Johnston 12U Panthers complete undefeated season

Gary Salzillo, who doubles as president of the Johnston Youth Football Association and Head Coach of the Panthers’ 12U team, told his gridiron group “to come out firing today” against the neighboring arch-rival North Providence Jets.

Meanwhile, Phil Morin, the Panthers’ defensive strategist was rather stern during his customary pre-game pep talk Sunday at sun-covered Mayor Joseph M. Polisena Stadium.

Morin, in fact, reminded the Junior Panthers – who marched in Saturday’s JHS 50th Annual Homecoming Parade – of how much was at stake against the Jets.

A victory, the coaches emphasized, would send the Junior Panthers off with a co-Blackstone Valley Division championship and complete the regular season with an unbeaten, untied 9-0 record.

So, Morin’s mighty men – the Junior Panthers’ defense – responded with a performance that kept the Jets’ offense grounded all afternoon and limited the North Providence offense to just 100 yards of total offense en route to an impressive 30-7 victory.

Meanwhile, Dante Iafrate – who is the grandson of JHS football legend and Hall of Famer Don Iafrate – led the Junior Panthers to 248 yards in total offense. Of that total, league MVP candidate Brandon Parsons racked up 136 yards on five carries and scored three touchdowns.

Hudson Carvalho scored a Johnston touchdown via a 25-yard pass hook-up from Iafrate, and Michael Salzillo – who plays on both sides of the ball – also hauled in an Iafrate aerial that resulted in a 9-yard score.

“The kids were fired up,” Morin related. “We took a 12-0 lead after the first quarter, then built up a 24-0 margin by halftime. The kids were clicking on all cylinders.”

Take Nicholas Baccala, for example. A two-way starter, Baccala got the football seven times and rushed for 75 yards. Alex Morin and Michael Laflamme also figured in Johnston’s overall offensive output.

Sunday’s victory also enabled the Junior Panthers to nail down the No. 1 seed in the upcoming playoffs.

It became obvious from the outset Sunday that Salzillo’s squad meant business. The Panthers needed only four plays to march 51 yards for their first score, a 22-yard touichdown scamper by Parsons. The point after, though, failed.

Johnston hiked its lead to 12-0 when Parsons rumbled 38 yards for his second of three touchdowns Sunday. The extra point was no good.

With time winding down in the first half, North Providence was again denied by the Johnston defense and forced a fumble that an alert Laflamme pounced on, and soon thereafter, Iafrate took to the air and fired a touchdown pass to Salzillo, who scooted into the end zone for his first score of the season.

Johnston made it 24-0 at intermission after Iafrate hooked up with Carvalho for a 25-yard touchdown. Also contributing to the offensive output was the rushing of Laflamme and Morin.

The Panthers’ defense was led by Nick Keller, Eli Williams, Rafael Ayriyan, Armand DeCosta, Alex Fedorchuk, Alex Morin, Roberto Martinez, Mason Mangiante, Vinny Campanella, Adrian Orellana, Gian Tortolani, Anthony Abbruzzi, Laflamme, Parsons, Baccala, Jesse Pascetta, Carvalho, NeAri Vasquez, Michael Salzillo, Joe Forte, JJ Leomensan, Dylan Martins, Kyle D’Alessandro, Aiden Larivieri, J Pincine and Camani Battista.