Cumberland’s Peewee Jr Clippers earned a 13–0 win at North Providence’s homecoming Sunday, with a meaningful return for player Hector Zenteno III and his father, Peewee coach Hector Zenteno. Both previously represented North Providence—one on the field, the other on the sideline—and came back together wearing Cumberland colors.
For Coach Zenteno, the connections ran deep. He grew up in North Providence, played for the program from ages five through fourteen and later coached this same team alongside its current staff for three years. Sunday was his first time seeing the team in two years, since joining Cumberland. His son was returning to his former team, too, across from friends and schoolmates who still wear North Providence colors.
The Clippers gave that return a strong opening. Their first possession lasted roughly seven minutes, with Royal Vicente, Collin Beaudreault, Grayson Sen and Julian Bell sharing the work as Cumberland earned its way downfield. Vicente, No. 2, finished the drive with a 13-yard touchdown, and Bell punched in the extra point for a 7–0 lead.
That drive had a foundation. Owen Bartlett, Harrison Musser, Roland Long, Kyrie Alu and Zachary White supplied excellent work along the starting offensive line, creating the room Cumberland’s runners needed to keep gaining ground.
The defense made those first seven points stand up through halftime and delivered one of its best games of the season. A crucial stand at Cumberland’s own nine-yard line turned North Providence over on downs, protecting the shutout when the Jets were within striking distance.
The game went back and forth before another defensive stop gave Cumberland an opportunity late in the third quarter. Vicente, Sen and Beaudreault helped move the Clippers downfield again, bringing the ball to the seven-yard line.
Then Hector Zenteno III got his chance. After two and a half weeks away, he took two snaps and carried the ball twice. His first run covered roughly six and a half yards before he was marked just short of the goal line. On the next carry, he punched it in for the touchdown and a 13–0 Cumberland lead.
Two carries, with a familiar end zone on the other end of them. For a player returning to his old team and a father coaching against a program that had been part of his life for years, the moment carried a little more than the six points.
Cumberland still had work to finish. The defense made another stop, the Clippers got the ball back and took a knee through the final seconds to close out the win.
A sustained opening drive, a line that kept working and a defense that never gave up a point. The homecoming belonged to North Providence on the calendar. Cumberland brought home a memory of its own.