By ERIC BENEVIDES

Sports writer

BRISTOL -- It took Tolman High an entire half to get going on Friday night, but once the Tigers stepped on the gas in the second half, Mount Hope High was left in the dust.
The Tigers broke a scoreless draw at the break by scoring a pair of touchdowns in each of the third and fourth quarters and limiting the Huskies to just 56 yards of offense in those final 24 minutes en route to a 28-0 shutout in the Division II-A finale for both clubs at the Huskies’ field.
The victory was the third in a row for the Tigers, who are 5-2 in league play and conclude their division schedule in an unusual five-way tie for first place with Warwick Vets High, Woonsocket High, Westerly High, and West Warwick High.
On Friday night, the Villa Novans handed the Bulldogs their second straight defeat, while the ‘Canes nipped the Wizards by a point. All five squads have defeated the Huskies and winless Burrillville High and Chariho High and own 2-2 records in head-to-head action with their other four opponents.

This has never happened before in the history of the Rhode Island Interscholastic League, and there is no clear plan to determine which four teams will be chosen to represent the division in next weekend’s Division II playoffs and which unfortunate one will be on the outside looking in.
After one half of play in the Tolman-Mount Hope contest, it looked like the Tigers were going to have a struggle on their hands with the Huskies (2-5). All the action took place inside the 25-yard lines, and the Huskies, behind the powerful running of fullback James Olson, managed to produce 133 yards of offense to the Tigers’ 94.   
“It was tight for the first half,” added Tolman coach Dave Caito. “We didn’t play well at all. They physically dominated us, and for a team that only has two wins, they’re a tough bunch. They lost to Westerly, 7-0, and West Warwick, 6-0, so we knew on defense they were going to come at us.
“But we challenged our kids at halftime. We said, ‘If you don’t win this game, you don’t belong in the playoffs,’ and they responded well and dominated the second half.”
The Tigers scored the only points they needed on the first possession of the second half, which saw them rack up 71 yards on the ground on just five players and finally reach the end zone on a 14-yard run by Jordan White with 6:09 to play in the third quarter.
Less than four minutes later, Jason Lafond doubled the Tigers’ lead by stepping in front of a pass by quarterback Tyler Carreiro intended for Olson and racing 36 yards the other way for a touchdown. It was one of a number of superb plays on defense by the Tigers.
“When Jason Lafond got that pick, that got things rolling,” said Caito. “We really played well on defense. Jordan White also played a great game, and Brandon Brown, who didn’t play line all year, played nose guard and did a great job for us.”
In the fourth quarter, Lafond scored the Tigers’ third touchdown with 8:56 on the clock on a 15-yard carry up the middle, and Lance Brown came off the bench midway through the quarter and capped the scoring with a 37-yard TD run.
Hady Coumbassa tacked on the extra point on all four touchdowns, and when the Tigers got penalized 15 yards for taunting on their final score and had to kick from the Huskies’ 34, Coumbassa still managed to produce the Tigers’ 28th point with ease.    
The Tigers ended up holding the Huskies to 184 yards of real estate, but Olson managed to produce 129 of them on the ground and 30 more on a pair of receptions. Olson had 109 rushing yards in the first half, but the Tigers did their best to bottle him up in the second half and he managed just 20 yards on eight handoffs.
“We just loaded up for the run and said to the kids, ‘We have to stop No. 44 if we want to win,’ ” said Caito.
Offensively, the Tigers, thanks to their improved second-half showing, finished with 270 yards, 206 on the ground. Jordan White ran for a team-high 86 yards on 11 carries. 
**
TOLMAN, 28-0
Tolman  0 0 14 14 -- 28
Mount Hope  0  0 0 0 -- 0
TOL – Jordan White 14 run (Hady Coumbassa kick)
TOL – Jason Lafond 36 interception return (Hady Coumbassa kick)
TOL – Jason Lafond 15 run (Hady Coumbassa kick)
TOL – Lance Brown 37 run (Hady Coumbassa kick)

   TOL  MH
First downs  11  7
Rushes-yards  30-206  34-145 
Passing  4-9-0  5-18-1
Sacked-yards lost 1-6  2-17
Net passing  58  26
Punts-average  3-32.0  4-31.5
Fumbles-lost  1-1  1-0
Penalties-yards 4-30  3-20 
**
Individual statistics
RUSHING: TOL – Jordan White 11-86, Lance Brown 2-38, Jason Lafond 6-32, Jordan Johnson 5-22, Ailton Vicente 4-18, Ousmane Samb 2-10. MH – James Olson 21-129, Jon Kmieciak 7-9, Louis Barry 3-7, Tyler Carreiro 1-3, Alan Williams 1-2, Chris Raiola 1-(-5).
PASSING: TOL – Jordan Johnson 4-9-0-64. MH – Tyler Carreiro 5-17-1-43, Chris Raiola 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING: TOL – Allens Etienne 2-39, Jordan White 2-25. MH – James Olson 2-30, Louis Barry 2-8, Jon Kmieciak 1-5.