Ecstasy and agony for Newport County football teams: What we learned after Week 5 games

The Middletown and Rogers high school football teams each tried to take down an unbeaten foe Friday night, and the scenario ended up like agony and ecstasy.

The ecstasy came for Middletown, which defeated Chariho 14-2 to pull even with the Chargers (3-1) in the Division III-A standings. More importantly, the win earned the Islanders a head-to-head advantage for playoff seeding.

“Barring upsets, I’m pretty sure this sets us up with a No. 2 seed and a home playoff game,” Middletown coach Matt Kestler said. “We’re not looking past anybody, but that’s what it looks like now.”

The agony came for the Vikings, who scored two touchdowns in the first quarter and held the lead until there were six minutes left in the game before suffering a 14-12 road setback to West Warwick.

Portsmouth picked up a much-needed victory on its homecoming weekend, topping Shea 14-7 on Saturday afternoon. Tiverton bowed to the Exeter-West Greenwich/Prout co-op team 33-14 on Saturday.

Here’s what we learned after the Week 5 games:

After fast start, mistake-prone Rogers fizzles out on offense

After scoring touchdowns on its first two possessions, the closest the Vikings got to the West Warwick end zone the rest of the contest was the Wizards' 29-yard line.

Two penalties stalled one drive that eventually ended with a deflected pass that was intercepted. On another drive, Rogers had the ball near midfield facing a fourth-and-one play and called a timeout.

RI high school football media poll: Welcome back, Middletown, while Portsmouth slips

When play resumed, Rogers lined up to run a play but was whistled for a motion penalty before the ball was snapped. The Vikings punted. A fumble ended the next drive.

Forced into a passing mode during its last two drives, Rogers went in the wrong direction. Quarterback Cisco Aponte was buried and sacked four times, and the Vikings incurred two more penalties. After the last sack, the West Warwick quarterback knelt with the ball to end the game.

“That was a tough one,” Rogers coach John Horsman said. “We’ve got to play mistake-free football and we didn’t. And it came back to bite us at the end.

“I don’t question their heart. They played hard. They need to know what we expect out of them. They need to know we can’t make silly mistakes. You can’t go offside or get holding penalties. We have to just keep practicing.”

Middletown defense, special teams lead the charge in win over Chariho

On a night when Middletown couldn’t get its offense on track, the Islanders made up for it in other ways. Juleun Gilman returned an interception 30 yards for a touchdown and Isaac Mello blocked a punt that Caleb Florendo fell on in the end zone.

“We saw something on film that we thought we could take advantage of, so we tried to go for the block,” Middletown coach Matt Kestler said. “The first time we just missed it. The second time we got it.”

Florendo’s extra-point kicks were true after each score as the Islanders built a 14-0 halftime lead and relied on the defense throughout the contest.

“The defense played amazing,” Kestler said. “They dominated the game in every aspect. We took it to them and beat them up physically. They never really got close to the end zone. We played great on special teams and defense and left the offense on the bus.”

Chariho’s two points came when Middletown quarterback Julien Delacruz let the ball slip though his hands on a center snap before he fell on it in his own end zone and was piled on by Chariho defenders for a safety.

Patriots climb above .500 mark with Homecoming win over Shea

Portsmouth pleased its homecoming crowd as it earned a hard-fought 14-7 victory over Shea on Saturday afternoon.

The Patriots upped their Division II-B record to 2-1, while the Raiders slipped to 1-3. Shane Harvey ran for a pair of touchdowns for Portsmouth. The Patriots will travel for a key game against unbeaten Woonsocket in Week 6.

Vikings among top four teams in division and have realistic playoff shot

Rogers moved the ball well early on offense before succumbing to its own mistakes.

Dayvon London scored two touchdowns and gained 105 yards on 15 carries. Travis Burroughs ran 11 times and gained 68 yards, and Elijah Neal had four receptions for 71 yards and turned around and made two interceptions on defense.

“Elijah Neal again, is a difference maker,” Rogers coach John Horsman said. “Trav ran the ball hard and played hard on defense. He always plays hard. And on defense, Nixon Brownell was all over the place.”

Rogers' league losses have come by two points and by three points to unbeaten teams. Although the Vikings slipped to 2-2 in Division III-B with its 14-12 loss to West Warwick (4-0), they’ll be no worse than fourth place heading into next week’s games.

“I think it showed that we can compete with anybody in D-III,” Horsman said. “It’s evenly matched top to bottom. We’re right there.  We’ve got to get over that hump. We’ll regroup. I think we can still make the playoffs. If we play the way we can, we can make the playoffs.”

Tiverton’s winning streak ends against Exeter-West Greenwich/Prout co-op

Tiverton came off its bye week and fell to the Exeter-West Greenwich/Prout co-op team 33-14 on Saturday morning.

The setback ended the Tigers' brief two-game winning streak and evened their Division IV record at 2-2. Tiverton sophomore Aidan Champ ran for a touchdown and Malcolm Michaud caught a scoring pass from quarterback Ben Sowa. Rajin Ramunno snared a two-point conversion pass from Sowa to account for the other Tiverton points.

The Tigers will try to get back on track when they travel to play at Smithfield this coming Friday night.

Short, stocky, strong are traits Juleun Gilman makes work for him

Gilman may be a standout on the football field, but he does not stand out on the football field. The junior running back/linebacker makes big plays on both sides of the ball and did so again Friday night when he picked off a pass and returned it for a touchdown against Chariho.

“Juleun dropped a pick last week (against Coventry) and he was beside himself,” Middletown coach Matt Kestler said. “He’s actually got very good hands and is a good receiver. So it was nice to see him get it this week.

“He’s a really good defender. He’s made big plays in every single game. Right now he potentially could be the MVP of the defense.”

Vikings potential drive to put game away ends badly and Wizards counter

Rogers was ahead 12-7 over West Warwick early in the fourth quarter and sacked the Wizards' quarterback on a fourth down play to end a drive at the Rogers 33-yard line.

Momentum was squarely on the Vikings side.

Two Burroughs runs got the ball to midfield. London carried and gained 5 yards, then 6 more. Burroughs slashed for a 5-yard gain to the West Warwick 29. The Vikings were having their way and seemed set to put an insurance touchdown on the scoreboard.

But as happened in the past, Rogers fumbled the ball back to the Wizards on the next play. Four plays later, West Warwick got the go-ahead touchdown and the Vikings couldn’t recover.

When asked if he thought his team’s drive was going to be one to finish the game Rogers coach John Horsman said, “I thought so. We practice four-minute drills. We’re going to slow down. We’re going to stay in bounds and we’re going to pound the rock and burn the clock. We just didn’t execute it.”

This article originally appeared on Newport Daily News: RI high school football: Newport County teams go 1-3 in Week 5