Eddie Buehler, Matt Whitney lift North Kingstown past Portsmouth, 31-28, in D-I thriller
Bill Koch
NORTH KINGSTOWN --- North Kingstown simulates this sort of thing in practice, of course.
The two-minute drill on offense leading to the winning field goal with no time left – it’s not unique to the Skippers. They’re not the only team who drills for countless hours anticipating such a scenario in a key game.
How many teams can execute when it counts? North Kingstown is certainly worthy of inclusion among them after this exciting Friday night at Perry Athletic Complex.
Eddie Buehler was 6-for-7 on the final drive to put his team in position. Matt Whitney’s 28-yard field goal split the uprights. The Skippers celebrated a 31-28 squirmer against Portsmouth, as a pair of Division I powers played all the way to the gun in front of a capacity crowd.
“It was a great game – back and forth,” North Kingstown coach Fran Dempsey said. “Whoever got the ball last was going to win. That’s kind of what it seemed like.”
Carson Conheeny’s 3-yard touchdown run and Ben Smith’s conversion boot with 1:31 left knotted the game at 28-28. North Kingstown had all three timeouts remaining and put the ball in the hands of its strong-armed junior quarterback. Buehler hit on his first six passes and turned it over to Whitney with 0:03 left.
“I had a gut feeling as the game was going on,” Whitney said. “I tried to just stay focused on what was happening. Make a play and we’ll get there when we get there.”
The Skippers executed perfectly on special teams. The snap and hold were clean to the right hash. Whitney’s kick was good by some distance and his teammates jubilantly raced off the home sideline.
“I wasn’t that worried,” Buehler said. “I knew he was going to do what he was going to do. I was just happy the offense was able to get him down there.”
The Patriots (4-2, 3-2 Division I) mounted an 18-play drive that chewed up 9:23 of the final quarter to tie the game. Portsmouth quarterback Ben Hurd used his dual-threat skills to rush for a pair of conversions on third and fourth downs, carrying his team into the red zone. Hurd hit Jack Cianciolo for 12 yards inside the 5 and Conheeny did the rest up the middle.
“Portsmouth is good,” Dempsey said. “Ben Hurd is the real deal, man.”
North Kingstown (5-1, 4-1 D-I) didn’t hesitate to trust Buehler with the game on the line. He connected three times apiece with Keith Mancini and Brayden Rogers, with the last completion taking the ball inside the Portsmouth 10. The Skippers used a timeout with 0:30 left and called another after a final rush by Buehler.
“It means so much for them to believe in me and have me take the ball and go do what I can do,” Buehler said. “It shows they believe in my skills. They let me do what I can do.”
The Patriots controlled the clock with their option attack, running twice as many offensive plays in the game. Hurd rushed for 134 yards and three scores, the last a 5-yard dash around left end midway through the third quarter. He also finished 10-for-14 passing for 169 yards, gashing a North Kingstown defense that allowed just 22 points through its previous four league games.
“The defense has been playing great,” Buehler said. “Tonight they battled through adversity. They still pulled it out for us.”
The Skippers forced the game’s only turnover after Hurd finished a long opening drive with a 13-yard sprint to the right. Buehler hit Mancini for a pair of touchdown passes in the second quarter and North Kingstown carried a 14-7 lead into halftime. There was plenty of drama to come over the final 24 minutes.
“We’ve gotten a lot better,” Whitney said. “We’ve come together as a team. I can’t say enough about these boys.”
Portsmouth 7 0 14 7 – 28
North Kingstown 0 14 7 10 – 31
P – Ben Hurd 13 run (Ben Smith kick)
NK – Keith Mancini 15 pass from Eddie Buehler (Matt Whitney kick)
NK – Mancini 28 pass from Buehler (Whitney kick)
P – Hurd 11 run (Smith kick)
P – Hurd 5 run (Smith kick)
NK – Brayden Rogers 34 pass from Buehler (Whitney kick)
P – Carson Conheeny 3 run (Smith kick)
NK – Whitney 28 field goal
Individual stats
Rushing: P, 52-214 (Ben Hurd 23-134, Carson Conheeny 17-34, Jack Cianciolo 2-22, Dylan Brandariz 8-22, Marcus Evans 2-2); NK, 11-60 (Buehler 5-30, Andrew Ciarniello 3-27, TJ Gormley 1-3, Evan Beattie 1-3, Luke Brennan 1-minus 3).
Passing: P, 10-14-0 169 (Hurd 10-14-0 169); NK, 16-20-0 202 (Buehler 16-20-0 202)
Receiving: P, 10-169 (Brandariz 3-61, Cianciolo 3-26, Evan Tullson 2-31, Gavin Bicho 1-25, Evans 1-20); NK, 16-202 (Keith Mancini 7-78, Brayden Rogers 6-119, Aiden Nunez 1-1, Andrew Ciarniello 1-1, Evan Beattie 1-1).