EAST PROVIDENCE — In the last non-league game before their respective regular seasons begin, the Mt. Hope High School football team came out strong in the second half and never looked back as the Huskies went onto win 28-7 over host East Providence Friday night, Sept. 9.
In front of a large home crowd at Pierce Memorial Stadium, the Townies came out strong as they held onto a 7-0 lead at the half. After halftime, the Huskies proved their depth and ability to run the ball by scoring 28 unanswered points.
“In the first half I don't think we were ready for the physicality. In the second half, we started to hit back,” assistant coach Shane Parker said. “Also, we are blessed to have kids only play one way were as East Providence has kids playing both.”
On the opening drive of the game, Mt. Hope drove all the way down the field to E.P’s 21-yard line. The Huskies then decided to go for it on a fourth and four. What looked to be a 21-yard touchdown pass quickly turned into a batted ball as a leaping Dion Hazard broke up a pass in the end zone. The Townies then failed to take advantage of the defensive stop as the Huskies’ defensive line shutdown E.P’s running attack early.
The Huskies next offensive drive didn't last long as a short throw led to an easy interception for Hazard giving the Townies great field position. E.P’s offense then went on an eight minute drive, most of which game on the ground by quarterback Ryan Ellinwood and Hazard. The 61-yard drive eventually came to an end when Ellinwood snuck in for an easy quarterback keeper. After a made extra point, the Townies got on the board and held a 7-0 lead with eight minutes left before halftime.
Mt. Hope proceeded to drive down the field again, this time thanks to senior running back Corey Cardoso. The Huskies’ offense then stalled again deep in E.P territory as the Huskies were forced to punt. The Townies then went three-and-out on their next series as Mount Hope followed suit. This forced the Huskies to punt with under a minute left in the half as the Townies went into the locker room with a 7-0 lead.
E.P. received the ball first coming out of the half and yet again Mt. Hope’s defense forced them to punt after just three plays. The Huskies preceded to finally take advantage of the good field position they had all night as Cardoso took it all the way on a jet sweep to right to tie the game at 7-7 with nine minutes left in the third quarter. The Huskies’ defense continued to give their offense lots of playing time as they held the Townies to just three plays on their drive before E.P. was forced to punt.
“I think we did a good job containing him (Ellinwood),” Coach Parker said. “We pretty much played one guy one him and ten on everyone else which worked out pretty well for us.”
On the short bouncing punt, Joshua Pompey ran all the way down the right sideline as his team and fans erupted. The two touchdowns came within three minutes of each other as all of a sudden the Huskies found themselves with a 14-7 lead.
The Huskies forced the Townies into yet another three-and-out giving their offense the chance to face the growingly tired E.P defense. Mt. Hope took advantage of this as they ran the ball all the way down the field eventually resulting in senior quarterback Vincent Berretto sneaking it in to give his team a 21-7 lead. Mt. Hope’s impressive defense continued to dominate the line of scrimmage forcing the Townies to punt again after a short-lived drive. This gave the Huskies’ offense the ball at E.P’s 31-yard line. Just two plays later, Cardoso ran 14 yards for his second touchdown of the night, increasing the Huskies’ lead to 28-7.
“We just got worn down,” EPHS head coach Jay Monteiro said. We have a lot of guys going two ways. We are a really, really young team and our aged showed. Tomorrow is another day and we have to get better.”
E.P. proceeded to substitute in their backups as they went on to run down the clock to zero as the Huskies shared smiles and hugs all around.
The victorious Huskies go on the road again next week in their first Division II league game against Classical on Saturday.
“I think if we show up and do what we did this week, it is going to be hard for a lot of teams to compete against us,” Coach Parker said.
Meanwhile, the Townies will look to bounce back against the six-time reigning Division I state champion Bishop Hendricken at home next Friday night.
“It is going to be tough,” Coach Monteiro said. “They are a good team and we are going to give it our best. Hopefully we can put something together.”

— Photos by Tim Marshall