Panthers 10U one win from perfect season

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The Johnston 10U Panthers took another step toward an undefeated season with a solid effort in a 25-0 win over Upper Cape this past weekend.

For the first time in a while Johnston lost the coin toss and put their defense on the field to start the game. Upper Cape had success moving the ball on the first possession, which saw the Spartans bring the ball down to the Panther 6-yard line. The Panthers managed to strip the ball, causing a fumble and upon recovery denying the Spartans a chance to score.

The Panther offense took the field with the ball on the 5-yard line and on the first play from scrimmage, Isaiah DeBritto scampered 95 yards for the first touchdown of the game. The offensive line did a great job blocking throughout the game and was led by Alex Morin, Dylan Silva, Michael Franco, Rafael Ayriyan, Noah Lavergne, Kyle Iannucillo, Jesse Pascetta, Michael Morris, Andrew Picard, Michael Laflamme, and Michael Vita.

Down 6-0, the Spartan offense came back on the field and managed to string off a few good runs. However, the Panther defense proved to be tough again and put the ball back in the hands of the Panther offense.

On the second play of the series Dimetri Iafrate ran 70 yards for the Panthers’ second touchdown. This gave the Panthers a 13-0 lead.

The Panther defense was led by Matthias Barros, Michael Salzillo, Nick Baccala, Carlos Alfaia, Dante Florio, Austin Jencks, Silva, Ayriyan, Jayden McKenna, Dante Iafrate, Dario Branch, Armand Decosta, Joe Forte, and Eric Luna. That unit came up with another turnover on a Spartans fumble.

On the next offensive series Dimetri Iafrate dropped back to pass and connected with Andrew Picard, who was wide open in the middle of the end zone. That took the score to 19-0.

Late in the fourth quarter the Johnston Panthers managed to put their final touchdown on the board on a nice run by Hudson Carvalho.

The Johnston football league will host its final regular season games on Sunday at Johnston High School. Games begin at 8:30 a.m. The 10U squad plays at 11 a.m.

<$>11U Panthers win big

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Once again, the Johnston 11U Panthers showed their offensive, defensive and special teams dominance with a 48-0 win against the Norton Black Knights. 

Johnston started fast when Peter Bibby took the opening kickoff down the sideline for a 55-yard touchdown. C.J. Ragosta ran in the conversion to make it 7-0.

The tough Panther defense led by Ryan Schino, Connor Diamantino, Caleb Visnicky, Gianni Palumbo, David Silva, and  Robert Joseph stopped the Black Knights from gaining any yards and forced a turnover on downs. 

On the Panthers’ next offensive drive, running back Bibby found the end zone and fullback Rozellio Jones took the ball across the goal line for the extra point to give the Panthers an early 14-0 lead. 

The Panthers special teams also came up big. Standout kicker, Phil Costantini placed a perfect kick just over 10 yards for a successful onside kick, keeping the Black Knight defense on the field. The explosive Panther offense took over and running back Domenic Petrarca scored a touchdown. He added another later in the quarter. A Brando Coico extra point made it 27-0. 

The Panther defense continued its dominance with Gianni Palumbo making a big sack. Later the defensive line forced a Black Knight fumble. The Panthers’ next offensive touchdown was set up with a 20 yard pass play from quarterback Joey Acciardo to Jones. This allowed Ragosta to score another Panther touchdown. 

The second quarter had the Panther offense and defense continuing to put on a show for the home crowd. Emma Salzillo took an end-around 40 yards for another Panther score. 

Petrarca then picked off a Black Knight pass, giving the Panther offense more opportunities to showcase their running game.  Great plays were also made by Kenny Irizarry, Antonio Gemma, Todd Dilullo, Jamel Gonzalez, Gian Souza and Sebastian Annicelli.   

The third quarter saw a big defensive play by linebacker Joey Legault, which stopped the Black Knight offense from gaining any yards. Petrarca showed his speed and ability to find an open hole with an impressive  50-yard touchdown run on a handoff from quarterback Thomas Zednick. Coico added the extra point.

In the fourth quarter, the offense continued to show its depth with a 40-yard touchdown run by Raymond Beaumier. In addition, Nick Keller, Jack Russo and Troy Nicotra made key plays for the Panthers’ offense and defense, which helped the Panthers cruise to the 48-0 victory. 

The 11U Panthers hope to carry their momentum into their final regular season game as they take on South Attleboro in Seekonk.                      

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