Panthers 10U squad out to 3-0 start

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Three games into the 2014 season, the 10U Johnston Panthers are on a roll. The team is 3-0 and has out-scored its opponents 70-12 in the three games.

Johnston got off to quick start the first week of the season by beating the CLCF Chiefs 28-7. The second game of the year, they traveled to Fall River, Mass., and beat the Falcons 26-0. The scoring came from a wide variety of players led by Dimetri Iafrate, Isaiah DeBritto, Michael Salzillo, Nick Baccala, Dante Iafrate, Matthias Barros, Derek Salvatore and Hudson Carvalho.

The scoring was made possible by outstanding offensive line play by Alex Morin, Kyle Iannucillo, Dylan Silva, Noah Lavergne, Rafael Ayriyan, Jesse Pascetta, Michael Franco, Michael Morris, Dario Branch and Cory Collins. The passing game of the Panthers has also proven to be successful led by Michael Vita, Joe Forte, Andrew Picard, Michael LaFlamme, Jaiden McKenna, Devan Kent and Carlos Alfaia.

This past weekend, the Panthers traveled to East Providence to face the unbeaten Junior Townies, but the battled of undefeateds quickly became a one-sided affair as Johnston won 26-6.

On the first play from scrimmage, the Junior Townies’ running back had the ball stripped by Dimetri Iafrate, and the fumble was recovered by Salzillo. On the first offensive series, Iafrate ran 48 yards for the Panthers’ first touchdown. DeBritto made the extra point to give the Panthers a quick 7-0 lead.

The Townies went backwards on their first full offensive series, which put the ball back in the Panthers’ hands. On the first play of the second series, DeBritto ran 35 yards for a touchdown. Dimetri Iafrate completed a pass to LaFlamme to give the Panthers a 14-0 lead. On the Townies’ next possession the Panther defense led by Alfaia, Silva, Picard, Dante Florio, Eric Luna and Austin Jenks made it tough for the Townies again. On the third play of the series, Dimetri Iafrate once again stripped the ball and recovered it. On the first play from scrimmage following the turnover, Baccala ran for a 35-yard touchdown to give the Panthers a 20-0 halftime lead.

The Panthers received the ball in the second half and after good runs by Salvatore and Carvalho, Dimetri Iafrate managed to score from 41 yards out to give the Panthers a 26-0 lead at the beginning of the third quarter. On the ensuing kickoff, the Panthers’ Dante Iafrate ran down the sideline and managed to recover the sideline kick. The Panthers offense ate away at the clock with good runs by Carvalho, Dante Iafrate and Matthias Barros but came up short and for the first time in the game, the Townies had stopped the Panthers from getting into the end zone. On the next Townie possession, they got on the board with a 70-yard touchdown, but Johnston had no trouble finishing off the victory.

Other major contributions came from Armand DeCosta, Jayden Breault, Jake Trahan, Nick Perron and Kyle D'Alessandro.

The Panthers will take their unbeaten record to Seekonk, Mass., this Sunday at 11 a.m.

Townies drop 11U Panthers

 

After a tough loss to Fall River, week three of the season saw the Panthers 11U team showing signs of improvement in a 19-6 loss to East Providence.

 

In the first half, quarterbacks Jake Martino and Joey Acciardo called some good plays and the offense was able to move the ball down field with solid runs by Peter Bibby, Joey Legault and C.J. Ragosta, but the Panthers came up short when trying to punch the ball into the end zone. The defense fought hard at the line of scrimmage but was unable to contain the Junior Townies and stop their running game. The Panthers saw some great defensive efforts by Antonio Gemma, Caleb Visnicky, Raymond Beaumier, Jamel Gonzalez, Domenic Petrarca and Emma Salzillo.   

In the second half, the Panthers offense put on a show with their passing game as hard-nosed linemen Phil Costantini, Gianni Palumbo, Ryan Schino, Kenny Irizarry, Todd Dilullo, David Andreoli, Gian Souza and Nick Keller gave their quarterback plenty of time to find open receivers downfield, setting up spectacular catches by Thomas Zednick and Connor Diamantino. Fullback Rozellio Jones powered his way into the end zone for Johnston’s only score of the day in the second half.

The defensive crew of Brando Coico, Sebastian Annicelli, Jonathon D’Angelo, Jack Russo, Troy Nicotra, Robert Joseph and David Silva continued to put pressure on the Junior Townie offense but time was not on the Panthers side. When the horn sounded at the end of the second half, the Junior Townies walked off with the win. 

This week the 11U team heads north to Woonsocket to take on the North Providence Jets, hoping to build on their offensive and defensive momentum.

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