Down, but not out

Even at 1-4, Falcons still a factor in playoff race

Kevin Pomeroy
Posted 10/29/14

It might seem as though all is lost for the Cranston West football team on the surface.

The Falcons are 1-4, and have been inconsistent in all aspects of the game. They’ve suffered tough losses …

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Down, but not out

Even at 1-4, Falcons still a factor in playoff race

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It might seem as though all is lost for the Cranston West football team on the surface.

The Falcons are 1-4, and have been inconsistent in all aspects of the game. They’ve suffered tough losses in winnable games to Cumberland, Cranston East and Barrington.

For the seventh straight season, West is in danger of missing the Division I playoffs. This week, it only gets harder with undefeated Bishop Hendricken coming into Cranston for a 3 p.m. game on Saturday.

Yet, despite all of that, there’s still a lot to play for, and that could include a playoff berth.

As usual, the playoff picture in D-I is far from settled. Two teams are shoo-ins, while the third and fourth spots could be just about anybody else.

The best West can do at this point is 4-4, and that might not be good enough.

But it just might be.

“I’m sure they’re a little down, but they’ll come back to practice,” said West head coach Steve Stoehr. “They’ll work hard. They’re telling me that we’re not really out of it. I say, ‘Yeah, but you have to win them all.’”

Hendricken and La Salle sit at the top of the division, and at 5-0 they’ve both already clinched playoff berths. Sitting pretty behind them is Portsmouth at 4-2, with its only losses to the teams above it in the standings.

Next in line is Barrington at 3-2, and Cumberland at 3-3. After that are four teams with one win, West included.

Winning out would put the Falcons at the top of that group, and it could very well put it into a tie for the final playoff spot that would come down to tiebreakers.

That scenario is part of the reason that West is still motivated heading into this weekend, even after a 28-12 loss to Barrington last Friday.

But the playoff berth, if it happens, will be a bonus for the potentially solid play down the stretch. What West knows for sure that it can accomplish is a record at .500 in D-I play for the first time in three years and a winning record overall.

The Falcons already own non-league wins against Chariho and Westerly, and will have another non-league game and a chance for revenge against Cranston East.

That could mean a final record of 7-4, a mark that would be quite a victory for the Falcons given how the season has gone up to this point.

“I said, ‘Guys, how do you want to remember your season? You can let this season slide away and have one league win and two non-league wins and go 3-8,” Stoehr said. “Or, you still have a chance to go over .500.”

It’s just a matter of regrouping, putting the past in the past and playing to their potential.

The Falcons have proven thus far that they are rarely overmatched.

“I don’t think we’re quitting,” Stoehr said. “I think they felt like they could have beat Barrington. Hendricken is the best team in the league, but I think the most physical team in the league is Barrington.”

There are a number of scenarios in which West could finish in the top four and make the playoffs, but there is one that seems the most feasible based on how each team has performed up to this point.

First, West would need to win out. It has to beat Hendricken this week, East Providence the week after that and Portsmouth on Nov. 15.

The Falcons also need Barrington to win out. Still on Barrington’s schedule are Cranston East, Portsmouth and Cumberland. If that happens, East will be dealt its fifth loss – putting it behind West – and Cumberland and Portsmouth will be dealt their fourth losses.

Also on Cumberland’s schedule is La Salle, and if the Rams can beat the Clippers, Cumberland would also fall behind West.

The other team that could get to four wins is South Kingstown. But with both Hendricken and La Salle on its schedule, that seems unlikely. The Rebels only have to lose one of those two games to be eliminated.

If all that happened, West would be tied with Portsmouth at 4-4 for the final playoff spot, with Hendricken, La Salle and Barrington in the top three spots. The Falcons would qualify for the posteason by virtue of their head-to-head win over the Patriots.

Of course, it all starts this week, with Hendricken. The Hawks are 5-0, boast one of the best offenses and defenses in the state, and are coming off a bye week.

“It’s up to them,” Stoehr said. “They have to get it done. It’s not an easy task. You’ve got Hendricken. They’re the champs.”

Viewed through that lense, though, Saturday isn’t necessarily just a challenge. It’s an opportunity.

“We’re over the loss [to Barrington],” Stoehr said. “It’s done. There’s nothing we can do about it. It is what it is. And I think the kids have that attitude too. We can’t dwell on it. We don’t say, ‘If we did this we could have won.’ We just have to get better.”

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