Sometimes popular phrases like “it came right down to the wire” are a bit over-used in sports writing, but in the case of last week’s Injury Fund game between Barrington and East Providence, it actually did.

On the last play of the game, after slugging it out drive for drive with the D-I Eagles, the D-II Townies were backed up to their one-yard line with just under three ticks on the clock left. Barrington’s quarterback, Griffin Ingram, took the snap and looped to the outside, outrunning the defense that had held firm all day, and iced the game.

Townies’ Coach Jon Stringfellow is hoping that the team can find the silver lining in the last-second defeat.

“I would have hoped it would have been a little different outcome, but to hold them the whole game until the last play of the game was a good moment for us,” he said. “The kids were disappointed, obviously, that they lost in the way they did, but from a coaching standpoint, there's a lot to build off of.”

The Townies are built around the mentality of strong defense and controlling the ball; slowly progressing down the field through a triple-offense scheme anchored by fullback and defensive tackle, Jordan Heistand. That approach worked for all but the final three seconds against Barrington, when the stout defense finally yielded, and just barely.

Stringfellow said that if a couple things broke differently, the outcome could have also been better.

“We had some opportunities,” Stringfellow said. “We had the punt return for a touchdown that called back on a penalty. We had a nice drive going where the ball slipped out of the quarterback's hands, so we couldn't finish the drive and they ended up recovering the fumble. But playing against a D-I team that's always a tough team to play, I thought it was a good turnout for us.”

Other players leading the charge are defensive and offensive tackle, Max Distefano; halfback and safety, Tre Abdullah; and the senior under center, Isaac Rodriguez, who takes over at quarterback following the graduation of Jacob Duarte.

“I’m hoping he can emerge as the leader that Jacob was and follow in the path that he set for him,” Stringfellow said of Rodriguez.

The Townies will look ahead to their game against Johnston on Friday, a team Stringfellow said is something of a stranger to East Providence.

“I think the last time East Providence played Johnston was in the 1979 Super Bowl,” he said, alluding to his hope that the outcome (a victory for the Townies at McCoy Stadium) will be similar.