It was ugly as ****, but it goes into the win column as Providence held on by the thinnest of margins for a 17-16 victory over the Washington Warriors.

The Islanders struggled to just 201 yards of offense in the contest, nearly 70 percent of that total -- 139 yards -- came on back-to-back first half possessions that resulted in 10 Islander points. Richard Perez was on the receiving end of a 65-yard touchdown pass. Perez also played a role in the Islanders' final points of the game with a 108-yard kickoff return for a TD.

Anthony Killinger had 11 tackles. Jody Robinson added 10 tackles for a defense that was, once again, on the field a lot but managed to avoid the atrophy that popped up earlier in the season.

Providence, 2-7 this season, hosts Detroit (3-6) for its next action.

Larry Ellsworth had two interceptions and...well...that's it. That's the highlight as the Providence Islanders got crushed 23-6 in Philadelphia to fall to 4-9 this season.

Sorry Islander faithful who may have thought I had fallen off the face of the earth, but that's what happens when I'm coaching and it is state championship week. Unlike Providence, my kids know how to win so we were successful in winning the hardware for the five-peat. End humblebrag.

As for the Islanders, well, this clearly isn't the way we drew things up in the off-season as I fully expected to have a more competitive team than this. The early-season injury to Porter can only explain so much for why the Islanders were eliminated from the playoffs this early. The team did score wins over Detroit and Washington in my time away from posting, but the both the offense and the defense aren't liking this version of the game as much. There will need to be some between-season adjustments made at the drawing board.

Kenneth Bent's 3-yard touchdown run on the first play after the two-minute warning produced Providence's only points of the night, but it was enough as the Islanders notched a 7-6 victory for its fifth win of the season.

We won't even ask how a team that struggled to gain 50 yards the entire game somehow broke out to move the ball 47 yards on its last possession of the contest. We don't care. It's a win. Smile and wave boys, smile and wave.

(Pardon me while I go take a shower. I just feel dirty typing the word win in conjunction with this game...)

Up next is a date with winless Chicago.

Training Camp Report

Six Rooks, one boom, two busts and three that pretty much delivered what was expected. That was the nature of Providence training camp.

Let's start with the boom -- Round 4 Oklahoma pickup Hector Peterson. This is a kid who came to play! Entering training camp as a hopeful backup FB, Peterson exploded on the scene (20/11). He is now the odds-on favorite to be starting for the team come the regular season and is also getting looks for reps as both a running back and as a tight end. Peterson's breakout allows the Islanders to slide Timothy Hope to his more natural position at TE this season, which should benefit the team.

The "as-expected" crowd includes WR Jeffrey Vachon (Rnd. 2, 17/1), RB Michael Cline (Rnd. 1, 3/0) and RG Stacey Page (Rnd. 5, 2/-1). Vachone and Cline are cemented into active duty. Page's future is far murkier and "as-expected" might not be good enough to land a roster spot.

As for the busts...RT David Bischoff (Rnd. 7, 9/-6) and CB Paul Hare (Rnd. 6, 3/-9) both whiffed. Both will likely be gone as the Islanders have five cuts to make before the regular season and a decent war chest of cap room to move on the waiver wire if needed.

See everyone after the preseason!

Season Preview

Islander football prepares for Year 3 in Providence and fans are eager to see if things are destined for a return to Year 1 and the postseason or a continuance of the injury-plagued woes of Year 2. The team is coming off a 6-10 season and, if the preseason is any indication, the injury bug has not left.

Providence's projected O-Line for the season boasts a combined 189 career starts, but two of its five members will begin the year shelved when action begins. That's perhaps not good news for a pair of rookies as Providence will start first-round selection Michael Cline and training camp sensation Hector Peterson at RB and FB, respectively. They'll need to make moves to help out Eliseo Towne, the eighth-year QB is looking to recover from a career-low quarterback rating a year ago.

Timothy Hope, a TE playing FB last season, will move to his more natural position this season. Hope hauled in 30 passes last season, netting 5.6 yards per reception. Out wide, Richard Perez a speed demon with the ability to blaze, will be joined by rookie Jeffrey Vachon and Robert Matthews as primary targets. Both Vachon and Matthews averaged better than 10 yards per reception in the preseason.

Defensively, if there's a weak space in this year's unit, it might come across the front, particularly at the end slots where the Islanders could certainly benefit from a free agency pickup or such. Philip Prince (22 tackles, 2 sacks in '23) and Kenneth Conway (26 t, 4 s) are slated to man those end slots. Leroy Morelli (30 t, 2 s) and Carl Anderson (32 t, 5 s) pin down the tackle slots.

Linebacking looks solid with Johnathan Laffey, Henry Brown and Michael Payton back in action. Laffey only managed 39 tackles, but sucked in 4 interceptions. Brown had 90 stops and Payton finished with 60 tackles and 4 picks.

Turning attention to the secondary, Jody Robinson (76 t, 8 int) and Larry Ellsworth (59 t, 5 int) hold the corner slots. Strong safety duties belong to Craig Chang (87 t) while Anthony Killinger (59 t) will roam the free safety's slot.

Special teams duties will see Robert Casillas' string of perfection look to continue. After going 38-for-38 in the field goal department and 17-for-17 in the extra point department last season, Casillas continued to play the role of Deadshot by going 10-for-10 and 4-for-4 in the preseason. (Disclaimer: The editorial staff disavows all responsibility should the first kick of the season miss its mark...). Punter John Hilton raised his net to 44.4 yards per kick last season, but saw the percentage of kicks downed inside the 20 fall to just a 34.5 percent clip.

THE BOTTOM LINE -- Last season looks like a bit of an anomaly, the combination of several players coming off of career bests crossing with an out of control injury beast. Just like we called last season to be a swing backwards due to the law of averages, we're going to say that last year was sub-average and this year will see steps forward. We like the look of the rookies in the backfield and the receiving corps looks solid. Providence should be able to put points on the board for an experienced defense to try and step up to seal the deal. Let's call a 10-6 regular season with a return to playoff glory for the Islanders.