'Bolts score 27 unanswered to shock Clippers

It was the best birthday present a coach could ask for.

At a rainy Cranston Stadium on Friday night, East head football coach Tom Centore, who was celebrating his 50th birthday, saw his ’Bolts score 27 unanswered points en route to a 35-28 victory over Cumberland in a battle of unbeatens.

Behind a three-touchdown performance from senior captain Jay Bast, East was able to erase its 28-8 first-half deficit to shock the Clippers in dramatic fashion.

After the game, the team and East fans came together to sing “Happy Birthday” to Centore.

“It’s the best gift ever,” Centore said.

The win certainly wasn’t gift-wrapped, though.

Cumberland came out on fire. It allowed a 1-yard touchdown run to Bast on the first possession of the game, and Malik Gavek rushed in for the 2-point conversion to give East an early 8-0 lead.

It didn’t take long for the Clippers to answer back.

On the ensuing kickoff, John Andrews weaved through a bevy of ’Bolts for an 85-yard score to trim the East lead to 8-7.

The struggles for East’s special team units continued from there.

Cumberland pushed in front with 59 seconds left in the first quarter on a 55-yard strike from Joe Leonard to Ryan Gaboury to make it 14-8, before its return game went back to work.

On an East punt early in the second quarter, the home team couldn’t make a tackle again, with Jack Hayes beating defenders down the right sideline for a 65-yard touchdown and a 21-8 Cumberland advantage.

The Clippers didn’t take their foot off the gas there as, two minutes later, they found the end zone again on a 28-yard touchdown pass from Leonard to Hayes to take a 28-8 lead.

All the momentum was on the road team’s side. East needed a turnover desperately to make something happen before halftime, and it got just what it needed.

With under a minute remaining, Wesley Isom recovered a Cumberland fumble at the Clippers’ 27-yard line, and the offense took advantage.

Just 14 seconds before the break, quarterback Justin Neary found Jake Palazzo open in the middle of the end zone for a 10-yard touchdown. The extra point from Jaireal Rodriguez trimmed the Cumberland lead to just two scores, 28-15.

With momentum swinging back in East’s favor, Centore delivered a calm message to his squad at the half.

“Never yelled, I just told them to ‘Make the corrections and do what you need to do,’” Centore said. “That touchdown just before half was big. I thought that turned the game around.”

Cumberland received the kickoff in the second half, but it didn’t retain possession for long.

A fumble just 13 seconds into the third quarter was recovered by East defensive back Alex Martinez at Cumberland’s 37-yard line.

Less than two minutes later, East was in the end zone.

Bast rushed in from 25 yards out with two minutes, eight seconds gone in the third quarter to trim the deficit to 28-21.

While East’s offense began to pick up some steam, the defense put the clamps on Cumberland’s offense, minimizing big plays and allowing no points in the final two quarters.

“Desire,” Centore responded when asked what changed in his defense from half to half. “[Cumberland] ran a fast-paced no huddle in the first half, and we just had to catch up. That’s not something we see all the time, so we did a great job.”

East got the ball back around the midway point of the third quarter and quickly marched down the field, with the drive ultimately resulting in a 14-yard rush to pay dirt for Gavek to tie the game at 28.

Bast would score the eventual game-winning touchdown, his third of the night, with 10:27 left in the game to complete the comeback, rushing in from 13 yards out to give East its first lead since the opening minutes of the game, 35-28.

Cumberland took the ball into East territory late in the fourth quarter looking for the equalizing score, but came up empty, turning the ball over on downs.

The win pushes East into first place at 3-0, a half game ahead of idle La Salle (2-0), in Division I-B.

The ’Bolts have a bye this week, but will return to action next Friday for their biggest test of the season thus far at La Salle at 7 p.m.

East has every right to be confident going into the matchup with the Rams. It hasn’t been beaten yet and Friday’s win proved that the ’Bolts are a resilient group.

“We hadn’t really played anyone with that type of pace, so that was a good test,” Centore said. “You can’t simulate pace in practice, and I think in the second half they caught the pace.”