Huskies beat Westerly 21-7, advance to semis

A relentless defense and steady offense led the Mt. Hope Huskies to a 21-7 quarterfinal win over the Westerly Bulldogs Friday night in Bristol, sending the Huskies to the Division II semifinals next Friday vs. the winner of the Middletown/Moses Brown game.

Mt. Hope won by two touchdowns, but the Huskies had a shutout on their hands until the last minute of play. That’s when a Mt. Hope fumble on a Westerly fourth down punt put the ball deep in Mt. Hope territory. The Bulldogs were able to run the ball in from the two-yard line, putting a meaningless score on the board.

Scoring was low for the first two thirds of the game, until Mt. Hope scored with about four minutes left in the fourth quarter to bring the score to 14-0. They followed it up at the end of the quarter with another touchdown, when junior Max Moskala scored on a 60-yard run from the Huskies’ 40-yard-line.

After the game, coach T.J. DelSanto said he wasn’t surprised at the game’s outcome, as the Huskies had a good week of practice and came up with a good game plan for the contest.

“You guys did everything we asked you to,” he told the team after the win. “The outcome was never in doubt.”

Mr. DelSanto said the team’s stellar season has been “destiny,” following several years of rebuilding Mt. Hope’s program.

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“You deserved this,” he told the team.