Newington's junior peewee team overcame an early deficit to defeat the North Kingston (RI) Jaguars 20-12 at Sage Park and advance to the New England AYF Regional championship next Sunday. The Knights will take on the Charlton Dudley (MA) Rams in Manchester, NH.
"The scary thing is ... it's not automatic," coach Brian Perillo said. "You don't just show up and win. We've had Newington teams in the past win national championships, but those teams were unbelievable. This team's good but everybody wants to beat us so they have to be ready."
Newington's win was a matter of perseverance, adjustment and a great performance from running back Luis Figueroa. Newington struggled to stop the Jaguars on their first possession but made the stop. The next time North Kingston got the ball, Cory Coogan ran for 38 yards on a pitch, setting up a 48-yard touchdown pass from Ben Lombardi to Nick Chevalier.
"After the first drive of the game I was very concerned," Perillo said. "We were scrambling on defense and had to come up with a few changes. But the kids responded."
Once the defense started making consistent stops, Newington used its offense to retake the lead. Figueroa totaled well over 100 yards on the day and was the deciding factor. His 27-yard run set up the first of his three touchdowns late in the second quarter making the score 7-6.
The Jaguars regained the lead on a one yard run by Connor MacMillan in the third quarter, but Newington would not be held down for long.
Figueroa added a 6-yard touchdown early in the fourth quarter and broke free for a 52-yard gain down to the one-yard line late in the game. When he easily scored from there the game was mostly out of reach. Ryan Fresen intercepted a pass to seal the victory.
"He's got a little extra step, a little quick step, and he sees the field really well," Perillo said. "He cuts well. He did a great job but our line really came on and gave him some big holes. Altogether they played really well on offense."
In particular the line did an outstanding job on the crucial big play at the end
"They did a great job," Perillo said. "[Figueroa] hit the hole hard and made a nice cut. The key on that was they kept blocking down field not just at the point of attack."
Newington managed to overcome being outsized against the Jaguars and will likely face another difficult task against the Rams next week. A win there would put a Newington team in a national championship round for the third consecutive year.



Plainville hoped to reach the regional finals as well when its peewee division team faced the Warwick (RI) Patriots. Unfortunately for the Colts, they were outmatched after a thrilling run to the state title. Warwick won 18-6.
"They're nationally known for going deep into the playoffs," Plainville coach Tommy Thompson said of the opponent. "They're a good team and they executed well today."
The game remained scoreless throughout the first half and it appeared whichever team could score first would win. That went in favor of the Patriots.
Facing fourth-and-four midway through the third the Patriots drew the Colts offsides for the first down. Two plays later they completed a 17-yard pass and then rushed 18-yards to the right side to set up a one-yard score and a 6-0 lead.
Plainville marched back down field led by running back Jarrod Thompson. However, the Colts chose to run four passing plays in a row and turned the ball over on downs. It was a gutsy play call with the running attack seemingly working.
"The thinking was it's the same way we played all year long," Thompson said. "That's what we do, no matter what the situation. I'm confident in my guys making that play."
When Warwick got the ball back they made the Colts pay. Miller ran in a 27-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 12-0.
Plainville kept battling and pulled to within 12-6 when Solomon Little carried the entire pile into the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the five-yard line. But Miller's 59-yard score, on the same play as his last touchdown, sealed the victory for Warwick.
"I think they may have caught us in a bad defense ... They caught us offguard," Thompson said. "They broke that one when we were coming back. It happens. Those are the plays of the game."
Plainville's state title was an achievement despite the loss. Still, losing is always difficult.
"We're happy with being state champs," Thompson said. "No one thought we'd get this far, but we wanted more. We didn't begin the year to be state champs. We began the year to be national champs."