By ERIC RUEB

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WEST WARWICK – He sat on the sidelines, face in his hands, not wanting to watch.

This isn’t how it was supposed to end for West Warwick quarterback Russell Strickland. He’d been hurt before. He’d been hurt this season. He’d always miss a play here or there but get right back on the field.

It’s what made Saturday’s 14-6 loss to Cumberland in the quarterfinals of the Division II playoffs hurt more than the physical pain that kept him off the field.

Strickland was hurt on the Wizards’ first possession of the second half.

On second-and-6 from the Cumberland 49, Strickland dropped back to pass, then took off up the middle where he was brought down after a two-yard gain.

He rose slowly from the pile, then went down in a hurry. On all fours on the field, he was helped to the sidelines and it was tough to tell what happened.

Let’s just put it this way – it was an injury no male enjoys hearing about.

“I got hit right in my (groin) and when I got up to walk back to the huddle,” Strickland said, “I felt all dizzy and that’s when I dropped.”

Strickland was obviously in pain but figure it would eventually go away. He ate some food on the sideline and drank water, hoping to get back on the field.

Whatever he tried to get himself right didn’t work. He wanted to be out on the field but instead kept himself on the sidelines.

“I still felt dizzy when I was looking (around),” Strickland said. “I knew I wasn’t ready to play football.”

“If Russell Strickland could be on the football field, he’d be on the football field,” West Warwick coach Shane Lagor said. “His judgment I absolutely trust as far as when he’s ready to play or not.”

Strickland’s injury was a shock to the Wizards’ system. Reuben Paygai is as good a backup as a team could want, but he’s also one of the team’s top receiving threats.

With Strickland out, this was a different West Warwick team, and not only on the field.

“He’s a sparkplug. We’ve never seen this kid hurt. It just doesn’t happen,” Lagor said. “I think it demoralized our guys at first.”

While the Wizards were struggling with Strickland’s absence, the Clippers suddenly had a shot to their system.

“It was a boost for us,” Cumberland’s Barry Greaves said. “But either way, if he stayed in the game, we were going to play our heart out.”

Cumberland’s defense wasn’t exactly prepared for a West Warwick offense without Strickland. You don’t normally gameplan for a backup and when Paygai was injured on the Wizards’ second possession of the half, West Warwick tied the game on a 42-yard touchdown run by William Alves.

‘We know Strickland’s going to carry the ball 75, 80 percent of the time and we had no idea what they were going to do,” Cumberland coach Rick Reetz said. “… We got caught off guard and had to make some adjustments and it put us in a tougher situation because we watched so much tape and scouted so well we knew what they were going to do with Strickland, but not with (the backups).”

West Warwick’s offense was OK with Paygai, but without Strickland and Paygai as a threat to catch or run with the ball, the Wizards’ were a changed team.

After Alves’ touchdown, the Wizards had two first downs the rest of the game and had to change its offensive gameplan when Cumberland took a 14-6 lead with 7:26 left. With no Strickland, it was a tough task.

For Strickland, it was even tougher.

“It’s hard. It’s why I’m crying now,” Strickland said after the game. “The whole year I worked through toe injuries, knee injuries, my hands and to go down like this is hard.”

Cumberland    0          6          0          8          -           14

West Warwick            0          0          6          0          -           6

First quarter

C-Joe Vecchio 21 pass from Dan Canavan (kick failed), 11:17

Third quarter

W-William Alves 42 run (kick failed), 3:57

Fourth quarter

C-David Elkas 10 run (Vecchio from Canavan), 7:26

            Cumberland    West Warwick

First downs     9          10

Rushes-yds      34-94   40-133

Pass comp-att-int        3-14-1  6-13-2

Passing yards  32        66

Total offense   126      199

Fumbles-lost    0-0       3-2

Penalties-yds   7-30     6-53

Individual statistics

RUSHING: Cumberland - Elkas 24-75, TD; Josh Chevelier 2-37; Glad Cameron 1-2; Team 2-(-2); Dan Canavan 5-(-18). West Warwick – Russell Strickland 15-73; William Alves 13-53, TD; Jimmy Mullins 2-11; Charles Parent 1-7; Reuben Paygai 9-(-11).

PASSING: Cumberland – Canavan 3-13-32, TD, INT; Elkas 0-1-0. West Warwick – Strickland 3-6-39; Paygai 3-7-27, 2 INTs.

RECEIVING: Cumberland – Vecchio 2-31, TD; Elkas 1-1. West Warwick – Paygai 2-41; Alves 2-20; Parent 2-5.