Young quarterback leads Huskies over Coventry, 21-6

Armed forces honored in salute to service game

Photos and story by Richard W Dionne Jr
Posted 9/25/18

In only his second varsity start, sophomore quarterback Jordan Pompey directed the Huskies to a 21-6 victory over Coventry during the annual Salute to Service game at Vendituoli Field on Friday …

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Young quarterback leads Huskies over Coventry, 21-6

Armed forces honored in salute to service game

Posted

In only his second varsity start, sophomore quarterback Jordan Pompey directed the Huskies to a 21-6 victory over Coventry during the annual Salute to Service game at Vendituoli Field on Friday night.

Pompey was 15 for 21 and threw for 187 yards and a touchdown. The win evened the team’s record at 1-1 in Division II-B and 1-2 overall.

“The kids worked hard during the week,” said Head Coach T.J. DelSanto. “I’m very happy that we won.”

Coach DelSanto said that the team played really well at times, but he was looking for more of a decisive victory from his team.

“I’m disappointed in the way that we won,” he said, adding, “We were sloppy. We made a lot of mistakes. We were misaligned a lot.”

Coach DelSanto decided to make a change at quarterback last week, inserting Pompey and moving senior Ajay Bernardo to slot receiver.

Pompey led the freshman team to the super bowl last year.

“With Jordan at quarterback and Ajay at the slot, it gives us a different offensive look,”Coach DelSanto said.

“Jordan has a good arm. He’s an athletic kid. He can throw, he can run, and he’s kind of smart in that regard,” coach DelSanto said.

“He’s good at recognizing and understanding what we are trying to accomplish. How the defenses lineup to formations that we put out on the field.”

The game wasn’t all roses for Pompey who suffered some growing pains giving up two inopportune fumbles. He and junior center Jacob Dumkuski had difficulty with the snaps when the team was operating out of the shotgun. Several snaps sailed over Pompey’s head.

On the team’s first possession with the Huskies driving to midfield, Dumkuski snapped the ball high to Pompey. He then tucked the ball and ran up the middle on a quarterback option, but was grabbed from behind by Oaker defender Mike Tabele. The ball popped loose and Coventry recovered.

Mt. Hope’s stout and physical defense held Coventry and the Huskies got the ball back with minutes left in the first quarter.

“At times we played really well,” Coach DelSanto said of the team’s defense. “A lot of times we were misaligned. We missed tackles. I’d like to see us play with more energy and physicality.”

On the next drive, the Huskies offense spun their wheels. A penalty and a bad snap pushed the team back to their own 17-yard line, facing 3rd down and 31-yards to go.

With the Oakers rush coming, the speedy Pompey rolled to his right and a heaved a pass to his tall athletic senior wide receiver, Cam Rancourt.

He leaped and caught the ball at the 50-yard line. Rancourt then turned, shook off a couple of defenders, Rob Gronkowski style, and trucked down the Oakers side-line for an 83-yard touchdown.

Senior Zach DaCosta kicked the point after to give Mt. Hope a 7-0 lead to end the first quarter.

“Cam stood out today,” said coach DelSanto. “He made some great plays.”

In the second quarter Coventry drove the ball into Huskies territory. Senior linebacker Ajay Bernardo picked off Oakers quarterback Will Turner to keep the score 7-0.

“Ajay is a good athlete,” said coach DelSanto. “He wants to help and he wants us to succeed.”

Turner and the Oakers struck back on their next drive. The Oakers rode their big back Nick Carpinello down inside the 20-yard line. With 20 seconds to go, Turner hit wide receiver Ben Read for a 15-yard touchdown. A missed extra point gave the Huskies a slim 7-6 lead at halftime.

Mt. Hope kicked-off to Coventry to start the half. Again the Huskies defense held the Oakers and forced a punt.

Mt. Hope kick returner Shane Hollands ran the ball back to the 50-yard line.

Coach DelSanto put the ball into the hands of his senior running back Dylan Martins.

Martins, combining power and speed, had a couple of big runs during the drive as the Huskies got the ball down to the Coventry 15-yard line.

On first and ten and Pompey in the shot gun, the snap flew over Pompey’s head. The quarterback scrambled to cover up the ball, but the Oakers recovered.

A play later Turner handed to Carpinello and he also coughed up the ball.

Huskies linebacker Ben Liams recovered and the Huskies were back in business.

This time Martins took matters into his own hands bulling his way into the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown run. He raised his fists in triumph and big tight end Jalen Kopecky lifted the back into the air.

A Zach DaCosta extra point made the score 14-7.

Mt. Hope added a late touchdown drive in the fourth quarter.

Pompey threw to Kopecky running an out route. The big tight end pushed off a defender and headed down the Mt. Hope side line for a big gain, inside the 35-yard line.

Sophomore running back Cory Grifka subbing for Martins, ran the ball down to the two yard-line.

Pompey handed the ball to Kopecky and he dove for a 2-yard touchdown run.

A DaCosta extra point made the score 21-6 with 55 seconds to play.

“Jalen Kopecky is a dominant force on both sides of the ball,” coach DelSanto said. “On offense he’s hard to tackle. We gave him a shot to bust in in there. He did a good job for us.”

Notes:

United States servicemen were honored before the game in a small ceremony. Both teams wore camouflage jerseys in their honor. Mt. Hope alumni and servicemen Tech Sgt. Kevin Ferreira and Private Abigail Ferreira were introduced to the crowd as they walked from under the goal post to mid-field for the coin toss. Sgt. William Chilton of the 88th Army Band sang the National Anthem before the game.

Football stats:

Quarterback Jordan Pompey made 15 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown. He rushed 12 times for 23 yards.

Running back Dylan Martins rushed 13 times for 65 yards and a touchdown.

Wide Receiver Cam Rancourt caught 3 passes for 105 yards and a touchdown.

Tight end Jalen Kopecky rushed for 2 yards and a touchdown. He caught 4 passes for 48 yards.

Linebacker Corey Grifka made 10 tackles and a sack.

Linebacker Ben Liams recorded 8 tackles and recovered a fumble.

Linebacker Ajay Bernardo had an interception.

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