CRANSTON — A focused Barrington High School football team dispatched host Cranston West with relative ease Sunday night, Nov. 15, as the Eagles shut out the Falcons, 28-0, in the final Division One regular season contest for both sides under the lights at Cranston Stadium.

Barrington improved to 7-1 with the victory. In the process the Eagles secured at least a share of first place in the regular season standings and guaranteed themselves the overall No. 1 seed in the state championship playoffs. West finished its slate with a 3-5 league mark.

Scoring all four of its touchdowns in the first half, Barrington broke the spirit of the Falcons early and were never challenged the rest of the way. David Silvia scored twice for the locals on long runs. Marc DeSisto ripped off a 60-yard TD burst. Vinny St. Angelo added the other score on a short rush. Brandon Lewis converted all four of his point-after kicks.

Regardless of what happens the rest of the way, Barrington knows it will play against and host the fourth seed in the semifinal round of the postseason tournament, Dec. 1. The Eagles’ opponent may not be determined until Thanksgiving Day, but will be either of four teams (LaSalle, East Providence, Hendricken or Portsmouth) depending on the outcomes of the final league games for each.

“We took care of business in the first half. I was a little surprised with the way our guys came to play today with the layoff, the game supposed to be played on Friday. But they came ready to play today,” BHS head coach Bill McCagney, referencing the postponement of the game from its original date, Nov. 13.

“They were motivated,” McCagney added. “We had motivation playing for the jacket and at least a share of the regular season championship. Playing for the No. 1 seed in the playoffs, that’s plenty of motivation right there. The kids played well.”

Barrington nearly scored on the first play of the game Sunday as Mike Read returned the opening kickoff from his own 19 to the West six before being bumped out of bounds. He later had a four-yard TD run called back by penalty and the Eagles eventually had to attempt a 31-yard field goal attempt, which Lewis missed short and right.

The Barrington defense, terrific throughout, forced a three-and-out to end the Falcons’ initial possession. Six plays later, including a West punt, and the Eagles were in the endzone as Silvia took a pitch left from DeSisto out of the Wildcat formation 30 yards to paydirt. Lewis’ first PAT made the score 7-0 five minutes into the contest.

The Falcons next possession ended when Hunter Tannock stripped quarterback Matt Rousseau of the ball as the latter scrambled out of the pocket. Al Farina recovered for the Eagles at the West 34. Barrington wideout Jake Portugal out-leaped a Falcon defender for a jump-ball thrown QB Steve Crawford at the eight for a 26-yard completion. Two motion penalties pushed the Eagles back temporarily. Crawford then hit DeSisto for a 13-yard gain before St. Angelo took a counter the remaining five yards to touch. Lewis’ second point-after doubled Barrington’s edge to 14-0 with 4:02 remaining in the first.

The Falcons converted a pair of first downs on their next possession, but it, too, would end empty as a Rousseau fourth-down pass fell incomplete at the Barrington 40. DeSisto, in turn, made West pay immediately, taking the direct snap from the Wildcat back 60 yards to the endzone on the first play of the Eagles’ series. Lewis’ PAT made it 21-0 Barrington with three seconds to go in the opening quarter.

The Eagles delivered the knock-out blow a few minutes into the second quarter when St. Angelo stepped in front of a Rousseau offering for an interception at the Barrington 48. He returned it to the West 25 and two plays later Silvia covered 24 yards for the touchdown on another counter. Lewis’ fourth kick for point proved the final of the night with 7:37 to go before the break.

The rest of the half and the game, really, was pretty uneventful. DeSisto picked off Rousseau before the break and linebacker Austin Brown made a nifty one-handed pick of an errant pass by the West QB in the third quarter.