A huge part of Tiverton is Sports. Not only have we had success in the past, but this year with a huge class of Seniors we have the chance to win championships. This is Next year. A phrase developed by Brendon Sowa before the Football season started, the football team took this to heart entering week 1 against Hope High School. Last year, the Tigers went 3-6 on the year, an improvement from the 1 win the year prior. The tigers entered Hope on a Saturday, trying to defeat and beat them on the road.
Last year, Hope beat Tiverton 26-7 on a rainy, bad, and dreary day. Nobody wanted to remember that day as Tiverton Started hot. A kickoff that trailed into the back of the endzone pinned Hope deep in their territory. They pushed Hope back farther and farther until they ended up getting a safety (Tackling someone in their endzone). The score was 2-0. The 1st quarter ended but Tiverton was still hot. 
It was Evan Lapointe who ran it in for a touchdown and gave the Tigers an 8-0 Lead. Brendon Sowa, the Kicker, scored the PAT and was up 9-0. Despite some bad officiating in the game, Tiverton persevered getting another Safety. 11-0. The Second half was perfect, with defensive stop after defensive stop. A Bad call by the refs prevented the Tigers from getting a fumble recovery Touchdown, but it didn’t matter. The Tigers would score again winning the game 18-0. The Tigers were officially the 2nd best team in Division 4.
A team who wanted revenge, and didn’t think we deserved the win last year, Smithfield. They wanted to come into the Den and beat us. It didn’t matter though. The Tigers were fresh off the win against Hope and ready to defend their home turf. Hopes were high until Smithfield returned the opening Kickoff for a touchdown. This seemed like it would be a long game for the Tigers. A missed PAT gave us hope that we could answer back. Answering back is what we did with Aidan Champ returning the next kickoff for a touchdown. A missed PAT kept the game tied 6-6. A good defensive stop gave Tiverton a huge field advantage. A great Ben Troia lead offense ended up scoring on its very next drive. Sowa made the kick and took a 13-6 lead at the end of the first. It was a battle with Smithfield then scoring in the second to the game at halftime 13-13. The Tigers wanted the win more though, scoring with less than 6 minutes to go in the 4th. The dormant 3rd quarter was followed by an exciting defensive stand by the Tigers defense stopping Smithfield on 4th down and giving the Tigers back. Although it took 3 plays and 2 redos the Tigers scored again making the final score 27-13. The Tigers are now 2-0.
Sadly though, Saturday the 28th would be the Tiger’s first loss of the season. With some bad calls, I watched the Tigers have a slow start to the game against the Scituate Spartans. Paul Zokos, a big running back, would break free for a touchdown. The Spartans lead 7-0, only 1 point more than they did last year at half. The Tigers were ready though as they rallied back with Ben Troia throwing a beautiful pass to Wayne Heilborn, who scored tying the game 7-7. Scituate would score the drive after with the clock ticking down to 6 seconds remaining in the 3rd. The Tiger’s offense though would score on their first play, ending the 3rd quarter with a huge catch and run by Sam Black. This tied the game 14-14. Sadly though, that would be the last time the Tigers would score as Scituate then got another final big run with 3 minutes remaining. The score would be 21-14 Final, although 2 huge plays gave the Tigers a chance and a potential win. Troia threw for over 300 yards and 2 touchdowns, an excellent performance, and the best game of his high school career.
Come support the Tiverton High School football team this Saturday, October 12th at Exeter-West Greenwich High School!
