EAST PROVIDENCE — Unfortunately for the East Providence High School football team things started poorly for the Townies in their Division I championship tournament quarterfinal contest against visiting Central Saturday night, Nov. 3, at Pierce Memorial Stadium and didn’t get much better from there.

The upstart Knights took advantage of an East Providence miscue on the game’s opening kickoff and proceeded to hang on the rest way en route to upsetting the higher-seeded Townies, 15-7. Central, which entered the quarters with a 2-5 record and the third seed from the I-B side of the bracket, advanced the semis this weekend to face Cranston West, 34-14 winners of Shea in its quarterfinal also played last Saturday.

For the Townies, who were the No. 2 seed on the I-A side of the draw, their 2018 season comes to a disappointingly early end with a 4-4 overall record in Division I games this fall.

East Providence’s inauspicious beginning to the quarters occurred when the Townies misplayed the opening kickoff, handling the ball at their own one then being driven back into the endzone for a safety and an immediate 2-0 lead for the Knights.

Central wasn’t done with its early exploits. The Knights built off their initial momentum, adding on a pair of touchdowns to take a 15-0 lead into the halftime break.

East Providence, which hadn’t done much on offense during the opening 24 minutes, finally got a break when Central committed what proved its first costly error of the evening. Lining up to punt on a fourth-down play in the third quarter in their own end, the snap sailed over the head of Malik Monteiro, who doubles as the Knights’ quarterback and punter. Monteiro scurried to retrieve the ball around the Central 20 and was met with by a bevy of Townies led by Dennis Urquhart then followed by William Ferro and Aaron Parsons.

E.P. made Central pay for the mistake, scoring soon after when quarterback Dion Hazard lofted a pass to Sean Bednar, who reached over Knights defenders to secure it for a touchdown. The Townies tacked on the extra point to cut their deficit to a manageable eight with time left on the clock.

However, things didn’t look particularly good for the locals as the Knights answered with a drive deep into the E.P. end seemingly good enough to secure the win. But a second Central mistake, this one forced by the Townies, gave the hosts one last chance. East Providence defensive back Clinton Ogunronbi stripped Monteiro of the ball on a rush, freeing it for Carew Gomes to recover at the Townies’ 27.

On the game-deciding drive, East Providence moved the ball back to around midfield, but the effort stalled. And when Hazard’s pass on fourth down fell incomplete, the Townies’ attempted rally and their season came to an end.