The Portsmouth football team rolled to a 36-6 win over host Cranston East in the regular season finale last week to claim the top spot in Division II-B while dropping the Bolts’ final record to 0-8 this fall.

The Patriots took a 14-0 lead into the halftime break, but East would cut into the lead when Romeo Cordero rushed for a score to make it 14-6 midway through the third quarter.

Portsmouth would turn up the heat from there, scoring a touchdown on the ensuing drive, then collecting an interception and capitalizing on offense to make it 29-6.

The Patriots would add one last score late in the fourth to run away with the win.

Despite the loss, the Bolts’ defense had a solid first half, picking up multiple sacks and regularly disrupting the Portsmouth backfield.

“I think the strength of our team this year was our defensive line. We play two sophomores and a junior up front and they did a fantastic job up front tonight. We worked all week on (Portsmouth’s) option stuff and I think we did a pretty good job executing and tackling when we needed to,” said East head coach Isaiah McDaniel.

This was the fourth straight season that the Bolts have missed the postseason after a lengthy streak which was snapped prior to the pandemic. McDaniel was happy with the team’s progress despite its record, and has seen some growth in the intangible aspect.

“I have seen a ton of progress. We have 19 seniors but we’re not very experienced, we’re playing a lot of young guys. They turned into football players this season. Many of them never played football before high school but turned into football players which is nice to see,” said McDaniel.

Looking ahead, the Bolts will be looking for their young players to take a step forward next season while seeing the numbers grow all around.

“The biggest thing is just building a program, period. We need to get more kids that want to come out and play. And just not to quit, always play and be confident. I think we’re lacking that a little bit since it has been a tough couple of years, but we can play with anyone and win these games, it’s just about putting the work in during the season and offseason,” said McDaniel.

McDaniel also appreciated the hard work from his senior group which went through many ups and down in their four years.

“These seniors, their first season was 2019 before the pandemic, so they have seen it all,” said McDaniel. “I have a great relationship with them, I feel terrible for them because it hasn’t been a great four years. They’re great young men that are going to do great things.”