Cranston West believes it can be one of the top football teams in the state this season.

There will be more believers after Friday night.

The Falcons went on the road and edged perennial powerhouse North Kingstown 29-28 in a season-opening thriller. Kelan Cornell’s touchdown pass to his brother, Charlie, and the ensuing two-point conversion gave Cranston West the edge in the fourth quarter. The defense stiffened in the final minute and forced a Skipper field goal try that was no good.

“We’ve felt since December that we could do something like this,” Cornell said. “We’ve been working out. We’ve been everywhere. This feels real to us. To other people, it might feel like an upset. For us, it’s a step. We want to win a championship. We want to be a top-four team in the state. That’s what we’re here for.”

This was a signature win on that quest. North Kingstown has become the top public-school program in the state over the past few years and played in the state championship Super Bowl last season, falling to Bishop Hendricken after beating La Salle in the semifinals.

“It’s a great win for the program and the school,” Cranston West head coach Tim Milewski said. “Hats off to North Kingstown. That was a great football game.”

With an unusually young roster this season, the Skippers made some costly errors on Friday - costly because the Falcons took full advantage. A penalty on a punt kept West’s first scoring drive alive. Turnovers set up the next two scores as West raced to a 21-0 lead.

“We try to capitalize on mistakes,” Cornell said. “We score in the red zone. Our team identity is good defense and scoring in the red zone.” 

North Kingstown roared back with four consecutive scores, but one more turnover gave the Falcons one more chance.

The Skippers were leading 28-21 in fourth quarter and driving in West territory when Gian Iacuele fumbled at the tail end of a 27-yard catch-and-run. Adalino Acecto-Kun pounced on the loose ball.

“As soon as I saw him running with the ball kind of loose, I knew one of my teammates was going to make a play and knock it out,” Aceto-Kun said. “I knew I had to hustle over and grab that ball.”

The Falcons moved toward midfield and converted a fourth down with a run by Daniel Mojica. Two plays later, the Cornell brothers struck, with Kelan lofting a pass down the left sideline to Charlie, who raced into the end zone for a 45-yard score.

“It’s a mental game,” Kelan said. “You’ve got to keep guys up. We’ve got a ton of dogs on this team. We have guys that can make plays. I told my brother in the huddle, ‘Go make a play.’”

West had a decision to make - attempt the PAT to tie the game or go for two and the lead. There was no doubt about the choice.

“It wasn’t even a debate,” Cornell said. “I knew once we scored that we were going for two. Coach held up two fingers. We don’t want to play for overtime. We had a chance to go win the game. We like when I run the ball. Our line is great. Our running backs block like crazy. When it comes down to three yards, we’re going to go get them.”

That’s what they did. Cornell took a shotgun snap and veered right, sprinting untouched into the corner of the end zone to put West ahead.

The finishing touches were left to the Falcon defense. A 39-yard pass from Jack Diano to Chris Ciarniello put the Skippers on the doorstep of the red zone, but a huge sack by Zachary Petrella knocked them back. On third down, the Skippers tried a hook-and-lateral play, but the attempted lateral was actually a forward pass. The flag pushed them back five more yards and made it fourth down.

“As soon as they started getting down the field, we just had to keep our heads high,” Aceto-Kun said. “We knew that we could stop them. The sack was huge. That’s just what we do.”

Liam Kennett, one of the top kickers in the state, came on to attempt the game-winning field goal. The 44-yard attempt was well short.

“We’ve had many battles with them through the years,” Milewski said. “Both teams play hard. It came down to the last few seconds - that’s what high school sports should be about.”

It was a starry night for Cornell. The senior tossed two touchdown passes and had a touchdown run, to go with his clutch two-point conversion. Ethan Parent caught Cornell’s first touchdown pass for the Falcons. Mehkai Taylor added a score on the ground in the first half. Adam Stollof had an interception.

The victory will turn a lot of heads around the state. For the Falcons, it means confidence and momentum heading into this week’s home opener against Portsmouth.

“It’s a great momentum booster,” Milewski said. “We talk about it all the time at practice - there’s a checklist of things we want to get done in the season. We wanted to keep our journey moving. To gut out a win shows us a lot about our character and what we’ve been working on.”