By Samuel Chozick

NEFJ Correspondent

WESTERLY, RI — This Friday night, the Westerly Bulldogs hosted the North Kingstown Skippers to kick off their respective 2024 high school football seasons. The season opener saw the Skippers leave Westerly with a 21-12 victory.

Junior quarterback Jack Diano wasted no time showing off his arm talent, launching a ball down the right sideline to senior receiver Gian Lacuele, all the way down to the 2-yard line, on the second play from scrimmage.

“Yeah, you know, I’ve been watching film all week. I saw that backside safety, just creeping in,” Diano said. “We got our best receiver right now, Gian Lacuele, playing the X position… I just knew it would be there.”

Junior running back Christopher Ciarniello capped off the four-play opening drive, plunging into the end zone from two yards out.

The contest saw flashes from both teams, on both sides of the ball. Ultimately it was the third phase of the game, special teams, that gave North Kingstown the edge over Westerly.

Despite a quick response from Senior running back Terrell Hill, who scampered in the end zone on the ensuing drive, Westerly returner’s muffed punts and botched kick returns proved too much to surmount.

“Liam Kennett is our punter and our kicker, and he’s a Division 1-caliber player, it’s a weapon,” said North Kingstown coach, Dave Giorgi. “When a ball goes up, 50, 60-plus feet in the air, it puts a lot of pressure on the punt returner to make that catch.”

All the pressure seemed to be on Westerly following back-to-back touchdown passes from Diano passes to a North Kingstown player and Lacuele. Diano developed quite a rapport with the latter.

Westerly hung around until the closing moments of the fourth quarter, when a last-ditch effort onside kick attempt fell into the hands of North Kingstown. A late touchdown run from Hill, his second, saw a respectable 21-12 final score.

Special teams plagued Westerly from the jump, as they failed to convert both their first extra point and two-point conversion attempt. North Kingstown capitalized.

“Our special teams, we practice a lot, every day we’re doing some type of special teams,” said Giorgi. “We take it seriously, it’s a huge phase of the game that you can steal games from.”

North Kingstown’s game day efforts are a reflection of the mentality both the coaches and the players bring to practice, according to Diano.

“Every play in practice… we’ve been full throttle,” said Diano. “No breaks, all gas.”

While Giorgi is satisfied with Friday night’s result, a successful program can never stay satisfied, according to Giorgi.

“We’ve always been a team that can throw the ball in the past, I want to be able to run the football,” said Giorgi. “All the mistakes we made today, it’s fixable.”

North Kingstown will look to keep its foot on the gas when they host Cranston West, next Friday, September 13th.

As for Westerly, they’ll look to bounce back on the road vs Chariho on the same date.