Tigers bounce back with win
Tolman jumps on Hope early; cruises to victory
PAWTUCKET – Tolman High senior receiver/captain Danny Akinsheye sensed his teammates’ lack of enthusiasm long before the start of the Tigers’ league tilt against Hope on Friday afternoon.
He said he tried in vain to amp up the squad’s spirits as they warmed up on its own PFC Kyle J. Coutu Memorial Field, and immediately surmised there were several reasons why.
“When we warmed up at school, we looked dead; we were missing a lot of guys (to injury), and there was no lead-up to the game,” he said. “We usually play our games at 7, but (due to the threat of the EEE virus), we had to get ready right after school for a 4:15 game.
“Then there’s the fact we lost last week to Narragansett, and maybe we were still upset about that,” he added. “Once we got here (to Max Read Field), the JV bus wasn’t here yet, and we went through cals
(calisthenics), and again there was no energy. I knew I had to do something to pump us up.”
Did he ever. Akinsheye took the opening kickoff 80 yards down the left section of the field and later closed with 136 all-purpose yards as the Tigers tamed the Blue Wave, 45-6, before a decent crowd of about 200.
“I knew as soon as I saw the ball in the air and it was coming right toward me, I had to make a big play; I had to get our sideline energized,” Akinsheye grinned after Tolman improved to 2-1 overall and 1-1 in D-III action. “When I fielded it, I saw they were split outside and a wide-open lane in front of me. I also saw there was only one guy to beat, so I cut it back.”
He did that just after midfield, avoided a couple of would-be tacklers and hustled untouched the remaining distance to spark the hosts’ flurry.
Hope fell to 1-2 overall after the blowout.
Sophomore quarterback Jordan Cooper provided a stellar performance under center, completing 10 of 13 aerials for 144 yards and two touchdowns, and Akinsheye hauled in four for 53, while senior Isai Prince chipped in two snags for 54 yards and classmate L.J. Benton another pair for 25.
As for the ground attack, sophomore Aaron Carrion bulled for 86 yards on 13 handles and junior Jamarus Godette 63 more on 10.
“Danny’s one of my go-to guys, one of the best receivers in the state,” head coach Jay DeLawrence offered after the trouncing. “He can catch the ball with the best of them, and he gave us just what we needed on that return, but he’s right. Boy, were we flat beforehand. I was yelling like crazy back at school.
“I told the kids, ‘This is exactly how it felt before playing Narragansett last week (when the Tigers played sloppily and yielded 20 straight points in the first half before rallying); you can’t take any team lightly. It’s the kiss of death,’” he added. “But Danny got us out fast, and that was huge.
“I feel good about that; we needed to get back on the right track, back to winning. That’s what I’m the most pleased with, getting up 15-0 before anyone blinked.”
Following Akinsheye’s monumental touchdown, junior Leandro Depina’s 35-yard punt gave the Blue Wave its second possession at its own 16. On the next snap, junior Joe Baez pounded sophomore signal caller Luis Lopez into the turf into the end zone, and head referee John Abbate signaled a safety for the Tigers.
Three plays after the obligatory free kick, Cooper found Prince wide open in the left segment of the end zone for a 35-yard TD toss, but Depina’s PAT try sailed wide right.
That’s how the initial quarter ended, but the Tigers exploded for 28 more in the second to in essence ice the tilt. With 1:34 left in the first, they began a nine-play, 40-yard drive with Cooper
connecting with Akinsheye on the right hash for a 13-yard score.
Depina’s boot was blocked, but officials whistled Hope for a personal foul, and Cooper later skipped into the end zone for the two-pointer to make it 23-0 with 9:22 left before the break.
Godette immediately recovered Depina’s superb onside kick at the visitors’ 44, and Tolman took eight plays before converting, appropriately on Godette’s 14-yard sweep around right end with 3:39 remaining. (He broke at least three tackles in the process).
Exactly three minutes later, the Tigers celebrated another TD, this one Benton’s 21-yard grab from Cooper deep in the left portion of the end zone, and Godette raced in for the two-pointer to make it 37-0.
Incredibly, DeLawrence and Co. tacked on one more as time expired, this one on junior Alex Medeiros’ 49yard interception return.
“I think some of us being flat is that we’re just out of our routine,” DeLawrence said later. “A 10 o’clock game on Saturday is not our routine; a 4 0’clock game on Friday is not our routine. I mean, we’ve got school and then we’re hustling around getting ready. I don’t get a chance to run through our walk-throughs. I hate it, but I know we’ve got to do it. The kids’ safety absolutely comes first.
“We played well overall, but – on the downside – I’m still not happy with our blocking assignments. There are still way too many mistakes. We have a lot of work left.