Hendricken football on top of its game Friday night vs. out-of-state opponent

WARWICK — It’s difficult to imagine Bishop Hendricken playing a sharper first half of football than what it put on display on Friday night.

A coverage bust on a kickoff was the only real mistake, and the defense came up with a stop in the red zone. Passing, running, forced turnovers — the Hawks had it all working in their home opener at Fracassa Stadium.

More: Central and La Salle opened the football season with home games Friday. Here's what went down

More: What will Division I football look like in 2024? Here's Eric Rueb's breakdown of all 10 teams

Dylan Lynch threw two touchdown passes, Sebastian Lora scored twice and Jabari Jackson grabbed a pair of interceptions. Bishop Hendricken overwhelmed Kellenberg, 31-0, in a second straight game against a New York opponent.

“Everything was great,” Lynch said. “The (offensive) line was perfect — a lot of time in the pocket. Defense came in and had a lot of stops.”

The Hawks scored on each of their first four possessions and allowed the clock to run out in the Firebirds red zone prior to halftime, content with a 28-0 cushion into the break. Scot Belford’s 35-yard field goal capped a drive of more than nine minutes to open the second half, as Bishop Hendricken took the air out of the ball the rest of the way.

“The job’s not finished,” Jackson said. “We’ve still got so many weeks in front of us. Back to the drawing board tomorrow.”

Strength up front and in the running game have powered the Hawks to the majority of their 12 state championships since 2010. This season’s edition seemingly has the potential to be more balanced offensively. Lynch connected with six different receivers while going 8-for-13, firing a 30-yard touchdown pass to Michael DaSilva and hitting Lora with a 26-yard scoring strike.

“I think it’s going to be huge,” Lynch said. “I think our passing is there. We’re usually a run team, but we have some guys who can really run and catch the ball.”

Bishop Hendricken (1-1) suffered a 34-30 loss at Monsignor Farrell last week but tightened up on defense in its second outing. Jackson’s first interception came with a 14-0 lead late in the first quarter and gave the Hawks a short field at the Kellenberg 49. Lynch hit tight end Chase Bedrossian to convert a third down and Lora sped around right end on a jet sweep for a 12-yard score with 9:50 left in the second quarter.

“Our defense has been in the lab,” Jackson said. “Practice, film — all of that. Just doing our thing. We’ve been working on it.”

The Firebirds (0-2) finished with just 96 total yards of offense and missed out on a late chance to break up the shutout. They drove inside the Bishop Hendricken 10 but were stopped on fourth down against what was a backup defense. The Hawks took a knee to run out the remaining 2:06 on the clock.

“They were great,” Lynch said. “Not a lot of missed tackles today. It was good — great coverage.”

Bishop Hendricken enters a bye week before facing its first Interscholastic League opponent on Sept. 20. The Hawks travel to Cumberland and will battle last season’s Super Bowl champion in Division II. The Clippers are up to the top level this fall as part of the new 10-team alignment in Division I.

“I think we just came out firing,” Lynch said. “I don’t think it mattered who we were playing.”

Kellenberg (NY) 0 0 0 0 – 0

Bishop Hendricken 14 14 3 0 – 31

BH – Davion Scott 9 run (Scot Belford kick)

BH – Michael DaSilva 30 pass from Dylan Lynch (Belford kick)

BH – Sebastian Lora 12 run (Belford kick)

BH – Lora 26 pass from Lynch (Belford kick)

BH – Belford 35 field goal

Individual stats

Passing: K, 7-17-3 45 (Daniel Licari 6-11-2 25, Jack Durso 0-5-1 0, Patrick Ciampa 1-1-0 20); BH, 8-14-0 135 (Dylan Lynch 8-13-0 135, Isaiah Brito 0-1-0 0).

Rushing: K, 21-51 (Ciampa 4-17, Licari 3-14, Durso 5-13, Justin Bishop 5-5, Donovan O’Toole 1-2, Jack Barkley 3-0); BH, 37-205 (Jeremy Dennis 10-66, Jeremy Seidi 3-34, Michael DaSilva 6-29, Sebastian Lora 3-21, Lynch 5-18, Davion Scott 5-16, Will Mascena 1-12, Mathew Petit 1-6, Brito 2-3).

Receiving: K, 7-45 (Luke Chernaski 2-10, Brendan Galla 2-5, Luke O’Hagan 1-20, Barkley 1-8, Christian DaCosta 1-2); BH, 8-135 (Lora 3-54, DaSilva 1-30, Chase Bedrossian 1-19, Sebastian Nault 1-18, Jonus Rivera 1-11, Seidi 1-3).

bkoch@providencejournal.com

On X: @BillKoch25

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Hendricken football on top of its game Friday vs. out-of-state foe