Portsmouth Football Drops To 1-2 In 28-12 Loss To Cranston East

PORTSMOUTH, RI — The Patriots moved the ball well for most of the game, but failed to turn those yards into points in a 28-12 home loss to Cranston East.

Quarterback and Senior Captain Kyle Bicho threw two touchdown passes one for five yards to Dan McKinnon in the first quarter and another in the fourth quarter to Senior Captain Brian Hamilton for four yards. Portsmouth had other opportunities to score, especially in the first half but Head Coach Matt Kestler said too many long drives stalled.

"We moved the ball very well," Kestler said. (We) went for a fourth and short and were stopped. They (Cranston East) went down and scored. Then we moved the ball again and were intercepted deep in their territory."

At the end of the first half those missed opportunities left Cranston East with a 14-6 lead to start the second half. Kestler said the game was still close, but Cranston East pulled away, extending their lead on their first drive of the half with a touchdown and two-point conversion.

Bicho connected with Hamilton to make it a 10-point game, but the Patriot's defense struggled against the Cranston East rushing attack. Cranston East Quarterback Rayven Deoliveira gave Portsmouth all sorts of problems rushing for 210 rushing yards and throwing three touchdown passes.

"They marched and scored again with their big quarterback bullying his way through us yet again, but missed the extra point, Kestler said, " (It was) still a two-score game."

Another interception on the next Portsmouth drive ended their chances. There were not many chances to begin with in the second half. Cranston East dominated second half time of possession by an almost 16-minute margin.

Kestler despite the loss saw some encouraging signs from his team particularly with how underclassmen played.

"We were thin in the second half losing three starters to injury, but the younger kids that stepped in played well, Kestler said. "Size was definitely a factor again. If we get that fourth down spot and score, we’d be up and they wouldn’t have been able to ground and pound us."

The Patriots have their homecoming game Saturday against Central (Providence). Kestler said his team has a few adjustments to make, but he feels good about his team going into this week. Kick off Saturday is at 1:30 p.m.

Photo Credit Deb Kestler