Tigers don’t get chance to play for playoff spot
Mount Pleasant offered to play Tigers for spot
Ready for another unfair shake? This time, it’s the Tolman High football program that’s feeling the postseason pinch.
On Wednesday, the R.I. Interscholastic League deemed that because Tolman and Moses Brown had little choice but to move their Division II game to after the final weekend of the regular season – the result of a COVID-19 issue involving Moses Brown – Mount Pleasant would be rewarded as the second entry from II-A to gain admittance to the Division II playoffs. The ultimate deciding factor is that the Kilties played three league games while the Tigers and Quakers each played two league contests.
Tolman had its sights set on playing Moses Brown this coming Saturday in a game that contained major playoff implications, since both sides are 1-1 in Division II-A. The chance remains that the same two teams will meet next week, yet the stakes won’t be nearly as significant.
Understandably, Wednesday’s news did not sit well in the Tolman camp. To his credit, head coach Jason DeLawrence was still trying to conjure up possibilities that would allow his players to still have a shot at making the playoffs.
“Listen, I’m going to do everything I can do,” said DeLawrence when reached Wednesday night.
Shortly before 8 p.m. Wednesday, the plug was officially pulled on all possible playoff scenarios.
The Tigers found themselves resorting to Plan B and in some cases Plan C after it was learned Tuesday that Moses Brown revealed that one of its players had tested positive for COVID-19.
“Listen, I’m going to do everything I can do.”
— Jason DeLawrence
The development prompted a chain reaction up and down the Division II-A landscape with St. Raphael electing to postpone Friday’s scheduled game at Mount Pleasant. Moses Brown and SRA played this past Sunday night, hence the Saints fell in the “close contact” category and needed to quarantine.
The game between St. Raphael and Mount Pleasant had major playoff ramifications. The Saints needed to win to clinch the top seed in Division II-A. A loss by the Kilties would have opened the door for the winner of the Tolman-Moses Brown game that was originally on Saturday’s docket to earn the No. 2 seed in II-B.
On the Interscholastic League’s website, it stated that Tolman vs. Moses Brown was off for Saturday and rescheduled for Tuesday (4 p.m.) on the Quakers’ campus. On Wednesday morning, it was learned that next Tuesday’s results would not count towards the playoffs.
Moses Brown athletic director A.J. Kizekai spoke with RIIL officials with word coming down that the playoff participants need to be determined by this coming Sunday night. In other words, games can still place, but they just can’t affect the postseason equation. As a result of playing three league games
compared to the two league games played by Tolman and Moses Brown, Mount Pleasant is the No. 2 seed in Division II-A.
Mind you, Tolman defeated Mount Pleasant by a 26-14 count when the two teams met on March 26 at Max Read Field.
Upon hearing the process that determined its admittance to the playoffs, Mount Pleasant reached out to Tolman. Those in the Kilties’ camp came up with the idea of Round II between the two schools with the winner advancing to the playoffs.
It was an idea that was worth a shot, yet the Interscholastic League squashed the proposal. Since it was two teams involved for one spot, that wouldn’t eliminate Moses Brown. Hence, it was a scenario that wasn’t fair for all three teams.
Instead of accepting the hand that was dealt and moving on, the Tigers and Kilties still attempted to pursue a solution from a different angle as Wednesday afternoon turned to Wednesday night. Now, the only remaining loose end that needs to be tied up is whether Tolman and Moses Brown will meet in a game where the only item on the line will be pride. DeLawrence said a decision will be made upon consulting with his team captains on Thursday.