St. Raphael kept believing, and the 3rd time was the charm in D-II Super Bowl

CRANSTON — They never stopped believing.

The St. Raphael football team never thought about its two previous trips to Cranston Stadium, two Super Bowls that ended in defeat. The Saints didn’t get worried that their offense was struggling to move the ball against a relentless Portsmouth defense that just wouldn’t quit.

Doubt didn’t exist. The drive to win did.

And now the Saints are champions.

On their final drive of Saturday’s Division II Super Bowl, St. Raphael put together an offensive display that the players will never forget — seven plays, 43 yards of flawless execution that ended with a 7-yard touchdown pass by first-year quarterback Dan Wulf to injured star receiver Ethan McCann-Carter with 33 seconds left, giving the Saints a 7-3 win over Portsmouth and exorcising any demons that might have existed within the program.

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“This is amazing. It’s a great feeling, just holding the gold medals in my hand and the whole team, the cheering crowd,” said St. Raphael All-Stater Moses Meus, who sealed the win with an interception. “This is just an amazing feeling. I wouldn’t replace it with anything else.”

“It was belief,” St. Raphael center Lawrence Thornton III said. “Belief in our team, belief in ourselves. When we can’t believe in ourselves, we give up on the team.”

St. Raphael won by not letting its past become its present.

Two years ago, the Saints put together an incredible season before losing to a senior-laden Barrington squad in the Division II Super Bowl. Last year seemed like it was going to be St. Raphael’s year, but injuries caught up with the Saints late before losing to Classical in the Division II title game.

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Those games were long gone from the players' — especially the seniors' — minds. Dwelling on the past wasn’t going to do them any good against Portsmouth and they knew it.

“The last two years, it was because we hadn’t been finishing,” Meus said. “We hadn’t been in the right mindset. Once we get to the fourth quarter, we were probably tired and weren’t pushing enough. This year is different and you see that right now.”

The defenses gave an inch and that was about it. St. Raphael used its superior size to take away Portsmouth’s interior run attack and the Patriots were more than content to let the Saints give the ball to any player other than Meus.

Heading to the fourth quarter, Portsmouth had the only points on the board. Down, 3-0, the St. Raphael defense came up with a stop to get the ball back at the Portsmouth 43 with 3:32 left. All of a sudden, the Saints' offense came alive.

The drive was precision, with Wulf dotting his receivers. He hit McCann-Carter twice, for gains of 7 and 11 yards. The senior receiver went into the game with a leg injury and described himself at about 70 percent and didn’t see a touch until those catches.

After a 4-yard run by Aaron Julius, St. Raphael called a timeout and McCann-Carter told his coaches he was ready to make a play. The ball was on the left hash, McCann-Carter was lined up left and beat his man to the inside. Wulf threw a dart on the slant and McCann-Carter made the grab.

“I told Coach, ‘Trust me,' McCann-Carter said. "He trusted me all season and he trusted me in a big moment. The stats show it. Me and Wulf, since Game 1, have been getting better and better and better each game.”

“All day, 10 of 10,” Meus said when he was asked how much trust he had in McCann-Carter making a play. “I’ve got Ethan.”

“I had so much trust in both of them,” Thornton said. “[Wulf] is an unbelievable quarterback and Ethan is an unbelievable receiver. He just blew our minds.”

Portsmouth’s lone score was achieved at the end of a 12-play, 49-yard drive that stalled at the St. Raphael 5 and ended with a George Smith field goal with 1:20 left in the third quarter.

Having to go 80 yards in 33 seconds was a big ask, but Portsmouth was ready for the challenge. So was St. Raphael. The defensive rush got to quarterback Thomas Hurd and his pass was tipped and ended up in the hands of Meus, who nearly had a pick-6 to close the win.

Not getting the touchdown didn’t matter. Wulf’s kneel down was the finish the Saints were looking for.

“We were down, 3-0. We were like, 'We’ve got to finish,' ” Meus said. “We’ve been here before, we’ve been down before and it was nothing new. We just had to keep pushing.”

“Nobody knows that feeling," McCann-Carter said. "This group of seniors knows exactly. We all came in at the same time. We all went through those two losing Super Bowls and we knew this was our year. We just had to lock in.”

The ending wasn’t what Portsmouth was looking for but the season won’t be forgotten either. After losing a talented senior class, the Patriots put together quite a run that got them to a title game and nearly pulled off a win that would have shaken Aquidneck Island.

“We went through ups, we went through downs but at the end of the day, we just have to keep our heads high and remember we’re a family,” Portsmouth linebacker Dylan Brandariz said. “We just have to keep fighting. We’ve got Thanksgiving and we can keep fighting for that.”

St. Raphael 7, Portsmouth 3

Third quarter

P – George Smith 22 field goal, 1:20

Fourth quarter

S – Ethan McCann-Carter 7 pass from Dan Wulf (Jonah Costa kick), :33

TEAM STASTISTICS

RUSHING – Portsmouth 49-159, St. Raphael 28-109. PASSING – Portsmouth 0-4-0, St. Raphael 7-17-67. TOTAL OFFENSE – Portsmouth 159, St. Raphael 176. FIRST DOWNS – Portsmouth 8, St. Raphael 9. FUMBLES-LOST – Portsmouth 1-0, St. Raphael 2-1. TOTAL TURNOVERS – Portsmouth 1, St. Raphael 2. PENALTIES-YARDS – Portsmouth 3-26, St. Raphael 0-0. PUNTS-YARDS – Portsmouth 5-157, St. Raphael 3-106. TIME OF POSSESSION: Portsmouth 27:43, St. Raphael 20:17.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING: Portsmouth – Adam Conheeny 12-54; Neal Tullson 15-53; Dylan Brandariz 10-45; Shane Harvey 6-14; Carson Conheeny 5-3; Thomas Hurd 1-(-7). St. Raphael – Aaron Julius 19-70; Moses Meus 7-42, fumble; Team 1-(-1); Dan Wulf 1-(-2).

PASSING: Portsmouth – Tullson 0-2-0; Hurd 0-2-0, INT. St. Raphael – Wulf 7-17-67, TD, INT.

RECEIVING: Portsmouth – none. St. Raphael – Meus 2-38; Ethan McCann-Carter 3-25; Damien Ocampo 2-4.