Last Friday's game at the Ralph aRusso Complex between the Johnston and Coventry High School football teams might as well have been called the Marc Conte show. The junior running back from Johnston scored four touchdowns and came up with a big defensive play late in the fourth quarter to propel his team to their third straight Division II-A victory in a thrilling 36-28 decision over the Coventry Oakers.
The win puts Johnston in a second place tie with Warwick Vets, and the Panthers now hold potential tie-breaking wins over Mt. Hope and Coventry. Woonsocket is the only Division II team that is still undefeated at 4-0 .
“Little by little we are getting that baptism by fire out of the way,” Johnston head coach Joe Acciardo said. “I'm proud of my guys, they did a good job at the end of the game. You have to play four quarters and we did that tonight.”
The game did not start off the way Conte and the Panthers wanted it to, as Conte fumbled an Oaker punt early in the first quarter. Coventry recovered the ball and after a 15-yard personal foul penalty against JHS, the Oakers found themselves at the home team’s 29-yard line.
Oaker quarterback Joe Foley's 3-yard sneak put the visitors on top 7-0 at the 6:56 mark of the first quarter, but it took Johnston only 48 seconds to answer the score. Conte scampered 68 yards to the end zone and Curtis Mathieu gave the Panthers an 8-7 lead with the two-point conversion.
On Coventry's next possession, the Panthers’ Kenny Kue and Daniel Goldberger nearly intercepted Foley on two separate occasions but the Oakers would pin Johnston at its own 15 with a good punt. Despite a 50-yard run by Conte, JHS would turn the ball over on downs.
The Panthers’ Konstantinos Kirios recovered an Oaker fumble that gave his team good field position at the Coventry 40. From there, Mark Breton hit Alex Tenerella for a 32-yard gain that set up a Conte 8-yard touchdown run. Conte made it 16-7 with a successful two-point conversion.
When the Oakers got the ball back, they showed a good run game with captain Mike Nolan and Silvio Antonelli doing the bulk of the work. Johnston's Larry Dureault almost intercepted Foley but the drive continued and Foley would sneak it in again a few plays later. Darnell Fenwick cut the Johnston lead to 16-15 with the two points.
With 3:27 left in the half, Johnston looked to put more points on the board but Breton's pass went off the hands of Aaron Perfetto and into the hands of Coventry's Kevin Lemos. It was now the Oakers who were looking to put points on the scoreboard before the half expired, but Goldberger returned the favor when he picked off Foley, stepping in front of the intended receiver and returning it to the Coventry 2-yard line with only 35 seconds remaining in the first half. One play later, Conte scored from 2 yards out and Mathieu tacked on the 2-pointer for a 24-15 JHS advantage at the break.
“We had a pretty good idea on our scouting report about Coventry and it was right on the money,” Acciardo said. “They still executed what they wanted to do and we missed out on some opportunities in the first half. They are always a good and tough team.”
The Panthers opened up the second half with a good drive that covered 64 yards in four minutes. Conte finished the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run, his fourth of the contest, extending the JHS lead to 30-15.
Coventry answered back on their next drive, which was aided by a Johnston pass interference penalty. Nolan's 15-yard run cut the lead to 30-21 but he was stopped on the two-point conversion, keeping it a two-score game.
With 4:51 left in the fourth quarter, the Oakers closed the gap on a Foley to Fenwick 25-yard touchdown pass. Eric Rasieleski kicked his second PAT of the game, and all of a sudden, it was a 30-28 game.
Tyler Nasisi recovered the Oakers attempt at an onside kick at mid-field and with 2:32 left in the game, Mathieu ran 28 yards for a touchdown, giving JHS a little breathing room. Mike Caparco could not connect with Breton on the two-point conversion so the score remained 36-28.
“I really wanted to get that two-point conversion but our defense really stepped it up late in the game,” Acciardo said.
Coventry would have two minutes and thirty seconds to try and tie the game, with their drive starting at their own 46. Foley hit Fenwick on third-and-1 as the Oakers entered Panther territory. Conte would then come up with the defensive play of the game, though, picking off Foley with 50 seconds on the clock to seal the victory for Johnston.
“I just stepped it up tonight and did what I had to do, whatever helps the team win I guess,” Conte said. “We are getting better every week but we can still improve everywhere. We did not capitalize on the other team’s mistakes like we could have but our defense just has to step it up and we did tonight.”
Acciardo praised his junior running back.
“Conte is a great athlete,” he said. “When he runs the ball he is on a different speed than everyone else. You don't want to get in front of him. He is a hard and fast runner. He is a different caliber runner. We have had fast guys and powerful guys but he is a fast and powerful guy and you want the ball in his hands as much as you can.”
Conte ran the ball 12 times for a season high 175 yards. Mathieu ran six times for 80 yards. As a team, Johnston rushed for a season high 294 yards. Kirios and Mathieu registered 12 tackles each, also season-highs. Tenerella had nine tackles and Nick Gatta chipped in with six tackles.
The 28 points the Panther defense allowed were the most since Central put up 42 points in 2011. Johnston has now scored 115 points in their last three Division II-A games.
The Panthers have a bye this week and will resume play on Saturday, Oct. 26 at 1:30 p.m., against Chariho in what will be Johnston's annual Homecoming game. Chariho is 0-4 in division play this year but spoiled the Panthers’ Homecoming two seasons ago.
Johnston will visit Warwick Vets on Nov. 1.
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