The Bishop Hendricken Hawks went to North Kingstown High School on Friday night and squeaked out a 28-21 victory over the Skippers in front of a sold out crowd.

North Kingstown drew a 6-0 lead, five minutes into the first quarter, when on a fourth-and-three, quarterback Edwin Buehler passed to wide receiver Chris Bishop in the end zone. Next, kicker Brady Spitzer added the extra point and upped the North Kingstown edge to 7-0.

The Hawks offense drove as far as the Skippers 12 on its first possession before turning the ball over on downs.

Nevertheless, early in the second quarter, the Skippers had possession when the center sent a snap high over Buehler’s head, and it was picked up by Hendricken junior defensive end Marcus Sukkar, who returned it 48 yards for a touchdown. Charles Kretzer, a junior, added the extra point and evened the score at 7.

“The defense played really well,” Hawks head coach Keith Croft said. “They made a lot of improvement as the game went on. I’m happy for them and happy for our offense. A win is what you have to do this time of year.”

North Kingstown answered with an 80-yard drive that was capped with a 44-yard TD run, down the left sideline, by running back Evan Beattie, which put the Skippers on top 14-7.

With 4:26 remaining in the second quarter, Hawks junior running back Ronjai Francis rushed 55 yards for a TD, and tied the game at 14.

Hendricken took a 21-14 lead with 5:46 left in the third frame when junior running back Oscar Weah rushed into the end zone from 12 yards out.

Then, with 2:04 left in the third quarter, the Hawks went up 28-14 when junior quarterback Jayden Falcone scored a 6-yard rushing TD.

The Skippers got within 28-21, midway through the fourth frame, when Buehler completed a pass to Andrew Ciarniello, who took it 53 yards to the Hawks 1. Next, Ciarniello took it the final yard for the score.

With the victory, the Hawks improved to 1-0 in the league and 2-1 overall.

Prior to league play, the Hawks faced off against Monsignor Farrell High School of Staten Island (L 27-31) and against Londonderry High School of New Hampshire (W 40-20).

The Hawks will look for another win this Friday night when they host Portsmouth (1-1) in a non-league affair.

“We’ll see,” Croft said. “We’ve got to watch the film and we’ve got to have a hard week of practice and hopefully we’ll have a good showing next week.”