We have hit the midseason point for our football teams and there is a lot to digest when it comes to what we have seen. Some surprises, some no-so-surprising developments, some good, some bad, we’ve seen it all in this first very busy month of action.
Here is what we have seen with our clubs and what we can expect in the second half of the regular season:

Hendricken
The Hawks are the Hawks. That’s all you need to know.
As always, we figured Hendricken would be in the mix as the state’s best team and to this point, they have proven to be just that and some. With a massive, veteran offensive line and a 1-2 punch at running back in Jeremy Dennis and Jeremy Seidi, as well as a confident quarterback in Dylan Lynch, it will be hard to slow this offense down. The defense has an opportunistic secondary and a front that has a knack for coming up with big plays at critical times. The team fared so-so against its out of state opponents, but those clubs were high level.
Any team can be beat on any day. There’s really no such thing as a lock to win it all, but Hendricken has yet to give us a reason to bet against it and hasn’t shown any exploitable holes in its roster. Championship or bust.

Cranston West
After a red-hot start in which the Falcons beat North Kingstown and Portsmouth in consecutive weeks, the Falcons have come back down to earth to fall to St. Ray’s and Cumberland to even out to 2-2.
Kelan Cornell has been every bit the dynamic quarterback we expected him to be and his brother Charlie has developed into one of the state’s best receivers. The team can run the ball, pass the ball, and its defense, although not perfect, has shown flashes of top-notch play.
Before we panic about the past two weeks, it’s important to remember that the Falcons were down just one score in the fourth quarter of each loss. These were tightly contested and West could easily be 4-0 and right there with the Hawks.
However, West will need to put together a full four quarters to win these games, as will any Division I team. It just goes to show how competitive this field is. One or two mistakes or a bad quarter can be enough to lose you a game.
No disrespect to undefeated South Kingstown, but I anticipate the Falcons getting back on track at home on Thursday then turning around and beating Barrington the following game. The team closes out the regular season with Central and La Salle, which could turn out to be the biggest games of the season for all of DI.

Cranston East
The Bolts’ rebuild continues in Division III.
I was excited to see what East could do being moved down to Division III this season but have been reminded that patience is key with this club. The culture seems to be improved with a young, eager roster, and the team has certainly enjoyed some nice moments. It beat Moses Brown in the injury fund exhibition and took an always-tough Pilgrim team down to the wire. Ponaganset has been arguably the division’s best team and rolled to a win this past week, while East also fell to Narraganset in the opener.
The Bolts are strong up front on defense and have proven they can hold offenses to modest numbers when needed. The offense has scored just 20 points in its first three weeks, so we’ll see if the youngsters can gain some traction down the stretch. The schedule softens up a bit, with winnable games against Middletown, East Greenwich and Central Falls on tap. We’ll learn more about this team in the second half than the first.

Pilgrim
As noted above, Pilgrim is a tough team that no one should want to face in Division III.
Sure, a 2-2 record is ordinary, but Pilgrim remains one of the scariest units in the state below Division I. The Pats held off Woonsocket in a statement win in the opener and then beat East in a rock fight the following game.
Since, the team fell to Burrillville, who is arguably a top-5 team across Rhode Island, then dropped a close one against Mt. Hope, which is a team that is off to a surprisingly good start.
I expect the Pats to get a win this weekend on the road against 1-3 East Greenwich, then things get real when they take on Classical and Ponaganset down the stretch. Even Johnston (who we’ll get to) has to be taken seriously. Carter Clifton and Jacob Soulliere have proven to be more than capable of leading an offense while the defense boasts one of the best secondarys in the division. I respect the Pilgrim culture as well. It’s just a tough, physical team that never seems to be out of it.

Toll Gate
Although a 1-3 start is not exciting, there is plenty to be happy about if you’re a Toll Gate fan.
Similar to East, I was anxious to see how the Titans would fare in a new division, and although the record is uneven, the performance has been solid.
The Titans beat Hope and dropped a heartbreaker to North Smithfield this past week. Even their opening day loss to PCD was a competitive matchup.
Division IV is a developmental league and for a program that has been desperately trying to get back on track, Toll Gate should be happy to be back competing on a weekly basis. I don’t think the team was worried about championships this season, it was trying to simply get back to competing and feeling like it had a chance to win each week. Mission accomplished.
By the way, Shane Moro has been a beast for an offense that saw its starting quarterback go down to injury.

Johnston
The Panthers were one of the most interesting teams heading into the year after graduating a massive core of its semifinal team last season. After a slow start, the Panthers earned their first win last week when they rolled past Chariho on the road.
Matt Clements is the real deal at quarterback. He looks the part and plays the part. It’s just going to be about developing the players around him. He has a young line up front, young receivers, but fortunately, a trustworthy veteran running back in Dean Paris.
Johnston needed to get that win. It needed momentum as it gets set for the second half. With games against Pilgrim, Lincoln and Classical coming up, the road to the playoffs will not be an easy one, but let’s see if this first win can jumpstart a late surge. Don’t count that Panthers out just yet.