the vast majority of the evening, of course, but they were joined by the likes of Colton Capobianco on social media, Remy Morris on game details, Johnathan Feeny on a bit of everything (some social media, some note-taking, and even some play-by-play in the third quarter), Sam LaFrance and Rob Sauriol on Instagrams....and, of course, in what is now becoming a more prominent part of our game productions - sideline photos - ....the now legendary DT Barron suited up with his knowledge of digital photography (gleaned from his media arts experience in Mr. Fogarty's class) and put himself directly in the line of football sideline fire to take loads of shots that we can now add to our highlight gallery.

The entire game can still be seen in the top viewer on The Network site home page.

As pointed out, the Hawks started in solid fashion and led at the end of the first quarter, 7-0. On the Hawks' TD drive, John Toppa took a broken play and ran the ball 43 yards deep into Townie territory, a play that can be seen here:

From there, senior running back Terrance Gibbs punched it in from the two-yard line:

The second quarter appeared as though it was going to produce more of the same, that being the sense of the Hawks in control of the game. With about six minutes remaining in the first half, quarterback John Toppa hit senior all-stater Lee Moses along the sideline for an incredible completion of 50 yards, which can be seen here:

Then, with 5:22 remaining in the half, Toppa hit Power Kanga for a 14-yard touchdown, putting the Hawks up, 13-0.

For roughly the next "quarter" of the game, however, things changed - not only the score but also the general "feel" of the game. It wasn't quite a momentum swing in the purest sense of the word, but it was more "methodical" than anything else.

The Townies responded to the Toppa-Kanga hookup by running the ensuing kickoff back for a touchdown, making the score 13-7. On their next possession, The Hawks had trouble moving the ball, but later in the quarter Toppa once again hit Kanga, this time for a 49-yard touchdown strike, which made the score 20-7, Hawks, with 1:51 remaining in the first half.

Yet, East Providence responded again, this time by running the ensuing kickoff back all the way to the Hawks' 4-yard line, from where they punched it in. For a half that had largely been controlled by the Hawks, the teams left the field at intermission with a game on their hands, the Hawks leading by only six, 20-14.

The second half seemed to pick up where it had left off, as the Townies appeared to have found a way to attack the Hawks on the ground. Not only were they splitting the Hawks' special teams on kickoffs, but they were finding ways to turn the corner on the Hawks' defensive line and gash their way over tackle for chunks of yardage. At the same time, the Hawks were inexplicably having a difficult time moving the ball on the Townies' defense.

Finally, about halfway through the third quarter, the Hawks started to move the ball once again, and Toppa broke through to punch it in, giving the Hawks some much needed breathing room and a 27-14 lead:

That play also appeared to take some of the wind out of East Providence's sails.

As the rest of the game unfolded, the Hawks appeared to have found the control of the game with which they'd started it. They moved the ball well, and with 4:34 remaining to play, John Toppa took a running play and galloped 67 yards to the end zone, putting our guys up 34-14 and effectively ending the contest.

Up next for the Hawks are the always-tough and well-coached Portsmouth Patriots, Friday night at 7pm at Hayden Stadium. Hopefully, we'll have another good crowd on hand; but, if you can't make it to the game, you know you can always count on The Network. We'll be there again broadcasting the game live and with full coverage.